Welp MagazineA business strategy memo is a written discussion of a proposed business strategy and the reasons it is being recommended. A good strategy memo covers the topic in greater depth than can be done with slides containing bullet points.
What is a Strategy Memo?
The best strategy memos describe both the competitive environment and the business strategy at a high level, and then get into the detailed implementation plan. They usually include some discussion of major risks to the strategy, and a discussion of the strategy in the context of the company’s own specific goals for future development.
A strategy memo usually includes a list of key recommendations.
One thing I want to emphasize is that I am NOT suggesting a strategy memo in place of a business plan. On the contrary, a typical business plan that relies only on a strategic memo will be incomplete. Just remember, the strategy memo is one of the tools that can be used in creating a complete and effective business plan.
At a high level, the information you find in a strategy memo could also be written down on a business plan. However, it is not smart to try to write every aspect of your business plan using a Microsoft Word business plan template because a typical business plan includes dozens of elements, while a typical strategic memo includes close to just three main elements.
A strategy memo could also be called a strategic discussion memo, or strategic memo, or perhaps even a strategic discussion.
If you need to write a strategy memo for your company, I would recommend you create a strategy memo that includes all the main elements.
Listing the main elements:
Paper Topic: “Strategy” Paper Length: 3 to 5 pages Paper Style: Proposal Paper Audience: Senior Leadership Topic Four Elements:
(Each element is further described below.)
- Introduction
- Competitive analysis
- Strategy
Implementation Summary:
(The strategy memo also needs a summary.)
What is a Strategy Dialogue?
A Strategy Dialogue would be a discussion about a proposed business strategy and the reasons it is being recommended. Later Learning Systems means a dialog between a partner and a student. It also means dialogue between a student and a partner.
The best Strategy Dialogues describe both the competitive environment and the business strategy at a high level, then get into the details of the implementation plan.
Later Learning Systems recommends that you create a revised Strategy Dialogue for each of your clients. You can create multiple Strategy Dialogues for any particular problem you are solving. More is better.
The main goal of a revised Strategy Dialogue is to make whatever you want to communicate clear to the audience. You need to communicate clear advice in order to be considered an expert.
How to create a great strategy dialogue:
If you want to understand how you might create a Product Growth Strategy and a Painkiller Product Strategy, you might pay attention to the following dialogue conditions:
- Talk to the right people Ask the right questions Be an expert Interview the experts Become an expert
- (In education, learning does not take place unless the teacher thinks the student is capable of learning.)
- The key to becoming an expert is to immerse yourself in the topic deeply and frequently.
How to think like an expert:
Think about thinking like an expert Think about a silver bullet and a painkiller product Think about the essence of a successful company Ask who, what, when, where, why questions Get excited about the answers Write about the topic, and communicate the story.
Think of each element in your structure as a link in your chain of thoughts. You create an extended chain of thoughts by linking one idea to another. A chain of thoughts is told in series. Don’t make an audience guess what you will write next.
How to write a good strategy memo?
A strategy memo should be the result of a good strategy discussion. You persuade people by being a good communicator. Writing a good strategy memo requires knowing the rules of communication and following them. One element of communication is to avoid making the audience feel bad.
(If you vary a bit in your discussion by switching to a ladder diagram, a grid pattern, or a sequential diagram, you will be better remembered.)
Who reads your strategy memo?
The strategy memo is read by many types of people. The best strategy memos are like articles that are published in magazines about topics that interesting to their audience. The audience is always a specific group of people. A strategy memo should always be formatted in a manner that is designed for the readers. A strategy memo is written to be read and shared with many different types of people who differ in level of expertise and seniority. Some people are as clever as a fox and some people are as clever as a little boy.
You need to think about your strategy memo as a way to connect with many different types of people. The strategy memo is a tool that can help you communicate with your audience. The strategy memo is a reputational project.
(The best strategy memos are lively and interesting to their audience. Published articles that are republished online are usually popular for good reason: they are good articles. Good strategy memos would also be popular for good reasons. They should be written as if they were articles that can readily be published on the internet.)
What makes a strategy memo attractive?
The people who read your strategy _memo care about either avoiding pain or gaining something of value.
Your strategy memo needs to be able to capture an audience’s attention. By looking at the title, an audience will have an idea about the topic, and the story that they are interested in reading about. A strategy memo should be formatted in a way that is designed for the readers.
What makes a strategy memo work?
The main purpose of a strategy memo is to be able to imagine its message is good advice, and you must also imagine what you would do if you were in your audience’s position. If you want to create a great strategy memo, the first step is to tell a complete story about the problem you are trying to solve. The other way to get your audience to understand the logic behind the recommendations is to:
- Explain how the current situation affects your audience.
- Explain what types of benefits you are offering to your audience.
You need to explain why others are interested in what you are writing about, and if you want your audience to understand the logic behind the recommendations, you have to give them a detailed and well structured discussion.
(The people who read your strategy memo care about either avoiding pain or gaining something of value.)
How do you write a strong introduction?
You should have a strong introduction if you want to capture your audience’s attention, and to be able to get your audience to understand why they should care about the topic.
You can succeed by writing a strong introduction if you explain what the reader will gain by reading about the topic. You can also create a good introduction that benefits your readers if you tell them what they will gain by reading a particular article. Find a benefit, and introduce it.
Is there a place for a good old table of contents?
You can use a table of contents if you want to give your audience an overview of the strategies you are talking about, and you want to be able to communicate your ideas in a non-linear way. Your current table of contents should be available on the internet. If you need to create a new table of contents, the first step to take is to decide what you want to talk about.
(If you are brainstorming your new table of contents, there is no need for you to worry about your outline. Let your ideas flow out, and organize later.)
How to write a strong conclusion?
A good conclusion is also called a summary. Look at the writing and the summary from a different point of view. A good conclusion is action oriented. You should create an action oriented draft that is suitable for your story. First, write your draft without worrying about the readers.
Focus on the topics that you are telling, and write as if you are telling the story to an inspired friend who is interested in what you have to say. Tell the story from the beginning until the point you are writing about.
If you want to write a good conclusion, you should have an idea of an action that you could recommend to your readers. If you know the action, you can write about it.
