Strategic Priorities > Pitstop Critical Projects / Initiatives
Got a strategy, initiative or critical project that is too important to fail?
Pit-stop your strategy, initiative or critical project to illuminate KSFs and risks, including hidden obstacles and blind-spots.
The process is powered by data and fueled by engagement. The result is new clarity and alignment, plus greater confidence & commitment.
Is your critical initiative on track for success?
The process of pit-stopping a strategic priority or critical initiative involves the following 5 levels of data & analysis:
1. Ensure clarity & alignment re the key business fundamentals of your
priority / initiative. This is key to connecting to business needs & strategy, accessing power & securing resources.
2. Illuminate KSFs & risks to the execution of your strategic priority or initiative (incl. those normally hidden). This will illuminate ways to generate momentum & accelerate success.
3. Explore the talent / team implications of your priority/initiative, including ways of working and interacting within the team. Are all the right people in the right roles, doing the right work and so on?
4. Stakeholders share their perspectives online. The objective is to energize & engage key internal stakeholders, also to illuminate any misalignment or unmanaged expectation.
5. Ensure an open and honest assessment of & robust dialog regarding the status of your priority or initiative. The objective is to improve agility & prevent surprises, also to generate energy & engagement.
Scroll down to explore the process by watching the next video
Progressively pit-stop your strategic priority or critical initiative(s) with new insight & data on:
- Business Fundamentals
- KSFs & Risks
- Project Talent/Team
- Stakeholders
- Project Status/Safety.
Explore each of these aspects of your key project/initiative using the video here. Press pause at any time to use the checklists & prompts.
Pit-stopping strategies & initiatives in the following areas:
Technology Initiatives
- Digital Transformation
- New Processes or Systems
- Infrastructure – New or Refresh
Growth Initiatives
- New Products Launches
- New Business Models / Channels
- Revenue Performance Mgt.
Organizational Initiatives
- Organizational Re-structure
- Operational Excellence
- Regulatory Compliance
Pit-stopping Strategic Priorities & Critical Initiatives: Insights on the Key Opportunities & Challenges
Strategic Ambition: Moonshot or Marginal Gain?
Business Unusual: How Strategic Is Your Initiative?
Is your strategic initiative being managed like a critical project?
How important is the first mile for your project?
Want to go deeper? FAQs on Pit-stopping Strategic Priorities & Critical Initiatives:
How will you know if your team needs to pitstop its critical project(s) or initiative(s)?
Here are the most common reasons:
- A strategy initiative or project is critical and cannot fail.
- The initiative is complex and is likely to stretch the organisation / team.
- The level of ambition behind an initiative is too high or too low.
- Confidence in the execution of a strategic initiative is below 75%.
- To help you to get your project approved internally, secure resources and executive support.
- There is a high level of risk around an initiative, when it is high profile or high visibility.
- The project team is new or is struggling to pull together and make things happen.
- Aligning stakeholders or ensuring cross-functional collaboration is proving a challenge.
- The organisation has a legacy of failed initiatives.
- Greater speed and agility, as well as collaboration and innovation are required.
- There is a proliferation of projects – too many projects competing for the same resources.
Pitstops are ideal for leaders who are under pressure to deliver critical strategic initiatives, including:
Growth-related Initiatives
- New Products Launches
- New Business Models / Channels
- Revenue Performance Mgt.
Technology Initiatives
- New Processes or Systems
- Infrastructure – New or Refresh
- Digital Transformation
Organizational Initiatives
- Organizational Re-structure
- Operational Excellence
- Regulatory Compliance
A systematic analysis of confidence and ambition in respect of critical projects and initiatives, including key success factors and risks. Data plays a key role in the process – with a mix of qualitative and quantitative data painting the full picture.
Data is captured online as well as during pitstops from the leader, the team and key stakeholders. The data is used to check for hidden risks and blind spots, as well as to balance safety with respectful challenge. Most importantly, the process of analysis generates new awareness and dialogue within teams, with powerful data modelling and visualization bringing the data to life and telling a story.
The Priority Track™ is a map of the KSF and risks in the execution of strategic initiatives. It is the journey from strategy to success, illuminating the real world opportunities and challenges faced by leaders as they execute on their ambitious strategies.
In line with best practice we adopt a ‘work the team while working on the project‘ approach – unlocking the performance potential of the team while at the same time aligning project confidence and ambition or tackling project KSFs and Risks.
Thus, the Priority Track™ is integrated with Pitstop to Perform™ and Pitstop to Align™. This recognizes the fact that for many projects the ‘project team’ represents the hidden 51% of project success/risk.
Pitstop to Perform™ uses imagery and concepts from F1 to reframe the conversation about performance – to depersonalize and depoliticize it – to generate openness, ownership and creativity.
However, it is not about racing, but rather the performance and potential of your team and its critical projects/initiatives. You don’t need to be fan of F1™!
If you are curious or interested in the performance-obsessed arena of F1, then it can be a source of inspiration to managers who must also perform under pressure (see video).
Change is at the heart of any ambitious strategic initiative. With this in mind pitstops are based on a six-step group engage-change model designed to accelerate ownership and accountability for change.
A key objective is to create an environment for executives to open up and have honest, respectful and yet challenging dialogue. Such dialogue is often referred to as a ‘Strategic Conversation’ – the type of conversation that is strategically important but tends not to happen in the day to day running of the business.
Applied research with almost 2000 teams and their strategic priorities / key projects. Sample the research topics and findings here.
The track builds on the research behind Pitstop to Perform, as published in a series of 5 books.
Over 10,000 pages of background research, including books and reports.
