Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/1313392
26 | GEOSPATIAL STRATEGY ESSENTIALS FOR MANAGERS MATTHEW LEWIN strategy and determining viability at a holistic level. Step 5: Plan for Change With your strategy in hand, the final step is to put it into action. An implementation plan takes your strategy from a theory of success to an actionable set of initiatives and investments. A lot of your success will be determined by how well you enable and manage change. Change management is a big topic. Too big for an in-depth discussion here. However, for strategic planning purposes, you should at a minimum focus on a few key tenets of change. These can make or break your strategy. • Leadership commitment: One of the most impactful but overlooked aspects of strategy execution is the level of involvement from leadership. Commitment from the top can go a long way to overcoming barriers and the inevitable hiccups that you might encounter. Develop a program steering committee that includes relevant senior leadership. Gain their support and make them accountable for mobilizing organizational resources and enabling connections amongst stakeholders. • Prioritization: In a world of scarce resources, you won't be able to do everything envisioned in your strategy. Not in the first year. You need to set priorities. Take an objective approach to prioritization and consider the balance of cost, risk and benefits at the tactical level. Review my previous article to understand how. • Measuring progress: What gets measured gets done. Monitoring the progress of initiatives and tracking business benefits keeps you honest. Develop performance metrics for the initiatives and investments in your roadmap, and make sure they are relatively easy to measure and track. • Iterative execution: The further out you plan, the greater the uncertainty. Change is inevitable due to shifts in business priorities or technology direction. An iterative implementation approach can help to mitigate the impact. Build the initial version of your plan with a long-term view in mind. Then, regularly review progress and adjust course as necessary. A semi-annual or annual review and revise process is best. Follow the Deming Cycle of plan, do, check and act. This is a tried and tested process for iteratively planning and executing a roadmap. Remember, no strategy lasts forever. As your business changes so will your geospatial strategy. Be sure to continually scan the external environment and the user community and look for new challenges and opportunities. Filter these back through the five steps and determine if a new strategy is in order. If it is, get working!