How to help your employees own your strategy
strategy+business|Summer 2020
Shifting from cascading information to chartering teams can generate the clarity and commitment your new strategy requires.
Elizabeth Doty
How to help your employees own your strategy

If there’s one thing many of the leaders I’ve spoken with lately have in common, it’s that they feel pressured to roll out new strategies more quickly, with more impact. These leaders recognize the importance of communication — of getting the message out to employees about where the organization is headed and why. To do so, they often default to the “cascade” approach: holding high-energy town hall meetings, posting on internal social media, writing executive blog posts on intranet pages, hosting lunch-and-learn sessions. They work hard to craft a compelling message at the top and send it on its way.

A cascade is similar to the waterfall model in software development, wherein customers provide detailed specifications at the beginning, and developers build in a linear sequence, which they hope will hit the target in the end. A strategy cascade implies a one-time, one-way flow of expectations, priorities, and targets from the top to the bottom of the organization. Built on the mantra of “communicate, communicate, communicate,” it tends to focus on information, with doses of inspiration. The trouble is, even when employees are informed and inspired by the company’s direction, they may be left feeling unclear about exactly what they need to do differently to help the company meet its goals. As one professional recently said to me, “Our new corporate purpose and strategy are great, but they don’t change how I do my job.” And, like the waterfall, the cascade approach puts intense pressure on senior leaders to have everything figured out, which can cause delays or result in messages that do not have full executive buy-in.

Esta historia es de la edición Summer 2020 de strategy+business.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición Summer 2020 de strategy+business.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE STRATEGY+BUSINESSVer todo
Transforming information into insight
strategy+business

Transforming information into insight

Focus on six organizational elements to build a world-class data and insights capability.

time-read
8 minutos  |
Winter 2020
THE URGENT NEED FOR SOPHISTICATED LEADERSHIP
strategy+business

THE URGENT NEED FOR SOPHISTICATED LEADERSHIP

The pandemic has highlighted a series of paradoxes inherent to the work of leaders. What comes next will depend on how well leaders face up to them.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Winter 2020
The road to successful change is lined with trade-offs
strategy+business

The road to successful change is lined with trade-offs

Rather than trying to convince people your change initiative is the right one, invite them to talk openly about what it might take to implement it: the good, the bad, and the frustrating.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Winter 2020
Sustaining productivity virtually
strategy+business

Sustaining productivity virtually

Maintaining productivity levels among remote employees is an enduring challenge. Here are five ways to help businesses and employees thrive while people work at home.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Winter 2020
FORWARD TO normal
strategy+business

FORWARD TO normal

Entertainment and media companies are building business models that are resilient to the enduring changes in consumer behavior ushered in by COVID-19.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Winter 2020
How leaders can promote racial justice in the workplace
strategy+business

How leaders can promote racial justice in the workplace

Embrace four principles to turn today’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives into sustained progress.

time-read
9 minutos  |
Winter 2020
CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE
strategy+business

CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE FUTURE

In a remodeled world, it is vital for companies to reinvent ways of working.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Winter 2020
Consumer companies must take leaps, not steps
strategy+business

Consumer companies must take leaps, not steps

As shoppers show how quickly they can adapt to external shocks, retailers will need to radically reconfigure their business models.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Winter 2020
Businesses can fast-track innovation to help during a crisis
strategy+business

Businesses can fast-track innovation to help during a crisis

“Unrealistic” timelines can actually work. Here’s how.

time-read
5 minutos  |
Winter 2020
Agility and experience management work better together
strategy+business

Agility and experience management work better together

Many companies achieve early wins with separate transformational efforts, then stall. But if combined and enhanced using “return on experience,” or ROX, measures, these two programs can unlock each other’s potential.

time-read
7 minutos  |
Winter 2020