Coaching a junior soccer team has been one of my favourite life experiences. But getting a group of teenagers to focus on playing the same way was a challenge!
To help, I pulled together a 3-page strategy overview for the team. These are my learnings from the process:
Wins:
⚽ Got everyone on the same page using common language
⚽ Became a consistent point of reference in-game and in-training
⚽ Helped keep essential stakeholders (i.e. parents!) involved
Lessons:
⚽ Not enough input from the players and parents in the process
⚽ Too long an acronym and too many bullet points (for the audience)
Takeaways for business:
⚽ Create something easy to share. Use visuals, acronyms, analogies, and stories to bring it to life and make it fun.
⚽ Simplified communication doesn't mean a simple strategy! The details can exist elsewhere.
⚽ Involve people from your business in the process of building and distilling your strategy
⚽ Refer back to it consistently to discuss it and evolve it
The test of success? Everyone in your business can easily talk about it
