How often do companies do strategic planning?
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It is not uncommon for a strategic business plan to be developed during a retreat, approved at a subsequent board meeting and then filed away. Actions will be taken, and maybe after 6 or 12 months, it will be pulled out to tick-off progress. But what is 'best practice' when it comes to getting the most out of this strategic document? Show Active Knowledge Question:Where is your strategic plan located right now? Never FiledWhilst a formal printed document may be created out of your business’s strategic planning process and approved under your corporate governance regiment, it actually is never finished and should never be ‘considered completed and filed’. I always describe any strategic plan that I am involved in as a ‘working document’. It is actually a living document as its purpose is to capture ‘the strategic thinking’ at a point of time to support actions and to remind us why we chose that path. It is constantly referred to, to remind the team what we have decided to do, what we are not going to do and what are the most important things we need to remember and focus on. There is never a board or management meeting at which the strategic plan is not in every hand and the key reference point. It drives the entire organisation and sets the agenda for all the work that everyone is going to strive to deliver. It provides unity through direction, alignment and focus and thereby lifts the competitive performance of the business. It is not a static document and not set in concrete. Strategy is rarely deliberate, with actions locked down and delivered as first envisaged. Strategy sets how the business will engage the market, the intended journey forward and the destination. And it does so with the reality check that strategy is often emergent as it is only as we do engage the market and commence the journey that we discover the most effective path to follow. Strategy is sometimes unrealised as an opportunity appears in front of us, which we had never considered. And hopefully, we have the adaptability and freedom as an organisation to grab that opportunity with both hands and make it real. In strategy, we do hope that the destination we have set remains more or less fixed and constant, but usually, that depends on how well we have identified and described that destination. Destinations are best described as the value we will deliver to our customers in fulfilment of their needs and aligned with the purpose for which we exist as an organisation. Ripped ApartA strategic plan comprises many different components and touches every aspect of a business. Once settled, it is literally ‘ripped-apart’ so it may be actioned, and its impact felt throughout the entire organisation. Here are some of the components that are normally found within a strategic plan; it defines:
A strategy once developed is rich in the guidance it provides to the business and the actions that it calls for. It must be dissected to ensure that it is brought to life and not just another document. Your Every ActionA strategic plan speaks into every decision and action that will be made in the business. I cannot think of one area of a business’s life and activity that a well-prepared strategic plan will not touch. Often the time allocated to the strategic planning process does not allow for the full consideration or development of the actions that will need to be taken to deliver on the plan. And a strategy not delivered is no strategy. It, therefore, becomes vital that once the strategy is settled that the ‘goal achievement plans’ that will enable and support all of the relevant actions in the delivery of the strategy are prepared. These typically come about by the senior management team coming together and workshopping the impacts and actions necessary to bring the strategy to life. There will be conflicts, crossovers, duplications, priorities, and sensibilities to be sorted. Unity and unison in actions will only be achieved through a coordinated approach by a team with responsibility and authority. I call the action plans that arise from these processes as ‘goal achievement plans’ that typically tier-down through the entire organisation, each taking their cues from the plan above so as to form a unified organisation-wide action plan. These are vital for the leadership teams at all levels to recognise where their focus and priorities must be, provide accountability and resourcing, and a workable method to keep everything moving forward. If your strategic planning process is not to be simply an annual exercise of governance but a real effort to guide and impact the performance of your business, then it must never be allowed to gather dust but must be the most referenced and applied decision-making and actioning tool used in your business. An entirely new level of performance.Want to become a part of the Entrepreneurs+ Community and learn how to make your business competitively fit? Join now. All the best in the success of your business, Richard Shrapnel How often is strategic planning done?Every three to five years, most larger organizations periodically plan for the future.
Is strategic planning annually?An annual plan is a strategy that a company uses to set goals and expectations for the coming year. It helps employees visualize where they are headed and how they can get there. The annual plan also sets out a company's long-term goals and helps guide how it will reach these targets.
What is the timeline for a strategic plan for a company?Most strategic plans are designed to last three to five years, though there are exceptions; some can endure much longer, as we'll see later in the article. Can strategic Plan Timelines be less than 3 Years? Some organizations create plans that are one year, five years, or even up to twenty years in the future.
What is the time period for strategic planning?Strategic planning typically represents mid- to long-term goals with a life span of three to five years, though it can go longer. This is different than business planning, which typically focuses on short-term, tactical goals, such as how a budget is divided up.
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