Title: There’s life after the deal

Objective: To emphasize the importance of the implementation phase of an agreement so

that the negotiation is effective, that is efficient and efficacious.

You’re the talent and culture director at your organization. In a meeting with the board of
directors, they expressed concern that agreements frequently were forgotten and never
implemented. They asked you to develop an implementation strategy using a process to
change the mentality from one oriented to achieving agreements to one that would seek to
implement those agreements and evaluate their effectiveness.

Of course, you will meet significant resistance from the fusion and acquisition department, who
are used to jumping from deal to deal, without looking at the consequences of their decisions.
Because of that, it’s important to help them develop implementation skills in their future
negotiations.

The managers don’t have a culture of evaluating results, nor are they accustomed to including
other parties in the different stages of the negotiation process. Most of them have been in the
company more than 15 years, enjoying admittedly excellent achievements related to sustainable
development, but having no worries about competencies that didn’t even exist in the past. Now
things have changed significantly and a radical cultural transformation is needed.

The implementation plan:

To gain an understanding of implementation strategy, we must first define a strategic plan. A
strategic plan is the process of defining the strategy by which you (or a team or organization)
will accomplish certain goals or make decisions. Organizations make strategic plans to guide
organizational direction, a particular department’s efforts, or any project or initiative. 
Implementation strategy is the process of defining how to bring the strategic plan to life. To
execute the objectives outlined in the strategic plan, you must define how you will implement
each aspect, from funding and personnel to organization and deliverables. Therefore, without an
implementation strategy, it can be difficult to identify how you will achieve each of your stated
goals and objectives. 
The strategic implementation process is the concrete steps that you take to turn your strategic
plan into the actions that help you accomplish your goals and objectives. By nature, there is no
single, “correct” implementation process for any project or initiative; rather, the actual
implementation steps you take will depend on the specific undertaking. Implementation tactics
also vary based on the specific organization and goals.

The following are the key components of and questions that drive a successful implementation
plan:

 Define Goals/Objectives: What do you want to accomplish? The scope of these goals

will depend on the size of your undertaking.
  Schedule Milestones: While task deadlines and project timelines will be formally set in
the execution plan, it’s a good idea to outline your schedule in the implementation phase.
 Allocate Resources: One of the core purposes of an implementation plan is to ensure that
you have adequate resources (time, money, and personnel) to successfully execute. So,
gather all the data and information you need to determine whether or not you have
sufficient resources, and decide how you will procure what’s missing.
 Designate Team Member Responsibilities: Assign roles. This doesn’t necessarily mean
you must define who will execute each individual task, but you should create a general
team plan with overall roles that each team member will play. 
 Define Metrics for Success: How will you determine whether or not you are successful?
What data (whether quantitative or qualitative) will you use to measure your results, and
how will you accrue the necessary data?
 Define How You Will Adapt: Make a plan for how you will adapt, if necessary, to
changes in your plan. Be sure to consider factors outside your control that could
significantly alter the schedule or success of your project, and create emergent strategies
ahead of time, so you don’t get derailed down the road — doing so helps build a culture
of flexibility, agility, and fast action. 
 Evaluate Success: In addition to defining your metrics for success, decide how often you
will evaluate your progress (e.g., quarterly reviews). 

Difficulties in Implementation Planning

While implementation planning is critical to successful execution, there are several hurdles:

 Unless you are disciplined about moving into the execution phase, you can get stuck in
planning and never get your project off the ground. 
 In any project, you may struggle to gain buy-in from key stakeholders. 
 It can also be difficult to break down every goal into an actionable step. If you keep your
goals tangible, you can more easily identify targeted actions that will move you toward
them. 
 No matter how well you plan, all projects have a high propensity for failure. Don’t get
discouraged, though — dedicated, strategic implementation planning will raise the
likelihood of project success. 
 Although the above hurdles can be time-consuming and tedious, they are investments that
will help you create a culture of trust. Because implementation is an ongoing team effort,
you can’t afford to lack buy-in and commitment from any member of your team or direct
 stakeholders. So, communicate often and honestly, and prioritize teamwork when
implementing your strategic plan. 
 Still, even though inclusion and teamwork are key to a successful strategy, McKenzie
reiterates that implementation planning won’t work if too many people are involved.
“Implementation planning often gets derailed due to the input from various people that
are not involved in the project,” he says. “There needs to be a clear line between the
implementation team who is responsible for the execution and final project completion
and the customers, internal or external, who are the recipients of the project. The
customers can outline their requirements, but the implementation, tasks, and deliverables
should be guided by the implementation team,” he concludes.

Checklist Yes, it does No, it doesn’t

1. It has the identification data of the company. 

2. It includes a detailed description of the implementation strategy. 

3. The implementation strategy considers an evaluation process. 

4. It includes the best practices that must be used to put the strategy into practice. 

5. It includes the justification of the elements enlisted above. 