Keys to Strategic Planning
Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by admin in Blog
Thinking Strategically in Your Business
Most business owners know where they want to go. Most business owners have an idea how to obtain their goals (especially short-term goals). BUT most don’t have a road map to acquiring their long-term goals and objectives strategically — let alone develop a strategic plan. I thought it would be important share some steps in creating a long-term strategic plan. There are so many schools of thought out there that this may not be the way for you; however, a plan is better than no plan!
Key Elements of the Strategic Planning Process
- External Assessment
- Internal Assessment
- Source of Priority Strategic Issues
- Mission Contents
- Source of Strategic Objectives and Programs
- The Strategic Pyramid
- Strategy Statement Content
- Strategic Program Content
- Strategic Accountability/Reviews
In a Nutshell
First it begins with an external assessment. How are your customers viewing you/your company? What are the economic factors
Source: iamwahid
that affect your business? How do your competitors affect your business? What effect does technology have on your business? Next, you should turn your attention to the internal factors of success or failure. These first two items are kind of like a SWOT analysis. Here you look at culture, structure, current practices, systems in place, quality, service, and more. Next take the information learned and create a true SWOT analysis where you list your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. From this you should begin to see priority issues you need to pursue. Next is the creation of a vision, mission, and values statements. These are critical to communicating your goals. If you are a business with very few employees, this is still important. If you are business of one, and you plan not to grow, have fun chasing rainbows! This is still important for you! Next, we move to thinking about what changes in direction are required to create and define objectives. Assigning responsibilities are critical here.
Next, the strategic pyramid consists of top level strategies in identifying the financial position of the company. Are there portions of the business that must be grown? Are there portion that should just be held as they are? Are there portions of the company that should be milked because they are a cash cow? And, are there areas that should be eliminated? This applies for activities, products, and services within the company. Additionally, are there priorities and postures the company holds that should follow the same categorization? Finally, within this section, is there a competitive advantage – whether via cost, value, or differentiation? Next, what executable steps can be taken to begin to achieve the strategy? List those out and begin to create the strategic statement. The strategic statement includes what are the priorities and posture of the company? What are some external strategies we can employ? Internal strategies? Communication tactics internally?
Finally, the development of the strategic program: who is in charge of what? What objectives do each have? What steps are taken when? Financial costs associated with each step. What will be gained/lost financially? Who needs to coordinate with who? What must be leveraged (relationships and financially). The last step is creating accountability. Review quarterly or weekly the programs numbers, progress, individual performance. Provide feedback as needed to insure each knows who’s on track and who is not. Reward those who achieve objectives on time in a timely manner.
It is a lot to think about, and much of what I listed above is written about in great length. If you Google ‘mission statement,’ you’ll get over 38,000,000 results. Not all are valuable, but it gives you a glimpse of how much is written about each of these steps and topics. Don’t get discouraged. It’s not that complicated, and we can help! Hope you found this article useful. By the way, using a strategy works for your business, creating a new business, or getting a job at a different business. See this article by The Creative Underground to see what I mean.
Additional Source: Fogg, C. D. (1994). Team-based strategic planning: A complete guide to structuring, facilitating and implementing the process. AMACOM: New York.
