Providing Strategic Direction or Clarity
Providing strategic direction or clarity: Applicable to organization, work units, teams or projects.
Most people have good intentions. They go to work with the desire to work hard and get along with others. They want to contribute and use their time constructively. Yet, with that said, many people are over-worked and/or possibly, under-utilized.
They are unable to keep up, not necessarily due to lack of commitment, but instead, as the graphic suggests, due to lack of focus and prioritization … knowing what work to do. What activities are important, which aren’t?
The inability to answer this question leads to poor performance, frustration, cynicism, apathy, stress, and in turn, a host of health related consequences. To address this, organizational leaders must be capable of providing strategic clarity and streamlining systems and services in order to eliminate lower-value activities.
Establishing strategic direction or shared purpose (the star) and streamlining systems and services (determining what work or path is necessary to achieve the star) provide the clarity and focus that people require.
Activities that lie on the path can and should be accelerated, activities that lie outside the path eliminated, and activities partially on the path can be optimized. This clarity will improve teamwork, trust and accountability –– as well as margins, productivity, client satisfaction and employee health and morale. Leaders will be in a better position to tap the diverse talents of the workforce; given the fact that ideas and/or potential solutions can now be offered in the context of how they help achieve the goals of the organization.
