Before I go into how we distinguish strategic initiatives, I want to distinguish operational execution (running the day-to-day business) from strategic execution (putting in place what is needed to make the strategy work). Organizations will want to develop strategic initiatives because it gives them a way to achieve specific objectives. Look for errors, mistakes, and other lapses that you can improve or remove so you can come up with an impressive document. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. The basic message to the reader is to think through the announcement process. The major difference between these terms and strategic initiatives is that a strategic initiative includes a scope statement, budget and even a start and end date. Cultural challenges make the natural ambiguity of strategy even more difficult. This plan should be transparent in that it’s visible for your entire project team, so everyone is working in congress. The following are illustrative examples of strategic goals. The cloud-based project management software helps program managers plan, monitor and report on the strategic initiative, while giving teams the collaborative platform they need to better execute it. Time:Decrease the time required to produce a product or provide a service. Continue reading →, Renew Blue is the name of a strategic initiative intended to reverse the competitive decline of Best Buy. They have to address the company’s vision, speak to the benefits of stakeholders and work towards growing the company while aligning its various segments. Strategic initiatives, on the other hand, focus on change. A strategic initiative should add a new process or modify an existing process. Examples of strategic goals for finance: Create and launch new product(s) Increase customer conversion; Become market leader Too many people have differing views. It requires skill to navigate and change culture. The article illustrates how BARED is applied in Wal-Mart’s strategic initiative for sustainable operations in China. Value can be define… A good initiative aligned to the example objective above might be, “Implement Cloud-based Performance Appraisal and Rewards System.” Notice how the initiative isn’t an existing process. Continue reading →, Enter your email address It can be a single page or fill up a binder, depending on the size and complexity of the business and work. their strategic initiatives and nearly half of respondents (46%) report that communications is an integral and active component of the strategic planning and execution process. It can also be a means to close the gap between the target of a program and its current performance. Review and evaluate the final health and safety strategic plan draft. Boil your list of strategic initiatives down to just one that will have the most positive impact on the program or business. Greg Githens is the author of How to Think Strategically (2019). It is a new project that the organization is going to embark on to align employee incentives … They take the mission statement of the company and translate it into more practical terms. A strategic goal is part of strategic planning. You just need to be smart and strategic with the resources you already have. You want to start with a larger deliverable, which is your objective, and then break it down into smaller and smaller tasks, which are then given a duration and placed on a schedule. Strategic initiatives can be confused with other strategies. Greg Githens briefly explains two examples: the “One Company” strategic initiative and a company that is facing growth pains. As a cognitive process, there are no practical differences between agile thinking and creative thinking. Joseph Lucco. The core challenge for agilists is that they are saying that their values might be better than there audience’s values. Example A: Arts and Sciences College within a Large Private University. The article describes Intel and its product development framework. Try ProjectManager.com today with this free 30-day trial. Identify key contributors and help them step up, 3. Is it Possible to Have a Perfect Strategy? But the more things you try to improve, the less likely you’ll be improving any of them. Strategic initiatives can be confused with other strategies. Most CEOs struggle with shifting demands that make keeping their long-term vision connected to weekly priorities chaotic. Related: How Gap Analysis Can Improve Your Project Management. For example, if you are looking to increase sales 20 percent, a strategy could be to first identify who your best clients are so you can duplicate them. A strategy plan, more commonly known as a strategic plan, is a list of strategic goals together with an action plan to achieve each goal.This is the output of strategy planning and may be developed at the level of an organization, department or team. Competitive industries – for example the travel industry – use strategic initiatives to create competitive advantage. Key Takeaways from our Favorite B2B Marketing Examples. Your plan should include the following: An end goal, or what you hope to achieve when the plan is complete. Strategic Planning Strategy Execution . Agile Thinking, Habits, and Strategic Initiative Leadership: Transcending the Buzz for Useful Insights, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking, Launching a Strategic Initiative? This article is a critique of, “agile thinking,” with examples provided for a strategic initiative at Corning: Agile Business Innovation. Most managers can benefit from having a strategic plan. A strategic plan is a document that establishes the direction of an organization. Team members can collaborate and work better together. Strategic and operational planning most often uses time, dollars, percentages, and numerical counts. HR strategy examples – What makes a successful HR strategy? Objectives are benchmarks that are designed to be measurable and realistic. As an example, a strategic goal example is to enter new markets, so you would set a goal of getting into X, Y, and Z markets by a certain date. They are accountable for executing the plan. Strategic initiatives are not about remaining complacent: they seek to get the greatest return out of the various projects in your portfolio. Tools and insights for turning vision into results, Need a strategic planning facilitator, implementation coach, neutral mediator, workshop, seminar, or hands-on program manager? Strategic initiatives are the means through which an organization translates its goals and visions into practice. Continue reading →, Executives say that the top priority for strategy execution is to effectively communicate the decisions made. Some examples: 1. Perhaps the initiative team has poorly implemented the initiative? Turn initiatives into successful outcomes. The strategic vision is more an overview of where the company wants to be over the next number of years. Get a Free 30-Day Trial of Our PM Software, How Gap Analysis Can Improve Your Project Management, task lists, kanban boards, Gantt charts or calendars. For example, if one of the business strategies is to have a better customer digital experience , you may want to develop a suite of mobile apps over the next few years. The strategic importance of HR cannot be underestimated. Before you get started, you have to know what it is you’re starting. IT in 2017: Prioritize these 10 strategic initiatives, says Gartner. Greg Githens provides coaching, workshops, hands-on, and more. He is a recognized thought leader in designing and delivering strategic initiatives. For our purposes, let’s discuss what a strategic initiative is trying to do. ONE: Develop Strategic Initiatives. Strategy: Build a world-class faculty. Program managers can add start and end dates to each task, link dependencies and then assign team members to those tasks. It speaks to the PMI’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which says all projects must be strategically aligned with the organization’s business strategy. Operational Excellence or Strategic Excellence? Fund, implement and manage the initiatives. Many times there is confusion between what initiatives are truly strategic versus what are simply tasks and obstacles that impact the daily operating procedure. Continue reading → Continue reading →. The article explains preparation (including useful questions for reflection) and the discovery phase of a strategic initiative. The collection includes different designs and layouts to fit with your business strategy… You may also check out security strategic plan examples. Use 100% editable Strategic Initiatives PowerPoint Templates to show the conversion of your Business objectives into practice. Examples of strategic goals for this perspective include: 1. For an objective to be quantifiable, it must reflect an amount of something. 7 Proven Planning Techniques for Better Projects, How to Make a RACI Chart for a Project (with Example), Project Quality Management – A Quick Guide. Therefore, take the time to think about what you have the capacity to confront and the resources to execute over the long-term. This is the time to set them in the strategic initiative process. In an increasingly uncertain world, this approach falls short. The initiatives also provide tangible outcomes describing “what” must be done while still letting the operational teams decide the “How.” A strategic initiative is a compass that guides businesses and targets future goals. Strategic Priorities: You can sort the priorities themselves under which ever category makes sense to you. Some of the key functionality in this type of strategic input template can help leaders and internal project managers track the status and progress of their strategic activities. The article explains preparation (including useful questions for reflection) and the discovery phase of a strategic initiative. Typical examples of strategic initiatives in this space would be supply chain enhancements to reduce costs or improvements in customer relationship management. In this definition, a strategic initiative is more than a project. It’s role as the … It examines the Renew Blue vision & strategic pillars, and concludes with a list of 7 learnings for leaders of strategic initiatives. Director & Rochesterian . Initial milestones are guidelines; not millstones around your neck. You can look at operational execution as business processes that have to happen by successfully completing tasks on a periodic basis. Long gone are the days when the Human Resources department focused solely on recruiting employees. Funding should have been considered in the selection criteria. These three living examples show that you don’t need to move mountains to be creative in marketing. There are likely dozens of fronts on which you can wage your strategic initiative. A strategic initiative plan may include multiple initiatives that are designed to work together toward a single larger goal. Continue reading →, Observations of a new product development kickoff strategic initiative. Such initiatives are typically aligned with a company's top strategic priorities, and so the pressure to execute them well is often very high. Once you have the strategy and the plan, you have to get the team on board. Continue reading →, Leaders of strategic initiatives need to have a working knowledge of the various perspectives on value propositions because organizations often charter strategic initiatives to close the gap (or create advantage) on value propositions. Greg Githens explains that by recognizing that agilists are talking about values, we can then turn our attention to the appropriateness of the values to the situation. A healthcare organization's strategic plan is designed to identify the necessary The second case was successful, in part because the CEO made it clear he was unhappy with product quality. Strategic Initiative synonyms. http://wp.me/pZCkk-Zi Differences Between an Initiative, Goal, Objective & Vision. Everyone in the project team has different ways to work and ProjectManager.com knows that. ProjectManager.com avoids those delays with its kanban board view, which keeps teams focused on one task at a time, only delivering new tasks when there is the capacity and resources available. Contact him at GregoryDGithens@cs.com or 419.424.1164, Workshop on Leading Strategic Initiatives. Strategic initiatives are also helpful for executives who want to have a framework by which they can review all their projects in the program, define various impacts on the program and then focus on only those projects that can deliver immediate and measurable changes. The article lists numerous lessons learned for strategic initiatives. It’s multiple project views have benefits and will appeal to different members on the team. Another way to look at strategic initiatives is that it’s the instrument that helps deliver on the company’s vision. But a strategic initiative is more than one project, it encompasses many projects working together to serve the needs of the larger corporation. Classic approaches to business strategy assume a foreseeable future based on reasonable assumptions about developments in markets, technologies, or regulation. It takes the abstract and makes it practical by putting it into practice in the real world. Is it a project or a program? Strategic initiatives are not about remaining complacent: they seek to get the greatest return out of the various projects in your portfolio. For example, if an initiative fails to close an objective performance gap, then the team should ask whether or not they are investing in the right initiative. They need to know what their project roles and responsibilities are for the success of the strategic initiative. But with these six techniques and list of pitfalls to avoid, you’ll be on your way to strategic success. They, too, are set on the long term, but they take the broader vision and break it down into specific plans and projects. Three examples of good communications are provided. Financial objectives are typically written as financial goals. When your team contributes directly As noted, objectives are specific, measurable and realistic long-term goals. Goal: Improve the quality of the teaching and learning environment. The following are illustrative examples of a strategy plan. Strategic initiatives operate on three tiers. Continue reading →, Program management performance domains can be understood as B.A.R.E.D: Benefits, Alignment, Roadmapping, Engagement, and Decisions. Using Best Buy’s Renew Blue strategic initiative, Greg Githens describes the business canvas approach and VALiD approaches to understanding value propositions. It is a more general endpoint that speaks to the company’s needs. Here are Three Good Practices, B.A.R.E.D. With their buy-in the whole thing becomes a reality. Bottlenecks will ruin even the best laid strategic plans. What matters is that you measure the progress and set targets. It’s difficult to definitively define what strategic initiatives are. (We respect your privacy). Although the term “strategic initiative” might sound like inflated business jargon, it’s far from useless. Let Me Tell You a #Story, Strategy is Not Long-Range Planning, Vision, Mission, or Values, Five Ways to Involve Smart New Voices in the Strategy & Agile Innovation Conversation. All projects will require funding and it is this stage that often causes the most heated debate. The article concludes by suggesting five questions for looking at habits. There are different kinds of hospital strategic examples ranging from those that are incorporated in an annual operational plan up to a wide ranged five-year hospital strategic plans. Healthcare Strategic Planning: Step-By-Step Advice [With Examples] Yes, strategic planning in healthcare is tough! Sometimes seeing an example makes understanding the process easier. Levels 2 and 3: For initiatives where there is some strategic uncertainty – for example which require building new assets or capabilities or entering new markets – the risk needs to be quantified. Turn initiatives into successful outcomes. HR has become an invaluable resource itself, working hand in hand with top-level management to create a cohesive, organization-wide strategy. A strategic vision might seem closest to a strategic initiative, but there are differences between these two terms as well. When selecting and creating your financial objectives, consider what you’re trying to accomplish financially within the time span of your strategic plan. There are five steps to a well-made strategic initiative. Finalize the document that you have created. For example, a strategic initiative is not a strategic goal.