So you keep hearing this word ‘strategic plan’ bandied around and you’re wondering if your business or organisation should have one.
Maybe you don’t exactly know what it is.
Maybe you have questions about strategic planning but you’ve never asked them, because you feel like you should already know.
Maybe you’ve been avoiding the whole thing because ‘strategic plan’ sounds like a bureaucratic time-suck and about as exciting as that dentist appointment you’ve also been putting off.
Don’t worry folks – I’ve got you! Here’s my plain English, short and sweet guide to what a strategic plan is, why you’d need one, and answers to all your other questions.
1. What is a strategic plan? (in plain English please)
Sure thing. A strategic plan is a long-term plan about where your organisation wants to head in future. It’s your ‘big picture’ plan, outlining where you want to go in the next 3-5 years.
A strategic plan includes your organisation’s:
- Vision, Mission and Values. What are your ultimate big picture goals? Why do you do the work you do? What’s important to you, that guides everything you do?
- Broad areas or priorities to focus on in the next 3-5 years.
- Long-term goals under each of these priority areas.
- Short-term goals to meet long-term goals. Or these short-term goals might go in your Operational Plan. An Operational Plan includes all the tasks and projects to meet the long-term goals in your Strategic Plan. The Operational Plan is usually what staff refer to in their everyday work, rather than the Strategic Plan.
Your strategic plan should be the starting point for everything your organisation does. Where do you want to be in future? What do you need to focus on to get there? Everything you do should be linked to your strategic plan.
2. Do I need a strategic plan? What are the benefits?
Short answer – yes. It’s worth doing a strategic plan for the following reasons:
Achieve what you want in the long run. Take time away from putting out bushfires and churning out daily deliverables to really think about what you want from your business in the long run, or what you want your social enterprise or not-for-profit to achieve. If you want to increase profits, create change or grow your organisation, you’ll need to decide what that looks like and how to get there, which is where strategic planning comes in.
Set goals to guide your work. If you aim at nothing, you’ll probably hit it. Strategic planning helps you set long-term goals, and short-term goals to achieve those long-term goals. Without these, you may end up working hard but not getting any closer to your ideal results, or spending a lot of time on seemingly great ideas that won’t get you where you want to be in the long run.
Get everyone on the same page. If you have a team, you’ll achieve much better results if you’re all pulling in the same direction. A strategic plan tells everyone exactly what you’re about, why you’re here, and what everyone should be working towards. All team members can see their place in the big picture and understand why there’s a focus on some things but not others.
Boost optimism and inspiration. If your team’s been going through a difficult time or doing the same old same old for a while, having the space and time to come up with ideas and possibilities for the future can be exciting and inspiring. I’ve seen plenty of teams go from ‘urgh strategic planning’ at the start of the day to feeling energised and inspired by the end!
3. How do I get started with strategic planning?
First, allocate time for a strategic planning workshop.
Strategic planning is not about setting goals based on what you’re already doing, or simply updating the text from your previous strategic plan.
It’s about setting aside the time to really think about the big picture issues affecting your organisation’s work, what you’re good at, what you struggle with, what you want to do more of, what you want to do less of. That kind of ‘blue sky’ thinking takes time.
It’s also important that the strategic plan is not written by one person in isolation. You need a variety of brains in the room, with enough time for everyone to contribute their thoughts equally to the discussion. This also takes time.
I’d suggest 6 hours for your strategic planning workshop, including breaks.
Second, decide who’s going to facilitate your strategic planning workshop.
A professional facilitator is a good idea for several reasons.
An independent facilitator will often see things that your group doesn’t see, because they’re not as close to your work. They’ll ask pertinent questions and guide you through a structured process that will draw out the best information and maximise the value of your strategic plan.
If you have a dedicated facilitator, everyone in your group can fully participate in the discussion, without someone having to worry about facilitating as well.
Having a professional facilitator is also a good way to make sure everyone gets their say, the conversation doesn’t go round in circles, and you end up with a productive outcome at the end of the day.
Your facilitator can write up the strategic plan for you afterwards, saving you time and making sure all your great ideas and hard work from the session are not lost.
Third, invite the right people to your strategic planning workshop.
Depending on the size and structure of your organisation, your strategic planning workshop might include:
- the Board/Management Committee and CEO.
- the Board, CEO and senior managers.
- everyone in your organisation, if you’re a small team
- you may also have people who aren’t in a leadership position but have a wealth of knowledge and experience that could add value, e.g. long-serving volunteers, staff members or consultants.
The upside of inviting everyone is that the more team members are involved in developing the strategic plan, the greater their sense of ownership, and the more knowledge and skills you have in the room to draw on.
The downside is that you may end up with a big and diverse group, which can be hard to manage without a facilitator. You may also be including people who have no interest in the strategic plan and don’t want to be there.
If you’re worried about having a cast of thousands at your strategic planning session, consider keeping the attendees limited and sharing the draft plan with all staff, volunteers and anyone else who’s interested so they can comment. This way you keep your session manageable, while those who want to contribute to the strategic plan can still do so.
4. What happens during a strategic planning session?
I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you.
Just kidding! A good strategic planning session will include the following elements:
- An overview from the Chair and/or CEO about how the organisation is going, and its performance against the last strategic plan if you have one.
- Consideration of the big picture issues that affect your organisation’s work. For example, what’s happening with the economy right now? Are there are broader social issues in the community affecting your work? What’s happening out there in the world that affects your organisation?
- What are the priority areas we want to focus on for the next 3-5 years?
- What are our long-term goals under each of those areas?
- What are the short-term goals we can get started on now, to meet those long-term goals?
Strategic discussions like this are hard work, but they don’t have to be a boring talk-fest – check out my tips for how to run a strategic planning workshop that’s actually fun.
5. Ok, I’ve done my strategic plan – now what?
Congratulations! If you’re in business, you’re already way ahead of your competitors who haven’t bothered with this type of long-term strategy and planning. If you’re a not-for-profit organisation, you’ve just boosted your chances of achieving the long-term, lasting change you want to see.
Here’s some ideas for what to do next with your shiny new Strategic Plan (yes, it deserves capital letters now!)
- Put it on your website and celebrate it on social media, with a short summary of the key points for those who don’t want all the detail.
- Send it to your partners, stakeholders and investors, especially if they are going to be helping you achieve the goals in your Strategic Plan.
- Create an Operational Plan that sits under the Strategic Plan, with specific tasks, due dates and responsibilities for short-term actions that will lead to the long-term goals in the Strategic Plan.
- Use it when inducting new Board members and new staff, so they understand what your organisation is about, your values, and where they fit in the bigger picture.
- Check every new idea for a project against your Strategic Plan – does it fit under at least one of the Plan’s priorities? If not, should you be doing it? Will it help you achieve your long-term goals?
Now you know what a strategic plan is and what to do with it, it’s time to gather your crew, organise a strategic planning workshop, and get excited about your organisation’s long-term future! There’s no better time than now!
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Keen to talk more about a strategic planning session? Send Renée a message.
Read more about Renée’s strategic planning experience and tips to run a strategic planning session that’s actually fun.
