What Is a Strategy Map?
A strategy map is a powerful planning method that helps companies visualize their entire strategy in a single place. Simply put, a strategy map is a diagram that shows a stylized picture of your organization's strategy and objectives.
This technique has gained popularity over the years and it’s commonly used to help a management team explore and discuss the strategy in a more detailed and exhaustive way. A well-crafted strategy map will contain all necessary information on one page and will demonstrate explicit cause-and-effect relationships between the company’s -and customer’s- perspectives.
What Are the Benefits of Creating a Strategy Map?
Strategy mapping can help a management team explore and discuss the strategy in more detail, and by doing this, you can ensure your plans are aligned to what the company needs. Strategy maps also help to:
- Identify strategic issues that wouldn’t otherwise be discovered.
- Evaluate organizational vision, mission, goals, strategies, and actions.
- Communicate new strategies and make plans to implement them.
- Boost creativity by thinking of new ways to solve issues.
- Understanding new strategies.
Creating strategy maps also helps to delegate tasks more efficiently by identifying the different tasks that must be performed, making it easier to break down roles and responsibilities.
How to Create a Strategy Map?
- Mission and vision
Mission and vision statements are commonly well-defined and this information will probably not be news to you or your team. However, going on over this information will be useful when you’re defining the foundation for your strategy map.
- Analyze the environment
Analyze the environment of your organization to understand every stakeholder’s needs. This is crucial to understanding strategic issues and planning your goals accordingly.
- Decide on your strategic objectives
Make a list of your objectives and present them to your stakeholders. Once they have been approved, create a timeline for each objective.
- Define the strategy
Now, you need to focus on defining a strategy to accomplish these objectives. Your strategy describes the set of tasks that you need to complete to ensure that your objectives will be meeting your organization’s goals.
Strategy Map Template
Strategy maps are crucial items you need to take the time to create when planning a new project. They act as detailed maps that show you your destination and what you need to do to get there.
However, if you want to run a smooth process, you’re going to need the right tool. The good news is that you can plan, organize, manage, and execute the different phases and steps of your strategy map with Gantt Charts, an online Gantt chart software for project management that helps teams all around the world plan, coordinate, schedule, and execute their projects, beginning to end.
With Instagantt as your ally, you can formulate and analyze your organization’s mission and vision and quickly turn your objectives into actionable items.
Strategy Map Example
