{"id":21648,"date":"2021-02-03T03:12:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T16:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creately.com\/blog\/?p=21648"},"modified":"2024-09-12T01:46:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T14:46:27","slug":"visualize-organizational-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creately.com\/blog\/strategy-and-planning\/visualize-organizational-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Visualize an Organizational Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sometimes we need more than a big picture vision to guide the actions of a company. A powerful mission and lofty goals may provide direction for an organization but do little to clarify the everyday tasks needed to get you there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An organizational strategy is a plan that helps bridge the gap between a company’s vision and actual work. It is a dynamic, long-term plan that aligns the actions of a company and specifies how your business will allocate resources (money, labor, and inventory) to support infrastructure, production, marketing,  and other business activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Effectively Devised Organization Strategy Would Allow a Company to: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Set Direction and Priorities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Without clear direction, a business can continue to do many tasks without achieving any meaningful change. An organizational strategy provides your business with priorities. It defines success and shows you what activities you should execute first in order to move your business toward your eventual goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Align Teams and Departments<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the most difficult things to achieve in any business is getting teams and departments to work towards a common goal. Without an organizational strategy that\u2019s nearly impossible. When you set an overarching strategy \u2014 even if it\u2019s board, it gives employees something to get behind and creates alignment within and among departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simplifies Decision Making<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the most difficult things to achieve in any business is getting teams and departments to work towards a common goal. Without an organizational strategy, that\u2019s nearly impossible. When you set an overarching strategy \u2014 even if it\u2019s broad, it gives employees something to get behind and creates alignment within and among departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A clear organizational strategy allows you to make decisions that are in line with achieving your goals. It helps reduce choices and provides a way to assess different options more accurately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allows Adaptability <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A focused organizational strategy allows teams to be more nimble and adapt to obstacles much better. It continually measures the distance between where you currently are and what your eventual goal is. It allows you to take corrective measures when certain aspects of your business are going off track. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Levels of Strategy:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An organization should base every decision it makes on its overall strategy. If the strategy is poorly chosen or formulated, it has cascading effects on the effectiveness of employees in pretty much every department within the organization. There are three levels of strategy that exist in every organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Corporate-Level Strategy <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Corporate strategy deals with the big picture questions like what business an organization should be involved in, how to gain competitive advantages in an industry, and how to establish the optimal set of business practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Functional-Level Strategy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A functional-level strategy aims at improving the internal operations of a company. It is concerned with the efficiencies within a department and usually consists of several sub-strategies related to each department like, \u2018Marketing Strategy<\/a>\u2019, \u2018Human Resource Strategy<\/a>\u2019 or \u2018R&D Strategy\u2019. The goal is to align these strategies as much as possible with the greater corporate strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business-Level Strategy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Broadly speaking, a business-level strategy answers the \u2018how do we\u2019 questions of an organization. In order to answer these questions, it is important to first have a good understanding of a business and its external environment. Business-level strategy is aimed at gaining a competitive advantage by offering true value for customers to gain sustainable and inimitable competitive advantages within the competitive landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pyramid of Clarity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Pyramid of Clarity is a strategic thinking tool developed by Asana. It is used as a framework to connect everyday tasks to strategic objectives. Everyone in the organization can now understand how and what they are doing ladders up to the company\u2019s vision. It helps teams stay on the same page, build confidence in strategy and execution, and help individuals make decisions that are in line with the big picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every task is connected to a project, which is part of a portfolio, which is connected to a goal that supports the company’s vision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pyramid of Clarity can serve as a guiding light that helps teams decide what to work on every single day. Team members use it to prioritize tasks that help achieve their Key Result Areas which in turn helps achieve annual objectives which ultimately help achieve a company’s mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy Mapping <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A strategy map is a visual representation of an organization\u2019s overall objectives and how they relate to one another. It is a powerful strategic planning tool<\/a> that showcases the entire strategy of an organization in one place. It illustrates the cause and effect relationship between the components of an organizational strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strategy map forces the organization to think about how the various functions interact with and support each other and therefore results in alignment around the strategy, which makes for much easier implementation and execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Strategy<\/a>
Strategy Mapping Software<\/a> ( click to edit the template online)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A typical strategy map organizes objectives or perspectives into four categories, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n