Facing limited areas for growth and increased competitive concerns, more banks are reviewing and revising their strategic plans. For many, their focus centers on providing increased direction concerning priority market segments and related products and solutions. Banks are also dealing with technology-based issues, involving both which technologies to invest in and how to manage the technology partners that often seem to be determining the tactical choices a bank can make.

However, in too many cases strategic planning simply checks off an internal box and satisfies regulatory requirements, rather than resulting in meaningful change. One of the reasons strategic planning has such a negative reputation at many banks, and is often viewed by many as a painful rather than a positive exercise, centers on the fact that strategic planning has been a one-off event rather than being integrated into how the bank manages itself.

Developing implementation plans and establishing an implementation planning process is where the strategic rubber meets the road. Yet, many banks avoid setting up a process that creates a roadmap for getting things done. Virtually every internal project that results in recommendations for action should also involve the creation of an implementation plan. Rather than an add-on, writing an action plan should be the expectation from day one. As discussed below, for each key strategic initiative, and more broadly for all internal projects, it needs to include:

• Action step
• Person responsible
• Timing
• Constraints/issues that need to be addressed to achieve
• Revenues/costs resulting from the action step

* Initiatives and Action Steps. Let’s say at the end of your strategy process, management has agreed to five initiatives, for example, “Building a cross-bank effort to capture more business with Millennials, Gen X and Gen Y customers.” (By the way that is a good idea in the face of their increased importance.) For this initiative and the others the bank needs to create action steps, that is, what specific actions does the bank need to take to achieve the goal of this initiative centering on generating more business from this segment. This may require new products and/or marketing and/or personnel and/or other areas. Fleshing out the initiative should force those involved to agree on what the key steps are and how to achieve them.

* Responsibility. As part of developing required steps, the bank needs to determine who is responsible for the completion of each action. Ideally, management should designate one person and not a committee to get things done; bluntly, someone should be on the hook and also receive the kudos for completing a task, creating a culture of accountability.

* Timing. In general banks take longer than they should to accomplish assigned tasks. They need to set priorities and agree to a time frame that they will stick to. Establishing one person as responsible for a task’s completion helps to limit the time it takes to accomplish. And, while time frames may slide slightly (and that is to be expected) committing to a time frame limits slippage.

* Constraints. Particularly since someone is on the hook for completing an action within a particular timeframe it is important and fair that the plan note any constraints that may exist related to the steps’ completion. For example, completing one step may require the prior completion of another activity or the hiring of new personnel or a vendor finishing a task. Beyond listing the constraint, the person responsible should also note what is being done to mitigate that issue.

* Revenues/Costs. Each action step will result in some potential revenue to the bank and/or require an investment or expense of some sort. While it is always easier to estimate costs than revenues, the plan should include both whenever appropriate, providing management with insight concerning the value of various actions and the priorities they should receive versus other opportunities. Even though going into this exercise the bankers know that their numbers will be off to some degree, providing a range that can be narrowed later serves as a good starting point.

* Implementation planning is not an option. Why would any manager approach an assignment without insisting on a rigorous implementation plan? However, the plan is not enough. In addition, banks need to select someone as the overall implementation leader. This person oversees implementation and communicates with senior management concerning any changes or issues that need top management intervention. One aspect of that person’s job is to lead regular (usually weekly) conference calls in which all the key stakeholders participate and report in on progress. This is a great tactical tool that also includes senior management occasionally joining in on these conference calls to ensure continued focus on the end goals.

Most banks are not good at implementation. Those that think they are often suffer from self-delusion or need to rethink the standards by which they are assessing themselves. Today, more than ever, banks need to get things done as quickly and cost effectively as possible. Implementation planning, and by that I mean rigorous implementation planning like that outlined above, is not option.