This Bridges tool was developed after seven years of extensive research. It provides organizations with the structure for implementing strategy and maintaining momentum throughout the execution journey.
The Implementation Compass™ helps identify the actions you need to take today to deliver tomorrow’s strategy. It allows organizations to assess their implementation readiness, identify the key areas to tackle and, most importantly, take the right actions on a day-to-day basis that will deliver long-term performance.
The Implementation Compass™ works for both small and large organizations.
It allows youto assess your current status in preparing to implement a new strategy.
It guides leaders through the eight critical directions. The degree of importance of each direction varies for each organization. For example, one organization may spend more time on measurement while another focuses more on communication.
It helps your organization maintain momentum throughout its implementation journey.
Eight Critical Directions
People
It is not leadership that implements strategy but people.
Questions to consider:
Do you have the right caliber of people?
Do they have the skills and knowledge to execute the new strategy?
Are they motivated to do so?
Biz Case
The emotional and numerical rational for adopting the strategy.
Questions to consider:
Do your staff members know why the new strategy is important?
Do they know why it has been adopted?
Can you explain the objectives of the new strategy to obtain buy-in?
Communication
People can only adopt a strategy if they know and understand it.
Questions to consider:
Do all your staff members know what the new strategy is?
Is it communicated in a way that staff members become excited?
Is there a consistent long-term message being communicated to the whole organization on what is happening?
Measurement
“What gets measured get done.” You must have the right measures in place.
Questions to consider:
Do you have the right measures for the new strategy?
Are the measures being used to drive the implementation?
Do the measures drive the right behaviors and actions?
Culture
You must change the day-to-day activities of your staff members and have a culture that supports and fosters change.
Questions to consider:
How well does the current culture support the new strategy?
Are you changing the fundamental way you are working so as to encourage the adoption of the new strategy, e.g., meetings, emails, leadership style?
Are you using the language of the new strategy?
Process
There must be congruence between what you say you are going to do (strategy implementation) and what you are doing (the process).
Questions to consider:
Do your processes support the new strategy?
How ready are you to redesign your processes?
How well do you know which processes need to be redesigned?
Reinforcement
You must reinforce expected behaviors so they are repeated continuously.
Questions to consider:
When staff members step in to the unknown and demonstrate the new behaviors, are they recognized and rewarded?
Does the reinforcement encourage them to continue to demonstrate the new behaviors?
Review
The weakest of the eight directions among leaders – you must constantly review to make sure the right actions are being taken to deliver the right results.
Questions to consider:
Are the actions being taken producing the right results?
Do you know what has been learned from the implementation in the last 90 days?
Do you know what you need to start doing differently from today?
To identify the organization’s readiness for implementing a new strategy and to develop the Implementation Plan, Bridges conducts a Strategy Implementation Readiness Assessment or SIRA. This assessment tool, based on the Implementation Compass™, helps identify your organizational strengths, weaknesses and actions as a preparation for implementing your strategy.
Works for both small and large organizations.
Allows you to assess your current status in preparing to implement your strategy.
Guides leaders through the eight critical directions.
Keeps implementation on the leaders’ radar.
Identifies the right action
Allows you to create an Implementation Plan
Based on SIRA results, Bridges pinpoints specific areas
of concern and opportunities in all eight directions around the Implementation Compass™.
A proprietary Bridges tool designed to support the least practiced component of successful implementation - Review.
Leaders craft strategy, identify the actions, however, more often than not - they do not make concerted efforts to follow though.
Simply put, there is little focus in making sure that their strategy is implemented.
When organizations start to implement their strategy, they move from theory to practice, from planning to action and from concept to implementation. On doing so, they become aware that what perhaps seemed perfect in theory does not always work as well in practice. Organizations need to tailor and adjust their strategy in accordance to their environment and practical challenges.
SIR provides the structure to capture these changes, to ensure that strategy implementation is on track and that the right actions are being taken. Time is taken to step back and examine the current position relative to the articulated objectives. To ensure your strategy can be translated into real practice through a structured review tool and process: contact bridges@bridgesconsultancy.com.
To identify the organization’s readiness for implementing a new strategy and to develop the Implementation Plan, Bridges conducts a Strategy Implementation Readiness Assessment or SIRA. This assessment tool, based on the Implementation Compass™, helps identify your organizational strengths, weaknesses and actions as a preparation for implementing your strategy.
A proprietary Bridges tool designed to support the least practiced component of successful implementation - Review.