Overcoming Barriers to Planning and Execution - Barrier #1: History of only partially developing plans

 [Editor's Note: In Issues for Growth Vol. 31, No.11, we asked the question, "Are there barriers blocking your successful growth and execution?" We then listed the Barriers to succesful Planning and the Barriers to succesful Execution.We are starting a series of Issues for Growth where we will tackle each of these barriers and identify ways to overcome each.

Overcoming Barriers to Planning and Execution

Barrier #1: History of only partially developing plans

Over time, every organization will create barriers to success. The very things that made you successful as a startup or growing organization may prevent you from being successful at the next level.



Barriers to Planning Success

•          History of only partially developing plans
•          History of unreasonable expectations and unachievable goals
•          Lack of internal understanding about customers, competitors, and the market

 

Barriers to Execution Success

•          Gaps in management depth
•          History of abandoning projects
•          History of lack of openness and poor communications
•          History of poor delegation and leadership development
•          Lack of true accountability

Barrier #1: History of only partially developing plans

Many organizations are moving so fast that they embark on a strategy or project and are so excited to get started, they fail to adequately think through a plan.

Many times this means the following:

*The desired outcomes are not clearly defined

*There is no clear definiiton of success

*No project plan (Process and timelines are unclear)

*Appropriate resources are not identified and allocated

*Team is not identified, including the owner

*No mechanisms to keep plan progress in focus

Why this is important to future strategic plan development?: Companies with a history of not fully developing plans create an expectation of failure with their team. They have seen too often the "Fire, Ready, Aim" approach to rushing to start before the organization is ready and has thought through the plan.

Overcoming this barrier is relatively straightforward - Going through a facilitated structured planning process can ensure that an organization has its bases covered before getting started with execution.

Understanding the barriers to planning and execution is critical. Companies that have addressed the barriers are amazed at how much more their management teams are engaged and how the process energizes the entire organization. CEOs of companies with years of poor planning and execution history find that their organizations are far more capable than they ever imagined of achieving superior results.

The Mead Consulting Group has helped many companies identify and overcome the barriers to successful planning and execution. Our process is simple and effective at uncovering the key obstacles and barriers and developing recommendations for improvement. If you would like to have a conversation about this, please contact Dave Mead at (303)660-8135 or meaddp@meadconsultinggroup.com. 

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Best regards,

Dave Mead