In a previous post we noted that an organization can have an excellent strategy, but fail to execute effectively on that strategy, and went on to share some discussion on the 4 Disciplines of Execution, a book written by Sean Covey, Chris McChesney, and Jim Huling.

If you truly want to achieve maximum results from your improvement effort, it can only be done through implementing and sustaining a plan.

Even when people excel at identifying major opportunities for improvement, if they don’t execute, they don’t make gains. In our work with hundreds of organizations, we have observed that the most successful are outstanding at execution.

If you’d like to improve your organization’s ability to implement strategic plans, here are five key areas of focus that can help:

1. Get senior leaders to become actively involved
2. Identify clear project plans for delivering results, including measures and milestones
3. Engage team members and stakeholders
4. Set expectations and consequences — both positive and negative
5. Develop an organized structure and an activity / accomplishment reporting plan – communication matters!