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Strategic planning isn’t meant to be a one-time exercise. Your plan should evolve with your business — and the environment in which it operates. Regular reviews help ensure your business remains focused on the right priorities and positioned to take advantage of new opportunities.

Even if you can’t find time for extensive “big picture” thinking, try to conduct some form of active strategic planning at least once a year. Doing so will help you identify emerging challenges and evaluate progress toward short- and long-term goals. A fresh strategic plan also provides stakeholders with an up-to-date map they can use to orient decisions and measure outcomes.

Get Going

Sometimes businesses procrastinate on new strategic planning because they’re busy pursuing current goals and are profitable enough not to mess with “the formula.” But more often, businesses delay it because a new strategic plan requires research they may not have time to conduct and fresh ideas that can be hard to generate. If you can’t commit to an annual review, don’t let more than three years pass without productively engaging in strategic planning.

If it makes the undertaking easier, you might want to seek professional assistance — for instance, to perform research, lead strategy sessions, model financial outcomes, identify potential risks and assemble strategic ideas into a workable plan. In addition to freeing up your time, professionals offer experience and objectivity. Facilitators can put attendees at ease, foster creative thinking and adhere to productive agendas.

Brainstorm Without Distraction

Retreats often facilitate strategic planning sessions. So consider whether an off-site location makes sense given your attendees and project ambitions. There’s potential for excessive spending and counterproductive distractions. But if you plan carefully, you can arrange a distraction-free experience that allows participants to freely brainstorm.

Your first session should review your business’s:

• Mission (what it does)
• Vision (where it’s going)
• Current financial results
• Recent successes and setbacks
• Future performance based on internal and external trends

Next, come up with 1) several goals, 2) strategies for pursuing them and 3) metrics for measuring your progress. Some of these may be similar to existing objectives, action plans and measurements and may not require a lot of extra work. New ideas, however, should be thoroughly discussed and outlined.

To ease the pressure of strategic planning, avoid trying to do everything at once. If you can accomplish the three points mentioned earlier in one session, schedule a follow-up meeting to develop a timeline and assign responsibilities. That plan should be formally approved by your business’s owners before it’s put into action.

Helpful Voices

Your employees can play an important role in helping your new strategic plan succeed. To the extent practical, involve ordinary workers in the strategic goal-setting process. This will help build engagement and instill a sense of personal responsibility for your plan’s success. When you communicate the final plan, be sure it includes realistic ways for workers and others to be involved.

We can help ensure your new plan is supported by sound financial analysis. For guidance on evaluating your business’s performance, identifying growth opportunities and facilitating planning sessions, contact us.

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If you found this article helpful, you may also enjoy our recent webinar, Charting a Path Forward: Strategic Planning for Long-Term Success. In this session, Maner’s Rod Taylor, Senior Governmental Consultant, shares practical approaches for building an effective strategic plan, engaging key stakeholders, and translating strategy into actionable priorities.

Whether you’re updating your current plan or looking to strengthen your organization’s long-term direction, this webinar offers valuable insights for aligning your mission, goals, and resources in an ever-changing environment.