In survey after survey, employees of even successful companies claim that they do not know their organizations’ strategies.
Constantinos C. Markides & Andrew McLennan
Takeaways of Note:
How leaders can help team members understand context enough to understand a strategy…
- Present the rejected alternatives… not only understand choices made, but also what alternatives were considered… it invites questions of clarification re: why alternatives were rejected or challenge the choices made
- Link to purpose… good way for team to quickly understand logic behind the choice without needing to know all the deliberations to make the choice.
- Involve employees in strategy development… (1) solicit ideas & feedback, (2) participate in strategy workshops, (3) test new strategic initiatives
Bonus, Closing Nugget:
“For effective execution of strategy, employees need to know and understand the choices that their organization has made. Unfortunately, even clear communication of these choices is not enough because communication in the absence of context can lead to misunderstandings and lack of clarity. Since it is impossible for leaders to explain the full context in which they made their strategy choices, they have to find different ways to help their employees understand and appreciate their choices.”