Developing a rock-solid business strategy is tough work. You pour over financials, assess capabilities, analyze competitors, and chart out goals. But just having a thoughtful strategy isn’t enough. For it to come alive, you’ve got to communicate it clearly across your entire organization.

When I first became CEO, I learned this lesson the hard way. We had crafted what I thought was an amazing 3-year strategy. I gathered the leadership team and gave an enthusiastic speech explaining the strategic direction. Everyone nodded, and we moved forward.

Six months later, our strategy was sputtering. Turns out, while the executives understood it, the information never really made it to middle managers or frontline employees. I had to step back and realized I’d failed at cascading communication across the organization. Once we course-corrected and overcommunicated the strategy through multiple methods, we got everyone aligned.

In this post, I want to have an honest discussion about the best practices I’ve learned for communicating business strategy in a way that informs, engages and motivates employees across the org chart. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, so hopefully you can avoid my blunders and turn your employees into an army aligned around strategic success.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Why strategy communication matters

Common barriers that get in the way

Tips for communicating strategy effectively

Creative ways to cascade messages across the company

Adapting communication for different audiences

Making it ongoing all year long

Measuring impact and continuously improving

Sound good? Let’s dive in.

Why Communicating Strategy is Important

Communicating strategy is critically important for several reasons:

– Alignment – When all employees understand the organization’s strategic priorities, their work can align with strategy. This prevents wasted, misaligned effort that does not contribute to strategic goals.

– Prioritization – With a clear picture of strategic priorities, employees can make better decisions about where to focus effort, resources, and budgets.

– Coordination – Open communication about strategy allows different departments, business units, and locations to coordinate plans and activities to support strategy.

– Motivation – Employees feel more engaged and motivated when they grasp strategy and feel their work matters to strategic success.

– Innovation – Understanding strategy helps spark innovative ideas from employees about how to advance the strategy.

– Change management – Communication helps employees understand why change is happening, reducing resistance to organizational change efforts.

– Competitive advantage – An organization that communicates strategy well can out-execute competitors, creating a strategic edge.

Overall, strategic communication leads to stronger execution, better decisions, and more motivated employees. Organizations that fail to communicate strategy often see high levels of confusion, misalignment, and wasted resources. Make communicating your strategy a priority.

Barriers to Effective Strategic Communication

While communicating strategy is critical, it is not always done well. Common barriers include:

– Complexity – Strategies often involve complex concepts that are difficult to explain simply. Leaders struggle to summarize strategy in an accessible way.

– Jargon – Executives sometimes slip into using too much business jargon that frustrates and confuses other employees.

– Lack of repetition – Leaders communicate strategy once without reinforcing the message through ongoing, repetitive communication. The message gets drowned out and forgotten.

– Siloed thinking – When departments operate in isolation, they do not see how their piece fits the broader strategy. Siloed thinking impedes open communication.

– Leadership changes – New executives bring strategic changes but fail to explain the rationale behind their new strategic direction.

– Complacency – When an organization has been successful for a long time, leaders become complacent about communicating strategy.

These common pitfalls prevent successful cascading of strategy across the organization. Thoughtful planning is required to share strategy in a way that informs and engages employees.

Best Practices for Communicating Strategy

To communicate strategy effectively, keep these best practices in mind:

– Translate complexity into simplicity – The essence of strategy should be summarized in simple, accessible language and concepts. Capture strategy in themes and messages. 

– Reinforce regularly – Do not view strategic communication as a one-time event. The message must be reinforced through regular, consistent communication via multiple channels.

– Customize for each audience – Different audiences care about different aspects of strategy. Customize communication for relevance to each group.

– Empower leadership at all levels – Managers across the organization should champion the strategic message to their teams. This amplifies cascading.

– Listen and engage – Communication should be two-way. Leaders must listen and engage with employees to fuel ongoing dialogue about strategy.

– Overcommunicate – It is hard to overcommunicate strategic messages. Repetition through multiple methods and channels is advised.

Following these best practices will allow you to convey strategic messages in a way that excites, empowers, and enables employees across the organization.

Tools and Channels for Sharing Strategy

Leaders should utilize a variety of tools and communication channels to share strategy, including:

– Town halls – Large, interactive meetings allow leadership to explain the strategy. Include time for employees to ask questions.

– Small team meetings – Local managers hold smaller meetings with their teams to reinforce strategy and make it relevant.

– Internal social networks – Tools like Yammer facilitate online discussion of strategy across the company. Employees and leaders can provide commentary.

– Email newsletters – Regular email updates from leadership share strategic progress and reinforce key messages.

– Posters/flyers – Visual collateral posted around offices broadcasts strategy in a simple, repeatable way.

– Strategy intranet – A dedicated intranet site acts as an always-available resource for learning about strategy. 

– Training/onboarding – Training programs integrate education about company strategy for all employees.

– CEO videos – Short homemade videos with the CEO explaining aspects of strategy in a personal way.

– Storytelling – Storytelling makes strategy real by tying it to concrete examples and case studies.

Using a multimedia approach allows strategic messages to be conveyed broadly and reinforced regularly from multiple sources.

Adapting Communication for Different Audiences

While strategy should be conveyed across the organization, communication should be tailored and adapted based on the intended audience:

Senior leaders – Focus on the big picture vision and direction for the future. Provide comprehensive updates on strategic plans and progress.

Middle managers – Help them understand their role in breaking strategy into specific objectives and initiatives within their divisions. How do they cascade messages downward?

Frontline employees – Explain specifically how an individual employee contributes directly to strategic success through their work. Make it very relevant.

Partners/vendors – Share high-level strategy focused on how it affects partner relationships and joint success. Co-create aligned objectives.

Customers – Communicate external-facing aspects of strategy like new products, services, markets, and capabilities. Build excitement.

When messages are tailored using the right language and focus areas for each audience, communication is more relevant, inspiring, and actionable.

Making Strategy Communication Ongoing 

The biggest mistake organizations make is viewing strategic communication as a one-time effort or annual event. This is insufficient. For strategy to take hold, it must be communicated repeatedly and consistently at all levels. 

Consider making strategic communication ongoing through:

– Monthly or quarterly leadership town halls

– Regular email newsletters and videos

– Team meeting discussions twice yearly

– New hire orientation focused on strategy immersion

– Annual refresher and update training on strategy

– Campaigns, posters, intranet sites, and events oriented around strategy

By keeping strategy front and center in the organization’s consciousness year-round, it becomes woven into the fabric of the business. Employees will understand their role in executing the plan.

Measuring the Impact of Strategic Communication

It is important to measure the effectiveness of strategic communication and cascade efforts. This ensures messages are hitting home with employees and influencing their performance.

Ways to gauge impact include:

– Surveys – Survey employees regularly to assess their strategic understanding and sentiment. Track trends over time.

– Quizzes – Test comprehension of strategic facts through online quizzes. Identify knowledge gaps.

– Interviews – Have conversations with a cross-section of employees at all levels to probe their strategic knowledge. 

– Focus groups – Bring together groups of employees to have an open discussion about their perceptions of strategy.

– Web analytics – If strategy information is available online or via email, track readership, clicks, and shares.

– Leadership feedback – Check in with managers regularly about how well their direct reports grasp and can apply strategy.

Proactively measuring strategic communication allows you to identify gaps and continue tailoring messages and cascade efforts to maximize their impact. It becomes an ongoing process of conveyance, measurement, and refinement.

Conclusion

The only way an organization’s strategy can be successfully executed is if it is clearly communicated, understood, and embraced across the enterprise. Leaders must view strategic communication as an ongoing initiative rather than a one-time event. Tailoring messages, utilizing diverse channels, empowering managers, and measuring impact will enable robust cascade of your strategy. The result will be informed, aligned, and motivated employees who actively advance your most important strategic goals. Make a commitment today to communicate often and communicate with purpose.