8 Steps to Boost the ROI of Your Strategic Planning Efforts

Studies suggest that 90% of all corporate strategic planning efforts fail to deliver the intended result. In fact, the average ROI on most strategic planning initiatives is 34% or less. What’s more, one-third of companies that are now at the top of their fields will no longer hold that position three years from now. 

What’s wrong with this picture? How can so many smart CEOs deliver strategies that fail? 

According to many experts, blame rests less with strategy and more so with implementation. Simply put, too many strategic plans fail to consider the resources, coordination, and management necessary to achieve the planned outcome.  In addition to implementation, other reasons for these failures include:

• Utilizing a planning approach that is more art than science,
• failure to define the “real” outcomes in a concise set of statements,
• variability in the planning language,
• and failure to define initiatives successfully.

So, how can organizations improve the odds of success and boost the ROI of their strategic planning efforts?

The Texas-based corporate strategic planning company I founded, Method Frameworks, devised a proprietary corporate strategic planning process called Plan4. This process consistently delivers 140% or more ROI by providing an inextricable link between strategy and implementation. 

The remainder of this article summarizes 8 key components of the Plan4 process that you can use to boost the ROI of your strategic planning efforts:

1: Understand your organization, holistically.

In planning initiatives, it is common for decisions to be made at one level of the organization that deeply affect the whole enterprise or at least specific areas of the organization. When you understand the entire ecosystem of your organization you will gain a formal understanding of how parts of the organization interact, act, and respond to change. This understanding will make it possible to evaluate the likely consequences, risks, and outcomes of your strategic decisions. 

2: Create a shared vision.

Visioning is based on the premise that “what you can see, you can achieve.” Visioning gives the organization a greater sense of purpose and allows individuals to personalize the purpose, thereby increasing the likelihood of success. Envisioning workshops, visual facilitation, and 3-D modeling are techniques that can be used to help individuals clearly answer the question, “What will be realized by the company and the team if we meet our objectives?” The resulting vision creates a powerful platform for change.

3: Valuate your opportunities.

With limited energy and resources available to most any organization, it pays to know the value that can be expected when a targeted goal is achieved. Mathematical models can be used to create relative values for each of the key outcomes your team has defined in the visioning phase. The mathematical model selected for the organization should be matched to your organization’s cultural aspect.

4: Prioritize and justify.

If you’ve used appropriate mathematical models to place accurate values on defined opportunities, you can then justify and prioritize the opportunities with the highest value.  Once complete, you should translate these desired outcomes using controlled vocabulary that eliminates bias and misinterpretation. In other words, use language that clearly describes and defines the planning goals so that members of the organization know what’s expected.

5: Create initial plans.

A defining value of a high-value planning process is the ability of the organization to continually address the operations of the organization while planning takes place.  Creating initial plans allows the organization to begin to move forward in a defined direction in anticipation of more detailed plans. During initial planning, you should calculate organizational acceleration to measure how much your team believes can be accomplished in a given timeframe based on past performance. These calculations will also enable you to create advanced estimates of time, resources, and costs.

6: Create detailed plans.

If you’ve completed your initial plans and your organization is beginning to move in a defined direction, detailed planning can commence. But first, you should ensure that any estimates you had created during initial planning are firmly based in reality. Look at your acceleration estimates to realistically assess the initial timelines that were created. In detailed planning, focus your energy on the most important deliverable, which is an advance 12-month plan, created at varying levels of detail, with the greatest level of detail is focused on the first three months, less in the next three, less in the next three, and so on. Construct multi-year plans similarly.

7: Create benefits and personas.

Have you ever asked the individuals in lower levels of your organization to define what it is the organization hopes to accomplish this quarter or this year?  Did their answers surprise you? If so, try creating an “elevator pitch” or benefit statement to define the outcome your plan is intended to bring.  Also, use personas to bring a customer-focused picture and perspective to those who are tasked with executing the strategic plan.  Personas can help individuals connect what they are doing with the end receiver who will benefit from the resulting value.

8: Provide program-level planning and governance.

This truly is where “the rubber meets the road” and a key component of any high-returning strategic plan. For an organization to succeed at the highest levels, plan goals and supporting initiatives must be managed through effective oversight at the corporate and operational levels.  Effective governance enables organizations to manage the interrelationships of all the underlying initiatives, considering dependency relationships and constraints on resources. All programs and their underlying projects should be managed and harvested for metrics and progress reporting to bring continual improvement to the planning cycle.

In the end, a strategic planning process that includes strategic implementation is the only way to boost ROI and increase your chances of success.  To set your organization in the right direction, follow the advice outlined here and seek guidance from an operational strategic planning firm with a proven track record.

For permission to use or reprint any portions of this copyrighted article, contact Method Frameworks at articles@methodframeworks.com.

About the Author:

Joe Evans is the President and CEO of Method Frameworks.  Joe is a published author, frequent speaker and recognized expert in corporate strategic planning. To contact Method Frameworks about scheduling Mr. Evans about an upcoming speaking engagement, visit www.methodframeworks.com/business-speaker or email requests to media_relations@methodframeworks.com.

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Method Frameworks is a leading business strategy and management consulting company, based in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and serving clients nationally and internationally.

Discover our capabilities and learn why Method Frameworks is the strategic planning partner chosen by Fortune-500 companies and small businesses alike. Let us show you how to realize 140%+ ROI on your strategic planning efforts through our unique Plan4^SM process that brings together strategy and execution into a powerful plan.   Plan4 is our proprietary business planning process that involves an integrated set of actions designed to help companies gain sustainable advantage. Download our brochure to learn more about Method Frameworks and our services or download our Plan4 Planning Process Overview.

You can contact Method Frameworks at 877-317-5264 (877-31PLAN4) or follow this link to request a meeting with a planning consultant. Check our articles and blog often at www.methodframeworks.com to get many more planning tips and information about our Plan4 process.

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