How to become less Operational and more Strategic
How to become less Operational and more Strategic
‘Firefighting’ mode had become the norm for many managers even before the onset of the pandemic in 2020, with many global organizations failing due to their inability to identify changing requirements in the market and their subsequent neglect to innovate and diversify accordingly. The key challenge for leaders is how to change your behaviors to get out of ‘doing’ mode in order to be able to work ‘on’ the business, rather than ‘in’ it. Ring-fencing strategic planning and thinking time is one of the most successful ways leaders and managers can ensure strategy implementation and alignment. Even blocking out just 15 - 30 minutes every day to horizon scan can be effective in regaining focus on the company's vision and strategy.
During Natural Talent's Coaching and Training modules managers work on real-life business issues and take time to review the vision and direction the company is heading by analyzing competitor, customer and product/service data. In order to ensure that their teams are also aligned with the key business goals and development plans, they revisit their own and their team members’ objectives. Any trends and opportunities to diversify and any pitfalls to avoid are also spotted in order to align the business strategy with customer requirements.
Managers decide on how they can limit their focus to 5 or 6 key priorities in order to assist them in concentrating their time and efforts on Quadrant 2 of Stephen Covey’s Time Management grid. They then align their associated, prioritized ‘To Do’ list, setting regular milestones and reviewing progress. They also learn how to work smarter and develop their delegation skills.
In the age of 24/7 connectivity executives are often expected to respond to emails almost immediately; managers practise deciding what is ‘Important’ not ‘Urgent’ applying it to emails, just as much as to other work priorities. Becoming reactive to emails is one of the biggest killers of strategy execution so mastering the Inbox is another key to achieving strategic objectives. They also review and work on improving their decision-making skills and how they manage poor performance to ensure they focus on delivering business success.
'Before our training day the team was all over the place! We are now super-focused and everyone keeps talking about alignment and strategy in every meeting! Thank you for helping us get back on track. Sales are way up!' CEO
You can read some of our Client Success Stories here and contact us to discuss your requirements or to book a Coaching or Training module. You can find Jil Maidment's Expert Audio Talk on this topic here: https://bookboon.com/en/how-to-become-less-operational-strategic-ebook and watch one of our videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HklFMnZ94Lc&t=2s
