Written by Len Cristobal

Have you ever carried out an initiative that seemed promising and transformational at the start, but, for some reason, didn’t pan out as you had hoped for? One might sense that something happened between ideation and execution—like being excited to see a film or read a book because of its interesting premise, only to be disappointed when the story doesn’t live up to the hype. In strategy and performance management, this sense of anticlimax signals strategy failure.

According to the State of Strategy Management Practice Report 2024 - MENA Region, 52% of professionals acknowledge that they are aware of instances when the execution of strategies has failed in their organizations. Among the reasons cited by the report for strategy failure are ineffective cross-functional collaboration, lack of leadership support, slow decision-making and approval, and insufficient resources for projects to succeed. These areas are generally organized and addressed in initiative management, where best practices are shaped by the principles of project management.

Thus, the “storyline” of your initiative unfolds in initiative management, which is defined by The KPI Institute (TKI) as the organized handling of all initiatives within an organization. These initiatives refer to all types of actions resulting from performance review meetings, from large-scale projects like construction work to simple improvement actions like the development of a new database for product orders. This means that initiatives are associated with the organization’s strategic objectives.

Initiative management is a crucial enabler for the performance improvement process, which is mainly about the conversion of performance data from metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) into valuable information for decision-making and ensuring the execution of actions and initiatives. Evaluating the effectiveness of this process and validating how it is carried out can be done through the Performance Improvement Maturity Model Framework V1.0. This framework was developed by the Global Performance Audit Unit to assess the maturity levels in performance improvement, specifically competence and technology in analyzing data, ability to report performance effectively, the extent to which KPI results are used in the decision-making process, and action-oriented management and efficient project deployment.

In TKI’s view, among the components of the performance improvement process, initiative management has the most direct impact on an organization’s improvement capability because it is designed to bring performance data to life.

Best Practices for Initiative Management

Storytelling, whether in films or books, is both an art and a science. Its structure is typically defined by the beginning, climax, and the end or resolution, but it is the blend of characters, scenes, and dialogues that add nuance and profundity to the story. Figuratively, the same thing can happen within the parameters of initiative management.

Beginning: Initiative management starts with identifying and documenting key information: strategic objective, initiative name, activities, KPIs, status, target, and the initiative owner or coordinator.

Organizations should come up with initiative documentation forms to lay down the scope of the project, budget, team allocated, outputs, milestones, and deadlines. These forms must be centralized in an internal library of initiatives as a means to develop a knowledge database of all past and current projects. Another similar documentation is the business case, which is used to present and justify the details of projects.

To monitor strategic projects, organizations are encouraged to use a portfolio of initiatives, which is defined by TKI as a centralizing document that indicates progress, accountability, and other observations related to project implementation. Basically, the performance of project execution is tracked using a portfolio of initiatives and can be discussed with top management quarterly or monthly, depending on the nature or progress of the initiative.

When managing a portfolio of initiatives, organizations are encouraged to focus on initiatives that support the attainment of their objectives. But how is this decided upon? Nowadays, data-driven decision-making has been driving initiative prioritization. The State of Strategy Management Practice Report 2024 shows that, in terms of initiative prioritization, 36% of the surveyed professionals rely solely on data and facts, compared to 22% last year, while reliance on executives’ assumptions and business instincts declined from 32% to 22%.

Climax: The execution of initiatives does not always have a smooth narrative. Like in any story, there may be conflicts, twists, or unexpected challenges that can stand in the way of the protagonist. When this happens in initiative management, the initiative or project managers who are responsible for overseeing the implementation status must figure out what is causing problems.

To support this, Andreea Vecerdea, the Chief Operating Officer of TKI, recommends the use of initiative progress reports. She emphasized the importance of having clarity on the progress of each initiative and performing actions that can bring the project back on track. “If we wait until the initiative is almost finished, and only then we identify that the project will be delayed, and not implemented according to the initial requirements, it will be too late to take any mending actions,” she explains.

In terms of the project progress reporting cycle, the findings of the State of Strategy Management Practice Report 2024 highlight that 33% of respondents conduct quarterly reporting for progress on strategic projects. Monthly reporting comes next at 24% and annual reporting at 18%. The report notes, “Keeping stakeholders informed regularly allows for quick identification of any issues or roadblocks that may arise…and helps maintain alignment and momentum towards strategic objectives, ensuring that everyone is on track and working towards the same goals.”

End or Resolution: The final act of a movie or book usually ties all the strings of its story together. This is when the protagonist—and the audience—comes up with profound realizations and insights. Similarly, once a project is complete, organizations reflect on its execution and what could be improved for the next time. TKI’s recommended tools for this purpose are the lessons learned register, which centralizes previous experiences and recommendations, and the change log, which can be used throughout the project lifecycle to monitor the adjustments being made to the project.

Takeaway

These best practices can be tailored to an organization’s needs and objectives. It is also important to understand that, sometimes, you have the right strategy but not the right people, tools, or systems. One way to minimize the chance of this happening is to have a structured approach to initiative or project management in place, from having standardized reporting templates to ensuring strategy alignment so the organization achieves its desired outcomes. Beyond these processes is a call for leaders to be aware of their role in driving strategic goals and provide meaningful support for implementing initiatives.

And as for initiatives that fell short or ideas that got lost in translation, consider them turning points in your story. It is in the most challenging times that the most impactful lessons are learned and a triumphant character emerges.