From Strategy to ‘On the Ground’ Implementation

Our client is an international drone services provider, with operations in Australia, South Africa and Ghana. Having developed its new strategy, the company faced the challenge of taking that strategy from the strategy development workshop to ‘on the ground’ implementation, into each business unit and geography. Working with the new strategy, the business units identified at least 237 separate projects, initiatives and ‘business as usual’ (BAU) activities that needed to be implemented, to deliver the required results. Where to start, what sequence to follow, how to direct what each business unit needed to work on, how to track and report on progress, and how to adapt, where all key questions that needed to be answered if this strategy was going to be successfully executed.

Our first ‘port of call’ was the newly developed strategy, grouping its key components into three, key categories to be delivered over the next one to two years – ‘people and process’; ‘product and place’; and ‘promote and grow’. With these as our overarching themes, together with the business units and their teams, we then got stuck into the detail. Using a matrix of important criteria, we prioritised the 237 items, leaving us with a smaller number of critical projects that needed to be implemented, per quarter, per business unit. To ensure that implementation was taking place consistently, according to the priorities, we developed and implemented a dashboard, allowing each business unit leader and the CEO to quickly report and track progress; highlighting their goals, key results, accountabilities, budgets, and risks. Fostering collaboration and accountability, we also implemented a reporting cadence, reviewing progress and adapting plans every month.

The dashboard and reporting process, continued over a period of over eighteen months, consistently showing senior leaders of the business what they were working on, how they were tracking, where changes needed to be made, and ultimately, how they were methodically implementing their strategy. The dashboard evolved too – after a year, agile concepts such as epics and sprints were introduced. This encouraged focus and quick delivery. From the new strategy PowerPoint deck to 237 unique items to be delivered, we were able to decompose the strategy into implementable chunks, prioritise what needed to be delivered and in what sequence, and implemented mechanisms to ensure that the strategy was delivering the required results consistently.

“Echo Advisory came on board to assist during a time of significant change and growth within the RocketDNA structure. They have provided consistent and extremely professional assistance in guiding the company’s strategy and implementation. With dedicated support and a drive to understand the intricacies of our business, they have been a fundamental part of the success of this transition.

Christopher Clark, RocketDNA CEO