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Strategic Planning is critical to an organization’s success and we believe that strategic plans that are formulated collaboratively are the most effective. The diversity of ideas and perspectives from your top team can only strengthen your plan and the collaborative approach helps ensure buy-in throughout the organization.
Our Process
We start by facilitating your top team’s development of the organization’s strategic plan. First, your organization’s Mission and Values are discussed by the team and reconfirmed or rewritten if necessary. Next, we will examine your organization’s current Situation, and the internal and external factors that are impacting it.
After developing a clear understanding of where your organization is, your team will reach consensus on the Aspiration for the organization, a realistic expectation for its future. Then, you will determine the Strategy necessary to employ to attain that goal.
Next, your team will identify the key components of the strategy and the actions required to implement them. These key components and actions will be your team’s Tactical Plan, and most likely, become the basis for your organization’s functional plans. Accordingly, they will be assigned to the appropriate top team member. Attainable goals are set and measurement criteria are agreed upon.
Finally, organizational Alignment is achieved as each top team member shares the developed strategic plan with his or her own team. Each team will follow a similar, though shortened process to align their work with that of the top team. They will identify key actions required on their part to reach the stated organizational objectives. Team and individual goals will be set and corresponding measurement criteria agreed upon.
The Elements of a Strategic Plan - Our Definitions
Mission
Why we exist; what we do.
Land trusts protect and preserve open space.
Air conditioning companies provide indoor comfort.
Values
What we hold dear; what’s important to us.
Integrity, quality, and leadership are common, yet rather cliché, corporate values. Environmentally responsible, workplace flexibility, and diversity of people and ideas are somewhat less traditional values. Google has added “You can make money without doing evil” and “You can be serious without a suit” to its list.
Situation
Where we are.
A multitude of analytic tools, such as 3C, 5C, SWOT, PEST, SLEPT, STEEPLED, STEER, Five Forces, etc., have been developed to determine a company’s current situation. It doesn't really matter which technique is employed, as long as all the internal and external factors that can affect an organization are determined and understood.
Vision
What we want to be; where we see ourselves in three to five years.
Too often, Vision Statements are developed without first looking at where you are, resulting in unrealistic goals. Visions must be achievable.
Strategy
The competitive advantage(s) we can exploit to achieve our vision.
Per Michael Porter, “the essence of strategy is choosing a unique and valuable position rooted in systems of activities that are much more difficult to match.” Henry Ford conquered the automotive industry by introducing assembly line manufacturing. Sam Walton avoided large cities, targeting instead rural areas where his stores could be the low-price leader. Google does one thing really well: search. All else follows.
Tactical Plan
The roadmap necessary to implement our strategy and achieve our vision.
What are the critical elements required to execute our strategy? What actions are required to implement those critical elements? Who is chiefly responsible for each? What are the key milestones in their implementation? How do we measure our success? Functional Plans, such as Manufacturing/Sourcing, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Legal, and Human Resources, are developed, aligned, and prioritized. Clear, measurable, and attainable goals are set and agreed upon.
Traditional metrics such as profitability, share of market, asset management can be utilized or more recent techniques such as balanced scorecards and triple bottom line can be employed.
Alignment
Everyone understands the objective and is working towards the same goal.
Plans often fail because employees the objective of the organization isn’t communicated and rewarded and instead functional and personal goals take precedence. Shared objectives, when measured and rewarded properly, lead to better results. |
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