Once your business or organization has completed a strategic plan, make sure that the plan is fully enacted and not just stored on the shelf in an attractive notebook binder. While many strategic planning committees spend an inordinate amount of time creating a strategic plan, they often fail to use the same amount of time on the execution of the plan.

Follow these simple guidelines to ensure your organization maximizes the value of your strategic plan and fully executes it for success.

• Appoint a strategic plan execution lead. Once the board of directors (or leadership team) approves your strategic plan, have an individual own the responsibility of leading its execution. Identifying someone to be accountable for the implementation is the first step to seeing your strategies being realized.

• Gain leadership commitment. The strategic plan implementation lead should quickly obtain leadership commitment about the importance of the implementation of the strategic plan. If this cannot be secured, then there is a small likelihood the plan’s implementation will succeed.

• Include all owners on the “execution team.” While the first step is identifying a team lead, the execution relies on an active team to support the implementation. Look first to all owners of activities in the original strategic plan. For instance, if John is on point to lead the recommendations to improve finances in your organization, he should be a member of the team. The more dispersed the team is throughout the organization, the more likely the plan will succeed.

• Establish a regular follow-up schedule. After a person has been identified to lead the execution effort, that person should examine the calendar and set up a regular timetable for implementation. Depending on the extent of the plan, this can be bi-weekly, monthly or bi-monthly. Establish a regular meeting cadence to make it easier for all to block the time on their calendars.