In the ever-evolving landscape of business, the ability to adapt is not just a virtue; it’s a necessity. As is traditional at this time of year to embark on new visions and strategies, the importance of aligning the business model becomes paramount. That should involve evaluating key structural areas of the business.
Organisational Structure:
The organisational structure forms the backbone of your business. And it has been the backbone for the previous 12 months and previous strategy. Does that mean it will naturally be aligned to the goals for this coming year? More than likely not. And it’s to agree that the structure is not that far off and leadership team stating that they will make it happen. That’s great at the beginning of the year when everyone is motivated.
It’s crucial to get as specific as possible, looking at the structure, the teams & individuals. It needs to compliment completely what the strategy is looking to achieve.
Consequence of Neglect:
When you don’t optimise the structure, by default it will be misaligned from the get go. This will lead to confusion, inefficiency, and a lack of clear direction. This will become a linchpin, hindering the implementation of your strategic vision.
Roles and Responsibilities:
After the structure, it’s time to discuss the people. To achieve new things, people need to do different and new things too. Quite often forgotten. I’ve always been an advocate for strength based roles. And this will require the leadership to think deeply about where the people in their business currently reside. This must be brutal honesty. Are the people set up for success? And not just the people, are key roles positioned accordingly to steer ship. Sometimes, there will be requirement to source these people externally.
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities are essential for accountability and seamless collaboration. Reevaluate and adjust these to align with the new strategic objectives.
Consequence of Neglect:
Ambiguity in roles absolutely results in a lack of ownership, accountability gaps, and a potential breakdown in teamwork. Consider a relay team, 4 people, 1 baton. These 4 people have responsibilities, to grab baton, run, give baton to next runner. What happens when the baton drops? Who takes responsibility? And when things are not going well, unfortunately more time will be spent on pointing fingers than root cause analysis.
Cross-Functional Excellence:
I’m sure you are all familiar with the ‘sticky silos’ problem, this can be embedded in the culture. Like any good planning, risk mitigation is crucial. You’ll be hearing more about this shortly. For any strategy to work, siloes need to be tackled efficiently.
Foster cross-functional collaboration to break down silos. This facilitates the sharing of insights and expertise, promoting innovation and a holistic approach to strategy implementation. Strategies are team things, in it together to make it better.
Going back to the model and structure, focus on strategy initiatives that cross multiple areas, so everyone is complimenting each other, moving forward in the same direction, not contradicting.
Consequence of Neglect:
Siloed departments will directly impact the overall performance, hinder information flow, this is one of the most impactful impediments to progress. Silos also limit creativity and innovation and overall one of areas that leadership teams need to tackle to ensure strategy success.
Adaptability:
There is one thing that needs to be said here:
NO STRATEGY PLAN WILL SURVIVE THE 1ST ENCOUNTER WITH EXECUTION.
The goal of any plan, is NOT to get it right.
It’s to get it STARTED!
Then commit to continually adapting the execution honing in on the activities that are delivering the most impactful results.
Along with that, things change, internally, in the market, technology, and customer expectations.
A key cultural philosophy for any strategy is to Embrace adaptability, in fact it should be a core value, in navigating uncertainties.
Measuring success weekly and monthly are crucial.
Taking a real step back every quarter is even more so in this world.
It also serves as a great mechanism to refocus, recharge and reinvigorate your teams.
Build the execution around quarterly bursts.
Consequence of Neglect:
Rigidity in the business model results in an inability to respond to changes internally and externally. Following actions in the plan, because they were in the plan, and not listening to OR taking feedback will again result in sub optimal outcomes, in some cases becoming destructive. Again leaving leadership teams wondering, where did it go wrong. .
Management Mechanism:
Every business will have a management mechanism, the question then is how will the strategy management mechanism blend in with this so it’s not duplicating effort? There is a governance to consider and you will be hearing more about this next week. This needs to be seamless, and there are substantial considerations to ensure it forms part of the success framework.
This would have been part of the planning process, however worth noting here.
When the structure, teams, roles and responsibilities are realigned, it will have a substantial impact on developing the most effective management mechanism.
Consequence of Neglect:
With this, there are multiple levels to consider as mentioned above, when you don’t, the mechanism will be substandard, which undoubtedly leads to substandard results.
This also article is all about ensuring that there is strong tiered approach that cascades through all levels of the business hierarchy.
Without this, there will a substantial loss of control, making it challenging to identify and address issues in a timely manner.
In conclusion, the consequences of neglecting to adapt your business model for a new vision and strategy are profound. From organisational chaos to missed opportunities, the stakes truly are high.
With that, embrace change, align your structure, redefine roles, nurture cross functional collaboration, stay adaptable, and establish a robust management mechanism. By doing so, you set the foundations for not just surviving, but thriving in an ever-evolving business landscape.
Summary
In the dynamic landscape of business evolution, adapting the business model is a critical imperative for realizing visionary success.
- Organisational Structure: Aligning the structure with new visions involves specific evaluation, ensuring it complements strategic goals. Misalignment leads to confusion and inefficiency, hindering strategic vision implementation.
- Roles and Responsibilities: Emphasizing the importance of people doing different things, evaluating personnel alignment, and advocating for strength-based roles. Neglecting role clarity results in accountability gaps and potential breakdown in teamwork.
- Cross-Functional Excellence: Tackling silos efficiently and focusing on strategy initiatives that cross multiple areas to ensure complementarity and avoid contradictions. Siloed departments impact performance and hinder overall progress.
- Adaptability: Acknowledging that no strategy plan survives first execution, emphasizing the importance of adaptability as a core value. Rigidity results in an inability to respond to changes, leading to suboptimal outcomes.
- Management Mechanism: Aligning the strategy management mechanism seamlessly with existing business mechanisms and adopting a tiered approach throughout the business hierarchy. Neglecting this results in substandard mechanisms and challenges in addressing issues effectively.
Neglecting these adaptations risks hindering the successful implementation of visionary strategies. Adaptability, alignment, and clarity are the keys to navigating change successfully.
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⏩ How has your organisation successfully adapted its business model for a new vision?
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