Teamwork makes the dream work.
This might sound like a tired cliche but anybody who’s worked in a team will know how true this is.
Teamwork is critical to success in any field, whether it’s business, sport, or politics.
Everybody works in teams. Whether it’s a school’s faculty, college student society, or a software company’s IT department, they’re all driven by a shared goal.
Each member of a team has a specific role. A good manager should have the insight to identify their strengths from the start.
An efficient team determines how well an organization can survive in a competitive business environment. Strategic management is important as it helps you gain a competitive advantage and develop a sustainable business model.
Harappa Education’s Managing Teamwork course not only offers a comprehensive look into how to manage a team but also teaches you why it’s important for the greater good of an organization.
It includes useful frameworks and core concepts such as the 3Cs (Communicate-Collaborate-Coordinate) and GRIN (Goals-Rules-Interdependencies-Norms) framework to help you get to the bottom of how to effectively work in a team.
All companies need strategic development Why is there a need for strategic management in an organization? Here’s a detailed analysis to understand it:
But first, let’s understand the meaning of strategic development.
What Is Strategic Management?
Strategic management is the process of setting organizational goals, performing a competitive analysis, reflecting on a company’s internal structure, and evaluating current strategies.
Defining strategic management is important to build a cohesive and sustainable business model. For instance, a SWOT analysis (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) can help you understand where your company has the potential to make modifications, alter strategies, and find ways to compete in a dynamic world.
Keeping up with internal changes such as business policies, change in management, and company norms help attain organizational goals. Industry changes such as customer preferences or a change in the socio-political climate can also affect a company’s vision.
The importance of strategic management can be understood by looking toward the future of a company. Management is responsible for planning and preparing for changes and challenges. A clear and focused effort by the top-level administration goes a long way in calibrating internal strengths with external deviations.
What Are The Stages Of Strategic Management?
In essence, strategic management is a streamlined process often adopted by successful companies—big or small. It’s typically implemented company-wide and it’s execution starts at the top. There are four stages in this process:
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Assessment
The assessment stage is the most important step in developing a strategy. You need to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as you identify your target market and look at how you can survive the competition. If something isn’t working, you can come up with improved frameworks to perform better. The need for strategic management is to focus on your mission and assess what needs to be done.
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Formulation
After the assessment stage, you formulate a comprehensive strategy that should be followed by the entire organization. Communicate the action plan across departments so that everyone is familiar with the shared goal. The importance of strategic management lies in helping a company focus on its goals.
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Implementation
This is where teamwork plays an important role. The action plan developed in the previous stage has to be shared among all members of the organization. Transparency, communication, feedback, and navigating conflicts are some key concepts to tackle when working in a team. They also help us to understand the importance of strategic management. Focus on collective effort and proper execution of your organization’s action plan. It’s important to collaborate with stakeholders to leverage team strengths and achieve larger team goals.
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Evaluation
Was your strategy successful? Did you achieve your organizational goals? What can be improved? Evaluation is the final step in the process of strategic management. Every organization needs strategic management to avoid failure. It’s important to note that this is a continuous and cyclical process. Align your organization’s goals with individual goals in a way that’s controlled, direct, and free of errors. Alter your strategy if something isn’t going according to plan, promote teambuilding for increased performance, and encourage feedback to identify gaps in communication.
What Is The Importance Of Strategic Management?
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Identify Opportunities
Strategic management is necessary to identify opportunities. Tap into opportunities and identify strengths and weaknesses by studying the internal structure of your organization. Within every team, there’s unrealized potential that needs your attention. You may even discover new ways to implement existing strategies.
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Prepare For The Future
Strategic management helps you prepare for the future. Organizations can benefit from understanding the importance of strategic management because it can help you prepare for contingencies. A business environment is dynamic and fast-paced. Evolve and adapt your strategies to keep abreast of vital changes in the business sphere.
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Be Action-Oriented
Don’t become complacent in your management style. If you’re driven by action and purpose, you can easily alter policies and business plans to drive the organization forward. A sound action plan is sustainable and important for the growth and survival of your company.
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Strengthen Organizational Structure
Working in a team is important to achieve shared goals. Each member is dependent on another for guidance, especially in a stressful situation. This gives rise to the need for strategic management. You can reflect on your organization’s internal structure and make changes wherever you feel necessary. Only a strong organizational structure can endure testing times.
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Sustained Competitive Advantage
It’s necessary to have a sustained competitive advantage in today’s market. To do well compared to other players in the market and avoid failure when faced with setbacks, build a plan that’s viable and long-lasting.
The importance of strategic management lies at the intersection of your company’s internal and external environments. Constructing a strategic vision with long-term objectives in mind is useful for achieving organizational goals.
Every company needs a contingency plan to fall back on. If you have a sound strategic plan ready and accessible to all the stakeholders, you can overcome any hurdle.
Team management doesn’t have to be a challenging task. You can turn it into an opportunity for the greater good of your company. When you’re in a team, you get to collaborate with motivated individuals who realign their personal goals to attain larger organizational objectives.
Harappa Education’s Managing Teamwork course equips you with the right tools to become a better team player and leader. You’ll learn how to listen well, align different working styles using emotional intelligence and steer your team to success. Sign up to learn from our expert faculty how to calibrate your work to your team’s goals and improve team relationships.
Explore our Harappa Diaries section to know more about the topic related to the Collaborate habit such as Managing Conflict & Negotiation in order to develop your collaboration skills.