Growing companies are faced with the task of building strategy documents for a variety of reasons—to help the founder or founders understand where they’re going, decide what key metrics they want to measure, and to help the team understand their role in the process.
Stepping back from the day-to-day tasks of running the business to take on the project of building a strategy is something that founders often delay, but it’s a necessary part of growing a business. Companies that have not yet developed a strategy often find a drop in morale and increased attrition as the team wonders what the future holds and what the company’s definition of success is.
At BeachHead, we believe there are two steps to building a strategy. There is the actual strategy-building itself, and then there is the process of ensuring that the strategy is up-to-date and well-communicated. Each has its own separate challenges and related tasks.
Building the strategy
There are many ways of going about building a company strategy and founders should find a process and template that works for them at their stage of growth. In our experience, the best strategies usually include the following:
- Involvement of a small group of senior people within the company (e.g. department leaders and experienced team members). We recommend not involving more than 8 people in this process, but it can be done with as few as 2 or 3.
- Getting offsite or secluding the group for a period of time so that day-to-day distractions don’t get in the way of thinking about the future of the company.
- Working down a strategy process by starting with high-level thinking about the vision of the company then figuring out the appropriate measurements to allow both leaders and regular team members to understand whether progress is happening.
Communicating and updating the strategy
Once the strategy has been built, the process of ensuring that the strategy is kept up-to-date and that it is effectively communicated across all levels of the company is key to building a great future. We see the key tasks in this area being:
- Regular and repetitive communication of the strategy findings with the team members. Once completed, the strategy shouldn’t just sit in a file. Even though it may seem repetitive to some, it should be communicated often through regular town hall meetings and team updates.
- Building a strategy review calendar. The strategy your team creates should be viewed as a living document that requires regular reviews and updates. Our suggestion is that there should be a full review annually, where every part of the strategy is assessed. Each focus area should be examined quarterly and metrics and measurements should be discussed to determine whether they are the right tool to understand if progress is being made. Monthly updates should bring together all the key metrics so there’s a full understanding, by all team members, of where the company is going, and how it’s happening.
- Assign roles and responsibilities. Building, communicating, and keeping the strategy document new and relevant shouldn’t just be the job of the founder. It should involve the leaders and future leaders of the company. Assign a small team to make sure that the strategy stays up-to-date and current, and that each team leader is bringing the agreed-upon metrics to the table every month and sharing the progress with the team.
At BeachHead, we assist companies that are just starting the process of building strategy by bringing our own proven processes and expertise to the table. We are adamant that the company’s strategy is a living, breathing document that should be well-communicated so that all team members understand and feel part of the vision of the company. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, reach out and let’s start a conversation.
Connect with BeachHead
Email: rdrynan@beachheadstrategic.com
Phone: 416.888-4004
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