Strategic Planning
The art of formulating business strategies, implementing them, and evaluating their impact based on organizational objectives
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is the art of creating specific business strategies, implementing them, and evaluating the results of executing the plan, in regard to a company’s overall long-term goals or desires. It is a concept that focuses on integrating various departments (such as accounting and finance, marketing, and human resources) within a company to accomplish its strategic goals. The term strategic planning is essentially synonymous with strategic management.
The concept of strategic planning originally became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and enjoyed favor in the corporate world up until the 1980s, when it somewhat fell out of favor. However, enthusiasm for strategic business planning was revived in the 1990s and strategic planning remains relevant in modern business.
CFI’s Course on Corporate & Business Strategy is an elective course for the FMVA Program.
Strategic Planning Process
The strategic planning process requires considerable thought and planning on the part of a company’s upper-level management. Before settling on a plan of action and then determining how to strategically implement it, executives may consider many possible options. In the end, a company’s management will, hopefully, settle on a strategy that is most likely to produce positive results (usually defined as improving the company’s bottom line) and that can be executed in a cost-efficient manner with a high likelihood of success, while avoiding undue financial risk.
The development and execution of strategic planning are typically viewed as consisting of being performed in three critical steps:
1. Strategy Formulation
In the process of formulating a strategy, a company will first assess its current situation by performing an internal and external audit. The purpose of this is to help identify the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats ( SWOT Analysis ). As a result of the analysis, managers decide on which plans or markets they should focus on or abandon, how to best allocate the company’s resources, and whether to take actions such as expanding operations through a joint venture or merger.
Business strategies have long-term effects on organizational success. Only upper management executives are usually authorized to assign the resources necessary for their implementation.
2. Strategy Implementation
After a strategy is formulated, the company needs to establish specific targets or goals related to putting the strategy into action, and allocate resources for the strategy’s execution. The success of the implementation stage is often determined by how good a job upper management does in regard to clearly communicating the chosen strategy throughout the company and getting all of its employees to “buy into” the desire to put the strategy into action.
Effective strategy implementation involves developing a solid structure, or framework, for implementing the strategy, maximizing the utilization of relevant resources, and redirecting marketing efforts in line with the strategy’s goals and objectives.
3. Strategy Evaluation
Any savvy business person knows that success today does not guarantee success tomorrow. As such, it is important for managers to evaluate the performance of a chosen strategy after the implementation phase.
Strategy evaluation involves three crucial activities: reviewing the internal and external factors affecting the implementation of the strategy, measuring performance, and taking corrective steps to make the strategy more effective. For example, after implementing a strategy to improve customer service, a company may discover that it needs to adopt a new customer relationship management (CRM) software program in order to attain the desired improvements in customer relations.
All three steps in strategic planning occur within three hierarchical levels: upper management, middle management, and operational levels. Thus, it is imperative to foster communication and interaction among employees and managers at all levels, so as to help the firm to operate as a more functional and effective team.
Benefits of Strategic Planning
The volatility of the business environment causes many firms to adopt reactive strategies rather than proactive ones. However, reactive strategies are typically only viable for the short-term, even though they may require spending a significant amount of resources and time to execute. Strategic planning helps firms prepare proactively and address issues with a more long-term view. They enable a company to initiate influence instead of just responding to situations.
Among the primary benefits derived from strategic planning are the following:
1. Helps formulate better strategies using a logical, systematic approach
This is often the most important benefit. Some studies show that the strategic planning process itself makes a significant contribution to improving a company’s overall performance, regardless of the success of a specific strategy.
2. Enhanced communication between employers and employees
Communication is crucial to the success of the strategic planning process. It is initiated through participation and dialogue among the managers and employees, which shows their commitment to achieving organizational goals.
Strategic planning also helps managers and employees show commitment to the organization’s goals. This is because they know what the company is doing and the reasons behind it. Strategic planning makes organizational goals and objectives real, and employees can more readily understand the relationship between their performance, the company’s success, and compensation. As a result, both employees and managers tend to become more innovative and creative, which fosters further growth of the company.
3. Empowers individuals working in the organization
The increased dialogue and communication across all stages of the process strengthens employees’ sense of effectiveness and importance in the company’s overall success. For this reason, it is important for companies to decentralize the strategic planning process by involving lower-level managers and employees throughout the organization. A good example is that of the Walt Disney Co., which dissolved its separate strategic planning department, in favor of assigning the planning roles to individual Disney business divisions.
An increasing number of companies use strategic planning to formulate and implement effective decisions. While planning requires a significant amount of time, effort, and money, a well-thought-out strategic plan efficiently fosters company growth, goal achievement, and employee satisfaction.
Additional Resources
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- What is strategic planning? 5 steps and ...
What is strategic planning? 5 steps and processes
A strategic plan helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. It includes your company’s vision and mission statements, goals, and the actions you’ll take to achieve those goals. In this article we describe how a strategic plan compares to other project and business tools, plus four steps to create a successful strategic plan for your company.
Strategic planning is when business leaders map out their vision for the organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. Strategic plans inform your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals. So if you work for a small company or startup, you could likely benefit from creating a strategic plan. When you have a clear sense of where your organization is going, you’re able to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact.
The strategic planning process doesn’t just help you identify where you need to go—during the process, you’ll also create a document you can share with employees and stakeholders so they stay informed. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to get started developing a strategic plan.
What is a strategic plan?
A strategic plan is a tool to define your organization’s goals and what actions you will take to achieve them. Typically, a strategic plan will include your company’s vision and mission statements, your long-term goals (as well as short-term, yearly objectives), and an action plan of the steps you’re going to take to move in the right direction.
![[inline illustration] Strategic plan elements (infographic)](https://assets.asana.biz/transform/7d1f14e4-b008-4ea6-9579-5af6236ce367/inline-business-strategy-strategic-planning-1-2x?io=transform:fill,width:1680&format=webp "strategic planning and strategic management")
Your strategic plan document should include:
Your company’s mission statement
Your company’s goals
A plan of action to achieve those goals
Your approach to achieving your goals
The tactics you’ll use to meet your goals
An effective strategic plan can give your organization clarity and focus. This level of clarity isn’t always a given—according to our research, only 16% of knowledge workers say their company is effective at setting and communicating company goals. By investing time into strategy formulation, you can build out a three- to five-year vision for the future of your company. This strategy will then inform your yearly and quarterly company goals.
Do I need a strategic plan?
A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics. Here’s how a strategic plan compares to other project management and business tools.
Strategic plan vs. business plan
A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.
You should create a business plan when you’re:
Just starting your business
Significantly restructuring your business
If your business is already established, consider creating a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.
Key takeaway: A business plan works for new businesses or large organizational overhauls. Strategic plans are better for established businesses.
Strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements
Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.
As a result, you should already have your mission and vision statements drafted before you create a strategic plan. Ideally, this is something you created during the business planning phase or shortly after your company started. If you don’t have a mission or vision statement, take some time to create those now. A mission statement states your company’s purpose and it addresses what problem your organization is trying to solve. A vision statement states, in very broad strokes, how you’re going to get there.
Simply put:
A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose
A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose
A strategic plan should include your mission and vision statements, but it should also be more specific than that. Your mission and vision statements could, theoretically, remain the same throughout your company’s entire lifespan. A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction.
For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:
Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.”
Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.”
Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners.
Key takeaway: A strategic plan draws inspiration from your mission and vision statements.
Strategic plan vs. company objectives
Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time.
Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.
Key takeaway: Company objectives are broad, evergreen goals, while a strategic plan is a specific plan of action.
Strategic plan vs. business case
A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business.
You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.
Key takeaway: A business case tackles one initiative or investment, while a strategic plan maps out years of overall growth for your company.
Strategic plan vs. project plan
A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan.
A project plan has seven parts:
Success metrics
Stakeholders and roles
Scope and budget
Milestones and deliverables
Timeline and schedule
Communication plan
Key takeaway: You may build project plans to map out parts of your strategic plan.
When should I create a strategic plan?
You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed. That being said, if your organization moves quickly, consider creating one every two to three years instead. Small businesses may need to create strategic plans more often, as their needs change.
Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets.
What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?
The strategic planning process should be run by a small team of key stakeholders who will be in charge of building your strategic plan.
Your group of strategic planners, sometimes called the management committee, should be a small team of five to 10 key stakeholders and decision-makers for the company. They won’t be the only people involved—but they will be the people driving the work.
Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the strategic planning process.
![[inline illustration] The road to strategic planning (infographic)](https://assets.asana.biz/transform/db464524-dd96-486f-8fb5-40117715ad57/inline-business-strategy-strategic-planning-2-2x?io=transform:fill,width:1680&format=webp "strategic planning and strategic management")
Step 1: Determine where you are
Before you can get started with strategy development and define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders—like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:
Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future
Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services
Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether in the product, business practices, or company culture
A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process).
To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:
What does your organization currently do well?
What separates you from your competitors?
What are your most valuable internal resources?
What tangible assets do you have?
What is your biggest strength?
Weaknesses:
What does your organization do poorly?
What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?
What do your competitors do better than you?
What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?
What processes or products need improvement?
Opportunities:
What opportunities does your organization have?
How can you leverage your unique company strengths?
Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?
How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?
Is there an emerging need for your product or service?
What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?
Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?
Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?
Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company?
Step 2: Identify your goals and objectives
This is where the magic happens. To develop your strategy, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your original business documents—these are your final destination.
To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” This can help you figure out exactly which path you need to take.
During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents to ensure your strategic plan is moving your company in the right direction like:
Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose
Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision
Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company
Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market
Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years
Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in
Step 3: Develop your plan
Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Your plan will take your position and strategy into account to define your organization-wide plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your strategic plan should be created as the quarters and years go on.
As you build your strategic plan, you should define:
Your company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.
Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals .
Related key results and KPIs for that first year. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable.
Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.
A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.
Step 4: Execute your plan
After all that buildup, it’s time to put your plan into action. New strategy execution involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success.
Map your processes with key performance indicators, which will gauge the success of your plan. KPIs will establish which parts of your plan you want achieved in what time frame.
A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch:
Align tasks with job descriptions to make sure people are equipped to get their jobs done
Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process
Fully commit to your plan
Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed
At this point, you should have created and implemented your new strategic framework. The final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.
Share your strategic plan —this isn’t a document to hide away. Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to it so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and your overall strategic plan. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management tool .
Update your plan regularly (quarterly and annually). Make sure you’re using your strategic plan to inform your shorter-term goals. Your strategic plan also isn’t set in stone. You’ll likely need to update the plan if your company decides to change directions or make new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan to ensure you’re building your organization in the best direction possible for the next few years.
Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever—even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.
The benefits of strategic planning
Strategic planning can help with goal-setting by allowing you to explain how your company will move towards your mission and vision statements in the next three to five years. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).
When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:
Align everyone around a shared purpose
Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go
Define long-term goals, and then set shorter-term goals to support them
Assess your current situation and any opportunities—or threats
Help your business be more durable because you’re thinking long-term
Increase motivation and engagement
Sticking to the strategic plan
To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done.
With clear priorities, team members can focus on the initiatives that are making the biggest impact for the company—and they’ll likely be more engaged while doing so.
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- CIO strategy
strategic management
- Linda Tucci, Industry Editor -- CIO/IT Strategy
- Mekhala Roy
What is strategic management?
Strategic management is the ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all necessities an organization needs to meet its goals and objectives. Changes in business environments will require organizations to constantly assess their strategies for success. The strategic management process helps organizations take stock of their present situation, chalk out strategies, deploy them and analyze the effectiveness of the implemented management strategies. Strategic management strategies consist of five basic strategies and can differ in implementation depending on the surrounding environment. Strategic management applies both to on-premise and mobile platforms.
What are the benefits of strategic management?
Strategic management is generally thought to have financial and nonfinancial benefits. A strategic management process helps an organization and its leadership to think about and plan for its future existence, fulfilling a chief responsibility of a board of directors . Strategic management sets a direction for the organization and its employees. Unlike once-and-done strategic plans, effective strategic management continuously plans, monitors and tests an organization's activities, resulting in greater operational efficiency, market share and profitability.
Strategic management concepts
Strategic management is based around an organization's clear understanding of its mission; its vision for where it wants to be in the future; and the values that will guide its actions. The process requires a commitment to strategic planning, a subset of business management that involves an organization's ability to set both short- and long-term goals. Strategic planning also includes the planning of strategic decisions, activities and resource allocation needed to achieve those goals.
Having a defined process for managing an institution's strategies will help organizations make logical decisions and develop new goals quickly in order to keep pace with evolving technology, market and business conditions. Strategic management can, thus, help an organization gain competitive advantage, improve market share and plan for its future.
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The evolving CIO role: From IT operator to business strategist
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Five stages of strategic management process
There are many schools of thought on how to do strategic management, and academics and managers have developed numerous frameworks to guide the strategic management process. In general, the process typically includes five phases:
- assessing the organization's current strategic direction;
- identifying and analyzing internal and external strengths and weaknesses;
- formulating action plans;
- executing action plans; and
- evaluating to what degree action plans have been successful and making changes when desired results are not being produced.
Effective communication, data collection and organizational culture also play an important part in the strategic management process -- especially at large, complex companies. Lack of communication and a negative corporate culture can result in a misalignment of the organization's strategic management plan and the activities undertaken by its various business units and departments. (See Value of organizational culture.) Thus, strategy management includes analyzing cross-functional business decisions prior to implementing them to ensure they are aligned with strategic plans.
Types of strategic management strategies
The types of strategic management strategies have changed over time. The modern discipline of strategic management traces its roots to the 1950s and 1960s. Prominent thinkers in the field include Peter Drucker , sometimes referred to as the founding father of management studies. Among his contributions was the seminal idea that the purpose of a business is to create a customer, and what the customer wants determines what a business is. Management's main job is marshalling the resources and enabling employees to efficiently address customers' evolving needs and preferences.
A brief explanation of how to be a collaborative and strategic leader in the information age.
In the 1980s, a Harvard Business School professor called Theodore Levitt, developed a different strategy with a focus on the customer. This strategy was different from the previous emphasis on production -- i.e., creating a product of high quality ensured success.
Distinctive competence , a term introduced in 1957 by sociology and law scholar Philip Selznick, focused on the idea of core competencies and competitive advantage in strategic management theory. This enabled the creation of frameworks for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization in relation to the threats and opportunities in its external environment. (See SWOT analysis).
Canadian management scientist Henry Mintzberg concluded that the strategic management process could be more dynamic and less predictable than management theorists had thought. In his 1987 paper, "The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy," he argued "the field of strategic management cannot afford to rely on a single definition of strategy." Instead, he outlined five definitions of strategy and their interrelationships:
- Plan: Strategy as a consciously intended course of action to deal with a situation.
- Ploy: Strategy as a maneuver to outwit a competitor, which can also be part of a plan.
- Pattern: Strategy stemming from consistency in behavior, whether or not intended and which can be independent of a plan.
- Position: Strategy as a mediating force or match between the organization and environment, which can be compatible with any or all of the Ps.
- Perspective: Strategy as a concept or ingrained way of perceiving the world -- e.g., aggressive pacesetter vs. late mover -- which can be compatible with any or all of the Ps.
SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis is one of the types of strategic management frameworks used by organizations to build and test their business strategies. A SWOT analysis identifies and compares the s trengths and w eaknesses of an organization with the external o pportunities and t hreats of its environment. The SWOT analysis clarifies the internal, external and other factors that can have an impact on an organization's goals and objectives.
The SWOT process helps leaders determine whether the organization's resources and abilities will be effective in the competitive environment within which it has to function and to refine the strategies required to remain successful in this environment.
Balanced scorecard in strategic management
The balanced scorecard is a management system that turns strategic goals into a set of performance objectives that are measured, monitored and changed, if necessary, to ensure the strategic goals are met.
The balanced scorecard takes a four-pronged approach to an organization's performance. It incorporates traditional financial analysis, including metrics such as operating income, sales growth and return on investment . It also entails a customer analysis, including customer satisfaction and retention; an internal analysis, including how business processes are linked to strategic goals; and a learning and growth analysis, including employee satisfaction and retention, as well as the performance of an organization's information services.
As explained by the Balanced Scorecard Institute :
"The system connects the dots between big picture strategy elements such as mission (our purpose), vision (what we aspire for), core values (what we believe in), strategic focus areas (themes, results and/or goals) and the more operational elements such as objectives (continuous improvement activities), measures (or key performance indicators, or KPIs, which track strategic performance), targets (our desired level of performance), and initiatives (projects that help you reach your targets)."
Value of organizational culture
Organizational culture can determine the success and failure of a business and is a key component that strategic leaders must consider in the strategic management process. Culture is a major factor in the way people in an organization outline objectives, execute tasks and organize resources. A strong organizational culture will make it easier for leaders and managers to motivate employees to execute their tasks in alignment with the outlined strategies. At organizations where lower-level managers and employees are expected to be involved in the decision-making and strategy, the strategic management process should enable them to do so.
It is important to create strategies that are suitable for the organization's culture. If a particular strategy does not match the organization's culture, it will hinder the ability to accomplish the strategy's intended outcomes.
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Related Terms
Dig deeper on cio strategy.
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis)
IT strategy (information technology strategy)
organizational goals
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Strategic Planning vs. Strategic Management: What’s the Difference?
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Strategic planning and strategic management may sound like they’re interchangeable, but they are two different parts of a very important process: achieving a business’s long-term goals. Strategic planning is the approach used in forming an organization’s direction (e.g., its vision, mission and priorities).
On the other hand, strategic management is the overall process of achieving that direction, from planning to executing. Managing the action plans, projects and lifecycle of the strategic plan is crucial to accomplishing your business’s long-term priorities.
Sometimes businesses will be better at looking forward and figuring out their opportunities than they are at executing their plans, or vice versa, so it’s important to break down what strategic management involves. The Association for Strategic Planning divides strategic management into three phases: think, plan and act. [1]
Thinking comprises both an external assessment and an internal assessment. You want to consider external forces, such as emerging opportunities for your business to leverage in the future and threats you can minimize or work around. Technology can pose both an opportunity and a threat; your business must decide what your vision is and how developing technology fits into that vision.
Your internal assessment should evaluate your capabilities, processes, culture and change readiness. It’s incredibly important to understand how flexible and ready for change your organization is. Developing a good strategy doesn’t automatically equal buy-in from your employees. Culture and change readiness can blindside you when you’re trying to implement your strategy if you don’t take them into account beforehand and effectively manage change.
You should also take your customers into consideration. What feedback are you getting from them? Do they seem interested in a product or service you traditionally haven’t provided? Is a competitor disrupting your industry or gaining some sort of advantage over your business? Don’t leave out your customers when evaluating your organization’s SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
This is where strategic planning comes into play. We previously discussed the seven essential parts of the strategic planning process , but essentially the process involves using your SWOT analysis to form your long-term vision and drill down from there into your strategic priorities, goals and action plans.
A key aspect of strategic planning is to include organizational drivers of success. Make sure to ask what “success” and “done” looks like. You should be able to measure your progress to see if you’ve met your goals. Determine those measurements during the planning process, not after.
Executing your strategic plan involves a few vital steps. First is creating a performance culture to give your employees visibility into what your goals are, how they’re being met and when you successfully complete a goal. Since every employee plays some sort of role in the strategic plan’s execution, visibility and communication must start at the top. Otherwise those employees are less invested in the plan, and you run into change management problems.
To overcome those problems, you must also build accountability. Developing a culture of ownership allows every employee to feel like they own the results and successes of your plan.
Not every plan will go smoothly without any readjustments. Be sure to act on the measurements you set in the planning phase. Are you seeing the results you expected? Is there something new you can leverage? Reviewing and evaluating your strategy execution to adjust course is one of the most important strategic management actions you can take.
Every Employee Plays a Role in Strategic Management
While communication and metrics are two big parts of strategic management, don’t discount prioritization. You can’t ask your employees to do two full-time jobs, so you need to balance strategy with everyday work so production doesn’t grind to a halt and make your strategy a moot point. Prioritize goals and actions plans and build out a timeline that takes into account the everyday work.
Also make sure you keep an eye on how people’s roles change because of the strategy. Updating job descriptions and titles helps ensure employees feel aligned behind a shared vision and are committed to the strategy. Clearly communicate performance measurements at all levels and find a way for employees to provide feedback in return.
And in the end, remember that strategic management is an iterative, ongoing process, not a single event. When you have the plan, the buy-in and the measurements, you’ll still need to review and readjust to help your organization stay on the path to achieving its long-term vision and goals.
If you’d like to learn more about strategic management and how it can help your business grow and reach its goals, contact Wipfli.
[1] “Who We Are,” The Association for Strategic Planning, https://www.strategyassociation.org/page/aboutus_overview , accessed May 22, 2018
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Strategic Planning
What is strategic planning.
What is a strategic plan? Strategic planning in management is the process of documenting and establishing the direction of your small business—by assessing both where you are and where you’re going . So, what is the purpose of a strategic plan? And what does an effective strategic plan consist of? A company’s strategic plan consists of it’s:
- Long-term goals
- Action plans
A well-written strategic business plan can play a pivotal role in your small business’s growth and success because it tells you and your employees how best to respond to opportunities and challenges.
In recent years, many small business owners have been focusing on long-term planning. In fact, in 2020, there were three business areas that small businesses focused on strategy for, including:
- 46% in sales
- 41% in advertising
- 36% in customer service
If you haven’t been focusing on a long-term business planning process, it’s not too late to think differently. Your future success depends on effective organizational strategic planning. It’s also important to remember that a strategic planning process model involves your entire business. The discussions that result can lead to meaningful changes in your business. The purpose of strategic planning is to also analyze your business and set realistic goals and objectives. This leads to the creation of a formal document that lays out the company’s views and strategic goals for the future.
Ready to learn more about strategic management and planning? Keep reading through the next sections.
The 3 Step Strategic Planning Process
What are the 3 steps in strategic planning? When it comes to the strategic planning process, think of it as having three phases:
- Development
- Review and updating
The goal of developing a strategic plan is to ensure everyone in the business is aligned when it comes to your small business’s goals and objectives, as well as to create a formal strategic plan document.
1. Discussion Phase
The discussion phase is meant to gather as much information, opinions, and input as possible. Set up a regularly scheduled meeting with the employees and any other staff in your business who will be involved with strategic planning. Make sure you have an agenda and clear expectations of what you want to accomplish in each meeting. This will keep discussions on track and help prevent distractions. In the first few meetings, try to answer questions that will help you define the business’s current status, such as, “Where are we now?” and “Where are our competitors?” Once you have a good idea of where the business is, you can focus in on specific details in future meetings.
In addition to regular meetings with your employees at your business, you can also gather information from people outside your company, like:
External people will have a unique perspective on not only your business, but also the industry you’re operating in. Getting their opinions on where they think the industry is going and what they think will change in the future can help you put together your strategic plan and determine where you want your business to be down the road.
You can also conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
When you’re conducting a SWOT analysis, you and your employees will examine what your business does well, where it can improve, any future opportunities to pursue that could help facilitate growth and success, and any competitors or external factors that could prevent the business from succeeding.
Your strengths should be pretty easy to identify. When you’re discussing your business’s weaknesses, don’t be afraid to be candid. Every business has weaknesses and things to work on. Any weakness you and your employees note means it’s something you’ll aim to improve on in the future with a detailed initiative outlined in the strategic plan.
Opportunities available to your business may be pretty clear, while identifying threats to your business can be more difficult. Speaking with people outside of the company should give you a good idea of where the industry could be heading and if there are any major competitors or challenges coming. If you can identify a number of threats and challenges to your business early on, it puts you in a better position to address them if and when you encounter them down the road.
2. Development Phase
After you’ve collected all of the information, it’s time for the development phase. This is when you’ll start putting together your business’s strategic plan. A strategic plan consists of five key components:
- A vision statement
- A mission statement
- Goals and objectives
- An action plan
- Details on how often the strategic plan will be reviewed and updated
Decide with your employees what you will use to create the strategic plan. Are you going to purchase software to help you create and house the plan? Or are you going to create the plan yourself and save it in the cloud for easier access?
When you’re creating goals and objectives for your business, make sure they’re realistic and measurable. Work with your employees to create goals and objectives for at least the next one to three years. And discuss how these goals and objectives will be measured and tracked.
For example, if you have a goal of increasing sales by 10% in the next year, you can track this by measuring sale numbers. Equally important is having an action plan to achieve these goals and objectives. If you’re trying to increase your sales by 10% in a year, you can pursue more marketing and social media outreach as part of your action plan. If an action plan doesn’t help your business achieve its goals, the plan needs to be rewritten.
3. Review and Updating Phase
A critical part of the strategic plan should address how often it will be reviewed and updated. Designate someone to be responsible for reviewing, updating, and sharing any changes with the rest of the company. Whether it’s you or another employee, you’ll want to make sure everyone in the business is aware of the changes and how they affect the overall strategic plan.
The strategic plan is meant to be a fluid document; don’t fall into the trap of creating the document and letting it sit on a shelf for years. If you developed meaningful objectives and action plans, they should help with regularly checking the strategic plan. For example, if your action plan requires you to put in sales numbers every quarter to track revenue, you could take that time to review the rest of the plan.
You can also set an alert to check the strategic plan on a regular basis. Whether it’s every few months, every quarter, or every year, a recurring alert can help you review and update the document.
When you’re reviewing your strategic plan, you may find that you’re not on track to meet an objective or goal that you previously set up. Don’t panic. Reassess the situation and, if you need to, discuss the issues with your employees. Figure out what went wrong and why your business isn’t on pace; maybe the goal was too ambitious or not realistic. Change the goal or objective and update the action plan to help you get back on track.
You also may find that your small business has met a goal or objective earlier than you thought you would. If so, you can create a new goal or objective to work toward, or try to maintain the progress you’ve already made. Discuss the ideas with your employees to see what they think is possible.
Strategic Plan Examples
Strategic plans can vary, depending on the type of business you operate or the industry you’re in. Here are a few examples of different strategic plans:
Strategic Planning Examples for Business
A strategic plan for a business will include the company’s mission and vision statement, as well as its goals and objectives and the action plans to achieve them.
The strategic plan is different from a business plan. The business plan is typically used to help start the business and acquire the necessary funds to open the doors. A strategic plan outlines the strategy for growth and success in the future by using existing resources.
The Canadian Soccer Association’s strategic plan for 2014 to 2018 is full of information and details. It includes an examination of the organization’s current status and what the focus in the future will be. It includes the goals and objectives of the Canadian Soccer Association, as well as the strategies it’ll use to achieve them.
According to a recent report, the top challenges for small businesses in 2021 are:
- 23% said a lack of capital and/or cash flow
- 15% said they anticipate marketing and advertising struggles
- 19% said they expect challenges with recruiting and retaining employees
Nonprofit Strategic Plan Examples
A strategic plan for a nonprofit organization will include the same key components. A nonprofit strategic plan may focus more on the internal and external factors that can pose any threats or challenges to the organization. Because the structure of a nonprofit organization can change rapidly due to different factors, the strategic plan takes this into account and aims to address possible changes ahead of time.
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits’ strategic plan for 2010 through 2014 outlines the organization’s:
- Community it serves
- Goals for the four-year period
Each goal includes an in-depth description of why it’s important to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, as well as the strategies involved to achieve those goals. The plan also lists the people responsible for working on the strategic plan.
IT Strategic Plans
The IT industry is constantly changing. This means a strategic plan for an IT business should identify and address the changes in the future as well as possible. While other business strategic plans may focus on the next three to four years, it’s not uncommon for an IT strategic plan to look at the next year to year-and-a-half.
When it comes to developing, reviewing, and updating your IT strategic plan, it’s important to involve your business’s Chief Information Officer. This person’s knowledge and skill set is useful in putting together a strategic plan for your tech business. In addition to the Chief Information Officer, you and your employees can look at whether you need to upgrade any part of your infrastructure to meet the goals and objectives you’ve outlined in your strategic plan.
Because of the rapidly changing circumstances, you may be reviewing your IT strategic plan more frequently than with other businesses. Adjust your plan as necessary to put your business on the best path to success. The plan also should include details on how to make a decision when it comes to investing in new equipment or technology.
Marketing Strategic Plans
A marketing strategic plan’s goal should be to generate sales for the business. Whether it’s increasing sales numbers by 15% or increasing the number of customers in the next quarter, a marketing strategic plan helps businesses generate more revenue and increase their customer base.
A marketing strategic plan can include marketing technology, software, or web-based platforms to help track your business’s progress toward its goals. The plan also could address the specific types of marketing the business will pursue—for example, whether your business will pursue traditional print advertising or digital ads.
Because a marketing strategic plan aims to increase your business’s exposure and numbers through different techniques and methods, it’s a good idea to include the budget in the document. This way, you and your employees will work toward the marketing goals and objectives you want to achieve without spending too much money.
Strategic Planning Template Checklist
Should you use strategic planning models or templates? Yes, in fact, a good strategic plan template, sometimes called a strategy mapping template is like a checklist. The template will include different sections for you to complete and help you cover a variety of topics. Using a thorough template will help ensure you have a comprehensive strategic plan for your business.
You can use computer software for your strategic planning template, or you can create your own with Microsoft Word or Excel. You can also download our Strategic Plan Example Template to use.
- What does a strategic plan include? At the top of your template, label it “Executive Summary” and provide an overview of your business. Include the time period you’re looking at for your business’s strategic plan; for example, if the strategic plan provides a three- to five-year outlook.
- Underneath this section would be information on “Your Company.” This is where you’ll put in your mission statement, vision, values, and information on leadership.
- A section on “Research” will include information on your clients and customers, competitors and the industry.
- You can also create a section on “Products and Services,” which will detail any products you sell, pricing strategy, delivery systems and capabilities, and suppliers.
- A section of your template should focus on “Measurable Goals.” These should be realistic goals or objectives that you want your business to achieve within the time period you set. Don’t forget to include details on how the progress of each goal or objective will be measured.
- Whether you include it within the Measurable Goals section or as a stand-alone group in the template, don’t forget about your “Action Plans.” This provides an overview of how you and your employees are going to achieve your business goals and operational plans.
- You also can put your SWOT analysis into the template. List the identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with your business. Remember to be honest and candid. When you are reviewing your strategic plan in the future, you can reference the initial SWOT analysis and check to see what has changed.
- The last section should detail “Reviews and Updating.” Explain how often the plan should be checked (every few months, quarterly, annually, etc.). Provide a list of people who should be responsible for reviewing and updating the strategic plan, as well as communicating any changes with the broader business.
Why Is Strategic Planning Important?
The strategic planning process can take some time, but it’s beneficial for everyone involved. As the small business owner, you’ll have a better idea of the organizational goals and objectives you’ll want to accomplish and a path to do that. For your employees, the process can foster an increase in productivity—contributing to the success of the business.
Communicating Your Strategic Plan
In a business environment, strategic planning requires you to involve your employees. Your employees are involved in the day-to-day operations and can provide you with a unique view of the company. Employees can share with you what they think is and isn’t working with the business today, which can inform your planning for the future.
In addition to your employees, it’s beneficial to reach out to people outside of your company to get their opinions. Like your employees, vendors have a unique perspective on your industry. Talk to them about the business, and get their thoughts on how they think the business landscape can change in the future.
The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that the strategic planning process be a flexible one. When you meet with your employees and any people outside of the company, remember that the discussions should encourage new ideas and thoughts.
Increase Productivity
Involving your employees in the strategic planning process also means they receive a sense of accountability that can increase productivity. Whether they contributed in the process or were informed of the business’s long-term goals and objectives after the strategic plan was created, they’ll be more likely to want to help you achieve those targets.
Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses
As part of the strategic planning process model, you’ll examine and analyze your entire business. You’ll take a look at what your business does well and the areas where it still needs to improve. By identifying your business’s current strengths and weaknesses, the process gives you and your employees an opportunity to improve in the future and become a durable business by minimizing risks.
Although you may have a good idea about what your business excels at and areas that need to be improved upon, don’t forget to involve your employees. They may tell you something you didn’t think of.
Setting the Direction of the Business and Fostering a Proactive Environment
By the end of the strategic planning process, you and your employees should have a clear direction of where you want the business to go in the future. These discussions and the planning process itself help put the business in the best position to succeed in the future.
Strategic planning gives you and your business time to figure out how to grow over the next few years and how to address new opportunities and challenges. Think about the challenges or issues your business may face in four or five years and plan accordingly, so your business doesn’t stumble down the road.
Strategic Planning Misconceptions
There are many strategic planning misconceptions. From not having enough time or thinking it only benefits larger businesses, to fearing you’ll put your business on the wrong path, there are a variety of reasons why business owners may be wary of strategic planning. But don’t be alarmed; strategic planning can help your business—big or small—and the benefits far outweigh any perceived negatives.
Regardless of the size of your business, a strategic plan is beneficial. Whether you are a small business or a large corporation with hundreds or thousands of employees, strategic planning helps you make sure the company is headed in the right direction.
But how do you know if you’re steering the company in the right direction? The beginning phases of strategic planning focus on research and discussions. The decisions you make during strategic planning aren’t based on assumptions; they’re based on research and information you’ve gathered while talking with your employees and people outside of your company.
The strategic planning process may seem daunting at first, but when you understand what’s involved and how to do it, it’s not that complicated. It takes time, but the amount you invest in the process pays off when everyone in your company works toward accomplishing the goals and objectives you’ve laid out.
The process doesn’t stymie creativity either. When you meet with your employees for strategic planning, you’re asking everyone to have a discussion and brainstorm ideas. The strategic planning process puts everyone’s minds together to think of creative ideas.
If you go through the strategic planning process once, don’t think you won’t have to do it again. The strategic plan is a living document; it should change over time. It’s not uncommon for business owners to create a strategic plan with their employees and rarely—or never—revisit the document. Reviewing and evaluating your strategic plan regularly will help keep you accountable and on track to achieve your goals and objectives.
What Makes Strategic Planning Successful?
Successful strategic planning involves a team effort among you and your employees, as well as among you and your vendors and other outside people. The more you engage your employees with strategic planning, the better they’ll understand the strategy you want to have for your business.
Strategic planning concepts also need to be flexible. While it’s necessary to have goals and objectives for your business, you also have to be able to adapt to changes. For instance, 44% of small businesses without a website, plan to create one in 2021 to adapt to the growing online shopping trend brought on by COVID-19.
When strategic planning is successful, everyone in your business is on the same page with the business’s direction and goals. Each individual understands what makes the business stronger and what needs to be worked on. And it’s more likely that each person wants to contribute to the business’s growth and success.
When Should Strategic Planning Be Done?
When it comes to strategic planning, you want to start it sooner rather than later . It doesn’t necessarily have to be done in the first few days or weeks of the company’s life—you may want to be in business for a few months to give yourself a better idea of what is and isn’t working.
But even if you’ve owned your business for a long time, it’s not too late to get started on strategic planning. It’s never a bad time to sit down and think about the current status of your company and where you want to be in the next five to 10 years. When you’re ready, gather your team together and schedule regular meetings dedicated to strategic planning.
Where Do Strategic Plans Go Wrong?
Strategic planning is an ongoing commitment. Even if you go through an initial round of strategic planning and it leads to the development of your business’s first strategic plan, it’s still not finished. The plan has to be implemented.
Strategic plans also can go wrong if the goals and objectives you set are unrealistic. Every business owner wants to see their business grow and succeed, but if you set an overly ambitious growth rate, it could discourage you and your employees.
A successful strategic plan requires commitment. Your entire team needs to be focused on the business and carrying out the strategic plan. If the strategic plan isn’t being used regularly or as the foundation of the business, you and your employees can lose sight of the company’s direction and goals.
The top three reasons strategy implementation fails:
- Poor communication
- Lack of leadership
- Using wrong measures
Reviewing and Updating Your Strategic Plan
A strategic plan is a living document. Don’t spend the time to create a strategic plan and then put it on the shelf to collect dust. Live by it. And regularly update your strategic plan. How often you should update your strategic plan depends on how your business works.
If your business works in a fast-paced industry and can be affected by changing outside factors, you should review and update your strategic plan on a more frequent basis. For example, if your business operates within the ever-evolving tech industry, you will probably want to check on your strategic plan after each quarter.
At the very least, you should review your strategic plan every year. When you review your strategic plan, you’re looking at the assumptions made and checking to see where your business stands in relation to those assumptions. What you thought would be challenges and threats to your business a year ago may not be the same now.
Don’t be afraid to change any part of the strategic plan. In fact, only 77% of small business owners are somewhat or very confident in their ability to execute their strategy but 95% still fall short of meeting all their goals. Updating your plan can help you stay on track with your goals. And if outside factors are having a bigger impact on your business than you initially thought, you may have to change your objectives or goals.
The regular review is a good opportunity to check back in with your employees. Your employees helped you create the business’s strategic plan and they’re as invested in the success of it as you are. Give them a summary of where the business currently stands. Talk with them to see if things have improved or if they still have concerns with the business—or if any of their initial concerns have changed.
After you review the strategic plan, share any changes with your team. Even if you didn’t make any changes, it’s a good opportunity to give the rest of your company your thoughts on the business’s status and confirm that things are on the right track. You also can encourage your employees to continue working hard to achieve the goals and objectives in the strategic plan.
Focusing on the long-term strategy of your business is also essential. Long-term strategic planning is as important as having a business plan and can lead to the success of your business. You and your employees will understand the current status of the company, productivity will increase as everyone works toward achieving the business goals, and you’ll put yourself in a better position to address any potential issues that may come up in the future.
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This was helpful and have grown to work better as a manager.
That’s great to hear, Samuel! Thanks for commenting!
I gained great knowledge. Thanks for teaching us about strategic planning and its benefit.
You’re welcome! We’re glad you found the article helpful.
I really needed this.
We’re glad the article was helpful!
Hi, the article is well written and worth reading. Thank you for sharing the valuable information. Please keep sharing more.
We’re glad you liked it, John! You can read more about Strategic Planning in the articles below:
https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/strategic-planning-process/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/key-components-of-strategic-plan/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/develop-a-strategic-plan/
Very innovative and thought provoking…..interesting read….
Thanks for commenting, Reena! We’re glad you found the article interesting.
Thoroughly enjoyed this…
That’s great to hear, Melanie! You can also check out our other strategic planning articles, here:
Loved it all
That’s great to hear, Jean!
I really enjoyed this notice. Be blessed.
We’re glad you enjoyed it!
I’m very much interested in your support with the information. Thank you very much as it will help me develop my organization.
Thank you for reaching out, John! You can learn more about strategic planning with these articles from SBA: https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/strategic-planning-process/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/develop-a-strategic-plan/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/why-is-strategic-planning-necessary/
Thanks for commenting!
Very good notes. Easy to understand.
That’s great to hear, Samuel! Check out our other strategic planning articles to learn more:
lnterested in learning more about this subject.
That’s great to hear, Linnet! You can learn more by checking out these other SBA articles on strategic planning:
https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/strategic-planning-process/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/why-is-strategic-planning-necessary/ https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/develop-a-strategic-plan/
Good write up, very informative.
Thank you! We’re glad you enjoyed it.
Really liking this website!
That’s great to hear, Lise!
I really enjoyed reading the article about the strategy planning. There are many things I was not aware before.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the nice comment!
Good stuff. Straight forward.
We’re glad you liked it!
Great article. keep it up.
Will do, thank you for the nice comment and for reading SBA!
Insightful.
Thank you, Stella!
Fantastic article!! Done with clarity. But my question has always been, at what point does the goals and objectives come in the strategic Planning process? Do we establish the goals and objectives after defining the Mission and Vision statements or do we develop goals and objectives after the analytic tool is utilized (SWOT, PEST,)? etc
Thanks for reaching out! This can depend on the business owner. While some business owners may have initial goals and objectives early on, it can also make sense to this after doing the analysis (SWOT, PEST). The information from these analyses can help create meaningful goals and objectives. The idea behind goals and objectives (both short- and long-term) is that they’re supposed to support/ladder up to the mission and vision statements.
Good article and very interesting.
Thanks for the comment! We’re happy to hear you found it interesting.
Thank you, this is a great article!
You’re welcome, Muhammad!
It was a great. Very helpful.
We’re glad you found it helpful! Thank you for the comment!
Great article. I really enjoyed reading it.
We’re glad you enjoyed reading it! Thanks for leaving a comment, Samana!
I need your coaching.
Thanks for reaching out! Check out this SBA article: https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/small-biz-owner/build-stronger-mindset/
Under #8 in the article, you can sign up for a free 1-hour consultation!
Excellent piece of information on strategic planning!
We’re so glad you liked it! Thanks!
I appreciate this greatly. It’s helpful for small businesses especially for new initiatives and those at the mature business stage. Thank you!
We’re glad you liked it. Thank you for commenting, Adolf!
It is better to make some terms like vision, goal and mission clear.
Appreciated article.
We’re glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting!
Very informative! It helps me a lot as a student. Thank you 😊
You’re welcome, Joice! We’re always happy to help and glad to hear you find our articles informative.
I enjoyed reading the article. Thank you for providing the overview about the topic. Examples and links are very useful too.
That’s great to hear! Thank you!
Any discussion on Strategic Planning is good discussion – it is such a critical element of any organisation that aspires to be good and dares to be great.
Great point, Steve!
A very interesting article.
We’re glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting!
Informative article! You have made strategic planning so easy to understand. But how do i reference this article in an academic paper?
One way to cite this article in an academic paper is like this:
Vo, Eric. “What Is Strategic Planning.” Small Biz Ahead Blog , 2 Sept. 2020, sba.thehartford.com/business-management/what-is-strategic-planning/
I fully agree with you. The article is useful, but mostly for beginners and students. But it is informative and I liked it as well.
Thank you for sharing this very informative article. It will definitely guide me in conducting our own Strategic Planning at our office.
Thanks for the comment. We’re glad the article could help!
I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog and have some great content. Keep up the good work. SEO canada
That’s great to hear! Thanks for the comment!
This is helpful. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment, Patricia!
Really helpful… thanks alot.
Glad you enjoyed the article!
What is the difference between Policy development & Strategic planning?
Companies first come up with strategic plan to establish their long term goals and objectives along with general actions to be taken to support those goals and objectives. You then establish policies to ensure that your team is staying within those actions. For example, your strategic plan may say you want to increase revenues 20 percent next year in the aerospace market. Your actions will include marketing campaigns and outreach events. Your policies will then ensure that your team are not undertaking actions that are not included in these campaigns and events.
Thanks for your educative explanation on the preparation of strategic business plan.
Thank you for this article. It helped me to understand the strategic planning process, which is something I am studying and this was straightforward and to the point.
Thank you Emily!
This article is a good basic overview. Something that must be emphasized is translating the strategic plan into specific actions with measurable outcomes. If you go into work on Monday after completing your plan and do your work the way you did before the plan, then the plan has already failed. I see this frequently in the businesses with which I work. Another key is to clearly tie individual staff roles and performance expectations and goals to the strategic goals. When effectively done, you begin to harness the very real power of employees’ intimate knowledge of their work and how to do it better.
Thanks for sharing. This is very helpful to business owners and managers. As it is said, the strategic plan need to be flexible, same applies to getting knowledge of strategic plan as business environments keep changing.
Glad to hear this was helpful. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for so much for the this exciting read. I can’t wait to start doing the stuff with my team
Strategic planning is important to an organization because it provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals. Strategic planning is a tool that is useful for guiding day-to-day decisions and also for evaluating progress and changing approaches when moving forward. Found an another website Evolvetraining.ac.nz it has lots of valuable information for everyone
Thanks for sharing such an informative blog.
I really enjoyed reading the article.it motivates and gives direction in the business Thanks
I thank you for this platform because it is updating my knowledge on Strategic Planning
I really enjoyed reading the article. It was written in simple language and in a manner that helped me identify key points under each subtitle. I am going to use this as a guide to some strategic plans am working on, thanks.
This teaching is educative.
That’s good to hear. Glad you liked it!
This is a good and educative article. It’s very informative. Thanks.
I actually appreciate this piece. The writing is incredibly beneficial. my start up manufacturering business seems to be in better position with articles like this! My gratitude to the masterminds behind this program, Cheers.
Your article is helpful if you have employees, but how does this work if you have sub-contractors? Do you get them involved?
Now i have an insight of what strategic planning is. So what can be the sub-topics to include when writing an essay?
Great article. Thanks for the detailed information. Your blog is by far the best source I’ve found. Thanks!
Thank you, Victoria!
This is a comprehensive Strategic Planning manual.
Very interesting and valuable document. Enjoyed reading the participatory role of employees. Thanks a lot.
Thank you for the comment, Gemechu.
Love this article!! Thanks.
We are so glad you enjoyed this article! Thank you for the comment, Vanessa!
I send it to Beby.
Interesting read.
Thank you Bert!
Very practical article- thankyou very much
Thank you for reading!
Howdy! Great article on strategic planning for small businesses. I agree with the statistic you quote from Constant Contact. In my work, I find that most business owners can only think and plan about a year out. There are a couple of contributing factors to that ‘limited’ sight. For many business owners, this is the first time they have ever been where they are. They are suffering from ‘not knowing what they do not know.’ They are smart enough to recognize it, but they are cautious about the outlook because of it. The second is the rate of change in the economy, which only speeds up each year; it is just that very few businesses have the tools and expertise to keep pace with the change. Both factors lead to a general hesitation to look out too far or to dream too big.
I love the fact that you see that strategic planning needs to flexible and inclusive. It’s crucial to have a framework but to be flexible to incorporate learnings and shifts along the way. When you involve all the people who work in and on your business, there is more engagement, better ideas and a higher rate of success.
Great insights. Thank you, Leslie!
Thanks a lot for this wonderful article, Eric. You have resolved my problem of trying to know what strategic planning really is. I look forward to more up building articles. Thank you!
Thank you for the comment, Melvin!
Hi Christyne,
Your question about involving subcontractors is an interesting one. To me, a plan should involve as many of those that are strategic to your business and getting as much feedback as possible – as long at it’s relevant – should be the goal. So if you have a few good contractors (like my company does) that you think could contribute some value to the formation of your plan I say go for it.
Your article is helpful if you have employees, but how does this work if you have sub-contractors. Do you get them involved.
Hi Cristyne- please see the response below from Gene Marks.
Great job. This was very helpful.
Thank you for your feedback, John!
You have the BEST newsletter! This article was another great one. I shared it on all my social media platforms. I offer strategic planning services and this article is helpful in promoting my services. As well, most people think a strategic plan is ONLY for nonprofits. Thank you!
Hi Leslie, thanks so much for sharing!
Great summary “how-to” article for busy business owners. I often encourage our clients to start simple and achieve! This road map is an excellent way to jump in to real-life strategy setting!
Thank you, Patti!
This is an explicit, yet simple, post on strategic planning.
Thanks deeply for sharing this!
You’re welcome! We’re so glad you liked it and found it informative.
Great article, thanks for spelling this out in such easy-to-read terms.
Thanks for your feedback, Wende!
It’s a great eye opener into strategic planning process. Thank you for the great efforts.
Glad you liked the article! Thanks for the comment!
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Strategic planning makes organizational goals and objectives real, and employees can more readily understand the relationship between their performance, the company’s success, and compensation. As a result, both employees and managers tend to become more innovative and creative, which fosters further growth of the company. 3.
A strategic plan is a tool to define your organization’s goals and what actions you will take to achieve them. Typically, a strategic plan will include your company’s vision and mission statements, your long-term goals (as well as short-term, yearly objectives), and an action plan of the steps you’re going to take to move in the right direction.
Strategic management is the ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all necessities an organization needs to meet its goals and objectives. Changes in business environments will require organizations to constantly assess their strategies for success.
Strategic management is the planned use of a company's resources to reach its goals and objectives. Strategic management requires ongoing evaluation of internal processes and external factors that may impact how a company functions. Companies of all sizes and in all industries can benefit from the practice of strategic management.
Strategic planning is the approach used in forming an organization’s direction (e.g., its vision, mission and priorities). On the other hand, strategic management is the overall process of achieving that direction, from planning to executing.
Strategic planning in management is the process of documenting and establishing the direction of your small business—by assessing both where you are and where you’re going. So, what is the purpose of a strategic plan? And what does an effective strategic plan consist of? A company’s strategic plan consists of it’s: Mission Vision Values