Leadership Strategy
7 Steps To Translate Strategy Into Tactics
By Brian Ward
Mar 16, 2007 - 9:30:33 PM

This question was submitted by reader Tony King.

Q: "We are an operations function of a large healthcare organization. We need to translate our organizations strategy into tactics that our team can succeed with. How can we do this quickly, without driving everyone insane?"

A: Your question is one that operations teams in almost every organization grapple with. Here are some pointers that will help you on your way...

1. Understand your organizations strategy. REALLY understand it...the WHY, the WHAT and the high level HOW. There can be no room for misunderstanding here. Any misunderstanding at this level will be amplified many times as you translate the strategy into tactics. So go over it with your manager, and get answers to all the questions you have. Relay the answers to your team. Where there is no answer, relay that to your team also.

2. Make sure you list out and understand the assumptions used in the high level strategy, such as the economic forecasts, and the direction that the industry/sector is expected to head in over the next 3 - 5 years. What if these assumptions prove false? What contingencies have been built into the plan?

3. Strip away the verbage and work with your manager to explain the strategy in plain, simple language. If you MUST relay the exact words given to you, do so but accompany them wherever necessary with simply worded translations and examples...the "in other words..." piece - provide illustrative examples wherever possible.

4. Play 'catchball' with the plan. In other words, pass it back and forwards quickly between you, your team members and your manager. Each pass should add meaning, clear up any misunderstandings that may arise, and add another layer of detail. Make it an iterative process.

5. Develop a team scorecard to accompany your team tactics. Make the scorekeeping fun and try to make sure that the measures you use are such that you can track progress at the very least on a weekly basis. Any longer timeframe than that and it will go stale on you very quickly.

6. Use visual tools that you can post on the walls, bulletin boards, etc. to show your teams plan, its linkage to the strategy and progress to plan. The larger and more colorful the better. 

7. Build project management skills within your team. These skills allow people to break the tactics down into action steps and schedules to get the job done. This is absolutely critical to team success...and to help them avoid burnout from 'special projects' that they must execute in addition to their regular job. Click here to download a free Project Management Guidebook.

And don't forget to have fun. Recognize effort AND results...this gives people a real reason to believe in the strategy, in you and in each other. Good luck in your efforts!