“Nothing’s happening! Why isn’t anything happening?”

Strategy, planning, and communication are all crucial parts of leadership and organizational life. But it’s execution that most people really notice, from the CEO to the most junior frontline team member.

When your employees don’t see changes under way and progress being made, the best and brightest may seek greener pastures. Even the most comfortable, long-term staffers can become disengaged and disaffected if they believe an organization has stalled.

It doesn’t matter how supportive or cooperative an organization has been in the past, or how nice the workplace is. As a leader, you can’t just wait for things to improve on their own. Being positive and hopeful is good, but demonstrating your ability to handle challenges is essential for advancing your organization, your team, and your own career.

Need a Reality Check?

If things seem stuck at any stage of implementation, probe to identify what’s fallen down and where you need to get involved so that everyone can continue — or begin — to advance.

  • Review the strategy: Are we following through on our commitments? Go over the vision and goals again. Make sure the purpose is clear and that everyone agrees on the values and behavior — “the way we do things here.” Are we achieving the results we expected? Does everyone understand what is needed and their role in making it happen?
  • Check the plan: Was there anything inaccurate or off base in our decisions about what we needed to accomplish? Or were there errors made specifically in implementation/execution? Are we following our timeline? Are the right measurements being done? Did we get distracted by something that seemed more urgent or interesting, or which really belongs in next year’s plan?
  • Check the communication: Is there sufficient alignment among the various decision-makers and teams with joint responsibilities or interdependent workloads? Are all leaders sending consistent messages to the troops who have to work together to get the job done? If not, you’ll see decisions being remade and ongoing recriminations about why things aren’t working — but no forward motion. Verify that folks are in synch not merely about what the goals are, but what they mean, and how they are to be carried out.

Look for Underlying Fault Lines

Sometimes you have to drill down into individual behaviors, performance, and approaches to find disagreements, mitigate damage, and reestablish objectives or norms. If there’s persistent conflict around the same topics, step in or find other ways to help participants resolve their differences, or you’ll never reduce the friction within the system.

Are people behaving in self-serving ways? Have they lost focus on the outcomes that are best for the organization as a whole? Are they optimizing their own success, turf, clout, or status, and sub-optimizing the welfare of the group, the plan, or the customers?

Perhaps there are gaps in individual attitudes, aptitudes, or acumen, so that no matter how much someone may wish to contribute, their efforts are ineffective. Any structural barriers to success or unmet resource needs must also be uncovered and addressed.

Getting a Move On

Once inertia has become the norm, it’s no longer practical to encourage people to try finding a solution on their own, or to assume they’ll resolve the problems themselves. Work from the top down, as far into the organization as necessary, to gather data and gain conceptual agreement from the participants, and then put all the issues on the table with a facilitator.

Acknowledge people’s frustration and the need to create momentum and accelerate progress. Restate the strategy, and if necessary, revise plans to incorporate current structural realities. Recognize contributions from all parties, and specify clearly the individual and team alignments that are necessary to move forward together.

Ensure ongoing communication between teams about new targets and approaches, and establish necessary development or corrective actions for any individuals or groups that have gone off course.

And be sure to circle back, often and visibly, to measure progress and share the results, so that everyone can see the new achievements and feel comfortable about playing the new game.