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Strategy Execution Assessment

"How well are we executing our strategy?”

The Strategy Execution Assessment Tool is designed to help organizations answer this question, provide a baseline for measuring strategy execution progress, and develop a roadmap for making improvements in five areas critical to successful strategy execution. The critical success areas are: leadership and governance, alignment, performance analysis and reporting, strategic project and portfolio management, and change management.
 
The survey consists of a set of attribute statements that describe successful strategy execution in each of the five areas. A seven-point scale from “strongly disagree to strongly agree” is used to score strategy execution performance; a “Not Applicable” response is also included if a statement is not applicable to your organization.
 
Survey results are aggregated by area and an overall performance score is calculated. Assessment survey results will be entered anonymously into our research database and shared with our performance management community. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.

This assessment is designed, administered and managed by the Strategy Management Group, Inc./Balanced Scorecard Institute. ©1997-2023. All rights reserved.
1.Leadership and Governance
Strong leadership and good governance are foundational in organizations that execute strategy well. In these organizations, roles and responsibilities are clearly defined for Boards, C-level executives and managers and supervisors. Communicating clearly, especially vision and strategy, eliminating obstacles, motivating desired behaviors creating accountability -- both individual and collective --, and supporting the workforce are critical success factors.

At what level do you agree that the Strategy Execution attributes (listed in the first column) regarding Leadership and Governance exist in your organization?(Required.)
Not applicable
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Somewhat disagree
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Somewhat agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly agree
1. Organization Core Values are clearly articulated and widely disseminated; leaders “walk the talk”
2. Key policy guidance, such as Vision, Mission, and/or Strategy, is clearly communicated throughout the organization
3. Customer needs and expectations are understood and acted upon
4. Executive actions reflect Board guidance and oversight
5. Leaders' roles and responsibilities are clear and are clearly communicated
6. Leaders create ownership and accountability in managers and staff
7. Obstacles and challenges to organization success are recognized and addressed by the Board and leadership
2.Performance Culture
Creating a performance-oriented culture in an organization involves “changing hearts and minds”. Agility and innovation are “baked in” to the way performance organizations think and behave. Considerations include: executives who lead change efforts, identifying and overcoming resistance to change at different organization levels, understanding different change models, clear communications throughout the organization, implications of moving to a stronger performance culture, motivation, and building winning teams” to create a strong performance culture, and cultivate strong and motivated teams.

At what level do you agree that the Strategy Execution attributes (listed in the first column) related to Performance Culture exist in your organization?(Required.)
Not applicable
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Somewhat disagree
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Somewhat agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly agree
1. Employees are engaged, empowered, and valued
2. Innovation and agility are valued and evident
3. Personal and collective accountability for results and interactive problem solving are practiced
4. Organization culture is characterized by a high level of trust and teamwork
5. Organization tolerance for risk is understood throughout the organization
6. Internal and external communications are effective
7. Desired behaviors are recognized, rewarded, and incentivized
8. The need for change is communicated and accepted
3.Alignment and Operational Strategy
In aligned organizations, work gets done in an agile and efficient manner across organization units, employees are empowered to succeed and know where they fit in and how their work contributes to success, processes are improved and aligned to strategy to efficiently satisfy customer needs, employee personal objectives are aligned to department strategy which in turn is aligned to corporate strategy, and budget and human resource processes are informed with strategy inputs from the strategic planning process.

At what level do you agree that the Strategy Execution attributes (listed in the first column) regarding Alignment and Operational Strategy exist in your organization?
(Required.)
Not applicable
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Somewhat disagree
5 = Neither agree nor disagree
6 = Somewhat agree
7 = Agree
8 = Strongly agree
1. Corporate strategic intent is translated into business and support unit operations
2. Employees are aligned to strategy and department goals
3. Employee positions and performance reviews and rewards, recognition, and incentives are aligned to strategy and goals
4. Processes are aligned to strategy and are efficient
5. Performance information informs the budget formulation process and the budget is aligned to strategy
6. An enterprise-wide strategy performance management system is in place to support strategy, operations, and personnel
4.Performance Analysis and Reporting
To get to performance information that is useful and used, performance data is transformed into information and then into business intelligence. Visual communication and context help users get maximum benefit from performance information. To become useful, several critical success factors come into play: finding the right measures for strategy, operations, projects, risk and behavior, verifying and validating performance data, understanding roles and responsibilities for reporting, reporting cadence and follow through, understanding different methodologies for developing and using measures, visualizing performance information, and engaging leadership.

At what level do you agree that the Strategy Execution attributes (listed in the first column) regarding Performance Analysis and Reporting exist in your organization?(Required.)
Not applicable
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Somewhat disagree
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Somewhat agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly agree
1. Performance measures are meaningful, and performance data and information are valid and trusted
2. Performance reporting is comprehensive, taken seriously, and technology provides information that is useful and used
3. Performance reporting is clearly linked to strategic intent and operational progress with goal progress tracking
4. Progress against goals is trended over time
5. Performance information is shared throughout the organization
6. Analysis of performance data yields useful information for decision making
7. Dashboard and visualization design are good, leading to meaningful reports and useful information reported regularly
8. Performance information is benchmarked against other organizations
5.Strategic Project and Portfolio Management
Managing projects and portfolios of projects are critical to successful strategy execution.  Various methodologies are available to manage projects and portfolios, and project managers are only part of the solution for aligning projects to strategy and managing more strategically. Other important components include governance, project review boards, enterprise capacity, prioritization approaches, Strategy Management Office/Project Management Office (SMO/PMO) roles and responsibilities, and reporting approaches.

At what level do you agree that the Strategy Execution attributes (listed in the first column) regarding Strategic Project and Portfolio Management exist in your organization?
(Required.)
Not applicable
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Somewhat disagree
4 = Neither agree nor disagree
5 = Somewhat agree
6 = Agree
7 = Strongly agree
1. Project management skillsets include strategic management and are matched to enterprise needs
2. Leaders effectively lead and manage the enterprise project portfolio
3. Projects and portfolios are prioritized based on strategic enterprise needs and capacity
4. Projects are managed strategically
5. Project schedules are managed and planned deliverables are met
6. Project/Portfolio KPIs include both operational performance measures and measures of strategic outcomes
6.Which of the following best describes the principal industry of your organization?
7.How many people does your organization employ?(Required.)
8.Your Contact Information
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