Next Steps for Coming Up With a Definition of a Strategy for Your Team or Company

In parts one, two, three, and four of this series, I laid the foundation for the series, discussed two sources of confusion about the definition of a strategy, seven signs to look for to know if the lack of a common definition of a strategy in your organization, where a strategy fits within an organization's agenda, the differences between strategies and tactics, and shared seven myths about a strategy to avoid. In this final installment, I'll provide six meaningful next steps you can take to leverage the information from this series.

I'm regularly asked for tips on coming up with a definition of a strategy for a company or team. Here are six steps that will get you going in the right direction.

1. Have each person on your team, including you, come to a meeting prepared with their written answers to these two questions:

- What does strategy mean to you?

- What is your definition of a strategy?

2. Make it a team exercise to draw from and combine all of the answers to the two questions into one definition of a strategy. Remember, collaboration and contribution are seeds for commitment.

3. Dissect your definition of strategy to form a checklist of its components. These components comprise the litmus test that should be used going forward for what you call a strategy.

4. Add your definition and checklist to your standard operating procedure for strategic planning. Refer to the last step if you don’t have an SOP for strategic planning or strategy refinement.

5. If you have strategies that were written before creating your unified definition and checklist, then use your checklist to confirm that each of your written strategies adheres to the definition. Refine those that do not meet your new definition.

6. If you want expert help in developing a useful definition of a strategy and a robust process for developing and executing your strategies, take one more step and contact our office. (info@icfstrategicplanning). We’re here to serve and would love to connect with you.

It is important to have a definition of a strategy to improve strategy execution. However, the specific definition you come up with is not as important as the need for everyone on your team to know and understand that definition. High-performing cultures have a common language and a shared understanding of specific words in that language. Developing a common definition of a strategy strengthens collaboration, builds trust, and lays the foundation for clear communication. These elements are needed to gain the commitment essential to increasing the likelihood of successful strategy execution. I encourage you to complete the suggested steps above to begin experiencing the power of having a common definition of a strategy for your organization.

Sherrin Ross Ingram is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Center for Strategic Planning, a management consulting firm specializing in scaling for aggressive growth companies. She oversees the development and support of strategic initiatives for client companies and is a trusted advisor and coach to growth-focused CEOs and leadership teams. She is also an Independent Corporate Board Director, an attorney, best-selling author, and a Master Strategic Planning Facilitator for companies in need of a proven process for updating strategic plans, developing new strategies to leverage new opportunities, or restructuring to increase competitive advantage. Learn more about her work at http://www.sherrin.com.

The full article first appeared on the Sherrin's blog at https://www.sherrin.com/definition-of-strategy