The Road to Success with Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is a business leadership activity that identifies goals, creates business strategies designed to attain those goals, implements actions around those strategies, then continues to evaluate the effectiveness of plan execution. It all boils down to where your business currently stands, where you want your business to be tomorrow, how on earth you are going to get there, and what key performance indicators are the telltales of your plan’s success.

Creating a strategic plan takes work, but it needn’t be particularly difficult. In fact, almost all strategic plans set out with a similar set of building blocks.

When laying the groundwork for your strategic plan:

1.     Accurately Assess Where Your Business Stands Today. What are your core competencies and value propositions? What is your standing in the market? Who are your competitors? If the answers to these questions are not obvious, consider conducting a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). Having a clear and accurate understanding of your starting point will help enormously with the next steps in the Strategic Planning process.

2.     Define Your Goals. What is your Mission and your Vision for the future? Where do you want your business to be one year, five years, or even a decade down the line? By defining your goals from the outset of strategic planning, you are better able to prioritize activities and attention throughout the execution process. Read “Involve Employees in Setting Goals and Reap the Rewards.”

3.     Identify Your Key Performance Indicators. KPIs are quantifiable measures of performance. They act as the metrics, targets, and milestones in working toward your stated business and strategic goals and they gauge your business’s long-term performance. Read “Tips for Setting Effective KPIs.”  

4.     Create an Accountability Chart. Which department, team, or employee is responsible for each activity, task, or action required throughout strategic plan? Who do they report to? Which KPIs are related to their actions and successes?

5.     Remember It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint. And like with any race, there needs to be plenty of water breaks along the way to review, reflect, and refine the execution of your strategic plan. Many businesses conduct quarterly or at the very least yearly reviews, but more frequent evaluations keep you nimble.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a simple but effective strategic plan, contact me today at john@themooseconsulting.com.