1. Building Leadership Capacity
Slide Intent
Cover slide
Translating Strategy
New Reality Leadership
Copyright New Reality Leadership, LLC
January 2019

2. Objectives
Learn and apply a strategic communication process to engage employees to execute their work effectively by:
Understanding the importance of translating corporate strategies and changes to frontline employees
Gaining value for engaging all employees in the development of corporate strategy
Applying a five-step communication tool
Slide Intent
Present objectives.
Key Messages
Facilitation Notes

3. Agenda 1. You are the Coach 2. The Assessment
Getting Started
1. You are the Coach
2. The Assessment
3. Five-Step Process to Translate Strategy
4. Translating Corporate Strategies
5. Application
6. Maximizing Performance at an Accelerated Rate
7. Competency Focus
8. Summary and Application
Slide Intent
Present the Agenda.
Key Messages
Share the agenda. Post this on the wall either by making a poster from this slide or making a chart.
Facilitation Notes
By posting the agenda, you can refer to it as you work through the session. Participants like to know where they are in the overall session.

4. Exercise: Translating Corporate Goals
Context
How well do you understand your corporate or business strategies? It is important to be able to interpret these and translate them to your employees
To Do
Using the given goals or strategies, describe what the strategy means in your own words. Then describe how, or if, your work supports the goals.
How
Work in assigned groups for this discussion and report back one or two examples to the large group.
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions.
Key Messages
Intent: Participants see how well they understand the corporate strategies and if they can connect their work to one or more strategies.
Provide copies of corporate or business strategies to the teams. Ask each team to describe the strategy in their own words and then share how their work supports the goal.
Facilitation Notes
A corporate goal might be to increase customers from 5000 to 7500 during the year. The sales team probably has a clear connection. IT people have a connection but it may not be as clear. It is important that each person know the goal and how their work supports it. Not all personal goals support every corporate goal but there should be an overall alignment.
7 minutes

5. 1. You are the Coach Exercise
In groups, read your case and determine what the leader did well or could improve in their strategy translation communication.
Make notes in your workbook and share back with larger group.
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions.
Key Messages
These cases are based on actual events and show positive or negative leader approaches that relate to translating strategy.
There is space in the workbook for notes.
Facilitation Notes
7 minutes

6. Linking to a Business Result
Translating Strategy
Acceptable Return on Investment
Corporate goal
Example of
Linking to a Business Result
An operator needs to see the link between cross training and business impact
Communication
All Product to Market 2 years earlier
Business goal
Increase Manufacturing Up Time
Site goal
Increase Operator Flexibility
Slide Intent
Show real example of how a specific goal for operators supported a strategic goal.
Key Messages
When a corporation creates a strategy, each layer of the organization may have specific related goals.
In this case, a company created products that often took 7 years to reach the market once they started the process. One step of the research was to make small quantities of the product to verify scale-up ability. This operating area was a bottleneck in the research because there were more products than the area could handle. The area had enough people but they were not trained in more than one of the four research areas so often the room to make the material was available but there were not enough trained people. By cross training employees, they could run more products and decrease the wait time.
Facilitation Notes
You may have a similar example to substitute.
Operators Cross Train into another operating area
Individual goal

7. 2. The Assessment Exercise
Review your assessment and list one or two thoughts you have based on how you scored the assessment.
Either share in pairs your key thoughts or as a larger group, share a key insight you have. Or, share a question about one of the items on the assessment that may not be clear to you.
Slide Intent
Discuss the Assessment to understand strengths and opportunities.
Key Messages
The assessment helps them focus on strengths and opportunities so they can determine how this module will help them improve how they translate strategy to their team.
Facilitation Notes
You can add or delete assessment items to make it applicable to your business.

8. What is Missing Exercise
Individually, read the case, ‘What is Missing’. Make a few notes and be prepared to share back with the group.
Dear Plant Manager,
Welcome to the standardization project. You are an essential part of the success of this program. You will see on-going communications about this process. During the next two months, you should do the following:
Communicate the following PowerPoint package to all site personnel by September 1. (ppt)
Schedule training for site leaders so they can implement the process. The training is one day. Instructors will come to your site.
We believe this program will significantly impact our business results and help all employees work more efficiently.
Regards,
Standardization Project Leads
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions.
Key Messages
This case is based on an actual scenario and shows how communications are often very minimal. Communications for each successive layer of the organization are often diluted by the time they reach the frontline of the organization.
The goal of an effective leader is to communicate in a way that the message is clear and actionable by all employees.
They can read the case and have a short large group discussion.
Facilitation Notes

9. 3. Five-Step Process to Translate Strategy
A methodical process to communicate changes in goals or strategies or general change initiatives
a. Highlight the Why
b. Show Employees What is in it for Them
c. Engage Users for the How
d. Provide Necessary Tools
e. Integrate the Approach
Slide Intent
Introduce a process to improve and standardize strategic communications.
Key Messages
This is a five-step process to use when translating strategies or communicating changes. It does not always apply but it is good to think about each components.
Process as a large group or break the group into five smaller teams and assign each team a step. The workbook has information for their discussion.
Facilitation Notes
Describe what you think each step means and why this order is important (large group discussion or 5 smaller groups each focusing on one step. See workbook for more information)

10. Using the Five Step Process
Think about a past communication related to a strategy implementation or change.
List the communication title.
Describe how/if the five-step process was used or the parts that were used.
List improvement ideas for this communication.
Slide Intent
Applying the 4 step process to a past case. We can learn by looking at past communications and not feel as threatened by not fully applying the process.
Key Messages
Have participants review a past strategic communication and see how leaders applied the five steps. They can pick a case they communicated or a case communicated by more senior leaders.
Upcoming activities will help them apply the approach to an upcoming communication.
Facilitation Notes
Adjust the activities based on applicable past or pending cases.

11. The Balance: When the Process does not make sense
When does this process not apply?
Slide Intent
Showing that this process is not always applicable.
Key Messages
As with any model, they are guides for the communication and should not be forced in situations that are not applicable. Leaders cannot engage employees for sensitive changes like mergers or people restructuring changes.
Facilitation Notes

12. 4. Translating Corporate Strategies
Corporate Goals
Business Goals
Individual Goals
The leader must understand the overall business and corporate goals and help the employees see the connections to their work
Clear and Transparent Understanding and View
Slide Intent
Highlight flow of communications.
Key Messages
The key of translating strategy is to consciously think about how the frontline of the organization will receive the right message in the right way. If senior leaders only communicate to their reports, the message can be diluted by the time it reaches the rest of the employees.
It is critical that there is transparency in all levels of communications.
Facilitation Notes

13. Application to a Corporate Goal
The Leader’s Role
Understand and interpret the goal for themselves
Help the team to understand the goal or strategy and connect it to their work
Slide Intent
Emphasizing the process.
Key Messages
A helpful hint is to take any communication or strategy and see if you, as a leader, can rephrase it in simple terms .
Another effective approach is to then share the strategy with reports and see if they can rephrase it in simple terms and connect it to their work.
Facilitation Notes .

14. Connecting Employees to the Business
Exercise
Write down a couple of your employee’s goals.
Review the list of corporate or business goals or strategies and connect the employee goals with the corporate or business goals.
Be ready to share an example. If there is not a clear connection, try to articulate why and if the employee’s work is on target or the strategic goals are missing detail
Can do individually or in small groups
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions.
Key Messages
Follow exercise instructions
Facilitation Notes
10 minutes

15. 5. Application Apply the Process to an Upcoming Communication
Using an upcoming strategy change, use the five-step process to manage your communication
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions.
Key Messages
Follow exercise instructions.
This exercise helps participants practice the approach.
If there is limited time, you can schedule a separate time to do the exercise.
Once the team sees the process, determine if you would like to adjust it and then make it a part of your team’s process to use during communications.
Facilitation Notes
There are many similar corporate processes. You can customize these steps to fit your needs and then use the approach as a standard process for your communications.
10 minutes

16. 6. Maximizing Performance at an Accelerated Rate How does translating strategies help maximize employee potential at an accelerated rate?
Slide Intent
Connect back to the key theme and models of this series.
Key Discussion Points
Our theme is maximizing potential at an accelerated rate. This slide is intended to ensure the participants see the value of this content and how it will help accomplish this goal.
Let the participants articulate how Translating Strategy helps accomplish these two goals.
Facilitation Notes

17. 7. Competency Focus
Using your workbook, review the competencies related to Translating Strategy
Options for discussions
Pair up and discuss an one or two assigned competencies for a couple minutes. Share back a learning to the larger group.
Individually review the competencies. Think about a situation where the competency was applied well and had a positive impact, or where it was not applied and had a negative impact.
Slide Intent
Connecting this skill to leadership competencies.
Key Messages
In our initial modules, we discussed a number of competencies or mindsets of successful leaders.
Have an open discussion by asking the question on the slide to the participants.
Facilitation Notes

18. Understand Corporate Goals 4 Step Communication Process
Keys to Translating Strategy Keep in mind as you communicate to employees
Highlight the WHY
Show employees What is in it for them
Engage them for the How
Provide tools
Integrate the Approach
Translating Strategy
Keep it simple
Understand Corporate Goals
Engage employees
Develop your team
Be Transparent
4 Step Communication Process
Slide Intent
Share a model as a reminder of Translating Strategy.
Key Discussion Points
This is a one page model that shows areas that help build effective communications when translating strategy.
Print copies of this for participants to place at their work area.
Use this slide as a check-in or follow-up reminder in future meetings or training.
Facilitation Notes
You can add ideas to this model from your experience and ideas from the team.

19. 8. Summary and Application
What ideas or actions does your part of the organization need to consider based on the session today?
Slide Intent
Create an action plan.
Key Messages
Create ways individuals and the team will apply this concept going forward.
It is important to think of how this concept will be used and how the leadership team will build it into their managing and leading processes.
Facilitation Notes

20. Roast Beef Anyone?
A little girl noticed that her mom always cut off the end of a roast when putting it in a pan before cooking. She asked her mom why she cut off the end. Her mom thought for a minute and said that was the way her mom taught her when she was a girl. The girl’s grandmother was there for dinner so she asked grandma for the reason. Grandma said that was the way she was taught by her mother. Just happened that great grandma was coming to dinner that day and when she arrived, the girl asked great grandma why she cut off the end of the beef before cooking. She simply replied…because my pan was too small…
Slide Intent
End with a bang.
Key Discussion Points
Optional story to drive home the points.
Can show slide and let them read or better, tell the story without the slide.
Facilitation Notes

21. Objectives Share your learning: What is one thing you learned?
What will you apply now?
What barriers may inhibit applying this process?
Connect your learning or application to one or more objectives.
Understanding the importance of translating corporate strategies and changes to frontline employees
Gaining value for engaging all employees in the development of corporate strategy
Applying a five-step communication tool
Slide Intent
Connect a significant learning to the objectives as a module review option.
Key Messages
Ask for one learning from each participant and how that learning connects to one or more objectives.
Facilitation Notes
It is a good facilitation practice to review the objectives at the beginning and end of a session so participants know what to focus on through the session.