Break Down Strategic Goals by Function

Translate high-level strategic objectives into actionable priorities for each team. This step ensures every function knows what they’re contributing, how success is defined, and where alignment is critical turning strategy into coordinated execution.

Why it's Matters

Teams execute better when they know how their work connects to strategy. Without this link, they’ll prioritize based on habit, politics, or momentum instead of impact, leading to drift, duplication, or misalignment.

What You Need to Do

Cascade 3–5 strategic objectives into functional goals
Align each department’s initiatives with the company vision
Limit scope: ensure every team has 1–3 outcome-driven priorities
Define where functions must collaborate to deliver success

How to Approach It

Take each strategic objective from Step 1
Ask each team: “What must you deliver to make this real?”
Translate into 1–3 functional OKRs or key initiatives
Create a map showing which teams own what — and where handoffs happen
Check for duplication and gaps across teams
Ensure cross-functional coordination where needed

Deliverables

Mapping of strategic objectives to functional team initiatives
Department-level OKRs or quarterly priorities
Cross-functional coordination map

How to Tell if You Got It Right

Every team can name their top strategic contributions
Department plans ladder up to the company strategy
Dependencies and ownership boundaries are clearly mapped
Priorities are used for trade-offs

What to Watch Out For

Each team inventing their own goals in isolation
Too many priorities competing for focus
No one seeing cross-functional dependencies