A strategy map is a visual tool that shows an organization’s goals and the steps needed to achieve them. It can be created using various methods and is used to delegate responsibilities and plan for issues through visual communication. It was first developed in 1992 as a Balanced Scorecard and has since been modified to help organizations balance focus and alignment with goals. Strategy maps can be used in any environment and are commonly used to express financial, customer, internal process, and learning goals.
A strategy map is a visual interpretation of an organization’s goals and the steps required to achieve those goals. These maps allow companies to better delegate responsibilities and plan for issues through visual communication. Bubbles, boxes and other shapes are linked together in the map by arrows representing progress. Used across a variety of industries, strategy maps show thoughts, plans, and intentions. There are many ways to create maps, ranging from using a computer to simply drawing freehand.
The strategy map was first conceived in 1992 by Robert Kaplan and David Norton as a Balanced Scorecard. Over the next decade, the team significantly modified the scorecard and emerged in 2001 with what is now known as a strategy map. The new management tool is designed to help organizations balance focus and alignment with goals.
The traditional strategy map lists all of a company’s current people, processes, and strategies on one end of a graph, and the goal or end result on the other end. These charts are normally a single page but can span multiple pages and scroll from side to side or up and down. The creator has the freedom to designate the directional flow and the symbols used. Any number of symbols can be used between the start and end of the result, but all steps will be linked together by arrows, showing readers each step of the process.
Concept development and process engineering are important elements in building a strategy map. Building a map is about learning each job in the map and knowing how each one progresses and works logically with the other jobs on the board. The result will be a blend of timelines, business strategy and job description. The ideal result will be a quick reference sheet to stay on task during a job.
Strategy maps can be used in any environment, but traditionally they’ve been used to express four major business goals. Financial goals are the most common, and the map shows the steps needed to improve a company’s financial health. The customer perspective is another common use, because it shows what customers want and expect in a company and how those goals can be achieved. Internal process is another key use because the map will show how a company currently performs one or more activities and will detail how those activities can be performed more efficiently or a change in structure. Learning is also a common use of maps because they show a skill that needs to be achieved and the steps required to fully understand it.
There are several ways to create a strategy map. There are several computer programs that allow users to draw maps from a variety of templates and make quick changes. A strategy map can also be drawn by hand on an overhead projector or sheet of paper. Regardless of how the chart is created, its simplicity and visual communication help readers better understand your goals.
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