"Discovering" the Value of Strategic Planning

A recurring theme and question I often encounter is: How do we get to Strategic planning from where we are now?

There is often a concern that some of the potential team members, whether they be persons on the executive committee, recent additions to the organization, or newly promoted former middle managers, might not have the knowledge & experience to contribute effectively. As a result, they may not have confidence in it, let alone produce an effective document.

What happens then is often nothing. The challenge seems so formidable that it is never undertaken. This is almost as disappointing as writing the plan and not implementing it.

There is a comfortable and effective way to remedy this, by making it a "discovery" experience. By that I mean taking the Strategic Planning Team through a process that teaches everything from the reasoning behind it, to what it's to accomplish, crafting results desired, and investment and timing required. It also very effectively unites the members in reaching consensus for planning future corporate direction.

How is this best done? Two things that will really help are to have forecasting and budgeting in place. Surprisingly, small to medium sized companies often have grown into their current condition without that financial structure. Accordingly, step one is to have those in place. If they don't exist, install them in a non-threatening way through providing reports, reviewing each department's, and demonstrating their value to each person's success.

Sales forecasting can get complicated, but we shouldn't let it. Too often, the sales manager solicits individual forecasts without explaining why they're needed to be realistic, and then gets frustrated with the sales force when they aren't lofty enough. Because none of us like pain, the next forecast will be inflated to please management. The key point must be to make truthful forecasts. What results will then be productive discussions on how to increase sales through better understanding of the customer, funding, teamwork, and yes, even more work.

The discussion of the future next needs to be compared to the production of the past and present. If the results haven't met, or aren't projected to meet, expectations, then the understanding of why there's a shortfall should be extremely valuable.

All these things are productive in themselves, but also prepare the way for the Strategic Planning process.

In the interest of brevity, the conclusion will be in the next post.