5 Tips on Strategic Planning
5 Tips for an Effective Strategic Plan
The purpose of your strategic plan will vary depending on the organization, but at a fundamental level, a strategic plan is your organization’s guiding star. It lays the groundwork for where you’re at and where you want to go.
A strategic plan is made up of a series of pillars or areas of interest that are fundamental to your organization. These pillars could include customer service, corporate culture, sponsorship, etc. The pillars all point to your vision, mission and values - the driving forces of your organization.
Here are a few of our top tips to get you set up for success from the very early stages to the final plan. If you have any questions about strategic plans and how they can help your organization, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
5 tips on strategic planning:
Pay attention to your organization
Consider how your want to approach the process of building a strategic plan
Put some thought into your timeline
Ensure all the necessary voices are heard
Include a check-in plan
Pay attention to your organization
Before you delve into building a strategic plan, consider: what brought you to this place? We highly recommend every organization has a strategic plan, but why now? What’s not working that’s making you feel like a strategic plan would help your organization move forward? If there’s some sort of hiccup in the system that’s motivating you to start building a strategic plan, make sure that hiccup is regularly revisited during the planning process. Strategic plans can cover a lot of bases. Sometimes, the planning process brings other areas of the business to light that ends up overshadowing the issue or goal that brought you to the planning process in the first place.
As you approach the planning process, also take mental (or physical) notes about what’s going on in your role within the organization. What could make your job easier? What could streamline your department, or improve your happiness at work? Chances are these ideas or concerns will come up in the brainstorming process, but the more mindful you are of what’s going on around you ahead of time, the better equipped you’ll be heading into the planning process.
Consider how your want to approach the process of building a strategic plan
Undertaking a strategic planning process can be wildly overwhelming. It includes a lot of ideas, a lot of brainpower, and a lot of work. That doesn’t mean it needs to be a frustrating process!
Many organizations try to take on the process and end up in one of two groups: the group that rushed the process and ended up making an ineffective document, or the group that got swamped in the work and ended up scrapping the project altogether.
We get it - the people within the organization know it better than anyone. Who better to create the plan? And you’re exactly right. That’s where a facilitator can come in. Often, facilitators get confused with consultants. Consultants are experts in their field with lots of great ideas to help your organization. That’s not us! We’re certainly not the experts on your organization. That’s YOU! We’re experts in the process. We’re that gentle guiding hand that will help you and your organization get all your great ideas out on the table, sift through everything, and bring it all together in one succinct and effective document. With a facilitator, you bring the ideas, and we make sure you have a roadmap to making them achievable.
Put some thought into your timeline
Your plan should cover a reasonable amount of time to ensure you have enough runaway to reach your goals without getting too stagnant. You don’t want your plan to overwhelm your team, but you also don’t want it to stretch so far in the future that it eventually becomes irrelevant as you evolve. We recommend anywhere between 3-5 years.
Keep in mind strategic plans have a layer of action plans - bite-sized chunks of actionable steps toward achieving the high-level goals you identify in your strategic plan. You don’t necessarily need to think of every small task you’re going to need to tackle for the next five years (talk about overwhelming), but consider your final destination. What pit stops along the way will help you get to where you need to go?
Ensure all the necessary voices are heard
In any organization, there are a lot of people who are involved in a strategic plan. Carefully consider how you ensure everyone has a seat at the table. For example, if your strategic plan includes a pillar on customer service, but you don’t consult your public-facing staff, your strategic plan may not fully address what it needs to.
There are a few ways you can make sure all voices are accounted for:
Surveying your staff and/or customers
Having a representative from each department of your organization
Having initial brainstorming sessions in groups
Including diverse voices that reflect your organization
Consulting all levels of employment - from entry-level to upper management
Include a check-in plan
The last key tip is to make sure your strategic plan isn’t a document that gathers dust on a shelf or ends up in an obscure folder that goes months without being opened. As you work with a facilitator through the strategic plan process, be sure you’re set up for success with a check-in plan.
You can identify someone to regularly open the document and help everyone keep on track, or include quarterly or semi-annual review meetings to track your progress. If you truly intend to use your strategic plan as your guiding star, it certainly helps to look up every once in a while. Keeping on course is key for long-term success.
We hope this article inspired you to take the next step with your organization. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with where to start or just eager to get going, reach out! That’s what we’re here for.
If you’re looking for more information on strategic plans, explore our Strategic & Action Plan Development service or reach out to learn more about our custom in-person and digital facilitation solutions.