I have lately been seeing the position of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) become more prominent in the hospital setting, either by title or by invitation to executive leadership meetings.
In the past, there was often a business development/marketing person that reviewed business opportunities and assembled a proforma for review by the hospital’s CFO and CEO. More and more, I see that same person actively engaged with the “C-suite” and, as was discussed previously on this blog (in "Is Strategy Execution Anyone's Full Time Job in a Hospital?"), an individual is sometimes named as a chief officer over strategy development and execution.
As we all know, even with improved visibility for this role, there are still debates over who actually “owns” the strategy process. Is it accounting, finance, marketing? Is it the CEO? It really shouldn’t be a question of who or where it is owned, but one of who is involved in the strategy development and execution processes, from A to Z. Are they working together? Are they, as a team, able to achieve alignment? If there is a CSO, he or she can help drive this, but -- much like quality -- strategy must be everyone's job if it's going to be executed effectively.
The CSO role is a multi-faceted, complex one. Along
with developing and implementing strategy as part of the executive
leadership team, the CSO also needs to have a good grasp on the
organization’s culture. They need to have
one foot in the corporate suite, and the other one must be knee-deep
in the business units -- communicating, defining, focusing on growth,
but at the same time, truly understanding the productivity and resource
demands required of the staff.
The actual
execution of the strategic plan sits in the business units -- in order
for them to be successful, each business unit must take ownership, and
they must understand their role and the accountability expected of
them.
As
the work environment and use of data become more complex, I become more
intrigued by the management of the “system of activities” taking place.
Gone are the days of the stand-alone Gantt charts and simple project
management tools -- successful organizations now manage a “system of
activities” that work together to achieve an organization’s mission.
How do you manage your “system of activities” to achieve short and long term goals?
Comments