Should your organization create a strategic plan?  Maybe. Should your organization plan for the future?  Absolutely.

What’s the difference?  The first is about producing a product.  Think binders and PowerPoint presentations.  The second is about a process.

My personal bias is that the first is best used in two situations.  When you have a brand new organization that needs to chart a course for moving forward is the first.  The second is when an organization finds itself in major trouble and needs to completely reinvent itself because business as usual is no longer an option.  Imagine being in the newspaper business these days.  Both of these situations call for a clear direction on which to make your major investments.

If the two conditions described above are not present, then I think a better use of strategic planning time is having a process that helps us answer the following questions:

1.  Does our overall direction still seem like the best option available to us?

2.  Are we on track with our current goals and objectives?

3.  What major barriers do we need to deal with?

4.  What interesting opportunities should we put some energy into pursuing?

A process that answers these kinds of questions doesn’t need to take months to complete.  Rather it is an ongoing activity built into our management system.

If you’re thinking about doing a strategic plan and you are intrigued by the idea of doing something different.  Drop me a noteThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , and we can talk through the possibilities.

Figuring out what the organization should focus on is never easy, but always important.  Our approach helps you create a plan that’s meaningful, actionable, and achievable.

We will customize an approach that takes into account your organization’s unique requirements.  The components of that plan will likely include many of the following activities:

• Interview senior leaders to understand expectations for the planning process and gain their candid perspective about the issues the organization faces.
• Meet with senior team to build consensus on high-level goals for the planning process.  In other words, get everyone supporting the work that’s about to take place.
• Conduct a planning session for the purpose of understanding the organization’s current situation.
• Conduct a planning session for the purpose of talking about people’s hopes and dreams for the planning period.
• Meet with employees, customers, and other stakeholder groups to gain their perspectives about the organization’s situation and where it ought to focus its energy.
• Gather data to respond to early questions that arise during the process.
• Develop a draft of the organization’s goals.
• Gather reactions.
• Refine the goals and begin developing action plans to support the goals.
• Involve the organization in developing operational plans to ensure alignment.
• Develop a plan for measurement and monitoring plan.