How to move strategy away from spreadsheets and slides

So you’ve invested time into planning a strategy, and put a lot of effort and resources into execution, but it still isn’t going exactly how you envisioned. You’ve got all of your spreadsheets and slideshows with, what feels like, all the information you could possibly need and yet, you’re somehow falling short of your targets.

Using traditional tools, like Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, can create gaps in visibility when executing your plans; they’re static pieces of software that weren’t designed to support continuous strategy or cross-functional collaboration. Spreadsheets and slides are useful in the very early stages of strategy, but lack many of the features required in modern strategy execution.

We won’t dwell on why you should move your strategy away from spreadsheets and slides, but rather focus on helping you make the transition to something that will help you improve both your strategy planning and execution… Strategy software.

Why should I use strategy software?

Strategy software is purpose-built and uses various tried and tested frameworks (such as the x-matrix, bowling charts, OODA loop – just to name a few) to guide you throughout the end-to-end strategy process. Unlike static software, purpose-built platforms enable real-time insights and centralized data management that support collaboration. Rather than relying on manual reporting and periodic updates, strategy software consolidates all relevant information and ensures that all project stakeholders are working towards the same shared goal.

It also allows for automated and continuous progress tracking, enabling you to dive into the metrics and understand how your strategy is unfolding: what’s working, and what needs optimizing for the best chance of success. This helps teams to make more informed decisions, turning strategy into a dynamic process.

However, we aren’t saying that strategy software should completely replace spreadsheets and slides – they still have their place in our working lives. But, strategy software should be viewed as a way to elevate your current processes, offering you clarity and adaptability that you can’t get from spreadsheets and slides alone.

How to make the transition

Moving away from spreadsheets and slides isn’t about ceasing all your current ways of working to start completely afresh. Investing in strategy software is a way for you to improve upon the foundations you have already built, but using more sustainable and scalable methods.

Audit your processes

Like many other business activities, it’s important you begin with an audit of your current strategy process to understand your starting point. This will give you clarity on your situation – what’s working, and what needs immediate or future improvements.

For your audit, look at what tools and frameworks you currently use to plan and execute strategy (for example, how you design goals and objectives, timescales and deadlines, resources, and reporting metrics) to highlight any gaps within this process. You should gain critical insight into areas where you feel you fall short or where bottlenecks usually occur. Using feedback from retrospective meetings can assist this part of the process.

Taking time at the beginning of the transition will support in creating a firm plan of what you want to carry forward and which processes are no longer serving you. From here, you will be able to understand exactly what you require from strategy software to best meet your needs.

Research your requirements

Now you have a high-level plan of what will help your organization, it’s time to define your specific requirements. You will need to look for software that has both the right functionality for your organization’s needs, and will be able to support you as you grow.

When researching, it’s important you consider:

• Capabilities: What exactly do you need from the software? Does it offer real-time dashboards, automated progress tracking, centralized data, and levels of control? Will these features enable you to improve your efficiency in executing your strategy? Compare the software’s capabilities with your list of requirements to determine a good fit.

• Strategic alignment: Alignment is the most common reason why a strategy fails – especially when using different types of software across various business functions. Not only does strategy software ensure everyone is working from one, singular platform, but also demonstrates the connection between your objectives and activities, and how their individual outcomes all contribute to your end goal.

• Scalability: As your business grows, and your strategy becomes more complex (or involves additional elements) – will the software be able to support this? Will your chosen software enable you to grow and scale, according to your strategy? The right platform will reduce time invested in strategy administration and improve reporting accuracy, allowing you to focus on execution.

• Ease of use: Ensure that the system will be easy to use and integrate seamlessly with your current IT infrastructure. If project stakeholders aren’t able to understand the software, it won’t be used to its maximum potential, limiting the value it can bring to your processes. If the software isn’t user friendly, and difficult to use, this will cause frustration within your organization and you might have to go back to the drawing board (or to your beloved spreadsheets and slides!).
  

Adoption and integration

Adopting new software and processes is more than learning about how the software works. It requires appropriate training and (perhaps) a slight shift in your organization’s mindset. For the adoption phase to go well, you need to create internal buy-in. This encompasses explaining the reasons for the change, why you’re transitioning to strategy software, and how you expect it to support you in your strategic endeavours. Your teams must trust that this is the right decision and believe in the expected outcomes.

You might find that, in the lead up to implementing your new software, you could introduce smaller, habitual process changes that ease the transition in – for example, regular reporting cycles using frameworks such as OKRs. In this period, reducing or limiting reliance on spreadsheets and slides for strategic initiatives will also make it easier when migrating to your new system.

It’s also important that everyone expected to use the platform receives adequate training. This includes general training around how the software works, but also how you envisage the software being used by team members going forward. Strategy software doesn’t necessarily only need to be used for long-term goals, but can become part of a team’s daily operations, too.

Designating champions within each business function ensures that employees always know there is someone they can turn to for help, rather than struggling or refusing to use your new system. Encourage feedback from different parts of your business to understand how the transition is going and how the software is being received.

Next steps

Moving away from spreadsheets and slides doesn’t have to be a total upheaval of your processes. It’s about evolving how you currently plan and execute your strategy to improve your outcomes. Investing in tools and software to help you do this should build upon the foundations you have in place, so you can act with both clarity and confidence.

Through making the change, you will be able to improve your strategic alignment and make more informed decisions in your execution phase. Using strategy software enables you to do this better than spreadsheets and slides thanks to features like automated progress tracking, real-time insights, and deeper data analysis.

Spreadsheets and slides will certainly not be forgotten about any time soon, but they limit your ability to quickly identify trends and make connections between your activities and objectives. Investing in the right software for your needs will elevate your strategic process from static and ad-hoc to continuous execution and improvement, enabling you to achieve your end goals more efficiently.