At first glance, communicating strategy might seem simple. Your senior leadership team are aligned, the plan is strong and it’s been sign-off… so people will get on board, right? In practice, this is often where things start to unravel. You can have a clear vision, a well-thought-out plan, and the right team around you, but if your strategy isn’t communicated in a clear and compelling way or doesn’t resonate across your organisation, it’s unlikely to go anywhere.
In fact the leading reason that strategies fail is communication. Over and over again, studies have found that 60–70% of strategic plans fail due to poor communication within the organisation, misalignment, and a lack of buy-in from key stakeholders. So much for being sign-off and agreed!
When there’s a fundamental disconnect between your strategic planning workshops, plans and thinking and what “lands” with your team, partners and stakeholders, it’s a game changer. Or a game-stopper! According to the Harvard Business School, 95% of employees don’t understand their company’s strategy, and a reported third of all employees don’t understand how their role fits in with the organisation’s priorities.
Why does it matter? If your stakeholders and team don’t understand your plan or their role in bringing it to life, then there’s NO chance they can execute it effectively.
Put simply: it’s not enough to have a clear strategy – you have to take people with you!
Developing an engaging strategy is so more than just a business requirement, it’s an opportunity to galvanise your organisation behind a shared vision and objective, to reduce wasted resources and misspent funds, avoid lost opportunities and leadership frustrations. It’s an opportunity to improve morale & organisational effectiveness and to set a roadmap for long term success.
The good news? There are some simple, proven ways to improve communication and build commitment throughout the strategic planning process and beyond:
- Engage Key stakeholders: while it isn’t possible to have every single leader, stakeholder and employee in the room as you debate and finalise your plans, by generating support for your planning process up front, considering inputs and insights from right across the organisation as well as your client’s “voice” or perspective, you’ll go a long way to building support. Keep your senior team updated on the process and thinking and then plan to launch it right across the business. Simply ensuring that your organisation’s purpose and plans are clearly understood from new starters to senior leaders can increase productivity, improve morale and help you to outperform competitors.
- Clearly communicate your ambitions – and why they matter: As thought-leader Simon Sinek said “If the leader of the organisation can’t clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in terms beyond its products or services, then how does he expect the employees to know WHY to come to work?” Use the planning process to re-inforce your organisation’s ambitions, then clearly communicate the role each individual has in bringing them to life, and the impact that will have collectively and individually. Consider incorporating your strategic ambitions in job descriptions, on email signatures, in team and division names and through your remuneration process to ensure thy really stick from your CEO to your latest recruit.
- Embed your strategy in your business: Once you have a clear and accepted strategy, it’s essential to look closely at your organisation’s structure and resource allocation to ensure they align with your strategic priorities. Fund your ambitions with the right people, a suitable budget, and the resources needed to move things forward. Your teams need to see that the strategy isn’t just words—it’s guiding real decisions big and small. Make sure your objectives are measurable and visible in KPIs, performance reviews, and team goals. And just as importantly, celebrate progress. Recognise wins—big and small—and highlight behaviours that support your direction. It builds momentum, trust, and belief in the journey ahead.
When it comes to strategy, communication matters! Great strategy with strong buy-in can create genuine competitive advantage within your organisation, pulling your team towards a shared vision, streamlining decisions and Consider how you can make your strategy visible, reinforce it at every opportunity and bring it to life across the organisation. Best case? Your extended network become active champions for your plans and driving real results in market through their relationships and your products or services. When people at all levels of your organisation don’t just truly understand the strategy but feel ownership of it, alignment becomes instinctive, and that’s when great strategies deliver brilliant business results
At BlueFish Strategic Planning and Marketing, our team combines expertise in strategy with world-class communication skills to help you develop clear, compelling and actionable plans which drive results. We ensure your plan isn’t just another document—it’s a clearly communicated roadmap that’s embedded in your business and designed to deliver lasting success. Get in touch to find out how we can support you!
