Better Business: Billingham's guide to taking action

Business consultant Steve Billingham says it is one thing to have a plan, but another thing entirely to carry it out effectively

As Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan say in their co-authored book Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done: “Businesses don’t fail for lack of good ideas; they fail for lack of ability to implement them.”

Poor execution or implementation is almost always the cause of change initiatives that fail to deliver the expected results. Execution is also about more than just implementation. It’s about embedding change, so that it becomes part of business as usual; the way things are done here these days.

When it comes to implementing change within any business, there are a few “pre requirements” for effective execution, which need to be considered to ensure success.

Clarity

Make sure there is clarity about what you want to achieve (e.g vision, goals objectives), what a great result will look like and the extent of everyone’s level of decision-making authority, responsibility and accountability.

Capability

Manage the initiative like a project with clear goals, budgets and measures. Apply project management disciplines and make sure you allocate the right jobs to the right people – those with the required experience, expertise and personal characteristics. Make sure they also have the tools, time and technology they need to do what needs to be done. If they need training, make sure they get it.

Communication

Consistent, frequent communication about progress, successes, blockages and barriers will help keep things on track. Weekly tracking reports focused on the key deliverables give everyone an early heads up on what’s working and where things are sticky (and why).

Leadership

As well as providing the clarity up front, the senior team (if you are a multi owner-managed business) all need to be on the same page. This means they all need to…

● Demonstrate unanimity and strong support for the project
● Show genuine commitment to the change.
● Model appropriate behaviour (your people are likely to follow what you do rather than what you say).
● Actively coach and support the execution team (as well as holding them accountable and managing identified risks).
● Share information, help remove blockages and talk about problems.
● Commit to regular progress reporting and issue resolution.
● Be responsive and accessible so that the team can refer to someone able to make any decisions that are outside the team’s own level of authority.
● Show flexibility to cover for each other to allow individuals to focus on the project more directly if required.
● Be willing to provide the required resources to get the job done (time, people and money).

Steve Billingham is owner and director of Steve Billingham Consulting.