5 steps to take to bridge the gap between idea and execution

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In most companies, there is no shortage of ideas. The hard part? Execution on them.

This is not a new challenge. Over half of the employees said their company failed to act on good ideas.

It affects companies of all sizes, even Amazon. To avoid analysis paralysis, Jeff Bezos drilled a powerful mantra into his team – “bias for actionAmazon's leaders are expected to make tough decisions and act on them, even if the outcome is uncertain. Risks are not only tolerated – they are encouraged.

But this is only one strategy for turning innovation into execution. As the founder and CEO of a company that recently passed $1 billion in annual revenue, here are some key lessons I've learned along the way on the art of “closing.”

1. Get customers in the loop, early and often

Companies that want to close the gap between innovation and execution they will not succeed without listening to their customers.

As a teenager, I worked in Mac customer support while also developing Mac applications on the side. Watching people use the software—and seeing what confused them and what didn't—provided powerful insight into its creation. Getting customers in the loop makes innovation happen faster.

When I started building my POS company, I spent a lot of time with customers every week, delivering new versions of our software to test and then implementing their suggestions. This showed us whether we were innovating in the right direction or building features that did nothing for the customer.

Many startups skip that step. Because they never see anyone using their software, they don't understand how clients actually work. This is a major oversight, given that companies obsessed with customers drive revenue and profits about 30% faster.

As a company scales, it's key to keep them intimate feedback moments with customers. For example, I recently held a meeting with retail clients to learn how they track the conversion of social media ads to in-store results. That meeting led directly to a product conversation with my team.

2. Do a regular pulse check throughout the company for excitement

For leaders, a big part of turning ideas into action is everyone's buy-in.

At my company, we do this with a quarterly product review. All product groups share what they have completed and are working on in that quarter with the company whole team, from sales to marketing customer support. This open session is a chance for product people to pitch a project that might be a little risky — and get a wide range of perspectives on whether to pursue it.

Basically, it's an emotional barometer. What is everyone most enthusiastic about and what do they think will excite the market? Just as importantly, what “promising” new ideas elicit yawns or even cringes from the larger team? Getting this feedback early is critical.

With this kind of pulse control, part of the goal is to make your company an organism whose parts are deeply interdependent. After all, sales rely on the success of a new product to hit its target for the year, so it's in everyone's best interest to help each other out. The more collaboration and alignment there is between teams, the better the product presentation should be.

Driving together pays off. Companies with highly connected teams are close 70% more profitable than their unrelated peers. They are also more than twice as likely to retain customers and more than three times as likely to satisfy them.

3. Extend real ownership to individual teams

Good leaders know this when it comes to moving from ideas for executionthere is a difference between motivating people and micromanaging them.

The other day, I sat down with my company's design team to review our mobile sales tools. Having built mobile products myself for 15 years as we grew the company, this was my strength. It would have been easy for me to take over the meeting with my vision for the product.

But that's not how you scale a business—and it's certainly not how you motivate employees. Instead of taking the deserved ownership I gave the design team, I was there to encourage them by showing genuine interest in what they were doing.

Giving people ownership helps get things done. In companies that are strong in execution, approx 70% of employees agree that everyone has a good idea of the decisions and actions they are responsible for, versus only about 30% who are weak in execution.

4. Don't give up your biggest role as a cheerleader

Taking ownership is one thing, but people need to know that their leader is also invested.

When I think of good ideas that didn't work for our company, it was often because team members didn't think I was inclusive with them. Leaders must be careful not to innovations from hunger of the energy and attention they need to move beyond the drawing board.

During that crucial middle stage, a project needs fuel—and I don't want to just throw troops and resources at it. Here, the most powerful fuel a leader can provide is enthusiasm to see the team succeed. This kind of excitement is contagious. People know that when they achieve, not only will it be a career victory, but their boss will join them in celebrating that success.

For team members, this recognition matters. Four out of 10 workers they would put more energy into their work if their company recognized them more often, while six out of 10 who feel recognized are very unlikely to look for a new job.

5. You can never have too many tables

Want to excel in execution? You can't improve something if you can't measure it.

Our company has always had sales roots, so metrics are in our DNA. As part of that culture of accountability, our offices are filled with whiteboards showing key performance indicators (KPIs). After all, it comes back to ownership. People are accountable for their own KPIs and expect their colleagues to do the same.

Across departments, all of them KPI collect up to seven key ones that represent the company's priorities – for example, the percentage of customers who have converted to using our means of payment. Thanks to this alignment, everyone is working toward goals that will move the needle.

Yes, sometimes the emphasis on looking at and punching numbers can seem overwhelming or even tiresome. But it's no coincidence that just two years after launching our payment services, it now accounts for almost 40% of our annual transaction volume.

In general, data-driven companies have a serious advantage—in fact, they are almost 60% more likely to exceed revenue targets.

Bridging the gap between innovation and execution may not be easy for leaders, but it's not rocket science either. By taking team members and customers and measuring the results, companies can transform a good idea into a great business move.

Source link