Do You Really Want to Build a Faster Strategic Plan?

Posted by on September 22, 2010

Enterprise strategic planning is often thought to be a long drawn out process that takes far too long to achieve.  And while strategic planning does take time, it doesn’t have to be a futile endurance exercise.  The right way to speed up the strategic planning process is to have a solid foundation already in place upon which to build the plan.  The right way is to think about speed is in a planning process that delivers the right plans, faster.  The wrong way is to rush through necessary steps to create a typical plan that fails to deliver its intended results, as is the case with 90% of all corporate strategic plans.

Don’t think you can go into the planning season and achieve great results without a proven planning process in place.  Plans don’t just appear.  Building effective strategic plans faster requires a solid process, not cutting corners.

What does a better and faster strategic planning process look like?

A strategic planning process that fuels the achievement of desired outcomes has these key characteristics (among others):

The Strategy Also Addresses Necessary Operational Plans

Sure, you could shorten the time it takes to prepare a strategic plan by leaving off the operational plans that are needed to see the strategy to fruition. Yes – you can speed through the planning process then hand off the plans to your operational managers and see what happens.  But that would be irresponsible. 

A much better way is to build operational plans into the strategic planning process.  While this may not speed things up on the front end it will certainly speed up the time it takes to reach the plan’s goals since people who are responsible for executing the plan will have clear marching orders.  And if the foundation of the planning process is solid, this extra step should flow naturally from the defined strategic direction leaving little excuse to leave it untouched. In short, while strategic defines the direction, a holistic plan defines goals that support the strategy and addresses the operational tactics that will accomplish the goals. 

The Strategy Addresses Communication and Change Management

It is common for organizations to leave off communication and change management in their rush to put a plan in place. But these organizations typically end up suffering the consequences that come when we keep our strategies under tight wrap and fail to communicate the strategies and manage the change that will fall in the laps of people who will be charged with the plan’s success.  We see this all the time in organizations of all sizes. How the organizational ranks can be expected to fall in line with a corporate strategy that they do not know about or understand? 

People need to know who will be impacted by the strategy, how they will be impacted, and the best way to act upon the new strategies.  They need to be communicated to such that they will be receptive to the message and open to any changes.

We call this “Change Marketing” and it’s a necessary part of alleviating the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that develops in the minds of good and capable employees who are uninformed as to the strategy and operational tactics planned by the organization. 

Once again, bringing communication and change management into the process may slow down the process upfront but if accomplished within a strong planning framework it can be incorporated relatively quickly, saving significant troubles later.

The Strategy is Aligned with the Culture and Organizational Values

A planning process that enables internal or external planning teams to quickly assess and understand the culture and values of an organization will do wonders to help the planners create plans and make quick decisions that will “work” within the confines of the organization. Corporate strategy must align with culture and core values in order to be successfully accepted and enacted so this step cannot be overlooked but can be facilitated by a process that contains a clear method for bringing culture and values into the mix.

The Strategy and Operational Plans are Aligned to Organizational Core Competencies

Creating a strategic plan that works requires a serious understanding of organizational core competencies. What are the fundamental knowledge, abilities, and expertise the organization possesses that will enable it to accomplish its desired goals? Does the organization contain the necessary competencies at various levels within the organization?  If not, can we build the necessary competencies or do we need to readjust our goals and vision to align with our existing competencies? These are critical issues to resolve in a strategic plan.  Without a process that allows you to systematically review and understand core competencies of the organization, the planning process will lengthen in time and ultimately be limited in success.

The Process Allows the Organization “Get Started” Sooner

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.  Don’t be afraid to create initial plans. Creating initial plans allows the organization to begin to move forward in a defined direction in anticipation of more detailed plans. And this leads to a process that, if not faster, will certainly help people within the organization to feel that progress is being made.

How will you build a better faster strategic plan in your organization?

At Method Frameworks we’ve build a planning approach that facilitates the development of effective strategic and operational plans that enable organizations to reach their goals, faster and with greater predictability and consistency.  Our approach is consistently applied to allow organizations to sail through the planning process without leaving key issues untouched.  The plans that result from our process are known to consistently deliver at least 140% ROI to CEOs.

How can we help you?  Request a meeting to discuss your enterprise planning process today.

To learn more, read our full length article titled, “How Long Should It Take To Complete A Strategic Plan?".

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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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