Overview of Strategic Planning Process

Oct 21, 2024

Strategic Planning Process Overview

Introduction

  • Speaker: Anthony Taylor from SME Strategy
  • Purpose: To help you maximize the value of your strategic planning tools.
  • Duration: Aims to cover the content in under 15 minutes.

Components of Strategic Planning

  1. Where are we now?
  2. Where are we going?
  3. What is going to get in our way?
  4. What do we need to do to get there?

Types of Alignment

  • Leadership Alignment: Ensuring the leadership team is united.
  • Vision and Strategy Alignment: Aligning the organization to its vision and strategy.
  • Organization-wide Alignment: Top-down and bottom-up alignment throughout the organization.

Inputs for the Strategic Planning Process

  • External Analysis: Use tools like SWOT or PESTEL to assess the external environment.
  • Internal Analysis: Gather insights through stakeholder engagement surveys or management inputs.

Strategic Planning Overview

  • Vision: Where do we want to go?
  • Mission: What is our mission to achieve the vision?
  • Goals and Objectives: Steps to accomplish the mission and vision.
  • Strategies and Tactics: How to achieve the goals and objectives.

Developing a Vision

  • Importance of a compelling vision to motivate and inspire staff.
  • Define what success looks like in 3 to 5 years, or 10 to 25 years.
  • Describe operations, staffing, clients, and overall organizational changes.

Mission and Values

  • Mission: Core purpose of the organization.
  • Values: Organization's DNA, norms, and cultural expectations.
  • Importance of aligning strategy with vision and values.

Identifying Risks

  • Leadership Buy-in: Critical for strategy execution.
  • Communication: Vital for successful implementation.
  • Resource Allocation: Time and money are crucial for executing the strategy.
  • Buy-in from Employees: Engage employees in the planning process.

Implementation Constraints

  • Recognize potential limitations: time, budget, human resources, and technology.
  • Develop impact studies and mitigation plans to minimize risks.

Key Responsibilities

  • Assign roles and responsibilities for executing strategic initiatives.
  • Create individual work plans aligned with strategic goals.

Performance Measurement

  • KPIs: Establish performance measures to assess success.
  • Use a Balanced Scorecard approach:
    • Financial Metrics
    • Customer Metrics
    • Learning and Growth Metrics
    • Internal Business Processes

Cascading Goals

  • Align goals across organizational, team, functional, and individual levels.
  • Continuous communication of the plan to maintain alignment.

Importance of Communication

  • Clearly communicate the strategic plan to all employees.
  • Utilize various communication methods to accommodate different learning styles.

Achieving Alignment and Execution

  • Align strategies, people, and objectives.
  • Engage with employees to obtain buy-in and motivation.
  • Provide resources and support to help employees succeed.

Conclusion

  • Recap of the importance of an aligned strategic plan.
  • Emphasis on effective communication and clarity in strategy execution.
  • Encouragement for happy planning and maximizing value to customers and stakeholders.