Strategy Mapping
Strategy Mapping is a technique for helping an organization clearly define - and communicate - the causal links among different components of its strategy. A Strategy Map and supporting materials are used to help an organization:
- Align the organization leaders around a single interpretation of the strategy
- Communicate the strategy to employees
- Identify leading indicators of strategic success
- Validate and test assumptions about what core capabilities that drive bottom-line performance
- Structure a core set of strategic performance metrics
- Accelerate strategy execution
Who can benefit from Strategy Mapping?
Any size organization - from a small cross-functional team to a billion-dollar enterprise. Any group with goals and strategies for achieving their goals can benefit from Strategy Mapping. The process of designing the map helps the leaders align themselves with the core strategic elements. It subsequently creates a powerful tool for communicating the strategy to others and for tracking strategy execution.
What's involved in building a Strategy Map?
The following six steps are involced in Strategy Mapping:
- Review the existing strategy for completeness and focus
- Identify difference in individual leaders' interpretation of the strategy and ideas about the causal links among different strategic components
- Review existing data or information pertinent to resolving these differences in perspective
- Work with the organizational leaders to resolve differences in perspective and build a prototype Strategy Map with associated behavioral definitions
- Validate the map with key stakeholders and agree on ways to evaluate its successful implementation
- Establish mechanisms for using the strategy map to guide strategy execution