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520 CHAPTER 15 THE PRACTICE OF STRATEGY

Workshops are, however, prone to at least two problems. First, when reduced to a routine part of the strategic planning cycle, and involving the usual group of senior managers every year, workshops may not be able to produce new ideas that signifi cantly challenge the status quo. On the other hand, workshops that are too radically separated from the ordinary routines of the organisation can become detached from subsequent action: it can be diffi cult to translate radical ideas and group enthusiasm back into the workplace.

In designing workshops that will be closely connected to subsequent action, managers should consider:

● Identifying agreed actions to be taken. Time should be set aside at the end of the workshop for a review of workshop outputs and agreement on necessary actions to follow up. However, this, of itself, may well not make a suffi ciently powerful bridge to operational realities.

● Establishing project groups . Workshops can build on the cohesion built around particular issues by commissioning groups of managers to work together on specifi c tasks arising from the workshop and report on progress to senior management.

● Nesting of workshops . Especially if a workshop has expected participants to question current strategy and develop radical new ideas, it may be useful to have a series of workshops, each of which gradually becomes more and more grounded in operational realities.

● Making visible commitment by the top management . The chief executive or other senior man- ager needs to signal commitment to the outcomes of the workshop not only by their state- ments but by their actual behaviours.

15.4.2 Strategy projects

Both strategy making and strategy implementation are often organised in the form of projects or task forces. 34 Strategy projects involve teams of people assigned to work on particular stra- tegic issues over a defi ned period of time. Projects can be instituted in order to explore problems or opportunities as part of the strategy development process. Or they might be instituted to implement agreed elements of a strategy, for example an organisational restructuring or the negotiation of a joint venture. Translating a strategic plan or workshop outcomes into a set of projects is a good means of ensuring that intentions are translated into action. They can also include a wider group of managers in strategy activity.

Strategy projects should be managed like any other project. In particular they need:

● A clear brief or mandate . The project’s objectives should be agreed and carefully managed. These objectives are the measure of the project’s success. ‘Scope creep’, by which additional objectives are added as the project goes on, is a common danger.

● Top management commitment . The continuing commitment of top management, especially the top management ‘client’ or ‘sponsor’, needs to be maintained. Top management agen- das are frequently shifting, so communications should be regular.

● Milestones and reviews . The project should have from the outset clear milestones with an agreed schedule of intermediate achievements. These allow project review and adjustment where necessary, as well as a measure of ongoing success.

● Appropriate resources . The key resource is usually people. The right mix of skills needs to be in place, including project management skills, and effort should be invested in ‘team- building’ at the outset. Strategy projects are often part-time commitments for managers,

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