Leaders sometimes avoid strategic planning, thinking it is complicated or there is just too much to do for today’s needs. Yet, when you embark on effective strategic planning, you are setting the course for the future of your business and actively driving to achieve two equally important outcomes: the process and the plan. When you get both of those elements right, then your business can become super charged and speed beyond your competition.
In their book “Built to Last,” Jim Collins and Jerry Porras talk about the need to create alignment in order for the plan to succeed: “Building a visionary company requires 1 percent vision and 99 percent alignment.
Creating alignment can be executed by developing a robust strategic planning process that ends with an actionable, measurable plan where the right team members are responsible for delivering on the objectives. Communicating and driving that plan down to each employee’s individual job descriptions is what creates the alignment that focuses organizations.
Why Do You Need A Strategic Plan?
If you aren’t heading to a destination, you are using that powerful business engine to do laps around the same track over and over. Every organization needs a road map that sets out a destination and provides alternative paths to explore to get there.
Who Needs A Strategic Plan?
Any entity with engaged people and a purpose needs a strategic plan — including for-profit business, nonprofit charities and civic groups, governments and entire communities. If you are expanding, contracting, facing new competition, trends or issues, trying to create consensus to focus resources or bringing in new key team members, a strategic plan can make all the difference in improving teamwork, communication, efficiency and success.
If I Already Have A Plan, Am I Finished?
No, this is an evergreen process that is ongoing through the life of your business or organization. Most people would agree that strategic planning allows you to review mission-critical performance data. Every organization needs to put the plan in motion, set metrics to measure its progress and continually update and tweak the plan annually. At least every two to three years, a deeper review and update of the plan is necessary.
The process is usually one that doesn’t get enough attention to be as powerful as possible. “A great strategy meeting is a meeting of minds,” said Max McKeown, author of “The Strategy Book,” and that is really what the process should create. Bringing together your team is costly, and you want to make sure you use that time in the greatest possible way so folks get to know one another better, become a tighter team and create a safe yet questioning culture where powerfully honest conversations can happen.
The plan doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, often the best ones are the shortest, as they are the most likely to be shared with employees and used as the continual guide for which they are intended.
Remember to savor your success and celebrate with your team when you hit key metrics and milestones along the way!
Things To Consider For Strongest Outcomes:
- Don’t underestimate the need to do team building, no matter how long you’ve worked together. Personality and leadership assessments go a long way in learning about one another’s styles and creating new, positive behaviors and partnerships.
- Plan far enough ahead to interview several potential facilitators and really see what style will match your organization’s current needs. Do you need someone who will challenge the team’s assumptions? Be provocative? Or, do you need someone who will be more of a coach and guide to confirm your existing plan’s components and reinvigorate the team to continue its journey? Be sure to ask references about the style and commitment of the facilitator to learn more.
- If you think you can’t afford an outside facilitator, find a trusted colleague who has done a great job of leading her or his company through strategic planning and ask if they can facilitate for you.
- Make sure you gather the right data on performance metrics ahead of time.
- Seek input from stakeholders, as they can tell you volumes about your business.
- Be open to opposing views and new ways to look at old situations.
- Walk out of the planning session with a detailed timeline for next steps, including to who assignments are made and deadlines.
- Avoid jargon and lengthy prose when writing the plan document.
- Calendar the follow-up and hold people accountable to make it happen.