It is important to create an effective working group in charge of BSC implementation

Why did some companies fail to implement strategic goals?  There are various reasons and explanations.  Very often top managers and business owners criticize balanced scorecard.  They blame this system claiming that balanced scorecard just doesn’t work and this is just a waste of time and money.  Sure, they have their reasons to say so.  But in most cases these companies just use the wrong concepts and approaches to implementation of balanced scorecard.

Just imagine a house with a poorly build foundation.  Sooner or later such a house will inevitably collapse.  The same concerns balanced scorecard.  Once the company top management starts making the wrong steps they are doomed to fail.  So, what is the first step in implementation of balanced scorecard?  First and foremost it is imperative to get personnel involved in discussion of balanced scorecard and then in implementation of this system in the company.

What makes an effective BSC discussion?

What makes an effective BSC discussion?

It sometimes happens that company top management hires external advisors, forms a working group which consists of external advisors and top managers of business owners of the company, develops strategy maps, and then presents them at the seminar or a meeting.  And that’s it!  They think the work is done.

In such a case ordinary personnel of the company does not understand why they should use balanced scorecard.  There’s few of them actually know something about balanced scorecard.  In the worst cases, employees view balanced scorecard as another system to control them.  As a result of this causes resistance and opposition.  Strategy maps will become useless drawings as they will never come down from the top to the level of ordinary employees.  One should remember that implementation of balanced scorecard is quite expensive, and it requires much time and efforts of personnel.

Create an effective BSC working group

Create an effective BSC working group

That’s why when starting discussion of balanced scorecard and strategy maps it is vital important to get ordinary personnel involved.  Everyone in the company should have his own opinion on balanced scorecard, and maybe some suggestions as to company goals and strategies.  Of course, external advisors possess very valuable knowledge and experience which may and must be used in implementation of balanced scorecard.  But ordinary employees know everything about company customers, current problems inside the company.  Most of them have their own suggestions on use of IT solutions, optimization of business processes etc.  The company is the people who work there, and implementation of balanced scorecard is much about acceptance of this system by most of the personnel.