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Tips on Building Strategy Maps

Tips on Building Strategy Maps

Designing new strategy maps as a workgroup (or editing existing ones) might seem difficult, but this doesn’t need to be a stressful process. Below are a few tips to help you out.

  • Try to involve as many staff members, organizational partners, stakeholders, subject matter experts, and others as possible in the strategy map building process. If this requires additional time, don’t fret; a strategy map that’s been collaboratively designed and incorporates a variety of points of view will be stronger than one developed unilaterally.
  • Collect and organize resources that will help you create the strategy map. These can include community health improvement plans, community health assessments, and other strategic planning documents.
  • Strategy maps should consider a comprehensive review of the evidence-based literature. This review can help target best practices, identify strategies, and determine the appropriate desired outcomes. 

  • Keep the intended audience of this strategy map in mind. What do you want to convey to the reader? Is your language direct, and are your stated goals measurable?
  • If you’re struggling to find the right wording, try using one of these action verbs:
    • Activate
    • Align
    • Allocate
    • Build
    • Collaborate
    • Coordinate
    • Decrease
    • Develop
    • Enable
    • Engage
    • Excel
    • Expand
    • Gather
    • Improve
    • Increase
    • Initiate
    • Integrate
    • Leverage
    • Maintain
    • Maximize
    • Promote
    • Support
    • Sustain
    • Transform
  • Try to avoid having too many or too few boxes on your strategy map. You want the text within each box to be large enough to read on a screen, but you also want the strategy map to serve as a functioning roadmap for your goals.
  • Make sure that you are filling these boxes with things that can be measured. Since the strategy maps tie in with scorecards, be sure to keep in mind what data you’re actually collecting for your scorecards.
  • Avoid using acronyms or other jargon; this language will make it harder for people who aren’t familiar with your workgroup’s efforts or who are employed in other fields to understand what you’re trying to convey.