Have You Got A To-Stop List?

Implementation Tip – No 1

As part of the blog we will intermittently post valuable tips that we have learned from clients or developed in Bridges. These are powerful actions that have made a difference in an organization’s implementation journey.

To-Stop List

Everyone has a to-do list and at the end of the strategy planning but how many leaders take the time to identify the behaviors and actions that are obsolete with the launch of the new strategy?

When we ask the leadership team to identify the behaviors and actions that should be stopped, typically their list is twice as long as the to-do list.

Changing strategy means changing what you are asking your staff members to do every day and leaders have a responsibility to clarify what is no longer required just as much as to clarify what is required. The benefit of telling them what is no longer obligatory is significant as many staff members are confused during the launch of a new strategy. They are not sure about what is expected from them and what is not) and what they need to do (and what they don’t). By answering these questions leaders go a long way to demystify the confusion and optimize staff member’s time. This also allows staff members to grasp the new strategy faster which in turn produces faster traction, quicker early successes and quicker success stories that leaders can shout out.

On average 33 per cent of staff member’s work in a large organization is non-value adding. The to-stop list ensures staff members are not wasting time taking actions that are no longer needed, doing rework or doing work that is no longer of value, for example, gathering data for a report that is obsolete or promoting a product that is no longer part of the strategy. The to-stop list identifies, for example, the products that should no longer be sold, or the services that should no longer be offered, or the markets that should no longer be targeted. One bank in the Middle East was developing a new credit card targeted at its mass customers. It was only after the planning was completed and the marketing was being developed that it was realized that the card was for a market that the bank was no longer targeting. The card project was immediately stopped, but the time staff members had spent on the project that was not in sync with the new strategy that the leaders had spent 18 months developing, was of course lost forever along with the investment.

Take the time when launching a new strategy to tell your staff members what to stop doing.