The most valuable businesses develop, execute and modify their strategies on a continuous basis, as the business circumstances change.  Having a good strategy during challenging times isn’t enough. To be effective, it needs to be reviewed, discussed, measured, tracked and adjusted based on new priorities. The strategic plan moves the organization towards its strategic goals, only when all the great ideas developed in the strategy planning and development process are acted on by the whole team.

The tendency during challenging times is to focus solely on solving the immediate problems plaguing the business.  While incredibly important, it is no less important to have a clear strategic plan that is guiding the organization through the downturn.  That plan needs to be revisited regularly by the strategy review team, which ideally includes management plus a cross-section of key employees from throughout the organization.  The strategy review team meetings should be more than just a regular management team meeting, where day-to-day issues are addressed.

Most of us can think of a few examples over our careers where we were part of a team that really “clicked.”  Every initiative the team undertook seemed to fall into place.  If you think back to what made those teams so effective, you likely would use descriptive words like enthusiasm, motivation, honesty, eagerness, energy, co-operation, openness, reliability; all of which were largely driven by the team meetings you held.  Everyone had an equal say.  The leader or the team coach was likely supportive and encouraging, just like your co-workers or teammates.  Positive attitudes and team spirit come together by working towards a common goal and with a common purpose.  In the case of the strategy review team, the common purpose means progressing towards your strategic business goals, step by step.  And it is that progress that creates momentum and business value.

Now think of an ineffective team you have participated in.  Most would likely use very few of the descriptors used above, and perhaps a few “choice” or “alternate” descriptors as well.  While there are literally hundreds of reasons why a team can be ineffective, likely one of the most common, is that they failed to create momentum.   There is nothing more discouraging for a team meeting than rehashing of old topics, re-deciding the same priorities, and hearing the same excuses on why nothing has changed.

Your strategy review meetings need to be highly effective if you are to create business momentum and progress the organization towards its strategic goals.
Each strategy review meeting has three primary purposes: 1) to repeat, reiterate, reinforce, and sometime revise your priorities and to gain deeper team insight and clarity, 2) to review progress towards your strategic goals and identify the key barriers/challenges that need to be resolved and 3) to set your top strategic priorities and the action plans that need to be implemented before the next strategy review meeting.
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Regular strategy review meetings build and maintain momentum by keeping the team focused on what's important. They also facilitate effective information flow, which is needed to bring the strategy to life, and build a better business with resiliency to weather the tough times.

Everyone knows that the management skills to run a small but successful, entrepreneurial company, with a few employees, is starkly different from those skills required to run a larger company with more employees, locations, products, product lines etc.  As a business grows, its overall management becomes exponentially more complex.  This necessitates the need to develop and implement more robust systems such as reporting structures, strategy communication tools, work processes/operating procedures, information technology, and financial controls, amongst others. Growing your top-line sales and customer base without simultaneously building the structure and systems required to support your growing business is a recipe for failure.

When a business is small, it is not uncommon to have a very loose organizational structure. Everyone can speak directly to the boss to get the answers they need, as he/she makes all the major decisions.  As the employee number increases, many roles in the company become comparatively narrower, and the boss starts to share decision making with key managers.  It now becomes increasingly important that everyone has a clear understanding of what is expected of them, their role and how it fits within the organization’s goals.  They also need to know how they will be evaluated and by whom.  The boss can’t interact with everyone to the same degree anymore, and therefore needs a more formalized organizational reporting and accountability structure, performance evaluation system and compensation structure.

Furthermore, as a company grows and individual employee roles change, responsibility gaps and overlaps surface that need to be addressed before they become problematic.  This requires systematic training programs as employees’ responsibilities are adjusted.  It requires a clearer definition of individual roles and responsibilities as the business moves towards a “matrix” organizational structure across locations, business units, product lines and corporate functions. Managers need to have backup systems in place to ensure the business operates without interruption, as people leave, go on vacation or to deal with absenteeism.  This requires the development and communication of company-wide, consistent policies that were perhaps “understood” when the team was a lot smaller.

Some entrepreneurs can successfully transition the business to a much larger organization by learning how to effectively delegate key day-to-day responsibilities and decision-making to an ever-growing team.  They recognize the need to incorporate the right organizational systems to ensure that the business can grow without their involvement in every decision.  They manage to transform their role from a General Manager, with their finger on the pulse of every aspect of the business, to a Chief Strategy Officer, who is steering and guiding the ship in the right direction.  
All too often however, I see entrepreneurs getting stuck in a pattern where they work hard on the wrong things and can’t get break-through company performance. That can lead to high levels of anxiety and frustration.  What they really need is some honest self-assessment to determine the best path they should take to ensure the business value doesn’t stagnate, or worse, recede.  They can 1) stay-the course by focusing on maintaining a well-run small business with a sustainable cash flow, 2) consider their transition/succession/exit options, or 3) put in place what it takes to attain break-through performance.
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If break-through performance is the ultimate goal, it starts with deliberately building the right structure and systems to manage the organization’s ever-increasing complexity and by nurturing a team that is engaged, motivated and clearly understand their role in achieving the company’s growth strategy.