5-minute strategy test: we’ve got the momentum, but are we all heading in the same direction?
Shared family holiday cottages are familiar to the vast majority of Finns. Experiences vary, but let’s imagine a situation like this: a group of friends are on their way to spend a weekend together. One has packed DIY tools, another a selection of drinks, and a third a bag full of games. It’s only on the way there that it becomes clear that the proposed ‘relaxed weekend together’ has been interpreted in ways quite different from what the organiser had in mind. Does this sound familiar?
You often come across this sort of situation in a business that is gradually picking up pace. A new strategy is presented to staff, communicated to various stakeholders and incorporated into sales materials. Then things should start to unfold as planned.
Six months on, management wonders why the plans aren’t moving forward. Sales are doing one thing, product development another, and the day-to-day rush has left no room for anything new. The general conclusion is that implementation is faltering. That may well be the case. But sometimes the challenges began much earlier: the strategy was never understood in the same way.
Same words, many interpretations
Strategies are often built around words that are hard to resist. Growth. Renewal. Internationalisation. These words sound clear until you ask what they actually mean in practice.
If a company’s goal is to grow, the sales team may see this in terms of strengthening existing customer relationships, the management team in terms of a path to becoming more international, the product development team in terms of new services, and the finance team in terms of achieving greater cost-efficiency in current business operations.
In companies, ‘conflicts’ quickly come to light, even when there is no expertise, time or money to spare. If five key personnel interpret the most important objective in five different ways, this is not merely a minor communication problem. It is reflected in decisions, customer relations, investments and, ultimately, the financial results.
Management may interpret questions or doubts as resistance to change. That is too simple an explanation. A person may simply not understand the strategy. Or they may understand it but consider the choices to be ‘wrong’. Or they may accept the direction but doubt whether there is enough time, expertise and resources to implement it. These are three different situations, and they cannot be resolved with the same staff briefing.
Critical and well-formulated questions can also reveal genuine gaps or bottlenecks in the strategy. If no one can explain where the targeted growth will come from, or what will be done when growth and profitability are on a collision course, the problem does not necessarily lie with the listener. Sometimes the strategy is simply still a work in progress.
Communication cannot rescue an unclear strategy. However, communication – and dialogue in particular – can bring ambiguities to light before they turn into a costly bill.
Investors and customers form their own interpretations
Strategy does not exist solely within the company. Owners, investors, customers and partners, as well as potential new employees, each form their own interpretation of where the company is heading.
For management, a strategic focus can mean greater expertise and better customer value. An existing customer might think that their needs are no longer a priority. The company may view growth investments as a necessary investment in the future, whilst an owner or financier might see a risk to profitability first and foremost.
We need a single, coherent core message, but for different stakeholders, a response and narrative that is relevant from their specific perspective: what this change means for us.
This isn’t about making cosmetic changes to messages. It’s about stakeholder understanding and business management.
The five-minute strategy test
You don’t need a large-scale project to test your shared understanding. At the next management team meeting, you could start like this: switch off your devices and ask everyone to answer the following three questions in their own words:
- What are the key choices in our strategy?
- What are we doing differently from before?
- What are we prepared to give up?
If the answers differ significantly from one another, the next step is not to roll out the strategy to staff. First, the management team must be on the same page. After that, the same discussion is continued throughout the organisation.
Not because everyone should learn a single, approved strategic statement, but because people need to be able to make decisions that are consistent with one another across different tasks. Strategic communication is not complete once the strategy has been communicated. That is just the starting point.
IR Partners helps companies ensure that their strategy is understandable, engaging and appealing to different stakeholders. We support companies in the planning, implementation and continuous development of strategy communication throughout the strategy’s lifecycle. Get in touch so we can discuss how to build a shared understanding in practice, specifically for your company.
Katja Espo
Business Director, Strategic Communications, Partner
+358 40 511 4800 katja.espo@irpartners.fi