Strategy Execution Software: How Can It Help Your Business?

Make 2023 the year your organization accomplishes its goals.

When it comes to strategy planning and execution, executing is the hardest part. Organizations often fail to execute because they struggle to both see and manage the big picture—they get lost in project details and drown in a sea of organizational data.

ClearPoint strategy execution software was created to change all that. It solves the two biggest challenges associated with strategy execution:

1. It keeps your eye on the (right) ball. In ClearPoint, you can view project details and metrics, but always in the context of strategy. So you’ll always know what elements of your plan are working and which are not—and you’ll have the insights you need to make course adjustments if necessary.
2. It makes strategy reporting fast and easy. In ClearPoint you can automate up to 70% of the administrative tasks associated with strategy execution. As a result, the process is easily manageable, and you’re more likely to stick with it over the long term.

ClearPoint is helping more organizations to reach their goals than ever before—our growing number of G2 badges is a testament to the value we provide. (We’ve been named a leader in strategic planning software, most likely to be recommended by users, best ROI, and more!)

Make this the year you start making forward progress! Learn the signs that show your organization has grown beyond PowerPoint and Excel.

Why strategy execution software?

Not convinced you need strategy execution software? Maybe you have an Excel or PowerPoint system in place for strategy reporting already. Maybe your organization also uses Power BI, Tableau, Asana, or some other project management or data visualization tool. If so, you (or perhaps your boss) may be wondering—“Why would I need to add strategy execution software into the mix?”

Believe it or not, even at ClearPoint we use tools in addition to our own to run our business. But each tool has its place, and none of them allow us to do what ClearPoint (or any strategy execution software for that matter) does. What is that, exactly, and why does your organization need it? Good questions—keep reading to get the answers!

What is strategy execution software?

In short:

Strategy execution software allows you to easily manage the components of your strategic plan and measure the progress of your efforts, improving your ability to achieve organizational goals.

Strategy execution software is different from other tools because its sole purpose is to ensure you’re always making progress toward your objectives. It gives you a way to organize your strategic activities, track the results, and analyze those results to determine the best way forward.

ClearPoint is one of several strategy execution platforms available on the market; choosing any of them will give you a leg up simply because they’ll bring your strategy into focus. However, ClearPoint’s unique automation and organization features can improve your outcomes even more. Specifically, these features make it easier for you to:

• Visualize your strategy. You can easily “see” the big picture because you can link KPIs and projects (even those at the department level) to the organization’s overall objectives. You’ll be able to clearly see how each department is contributing to the overall plan and which components have the greatest influence on your outcomes.
• Organize your data. ClearPoint pulls in all your strategy data from the relevant sources automatically and houses it, so you don’t need to manually cull and gather specific data points from your other tools. It also allows you to create custom dashboards and reports that include plenty of contextual information (qualitative and quantitative) for analysis.
• Stay on top of the strategy reporting process. ClearPoint has automated most of the administrative pain points associated with strategy reporting, including update notifications, data-gathering, and report generation and distribution. The automation element is invaluable because it eliminates the burdensome process details that threaten to sink your efforts. It also means you’ll need fewer people to handle strategy reporting, so those employees can work on higher-value tasks.

Before switching to ClearPoint, one customer’s reporting process involved SAP, Excel, and PowerPoint and required four MBAs. After the switch, only a single MBA and two analysts were needed, producing massive savings of time and money.

As you can see, ClearPoint performs a different job than other tools. Excel is a spreadsheet designed for manipulating data; Microsoft Projects and Asana are project management tools; Power BI and Tableau are data visualization tools. Inevitably, trying to adapt these solutions for strategy reporting creates a complex, time-consuming process that also tends to produce inaccurate reports. (You can read more about the challenges of Excel specifically here.)

For instance, organizations that use these specialized tools often wind up trying to build management reporting views into the things they’re tracking. For instance, they might be using a project management tool and creating an Excel export out of that; then, they build data in Excel and copy and paste it over to PowerPoint. In the end, they’re using three tools to track project information.

You’re also going to have to parse information out of those tools for strategy purposes. If you work in the building department of a local government, for example, you might use Esri to view the locations of every permit issued within a certain time frame. But when you’re reporting back to your citizens, the only number that matters is how many permits were issued last month. So all that Esri data might be useful for some other purpose—but not for strategy.

Ultimately, it becomes a puzzle to figure out how to:

• Gather only some data from each of your tools.
• Maintain a consistent reporting process that stitches together the use of various tools.
• Create a cohesive, insightful strategy report from it all.

Having a centralized strategy “hub” like ClearPoint eliminates these challenges, making reporting easy and allowing you to generate strategy-specific reports. As a result, you can redirect your focus from “How do we create great strategy reports?” to “How can we get ahead on our strategy?”

This shift in the way you view and manage strategy execution will make it possible to achieve more in less time, and with less effort.

Thanks to centralizing all of its strategic activities in ClearPoint, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma continues to find ways to be more efficient, a change that has produced millions of dollars in savings. Watch the full interview here.

Let us be your strategy partner.

If you choose ClearPoint, our team of experts becomes your strategy partner for the long haul. Our involvement doesn’t end after a sale—we’ll stick with you through the years to make sure you continue to learn and grow with ClearPoint.

As a new customer, our implementation team will provide initial training so everyone involved feels comfortable using the software. We’ll also help you develop some initial goals—for instance, getting a reporting process up and running or putting all your metrics or projects in one place—and meet them.

As you become more familiar with ClearPoint and what it can do, we’ll help you apply it to more advanced strategy planning and execution activities. Want to cascade your top-level strategy down to the individual level? We’ll help you set up work plans and demonstrate alignment. Want to tie your strategy to the budgeting process? We’ll walk you through the essentials of linking budgets (and even performance bonuses!) to strategic results.

Whatever outcomes you’re hoping to see, the ClearPoint team can help you get there. (Check out our outstanding G2 support rating and our related badge!)

We’d love to partner with you on your strategy journey—take the first step and sign up for a demo today!