Many of my clients initially dread the strategic planning process. They believe that it is an exercise in futility – many feel that the plans they create might not be rooted in reality. My question to them? Why not? Any plan, strategic or tactical, should very definitely be rooted in reality. The plans do not need to be overly complex or difficult to create. In fact, the plan should be a summary of your very best thinking about the direction you’d like to guide your company over the next year or two. “Very best thinking” doesn’t mean that you have a crystal ball and can predict the future with complete and total accuracy. It does, however, mean that you will apply your best thinking along with your hopes and dreams for your company to the reality of your company position and create a road map for moving forward.
What should you understand prior to embarking on a plan? Primarily, know what it is you want to build, and why your company is better, stronger, more interesting, or more competitive than other similar companies. You’ll also need some ideas about how you’d like to grow your company; or how you’d like to maintain your competitive advantage.
What are the most important metrics in your company that provide information to you? The vital statistics of your business? Also known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – these items are things that you can track weekly, monthly or quarterly to know whether you are hitting your targets. Once you’ve identified your KPIs, take a look at what you can do to improve each of those measures. Just think about answering the question, “How can I grow this business over time” and see what comes up. These strategies for growth should be documented in your plan.
Finally, given that we can’t realistically do everything at once, identify those specific projects that will support your growth strategies and feed one or more of your KPIs. Using that list of projects, slot them into your yearly calendar, being careful not to overload any one quarter. Spread the projects out over the year and ensure you have the time and resources to work on project completion. Document the start and projected end dates into the project plans.
Following the above steps will result in a workable strategic plan that is simple to create and realistic to implement! Don’t overcomplicate things – keep it simple in order to keep the implementation doable! For help figuring out your simple strategic plan, reach out to me at mpatton@odastrategy.com for some easy to complete, free templates.
