Fundamentals of Strategic Planning

As the holiday season winds down and the days begin getting brighter, our focus shifts back to business and the coming year ahead. From a business standpoint, this a great time to reflect on the tremendous changes we have seen recently: in economic conditions, in healthcare, in government, in technology, and in the very nature of the way we operate in business. These changes bring both challenges and opportunities and the best way to navigate in this dynamic business environment is with a plan.

The best way to lead a business forward is with a sound strategic action plan. Maybe you are disciplined in your planning processes—or maybe not—but now is the time to prepare for the new year with vigor, purpose, and direction.

Strategic planning simply means looking at all the activities in a business and making sure they are all working together, serving a common goal, and just plain making sense (financially, operationally or otherwise). Your planning process is not just a one-day a year activity, it needs to be cyclical and continuous. This means always knowing what your plan is, changing it as things change, and keeping everyone in the loop. If you are not a natural planner, this may feel a bit daunting; so let me break the planning process down into simple steps.

1. Step outside.

Thinking about the big picture of where you want to go and what you want the business to be is hard to do from the vantage point of the desk you sit at every day. Strategic planning requires dedicating a few hours to being outside the office in a place where you and your team can think, discuss and share ideas comfortably. Be creative with this one. Whether you take your partners and leadership team to a coffee shop or to a nearby getaway, dedicating time outside the office for planning is the first and most important step.

2. Reconnect to your why.

Start any planning process with a review of what the vision is for the company. We all get so busy running a business it’s easy to forget why we are here in the first place. Sharing thoughts and getting some consensus on values and direction is a critical step in the planning process.

3. Review.

What is going well? What needs improvement? Pull out the financials and look at what numbers are going up as a percent of sales, and what are going down. What are the factors outside of the business that are having the most impact? Which customers are growing or shrinking in sales? What is selling, what is not? Make sure you are not just throwing out opinions or theories at this point; this is a time to take a cold hard look at the facts.

4. Don’t forget about the customer.

A good strategic plan is one that finds a path to business growth that both delights the customer and makes for smooth company operations. Unfortunately, making the customer happy is not always the easiest way to run a business. When everyone around the table at your planning retreat works for the company, it is easy to get too focused on making a plan that revolves around making their jobs easier and more effective. But don’t forget the customer. Ultimately, if you are not delighting the customer, there is no reason to make internal operations smooth. Make sure your strategic plan is one that will thrill the customer, and your staff.

5. Focus.

In any planning process, you are going to identify a lot of things that can be improved. Don’t get overwhelmed. The key to an effective plan is not to address everything, but rather focus on the most important things you want to improve. If you try to do everything, you will get nothing done. Instead, identify the most critical issues and the things that have the most impact on long-term results and put all your energy on these top three, four or five goals.

6. Take Action.

You now have a few goals in front of you, so figure out how to get there. Achieving goals is complex and not normally done in just a few simple steps. Start at the beginning, with the first steps. Figure out where to begin and make a specific action plan for who does what, when, and how. Set tangible and reasonable expectations for measuring performance. Anticipate what challenges will arise and how you’ll adapt to meet them. Do this now to avoid degrading your strategic plan and flying by the seat of your pants.

7. Make it visible.

An action plan buried in a file on the server is not going to stay top of mind. Put your strategic plan up on the wall, on a whiteboard or wherever you think it will be seen frequently. This plan will have to grow and change as action steps are taken and new steps need to be developed. Keep everyone in the loop by making the plan a visual element of daily office life.

By making strategy part of the culture in your organization, planning will become a habit that repeats itself. It all starts with a commitment to a dedicated planning exercise, but it will result in a business with vigor, purpose and direction.