If you entrust line personnel with carrying out strategic objectives within the framework of their normal activities, you run the risk of seeing these strategic objectives be shadowed out by other priorities.
Good practice, therefore, is to entrust strategic projects to dedicated teams.
- These teams have their own means and resources and are highly visible.
- This type of approach will be most efficient if three conditions are fulfilled:
- Move quickly:
A project that goes on forever will most probably fall victim to inertia and the company's power of resistance.
- Keep the projects down to a limited number:
Too many projects can lead to dispersed management attention; it's obvious that an exceedingly large number of projects necessarily implies that strategic and operational projects are all intertwined
- Implement centralized project steering:
It's important to have an overall vision, at all times, of the progress status of the projects participating in implementing the strategy.