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Although most strategic planning processes terminate at Step 6, they typically fail because the strategic plan is not integrated into the organization's operations. All of the goals and objectives identified in the strategic plan must be assigned to owners, tracked by monitors and evaluated by management.

To accomplish this responsibility, organizations must roll all of the strategic planning results into a project management methodology. This ensures that someone or some group in the organization is responsible for executing each task. Project management also means that there are deadlines and other time boundaries that make sure things get done. Further, the organization should track the cost of implementing the strategic plan so that return-on-investment and other calculations can be done.

If project management is not used to bolster the goals of the strategic plan, the organization will not fulfill its goals. Many management theorists are convinced that organizations that do not execute their strategic plans ultimately fail. Some studies have put the failure rate of strategic plans in the 70%-75% range. It may seem remote that a state agency or university could fail; generally the downfall does not happen like a private sector business going under or being acquired. Usually, a floundering state entity loses citizen support, and then many outside forces collide within the organization as each tries to take over and run the organization. Another scenario is that the agency's work is simply outsourced. Nevertheless, each symptom of failure is painful and involves management changes and staff disruptions.

The resources in this section are:

• Project Responsibilities Worksheet
• Risk Analysis Worksheet

The Project Responsibilities Worksheet is designed to assign individuals to project responsibilities.  This sheet tracks who is to perform which tasks.  The project manager can follow up on completed work and keep team members on task and on time.

The Risk Analysis worksheet is designed to quantify risks to project completion.  This sheet allows team members to prioritize risks using a composite score of likelihood multiplied by impact.  Prioritizing project risks helps team members focus on the major risks first.  Also, the response to each risk is assigned to a person or persons who should be prepared if the risk is realized.