What is strategy work for you?

We have changed our way of thinking about strategy. Strategy is not just a document that can be shelved — it is an integral part of our system. The strategy must be linked to organisation, structure, workflows, finances and values — this maximises its impact.

“Everything should speak the same language. It does not do well to have a strategy that says community if one's economic policies promote economic silos. Strategy must live all the way through the organization.”

We have anchored the strategy in the municipality's planning strategy — a tool that can have its own life in a municipality. In Morsø, it is a living management tool developed in collaboration with citizens, employees and politicians. Citizens were involved — as if they were employees of our organization. It created a completely different ownership. It is not just mine, engineering and environment or the local council's strategy — it is ours.

What is the biggest challenge in your strategy work?

A strategy must satisfy both local needs and national frameworks and reforms - for example, the new health reform. It is therefore important to have it linked and prioritised in relation to our resource traits and options, and we must ensure a good balance between operations and development.

“We cannot accommodate or reach everything. We have many ideas and opportunities, but not everything can turn into something. Therefore, we must constantly prioritize: What is most important? Where do we make the biggest difference?”

We need to spend our time on what makes a difference. Paper management doesn't do that. The strategy will only unleash its full potential when we link our efforts across departments and disciplines. The strategic coherence across the board is challenged by habits, so we practice this on an ongoing basis.

How do you manage your strategy?

Perseverance, courage and curiosity are the key words. It is my job as a municipal director to be persistent. The heads of departments have the subject areas, so I stick to my tasks, including strategic direction, creating coherence across the board and ensuring that we use the resources correctly.

“We must not become complacent in our own image. So we have to be curious all the time; Does what we have set in motion work — or should we adjust the course?”

In order to realize the strategy, we have changed meeting structures and management forums, among other things. We have sought to ensure a distinction between operations and development so that development and strategy do not drown in operations or vice versa. It has created space for community reflection and sparring around dilemmas. Our new structure at meetings means we can achieve an incredible amount in a short period of time. It's a small grip with a very big effect.

“In the first phase, we continuously evaluate our meetings. Did we use the time right? Was this the right forum? This is necessary if we are to make the best use of our approaches to management, organisation and strategy — strategic management in practice.”

In addition, we have prepared general markers that fit our values and strategy. It is a form of directions for concrete desired behavior, where we have prepared accompanying do's and don'ts from which managers and employees can speak. It is a concrete release tool that makes it much easier for the entire organization to act in line with the strategy.

Strategy in Morsø Municipality

The strategy in Morsø Municipality is built around the planning strategy “A Community of Mother and the World” that creates direction and expectation alignment in the organization. A number of indicators support the realisation of the strategy; Community, Professionalism, Sustainability, Effective dialogues and task solving and Outside-in perspective. It is a common approach to the values: Together we are the best, Dialogue-based citizen service and Service-oriented authorities' treatment.

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