essay strategic planning

How To Write A Strategic Plan In 6 Steps + Examples

Gone are the days of rigid, 5 or 10-year planning cycles that don't leave room for flexibility and innovation. To stay ahead of the curve, you need a dynamic and execution-ready strategic plan that can guide your business through the ever-evolving landscape.

In this article, we'll show you how to write a strategic plan in 6 simple steps . By the end, you'll have a comprehensive, actionable strategic plan that will help you align your organization on the path to success.

💡Pro tip : Use our customizable, free Strategic Planning Template that includes all the key elements of a strategic plan to streamline your strategic planning process.

Follow this guide step-by-step, or skip to the part you're most interested in:

• Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation
• Key Elements of a Strategic Plan

How To Write A Strategic Plan In 6 Simple Steps

Develop an iterative strategic planning process, 3 strategic plan examples to get you started, how to achieve organizational alignment with your strategic plan.

• Quick Overview of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Create An Execution-Ready Strategic Plan With Cascade 🚀

Before jumping into the planning phase, it's essential to lay the groundwork.

Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation 

Your strategic planning process should start well before you write your strategic plan. The pre-planning phase is crucial for gathering the data and strategic insights necessary to create an effective plan.

1. Conduct Strategic Analysis

Strategic analysis is a crucial step before writing your strategic plan. It's like building a house – you wouldn't start constructing the walls without a strong foundation, and the same goes for strategic planning. It equips you with the knowledge and insights to create a strategic plan that is well-targeted, addresses your actual situation, and positions your organization for success.

Use a strategic framework like GAP analysis , SWOT analysis , Porter's Five Forces , Ansoff matrix , McKinsey 7S model , or GE matrix to structure your analysis sessions. Incorporating a risk matrix can also help align and decide on key strategic priorities.

Additionally, consider running a strategic planning workshop with your team. Co-creating the plan with stakeholders is a significant advantage, as it fosters a sense of ownership and increases the likelihood of successful strategy execution . According to McKinsey , initiatives where employees contribute to development are 3.4 times more likely to succeed .

2. Choose your strategic planning model

Before creating your strategic plan, decide on the structure you will use. There are hundreds of ways to structure a strategic plan. You've likely heard of famous strategic models such as OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard .

But beyond the well-known ones, there's also a myriad of other strategic planning models . However, many models that work well on paper often fail to meet organizational needs in practice.

Common issues with many models include:

• Complexity: People get lost in terminology rather than focusing on execution
• Scalability: They work well for small organizations but fail when extended across multiple teams
• Rigidity: They force unnecessary layers, hindering flexibility
• Lack of measurability: They state outcomes well but fail to help measure success
• Adaptability: They don’t adjust well to changing economic landscapes

Our goal is to provide a simpler, more effective way to write a strategic plan. The Cascade Strategy Model , refined over years of working with +20,000 teams, offers a proven approach to strategic planning that is adaptable, scalable, and effective for organizations of all sizes.

In the following sections, we'll explore the key elements and steps to write a strategic plan based on the Cascade Model.

Key Elements Of A Strategic Plan

The key elements of a strategic plan using the Cascade Model work together to create a clear and actionable roadmap for your organization.

Think of it as a step-by-step guide, where each element builds upon the previous one: 

• Vision: Where do you want to get to? 
• Values: How will you behave on the journey? 
• Focus Areas: What are going to be your strategic priorities? 
• Strategic objectives: What do you want to achieve? 
• Actions and projects: How are you going to achieve the objectives? 
• KPIs: How will you measure success?

These interconnected elements ensure everyone in your organization is aligned on your overall strategy . Above all, the Cascade Model is intended to be execution-ready—in other words, it has been proven to deliver success far beyond strategic planning.

To create a powerful strategic plan, follow this clear, step-by-step process using the Cascade Model.

💡 Pro Tip : If you want to follow along as we cover each step, you can use our Strategic Planning Template spreadsheet (Excel format), or, for the best experience, sign up for instant access to our free Strategic Planning Template in Cascade .

Your vision statement is your organization's anchor - it defines where you want to get to .

A good vision statement can help funnel your strategy towards long-term goals that matter the most to your organization, and everything you write in your plan from this point on will help you get closer to achieving your vision.

Trying to do too much at once is a surefire way to sink your strategic plan. By creating a clear and inspiring vision statement, you can avoid this trap and provide guidance and inspiration for your team.

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have a vision statement like, “To be the premier bike manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest.” This statement clearly articulates the organization's goals and is a powerful motivator for the team.

In short, don't start your strategic plan without a clear vision statement. It will keep your organization focused and help you navigate toward success.

📚 Recommended read: How to Write a Vision Statement (With Examples, Tips, and Formulas)

Alongside your organization’s vision, a well-crafted mission statement is essential. It succinctly defines your purpose, culture, goals, and values, serving as a foundation for your strategic plan. Ensure your mission statement is clear and aligns with your organization’s vision to drive cohesive and effective strategies.

Values are the enablers of your vision statement —they represent how your organization will behave as you work towards your strategic goals.

Make sure to integrate your organization's core values into everyday operations and interactions. In today's highly-competitive world, it's crucial to remain steadfast in your values and cultivate an organizational culture that's transparent and trustworthy.

Companies with the best company cultures consistently outperform competitors and their average market by up to 115.6%, as reported by Glassdoor . 

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have core values like:

• Accountability

These values reflect the organization's desire to become the leading bike manufacturer, while still being accountable to employees, customers, and shareholders.

👉 You can create and add your values, mission and vision statements directly in Cascade . This ensures your company's core principles remain top of mind for everyone.

📚When you're ready to start creating some company values, check out our guide, How To Create Company Values .

3. Focus Areas

Your focus areas are the strategic priorities that will keep your team on track and working toward the company's mission statement and vision. They represent the high-level areas that you need to focus on to achieve desired business outcomes.

In fact, companies with clearly defined priorities are more likely to achieve their objectives. According to a case study by the Harvard Business Review , teams that focus on a small number of key strategic initiatives are more likely to succeed than those that try to do too much. 

Rather than spreading your resources too thin over multiple focus areas, prioritize three to five. 

Following our manufacturing example above, some good focus areas include:

• Aggressive growth
• Producing the nation's best bikes
• Becoming a modern manufacturer
• Becoming a top place to work

Your focus areas should be tighter in scope than your vision statement, but broader than specific goals, time frames, or metrics. 

With a clear set of focus areas, your team will be better able to prioritize their work and stay focused on the most important things, which will ultimately lead to better business results.

👉 In Cascade, you can add focus areas while creating or importing an existing strategic plan from a spreadsheet.

With Cascade's Focus Area deep-dive functionality, you will be able to: 

• Review the health of your focus areas in one place
• Get a breakdown by plans, budgets, resources, and people behind each strategic priority
• See something at-risk? Drill down into each piece of work regardless of how many plans it's a part of

📚 Recommended read: Strategic Focus Areas: How to create them + Examples

4. Strategic Objectives

Strategic objectives are the specific and measurable outcomes you want to achieve . While they should align with your focus areas, they should be more detailed and have a clear deadline. 

According to the 2022 State of High Performing Teams report , there is a strong correlation between goals and success not only at the individual and team level but also at the organizational level. Here's what they found: 

• Employees who are unaware of their company's strategic goals are over three times more likely to work at a company experiencing a revenue decline than employees who are aware of the goals 
• Companies with shrinking revenues are almost twice as likely to have employees with unclear work expectations.

Jumping straight into actions without defining clear objectives is a common mistake that can lead to missed opportunities or misalignment between strategy and execution.

To avoid this pitfall, we recommend you add between three and six objectives to each focus area .

It's here that we need to start being a bit more specific for the first time in your strategic planning process. Let's take a look at an example of a well-written strategic objective:

• Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

This is too specific to be a focus area. While it's still very high level, it indicates what the company wants to accomplish and includes a clear deadline. Both these aspects are critical to a good strategic objective.

Your strategic objectives are the heart and soul of your plan, and you need to ensure they are well-crafted. So, take the time to create well-planned objectives that will help you achieve your vision and lead your organization to success.

👉 Adding objectives in Cascade is intuitive, straightforward, and accessible. With one click, you'll open the objective sidebar and fill out the details. These can include a timeline, the objective's owner, collaborators, and how your objective will be measured (success criteria).

📚 Recommended read: What are Strategic Objectives? How to write them + Examples

5. Actions and projects

Once you've defined your strategic objectives, the next step is to identify the specific strategic initiatives or projects that will help you achieve those objectives . They are short-term goals or actionable steps you or your team members will take to accomplish objectives. They should leverage the company's resources and core competencies. 

Effective projects and actions in your strategic plan should: 

• Be specific 
• Contain a deadline
• Have an owner
• Align with at least one of your strategic objectives
• Provide clarity on how you or your team will achieve the strategic objective

Let's take a look at an example of a well-written project continuing with our bike manufacturing company using the strategic objective from above:

Strategic objective: Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

Project: Expand into the fixed gear market by 31st December 2023.

This is more specific than the objective it links to, and it details what you will do to achieve the objective.

Actions and projects are where the rubber meets the road. They connect the organizational strategic goals with the actual capabilities of your people and the resources at their disposal. Defining projects is a vital reality check every strategic plan needs.

👉You can create actions and projects easily in Cascade! From the Objective sidebar, you can choose to add a project or action under your chosen objective. In the following steps, you can assign an owner and timeline to each action or project.

Plus, in Cascade, you can track the progress of each project or action in four different ways. You can do it manually, via milestones, checklists, or automatically by integrating with Jira and 1000+ other available integrations .

📚 Recommended read: What are Strategic Initiatives? How to Develop & Execute + Examples

6. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Measuring progress towards strategic objectives is essential to effective strategic control and business success. That's where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in.

KPIs are measurable values that track progress toward achieving key business objectives . They help you stay on track and focused on your organization's strategic goals.

To get the most out of your KPIs, make sure you link them to a specific goal or objective. This way, you'll avoid creating KPIs that don't contribute to your objectives and distract you from focusing on what matters. 

Ideally, you will add both leading and lagging KPIs to each objective so you can get a more balanced view of how well you're progressing. Leading KPIs can indicate future performance, while lagging KPIs show how well you've done in the past.

Think of KPIs as a form of signpost in your organization. They provide critical insights that inform business leaders of their organization's progress toward key business objectives. Plus, they can help you identify opportunities faster and capitalize on flexibility.

👉 In Cascade , you can add measures while creating your objectives or add them afterward. Open the Objective sidebar and add your chosen measure.

When you create your Measure, you can choose how to track it. Using Cascade, you can track it manually or automatically. You can automate tracking via 1000+ integrations , including Excel spreadsheets and Google Sheets . This way, you can save time and ensure that your team has up-to-date information for faster and more confident decision-making.

📚 Recommended reads:

• 10 Popular KPI Software Tools To Connect & Visualize Your Data (2024 Guide)
• ‍ How To Track KPIs To Hit Your Business Goals

Developing an iterative strategic planning process is essential for staying adaptable and responsive to change. This approach involves continuously reviewing and refining your strategies to ensure they remain relevant in a dynamic business environment. Regularly assess your plan's effectiveness, gather stakeholder feedback, analyze performance data, and make necessary adjustments.

This cycle of strategic planning, execution, and evaluation helps identify areas for improvement, fosters innovation, and keeps your organization aligned with its long-term goals. By adopting an iterative strategic planning process, you can navigate challenges more effectively and maintain a competitive edge.

📚 Check out our article Develop An Iterative Strategic Planning Process to dive into this topic

Corporate Strategic Plan 

Following the steps outlined above, you should end up with a strategic plan that looks something like this:

This is a preview of a corporate strategic plan template that is pre-filled with examples. Here, you can use the template for free and begin filling it out to align with your organization's needs. Plus, it's suitable for organizations of all sizes and any industry. 

Once you fill in the template, you can also switch to the timeline view. You'll get a complete overview of how the different parts of your plan are distributed across the roadmap in a Gantt chart view.

This template will help you create a structured approach to the strategic planning process, focus on key strategic priorities, and drive accountability to achieve necessary business outcomes. 

👉 Get your free corporate strategic plan template here.

Coca-Cola Strategic Plan

Need a bit of extra inspiration with your plan? Check out this strategic plan example, inspired by Coca-Cola's business plan:

This strategic planning template is pre-filled with Coca-Cola's examples so you can inspire your strategic success on one of the most iconic brands on the planet. 

👉 Grab your free example of a Coca-Cola strategic plan here.

The Ramsay Health Care expansion strategy

Ramsay Health Care is a multinational healthcare provider with a strong presence in Australia, Europe, and Asia.

Almost all of its growth was organic and strategic. The company founded its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, but in the 21st century, it decided to expand globally through a primary strategy of making brownfield investments and acquisitions in key locations.

Ramsay's strategy was simple yet clever. By becoming a majority shareholder of the biggest local players, the company expanded organically in each region by leveraging and expanding their expertise.

Over the last two decades, Ramsay's global network has grown to 460 locations across 10 countries with over $13 billion in annual revenue.

📚 Recommended read: Strategy study: The Ramsay Health Care Growth Study

✨ Bonus resource: We've created a list of the most popular and free strategic plan templates in our library that will help you build a strategic plan based on the Cascade model explained in this article. You can use these templates to create a plan on a corporate, business unit, or team level.

We highlighted before that other strategic models often fail to scale strategic plans and goals across multiple teams and organizational levels. 

In an ideal world, you want to have a maximum of two layers of detail underneath each of your focus areas. This means you'll have a focus area, followed by a layer of objectives. Underneath the objectives, you'll have a layer of actions, projects (or strategic initiatives), and KPIs.

If you have a single team that's responsible for the strategy execution, this works well. However, how do you implement a strategy across multiple and cross-functional teams? And why is it important? 

According to LSA research of 410 companies across 8 industries, highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable. And this is what Cascade can help you achieve. 

To achieve achieve organization-wide alignment with your strategic plan and impact the bottom line, there are two ways to approach it in Casade: through contributing objectives or shared objectives .

1. Contributing objectives

This approach involves adding contributing objectives that link to your main strategic objectives, like this:

For each contributing objective, you simply repeat the Objective → Action/Project → KPI structure as follows:

Here's how you can create contributing objectives in Cascade: 

Option A: Create contributing objectives within the same plan 

This means creating multiple contributing objectives within the same strategic plan that contribute to the main objective. 

However, be aware that if you have a lot of layers, your strategic plan can become cluttered, and people might have difficulty understanding how their daily efforts contribute to the strategic plan at the top level. 

For example, the people responsible for managing contributing objectives at the bottom of the plan ( functional / operational level ) will lose visibility on how are their objectives linked to the main focus areas and objectives (at a corporate / business level ). 

This approach is best suited to smaller organizations that only need to add a few layers of objectives to their plan.

Option B: Create contributing objectives from multiple strategic plans linking to the main objective

This approach creates a network of aligned strategic plans within your organization. Each plan contains a set of focus areas and one single layer of objectives, each with its own set of projects, actions, and KPIs. This concept looks like this:

This example illustrates an objective that is a main objective in the IT strategic plan , but also contributes to the main strategic plan's objective.

For example, let's say that your main business objective is to improve customer satisfaction by reducing product delivery time by 25% in the next quarter. This objective requires multiple operational teams within your organization to work together to achieve a shared objective. 

Each team will create its own objective in its plan to contribute to the main objective: 

• Logistics team: Reduce the shipment preparation time by 30%
• IT team: Implement new technology to reduce manual handling in the warehouse
• Production team: Increase production output by hour for 5%   

Here's how this example would look like within the Cascade platform:

Although each contributing objective was originally created in its own plan, you can see how each contributing objective relates to the main strategic objective and its status in real-time.

2. Shared objectives

In Cascade, shared objectives are the same objectives shared across different strategic plans.

For example, you can have an objective that is “Achieve sustainable operations” . This objective can be part of the Corporate Strategy Plan, but also part of the Operations Plan , Supply Chain Plan , Production Plan, etc. In short, this objective becomes a shared objective between multiple teams and strategic plans. 

This approach helps you to:

• Cascade your business strategy as deep as you want across a near-infinite number of people while maintaining strategic alignment throughout your organization .
• Create transparency and a much higher level of engagement in the strategy throughout your organization since objective owners are able to identify how their shared efforts contribute to the success of the main business objectives.

The more shared objectives you have across your organization, the more your teams will be aligned with the overarching business strategy. This is what we call " alignment health ”. 

Here's how you can see the shared objectives in the alignment map and analyze alignment health within Cascade:

You get a snapshot of how your corporate strategic plan is aligned with sub-plans from different business units or departments and the status of shared objectives. This helps you quickly identify misaligned strategic initiatives and act before it's too late.  Plus, cross-functional teams have better visibility of how their efforts contribute to shared objectives. 

So whether you choose contributing objectives or shared objectives, Cascade has the tools and features to help you achieve organization-wide alignment and boost your bottom line.

Quick Overview Of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Here's a quick infographic to help you remember how everything connects and why each element is critical to effective strategic planning:

This simple answer to how to write a strategic plan avoids confusing jargon and has elements that the whole organization can both get behind and understand. 

💡Tip: Save this image or bookmark this article for your next strategic planning session.

If you're struggling to write an execution-ready strategic plan, the Cascade Strategy Model is the solution you've been looking for. With its clear, easy-to-understand terminology, and simple linkages between objectives, projects, and KPIs, you can create a plan that's both scalable and flexible.

But why is a flexible and execution-ready strategic plan so important? It's simple: without a clear and actionable plan, you'll never be able to achieve your business objectives. By using the Cascade Strategic Planning Model, you'll be able to create a plan that's both tangible and measurable, with KPIs that help you track progress towards your goals.

However, the real value of the Cascade framework lies in its flexibility . By creating links between main business objectives and your teams' objectives, you can easily scale your plan without losing focus. Plus, the model's structure of linked layers means that you can always adjust your strategy in response to new challenges to easily develop an iterative strategic planning process. 

So if you want to achieve results with your strategic plan, start using Cascade today. With its unique combination of flexibility and focus, it's the perfect tool for any organization looking to master strategy execution and succeed in today's fast-paced business world. 

Want to see Cascade in action? Get started for free or book a 1:1 demo with Cascade's in-house strategy expert.

This article is part one of our mini-series "How to Create a Strategy". This first article will give you a solid strategy model for your plan and get the strategic thinking going.

Think of it as the foundation for your new strategy. Subsequent parts of the series will show you how to create the content for your strategic plan.

Articles in our "How To Create a Strategy" series

• How To Write A Strategic Plan In 6 Steps + Examples (This article)
• How to Write a Good Vision Statement
• How To Create Company Values
• Creating Strategic Focus Areas
• How To Write Strategic Objectives
• How To Create Effective Projects
• How To Write KPIs + Ultimate Guide To Strategic Planning

More resources on strategic planning and strategy execution: 

• 6 Steps to Successful Strategy Execution
• 4-Step Strategy Reporting Process (With Template)
• Annual Planning: Plan Like a Pro In 5 Steps (+ Template) 
• 18 Free Strategic Plan Templates (Excel & Cascade) 2024
• The Right Way To Set Team Goals
• 23 Best Strategy Tools For Your Organization in 2024

Popular articles

6 Steps To Successful Strategy Execution & Best Practices

How To Create A Culture Of Strategy Execution

McKinsey GE Matrix: Importance & How To Use It (2024)

How To Be More Strategic: 7 Tips & Best Practices For Leaders

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116 Strategic Planning Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Strategic planning is a critical process for any organization looking to achieve its long-term goals and objectives. It involves setting priorities, focusing resources, and ensuring that everyone is working towards a common vision. However, coming up with strategic planning essay topics can be challenging. To help you get started, here are 116 strategic planning essay topic ideas and examples:

• The importance of strategic planning in organizations
• The key components of a strategic plan
• How to develop a strategic plan for a small business
• The role of leadership in strategic planning
• The benefits of strategic planning for nonprofits
• The connection between strategic planning and organizational success
• How to create a strategic plan that is flexible and adaptable
• The challenges of implementing a strategic plan
• The impact of external factors on strategic planning
• The role of data and analytics in strategic planning
• The link between strategic planning and financial performance
• The importance of employee involvement in strategic planning
• The role of communication in strategic planning
• The connection between strategic planning and risk management
• The impact of technology on strategic planning
• The role of strategic planning in crisis management
• The connection between strategic planning and innovation
• The role of strategic planning in sustainability initiatives
• The benefits of strategic planning for government agencies
• The challenges of strategic planning in a globalized world
• The role of strategic planning in mergers and acquisitions
• The importance of strategic planning in the healthcare industry
• The connection between strategic planning and customer satisfaction
• The impact of organizational culture on strategic planning
• The role of strategic planning in talent management
• The benefits of strategic planning for educational institutions
• The challenges of strategic planning in a rapidly changing environment
• The role of strategic planning in the public sector
• The connection between strategic planning and corporate social responsibility
• The importance of strategic planning in the hospitality industry
• The impact of strategic planning on supply chain management
• The role of strategic planning in brand management
• The benefits of strategic planning for startups
• The challenges of strategic planning in a competitive market
• The connection between strategic planning and organizational culture
• The role of strategic planning in strategic alliances
• The importance of strategic planning in the retail industry
• The impact of strategic planning on employee engagement
• The role of strategic planning in performance management
• The benefits of strategic planning for small and medium-sized enterprises
• The challenges of strategic planning in a family-owned business
• The connection between strategic planning and succession planning
• The role of strategic planning in crisis communication
• The importance of strategic planning in the technology sector
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational structure
• The role of strategic planning in cost management
• The benefits of strategic planning for not-for-profit organizations
• The challenges of strategic planning in a regulated industry
• The connection between strategic planning and market research
• The role of strategic planning in project management
• The importance of strategic planning for the automotive industry
• The impact of strategic planning on customer retention
• The role of strategic planning in change management
• The benefits of strategic planning for a global organization
• The challenges of strategic planning in a decentralized organization
• The connection between strategic planning and business ethics
• The role of strategic planning in product development
• The importance of strategic planning in the pharmaceutical industry
• The impact of strategic planning on employee motivation
• The role of strategic planning in digital transformation
• The benefits of strategic planning for the manufacturing sector
• The challenges of strategic planning in a government agency
• The connection between strategic planning and customer loyalty
• The role of strategic planning in marketing strategy
• The importance of strategic planning in the energy sector
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational performance
• The role of strategic planning in diversity and inclusion initiatives
• The benefits of strategic planning for the financial services industry
• The challenges of strategic planning in a non-traditional organization
• The connection between strategic planning and employee training
• The role of strategic planning in organizational development
• The importance of strategic planning in talent acquisition
• The impact of strategic planning on employee retention
• The role of strategic planning in corporate governance
• The benefits of strategic planning for the real estate industry
• The challenges of strategic planning in a startup environment
• The connection between strategic planning and competitive advantage
• The role of strategic planning in supply chain optimization
• The importance of strategic planning in project portfolio management
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational culture change
• The role of strategic planning in performance improvement
• The benefits of strategic planning for the technology sector
• The challenges of strategic planning in a regulated market
• The connection between strategic planning and organizational resilience
• The role of strategic planning in leadership development
• The importance of strategic planning in corporate social responsibility
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational agility
• The role of strategic planning in capacity planning
• The benefits of strategic planning for the healthcare industry
• The challenges of strategic planning in a global organization
• The connection between strategic planning and crisis response
• The role of strategic planning in talent retention
• The importance of strategic planning in strategic partnerships
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational innovation
• The role of strategic planning in value creation
• The benefits of strategic planning for the hospitality industry
• The challenges of strategic planning in a rapidly changing market
• The connection between strategic planning and market segmentation
• The role of strategic planning in customer acquisition
• The importance of strategic planning in supply chain resilience
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational learning
• The role of strategic planning in organizational change management
• The benefits of strategic planning for the retail industry
• The challenges of strategic planning in a family-owned company
• The connection between strategic planning and brand positioning
• The role of strategic planning in employee development
• The importance of strategic planning in customer relationship management
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational sustainability
• The role of strategic planning in competitive intelligence
• The benefits of strategic planning for the public sector
• The challenges of strategic planning in a non-profit organization
• The connection between strategic planning and organizational effectiveness
• The role of strategic planning in organizational alignment
• The importance of strategic planning in organizational restructuring
• The impact of strategic planning on organizational resilience
• The role of strategic planning in organizational performance management

These strategic planning essay topic ideas and examples can serve as a guide for your next writing project. Whether you are exploring the benefits of strategic planning in a specific industry or analyzing the challenges of implementing a strategic plan, there are plenty of topics to choose from. Remember to conduct thorough research and analysis to support your arguments and provide valuable insights to your readers.

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How to write a strategic plan.

How do you know if you have a complete strategic plan? A complete strategic plan has several components, but the various parts fall into three categories. Following our step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a strategic plan quickly.

Not to oversimplify how to write a strategic plan, but by placing all the parts of a strategic plan into three areas or categories of focus, you can see how the pieces fit together.

The three pieces of the puzzle are:

Where are we now?

Where are we going?

• How will we get there?

Get the Free Guide to Build Your Strategic Objectives (with Examples!)

Each part has certain elements to show you how and where things fit. Our 4-Phase Guide to Strategic Planning lays out each step of the planning process. You can also watch our video, The Complete Strategic Planning Checklist” for a brief overview.

Get the Free Guide for Setting OKRs that Work (with 100 examples!)

Video Transcript – The Complete Strategic Plan

Hi everyone, its Erica Olsen from OnStrategy. Welcome to today’s whiteboard video on “Do You Have a Complete Strategic Plan?”

As you would expect from us, we’re going to make that as easy as possible and give you a checklist — and a checklist not only for a complete plan — but for an awesome plan. So, let’s jump in.

First things first, you need a couple of things that set your strategic direction: your mission statement, which tells us why you exist, your reason for being, and your vision statement of where you’re going. You’ve heard me say it a million times, strategic plans are all about going to a place that you are not today. And your vision statement answers that. We often lump values in this area: mission, vision, and values, because it sounds good.

But I would say that a strategic plan does not have to have values if you don’t have them already articulated. And the only reason for that is because I would highly recommend that you take a values process and run that separately from a strategic planning process, because there’s a lot of work there. And it deserves its own time and attention. And if you have your values, they should go in here if you don’t put a placeholder.

So then we move to strategy. In order to articulate your strategy, you’ve got to understand where you are today. And we use a trusty tool that is a SWOT–Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. So once you have a clear understanding of where you are today, and where the opportunities are for growth, you can build out the strategy areas of your plan, which look like this: your strategic goals.

Those are the four, or five, or six big areas of focus that make up the framework of your plan that are super important. Everything rises and falls here–your vision connects to your goals and your goals connect your objectives.

Also, in your strategy is your org-wide strategies or your organizational-wide strategies. Those are the differentiation statements, or how you’re different. Strategy is about being unique. And that’s what that statement does for you.

And then of course, clarifying where are we going to play? How are we going to win? That’s your growth strategy. Strategic plans have got to have a growth section. That’s your competitive advantages and your customer segments. So, once you have all that articulated, we can move to your annual plan, which looks like organization-wide objectives.

Those are your SMART objectives. They should be measurable, time bound, accountable, all that good stuff. Each of your strategic initiatives should have at least one or two quarterly action items to ensure you can really move them in to execution. And of course, no good plan is done unless you’re clear about how you’re going to measure your success–key performance indicators or KPIs. So with that, there’s your checklist for a complete and awesome strategic plan.

Hit the like button if you like our content, and please subscribe to our channel. We’re dropping videos every Friday. Happy strategizing.

Plan Writing Step 1: Establish Your Strategic Foundation

The first step in any business strategy or organizational strategy is to start by establishing or confirming your strategic foundation – in simple terms, we mean clearly articulating why your organization exists and how you expect your team to behave (Mission and Core values). This phase of the strategic planning process creates the foundation of your strategic plan as it tells you and the rest of your organization what your starting point is and why you generally exist (your core purpose or mission).

After setting up the foundation, you can determine where you’re going or hope to go in the future and exactly how you will get there by steering your organization in the right direction.

As you think about where your organization is now, you want to look at the foundational elements of your organization’s purpose and culture (mission + values) and assess your organization’s current state (SWOT and competitive advantages).

This portion of strategic planning is designed to outline the core foundation of your organization, like why you exist and how you behave, while looking at the internal and external factors that will influence your planning elements. Below is a quick overview of those elements, which include a breakdown of your mission statement, core values, and SWOT analysis.

Who are we, and how do we behave?

Mission statement.

The mission describes your organization’s purpose – the purpose for which you were founded and why you exist.

Some mission statements include the business of the organization. Others explain what products or services they produce or the customers they serve. Does your mission statement say what you do? Why does your organization exist?

Core Values:

This clarifies what you believe and how you expect your team to behave.

Three questions to ask to clarify your core values include:

• What are the core values and beliefs of your organization?
• What values and beliefs guide your daily interactions?
• What are you and your people committed to?

While a values statement is foundational to your overall strategy, the values process can be run separately from the strategic planning process as it needs its own time and attention. Your value statements are the barometer to determine whether you are conducting your business in a way that stays true to your organization’s purpose.

Video Transcript – Overview of the Strategic Planning Process

Hi, my name is Erica Olsen. Today’s whiteboard video is an overview of the strategic planning process. Instead of going through a bullet pointed list, we’ll do it in the form of an illustration.

To orient ourselves, I want to outline the four phases of the process over here: assess, design, build, and manage. The phases of planning include assessing, designing, and building, and we spend a couple of months per year doing that.

We spend the rest of the year managing the performance and the execution of our plan. Oftentimes, we get into execution, and we’re not exactly realizing the results that we want. In which case, we go back into some parts of the planning process, and sort of rinse and repeat. Today’s video is going through the whole process, but sometimes you just make big pieces of it. So, let’s jump in.

Great strategic plans start with understanding where we are today–assessing the current state– point A. We do that by gathering an external perspective, opportunities and threats, and an internal perspective, strengths, and weaknesses. And we summarize all that information and do a SWOT analysis. And as a little Asterix, we have detailed whiteboard videos on each point today. So, if you need to dig deeper, check those out.

So, once we’re clear about where we are today, we can move into the second part of our process, which is designing the strategy, starting with our mission statement. Our mission statement is a square here because great mission statements tell us what’s in and what’s out. Why do we exist as an organization, what’s our core purpose, and then by default, what’s not. With clarity on our mission, we can move to casting our vision or our future state.

Strategic plans are all about moving organizations from where we are today to where we want to be in the future. And that’s what our vision statement does for us. It tells us where we want to go.

The rest of our plan builds a roadmap from today to tomorrow. Starting with a couple of things that help us answer, “How will we succeed?” our competitive advantages, and our long-term, organization-wide strategies. These come in different names, but let’s just use the analogy and the visual to keep us grounded.

These help as guides. They act as an umbrella over our entire plan to make sure that we’re building a plan that we can succeed and be successful and be competitive with. So, with that guideline in place, we can move to building our framework–our long-term strategic objectives. Again, there are different names for this, but let’s just use that for today. I like to see them in four categories because we want a holistic framework. We want to make sure that our plan covers our financial perspective, our customer perspective, our operational and internal perspective, and our people perspective.

Less than six strategic objectives is a pretty good idea when you’re looking at your framework because we’re going to cascade the rest of the plan from these. From there, we’re ready to move into the next phase, which is building our plan.

That looks like starting with our goals, or our corporate goals. And we’re using the word ‘goals’ to articulate quantifiable, outcome-based statements. Where do you want to be in year one, and year two, and year three? And most of the time, we use key performance indicators to help guide us along the way.

So, we like our corporate goals. And again, we’re going to cascade from our strategic objectives. We like our corporate goals to be SMART. SMART is a great acronym to make sure that you have good, quantifiable, outcome-based goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Once we have our corporate goals in place, a couple per each long-term, strategic objective, we’re ready to move into annual operating plans. And that looks like building goals and cascading into each level of the organization. So that looks like corporate goals being cascaded into department goals, and department goals being cascaded into individual, contributor goals.

Once we’ve cascaded it down that far, we have a plan, and we’re done with the third phase. So now we have a plan. Now what? We want to move into managing execution because nobody wants to build a plan that sits on a shelf. So, there are three things you need to have in place to effectively execute.

Number one: people. You need to make sure that every person in your organization has an individual action plan that expresses ownership and accountability for what they need to get done by when. And with that, that matters because all the rest of this is just on paper if we’re not clear about that very specific piece.

The second thing is we need to make sure that we have a system in place to track and manage performance. A software system, spreadsheets, whatever it looks like, you’re going to gather a lot of data on a monthly, or quarterly and annual basis, you need a place to put that, and everybody needs to be working on the same system.

The third thing is process. You need to schedule at least monthly, or quarterly reviews of your performance because without that review, all the rest of this is just again, good ideas on paper.

So, with that, that’s an overview of the strategic planning process. Subscribe to our channel. Happy strategizing.

Plan Writing Step 2: Conduct a Current State Assessment

As you think about where your organization is now, you want to look at the foundational elements of your organization’s purpose and culture (mission + values) and assess your organization’s current state (SWOT and competitive advantages).

This portion of strategic planning is designed to outline the core foundation of your organization, like why you exist and how you behave, while looking at the internal and external factors that will influence your planning elements. Below is a quick overview of those elements, which include a breakdown of your mission statement, core values, SWOT analysis, and business objectives..

When assessing your current position, you must conduct a thorough internal and external analysis of your organization. This includes assessing two major things:

• How well you are meeting your customer and market needs.
• How well do your internal processes and employees rate in terms of efficiency and satisfaction?

It may be tempting to skip this step or feel like you know where your organization stands and can make do with a less formal process, but this is not the case. Conducting a formal internal/external analysis via a SWOT, PESTLE , market analysis, or even employee surveys will help you lay the groundwork for your strategic plan.

Successful attributes of an internal and external analysis:

• Your organization’s strengths
• Weaknesses for your organization to improve upon
• A clearly defined competitive advantage
• Market opportunities to pursue
• An understanding of your competitor’s competitive advantages
• Strategic themes that serve as the framework of your plan

SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These elements are crucial in assessing your strategic position within your organization. You want to build on your organization’s strengths, shore up the weaknesses, capitalize on the opportunities, and recognize the threats.

The SWOT can also be used as a forward-looking tool to determine where you want to go, as it allows you to see where your opportunities or threats may be in the future. These can help you pinpoint what some of your growth opportunities are.

Plan Writing Step 3: Create Your Vision of the Future

The elements of the question “Where are we going?” help you answer other questions such as “What will my organization look like in the future?”, “Where are we headed?”, and “What is my vision of the future I want to create for my company?” Because the future is hard to predict, you can have fun imagining what it may look like. The following elements help you define the future for your business:

Vision Statement

Your organization’s vision statement is the articulation of what your organization’s future makeup will be and where the organization is headed. What will your organization look like in 5 to 10 years from now? What are your company’s goals that you seek to accomplish? What is your desired future state?

It’s important that your organization’s vision always remains relevant and clear. We recommend a vision that is big, bold, and audacious—like “All children achieve their full potential” from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

A vision statement like this would probably be true and relevant to the organization for its entirety. A vision statement may only need to change if the organization is making big moves or pivoting to address major shifts in the market or industry.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

A sustainable competitive advantage explains what you are best at compared to your competitors. Each company strives to create an advantage that continues to be competitive over time. What can you be best at? What is your uniqueness? What can your organization potentially do better than any other organization?

Growth Strategy

Strategy is ultimately about being unique. It is about playing to the strengths that make your organization different from the others in your market. It establishes a way to match your organization’s strengths with market opportunities so that your organization comes to mind when your customer has a need.

This section explains how you travel to your final destination. Does your strategy match your strengths in a way that provides value to your customers? Does it build an organizational reputation and recognizable industry position?

Your growth strategy should clarify:

• Where are we going to play?
• How are we going to win?

Growth strategies are where your competitive advantages and your customer segments come into play. Once you have all that articulated, you can move to your annual plan, which looks taking your organization-wide objectives and building a strategic framework.

Plan Writing Step 4: Build Your Plan

How will we achieve our vision with action?

Strategic objectives are the steps that bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. They also connect your big, bold vision to the annual goals you need to achieve it and establish the boundaries for your organization’s focus.

Strategic Objectives

Knowing how you’ll reach your vision is the meat of your strategic plan, and it’s also the most time consuming. The reason it takes so much time to develop your strategic priorities is because there are a number of routes from your current position to your vision. Picking the right one determines how quickly or slowly you’ll get to your final destination.

Strategic objectives are long-term, continuous strategic areas that help you connect your growth strategy and annual actions to your long-term vision of success. Strategic planning with holistic objectives encompasses four areas:

• Operational

Ask yourself what the key activities within these four areas are that you need to perform in order to achieve your vision.

It’s also important to separate your strategic objectives from your day-to-day operational objectives. They almost act like ‘mini vision statements’ as they support the overall vision of success by focusing on manageable focus areas.

Ultimately, your strategic objectives are not a mishmash of department goals. Instead, they embody the company-wide direction. They are what drive the direction and growth.

It is recommended to have at least four to six strategic objectives. They are your areas of focus that create the framework for your plan, and this should stem from your vision. Your vision connects your goals, and your goals connect your objectives. Your objectives should be SMART–specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Short-term Goals/Priorities/Initiatives

Short-term strategic goals convert your strategic objectives into specific performance targets. You can use goals, priorities, or initiatives interchangeably. Here, the term ‘goals’ defines short-term action. Effective goals clearly state:

• What you want to accomplish.
• When you want to accomplish it.
• How you’re going to accomplish it.
• Who is going to be responsible.

All goals or strategic initiatives should be specific and measurable:

• What are the 1- to 3-year goals you’re trying to achieve to reach your vision?
• What are your specific, measurable, and realistic targets of accomplishment?

Within your strategic plan, you should set milestones to measure achievement and motivate your team. Setting milestones also sets clear expectations of who is in charge of specific tasks and results.

Additionally, milestones help teams determine whether resource allocations serve to assess risks or upcoming obstacles. Strategic plans are iterative rather than sequential, so setting milestones can allow your plan to be more adaptive to address changes in the market rather than changing the overall strategic goals.

Action Items

Action items are plans that set specific actions that lead to implementing your goals. They include start and end dates and appoint a person responsible. Are your action items comprehensive enough to achieve your goals?

KPIs and Scorecards

A scorecard measures and manages your strategic plan. Each goal should have some form of measurement, whether that is through key performance indicators (KPIs) or some other method of measurement. What are the key metrics and KPIs you need to track to monitor whether you’re achieving your mission? Pick 5 to 10 goal-related measures you can use to track the progress of your plan and plug them into your scorecard.

In executing the plan, identify issues that surround the management and monitoring of the plan and how the plan is communicated and supported throughout your entire organization. How committed are you to implementing the plan to move your organization forward? Will you commit money, resources, and time to support the plan?

As you’ve been going through the planning and assessment phase of your strategic plan, you’ve hopefully thought of the resources needed to achieve this, including team members who will play a crucial role in executing the plan. Clear communication and support from your entire organization are essential for the successful execution of your strategic plan.

Before you begin executing your plan, it is essential to ensure that you have your resource allocation fully ironed out. This will prevent the possibility of ‘scope creep’ and keep you and your team aligned on your needs.

Another consideration for successful strategic plan implementation is ensuring stakeholder and employee buy-in. Stakeholder buy-in is crucial for any strategic plan.

• Identify your key stakeholders.
• Make sure you and your team understand everyone’s role in the process.
• Establish communication channels.
• Offer active listening and transparency.
• Celebrate the milestones.

However, buy-in really begins before the execution of your plan. If you’re waiting until it’s time for them to act on the plan before you consider whether they are bought in, then it’s a little late in the game. If you aren’t giving your team a voice in the planning and analysis stage and getting their input on the issues your organization faces, it will be harder to get them to buy-in to the implementation stage.

Revisiting and Refining your Strategic Plan

As stated before, the strategic planning process is iterative. It won’t always be a linear process with linear progress and achievements. This is why regularly revisiting your plan and making adjustments as needed is essential. Monitoring the pulse of your strategic plan is something that can be done by implementing a regular review cycle quarterly and revisiting your annual goals at the beginning of each fiscal year to determine what is working and what isn’t.

PS – Strategic planning is best supported by an agile review process.

We’ve covered this extensively, but the most successful strategic planning processes are supported by a consistent, rigorous review process where teams review performance monthly, review and refresh the plan quarterly, and then do a bigger plan refresh annually.

Check out our agile strategy guide here. Don’t miss it to as part of an effective strategic planning process. Your organization’s success is directly tied to your strategy execution approach.

Challenges in Strategic Planning

The strategic planning process can be very involved and complex. It is definitely not a quick fix and it is not a one person job. Some common issues that many organizations come across in the planning and execution stages of their plans can be your team’s resistance to change, misalignment of resources, setting unrealistic goals, or a failure to adapt to external market shifts. However, with proper strategic thinking, strategy execution, and alignment with key stakeholders, these challenges can be overcome.

These challenges can be overcome by a consistent and open method of communication, a regular review process where you’re discussing your success and the things that may hinder it and fostering a culture of adaptability and ownership of your organization’s goals and accomplishments.

12 Principles to maintain your momentum during a planning and execution process:

• Make sure you have CEO buy-in to your plan and process.
• One-page plans are amazing executive summaries for your plan.
• Create a “final plan” when you move to execution. But adapt it quarterly as needed.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning.
• Empower your decision-makers.
• Celebrate the small successes.
• Encourage feedback.
• Seek internal and external feedback.
• Don’t be afraid to adapt.
• Practice open communication.
• Don’t get tangled up in the business-as-usual tasks.
• Keep your eye on the big picture.

28 Comments

Very useful to me and for my organization as formulation of strategic plans is my job

A good introduction

Very good , your direction make an easy for me to di this things.thanks

I am going to write a strategic plan, but not before I read this!

Very resourceful not only for my exams but for my work as well. Thanks.

Good information, but you might want to check the typos.

Thanx,i can now rearrange and plan my life and carrier.

Excellent and simple answer to plan, and deliver a strategy to my business

The information is so ressourcefull. Am now a real strategic planner. Thanks.

Critical tool for advancing the management of my enterprises towards attaining sustainable ,growth projections.

IS BEEN REALLY HELPFUL THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Eeh! Its Gud information. I will use it for my LIFE strategic PLAN.

Though it was my first time to visit this site, it was very good and opened up mind more especially on what I didn’t know and thus will give it a closure look to build my confident and more knowledge

Thank you Kristin,

This has helped me to design my strategic plan well for my on coming NGO after a struggle with the old version which was not giving me a lead of how to fit in information in their right places.

I agree other than I’m missing the question “What might prevent us from coming there?”

hi fine can yaou help me about nutrition roadmap models

Hi, thank you for the helps. I am not familiar of strategic planning and this article is a good help.

now i know, i will write my strategic plan now. am grateful to the organizers this article.

Very informative. This is a good reference. Thank you.

thank you for sharing.. very clear explanation

Thanks Erica because of strong and brief text about strategy.i am strategic planner in petroleum industries health organization in Iran.

Thanks for three points for stategy .

very Nice..This article Helped me alott. Please keep doing this.Inspiration and guidence is very importatnt for someone to reach to his destination.And i think you are doing a good job. 🙂

Fantastic information, just in line with my outline. Thank you

Good information. However, I think this strategic plan process was designed for private sector more than any other sector!

I need to write a strat for the Africa expansion for a cinema group . Any ideas .

it’s really good and good introduction, thanks

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Essential Guide to the Strategic Planning Process

By Joe Weller | April 3, 2019 (updated March 26, 2024)

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In this article, you’ll learn the basics of the strategic planning process and how a strategic plan guides you to achieving your organizational goals. Plus, find expert insight on getting the most out of your strategic planning.

Included on this page, you'll discover the importance of strategic planning , the steps of the strategic planning process , and the basic sections to include in your strategic plan .

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is an organizational activity that aims to achieve a group’s goals. The process helps define a company’s objectives and investigates both internal and external happenings that might influence the organizational path. Strategic planning also helps identify adjustments that you might need to make to reach your goal. Strategic planning became popular in the 1960s because it helped companies set priorities and goals, strengthen operations, and establish agreement among managers about outcomes and results.

Strategic planning can occur over multiple years, and the process can vary in length, as can the final plan itself. Ideally, strategic planning should result in a document, a presentation, or a report that sets out a blueprint for the company’s progress.

By setting priorities, companies help ensure employees are working toward common and defined goals. It also aids in defining the direction an enterprise is heading, efficiently using resources to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives. Based on the plan, managers can make decisions or allocate the resources necessary to pursue the strategy and minimize risks.

Strategic planning strengthens operations by getting input from people with differing opinions and building a consensus about the company’s direction. Along with focusing energy and resources, the strategic planning process allows people to develop a sense of ownership in the product they create.

“Strategic planning is not really one thing. It is really a set of concepts, procedures, tools, techniques, and practices that have to be adapted to specific contexts and purposes,” says Professor John M. Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement . “Strategic planning is a prompt to foster strategic thinking, acting, and learning, and they all matter and they are all connected.”

What Strategic Planning Is Not

Strategic planning is not a to-do list for the short or long term — it is the basis of a business, its direction, and how it will get there.

“You have to think very strategically about strategic planning. It is more than just following steps,” Bryson explains. “You have to understand strategic planning is not some kind of magic solution to fixing issues. Don’t have unrealistic expectations.”

Strategic planning is also different from a business plan that focuses on a specific product, service, or program and short-term goals. Rather, strategic planning means looking at the big picture.

While they are related, it is important not to confuse strategic planning with strategic thinking, which is more about imagining and innovating in a way that helps a company. In contrast, strategic planning supports those thoughts and helps you figure out how to make them a reality.

Another part of strategic planning is tactical planning , which involves looking at short-term efforts to achieve longer-term goals.

Lastly, marketing plans are not the same as strategic plans. A marketing plan is more about introducing and delivering a service or product to the public instead of how to grow a business. For more about marketing plans and processes, read this article .

Strategic plans include information about finances, but they are different from financial planning , which involves different processes and people. Financial planning templates can help with that process.

Why Is Strategic Planning Important?

In today’s technological age, strategic plans provide businesses with a path forward. Strategic plans help companies thrive, not just survive — they provide a clear focus, which makes an organization more efficient and effective, thereby increasing productivity.

“You are not going to go very far if you don’t have a strategic plan. You need to be able to show where you are going,” says Stefan Hofmeyer, an experienced strategist and co-founder of Global PMI Partners . He lives in the startup-rich environment of northern California and says he often sees startups fail to get seed money because they do not have a strong plan for what they want to do and how they want to do it.

Getting team members on the same page (in both creating a strategic plan and executing the plan itself) can be beneficial for a company. Planners can find satisfaction in the process and unite around a common vision. In addition, you can build strong teams and bridge gaps between staff and management.

“You have to reach agreement about good ideas,” Bryson says. “A really good strategy has to meet a lot of criteria. It has to be technically workable, administratively feasible, politically acceptable, and legally, morally, and ethically defensible, and that is a pretty tough list.”

By discussing a company’s issues during the planning process, individuals can voice their opinions and provide information necessary to move the organization ahead — a form of problem solving as a group.

Strategic plans also provide a mechanism to measure success and progress toward goals, which keeps employees on the same page and helps them focus on the tasks at hand.

When Is the Time to Do Strategic Planning?

There is no perfect time to perform strategic planning. It depends entirely on the organization and the external environment that surrounds it. However, here are some suggestions about when to plan:

If your industry is changing rapidly

When an organization is launching

At the start of a new year or funding period

In preparation for a major new initiative

If regulations and laws in your industry are or will be changing

“It’s not like you do all of the thinking and planning, and then implement,” Bryson says. “A mistake people make is [believing] the thinking has to precede the acting and the learning.”

Even if you do not re-create the entire planning process often, it is important to periodically check your plan and make sure it is still working. If not, update it.

What Is the Strategic Planning Process?

Strategic planning is a process, and not an easy one. A key is to make sure you allow enough time to complete the process without rushing, but not take so much time that you lose momentum and focus. The process itself can be more important than the final document due to the information that comes out of the discussions with management, as well as lower-level workers.

“There is not one favorite or perfect planning process,” says Jim Stockmal, president of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). He explains that new techniques come out constantly, and consultants and experienced planners have their favorites. In an effort to standardize the practice and terms used in strategic planning, ASP has created two certification programs .

Level 1 is the Strategic Planning Professional (SPP) certification. It is designed for early- or mid-career planners who work in strategic planning. Level 2, the Strategic Management Professional (SMP) certification, is geared toward seasoned professionals or those who train others. Stockmal explains that ASP designed the certification programs to add structure to the otherwise amorphous profession.

The strategic planning process varies by the size of the organization and can be formal or informal, but there are constraints. For example, teams of all sizes and goals should build in many points along the way for feedback from key leaders — this helps the process stay on track.

Some elements of the process might have specific start and end points, while others are continuous. For example, there might not be one “aha” moment that suddenly makes things clear. Instead, a series of small moves could slowly shift the organization in the right direction.

“Don’t make it overly complex. Bring all of the stakeholders together for input and feedback,” Stockmal advises. “Always be doing a continuous environmental scan, and don’t be afraid to engage with stakeholders.”

Additionally, knowing your company culture is important. “You need to make it work for your organization,” he says.

There are many different ways to approach the strategic planning process. Below are three popular approaches:

Goals-Based Planning: This approach begins by looking at an organization’s mission and goals. From there, you work toward that mission, implement strategies necessary to achieve those goals, and assign roles and deadlines for reaching certain milestones.

Issues-Based Planning: In this approach, start by looking at issues the company is facing, then decide how to address them and what actions to take.

Organic Planning: This approach is more fluid and begins with defining mission and values, then outlining plans to achieve that vision while sticking to the values.

“The approach to strategic planning needs to be contingent upon the organization, its history, what it’s capable of doing, etc.,” Bryson explains. “There’s such a mistake to think there’s one approach.”

For more information on strategic planning, read about how to write a strategic plan and the different types of models you can use.

Who Participates in the Strategic Planning Process?

For work as crucial as strategic planning, it is necessary to get the right team together and include them from the beginning of the process. Try to include as many stakeholders as you can.

Below are suggestions on who to include:

Senior leadership

Strategic planners

Strategists

People who will be responsible for implementing the plan

People to identify gaps in the plan

Members of the board of directors

“There can be magic to strategic planning, but it’s not in any specific framework or anybody’s 10-step process,” Bryson explains. “The magic is getting key people together, getting them to focus on what’s important, and [getting] them to do something about it. That’s where the magic is.”

Hofmeyer recommends finding people within an organization who are not necessarily current leaders, but may be in the future. “Sometimes they just become obvious. Usually they show themselves to you, you don’t need to look for them. They’re motivated to participate,” he says. These future leaders are the ones who speak up at meetings or on other occasions, who put themselves out there even though it is not part of their job description.

At the beginning of the process, establish guidelines about who will be involved and what will be expected of them. Everyone involved must be willing to cooperate and collaborate. If there is a question about whether or not to include anyone, it is usually better to bring on extra people than to leave someone out, only to discover later they should have been a part of the process all along. Not everyone will be involved the entire time; people will come and go during different phases.

Often, an outside facilitator or consultant can be an asset to a strategic planning committee. It is sometimes difficult for managers and other employees to sit back and discuss what they need to accomplish as a company and how they need to do it without considering other factors. As objective observers, outside help can often offer insight that may escape insiders.

Hofmeyer says sometimes bosses have blinders on that keep them from seeing what is happening around them, which allows them to ignore potential conflicts. “People often have their own agendas of where they want to go, and if they are not aligned, it is difficult to build a strategic plan. An outsider perspective can really take you out of your bubble and tell you things you don’t necessarily want to hear [but should]. We get into a rhythm, and it’s really hard to step out of that, so bringing in outside people can help bring in new views and aspects of your business.”

An outside consultant can also help naysayers take the process more seriously because they know the company is investing money in the efforts, Hofmeyer adds.

No matter who is involved in the planning process, make sure at least one person serves as an administrator and documents all planning committee actions.

What Is in a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan communicates goals and what it takes to achieve them. The plan sometimes begins with a high-level view, then becomes more specific. Since strategic plans are more guidebooks than rulebooks, they don’t have to be bureaucratic and rigid. There is no perfect plan; however, it needs to be realistic.

There are many sections in a strategic plan, and the length of the final document or presentation will vary. The names people use for the sections differ, but the general ideas behind them are similar: Simply make sure you and your team agree on the terms you will use and what each means.

One-Page Strategic Planning Template

“I’m a big fan of getting a strategy onto one sheet of paper. It’s a strategic plan in a nutshell, and it provides a clear line of sight,” Stockmal advises.

You can use the template below to consolidate all your strategic ideas into a succinct, one-page strategic plan. Doing so provides you with a high-level overview of your strategic initiatives that you can place on your website, distribute to stakeholders, and refer to internally. More extensive details about implementation, capacity, and other concerns can go into an expanded document.

Download One-Page Strategic Planning Template Excel | Word | Smartsheet

The most important part of the strategic plan is the executive summary, which contains the highlights of the plan. Although it appears at the beginning of the plan, it should be written last, after you have done all your research.

Of writing the executive summary, Stockmal says, “I find it much easier to extract and cut and edit than to do it first.”

For help with creating executive summaries, see these templates .

Other parts of a strategic plan can include the following:

Description: A description of the company or organization.

Vision Statement: A bold or inspirational statement about where you want your company to be in the future.

Mission Statement: In this section, describe what you do today, your audience, and your approach as you work toward your vision.

Core Values: In this section, list the beliefs and behaviors that will enable you to achieve your mission and, eventually, your vision.

Goals: Provide a few statements of how you will achieve your vision over the long term.

Objectives: Each long-term goal should have a few one-year objectives that advance the plan. Make objectives SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, and time-based) to get the most out of them.

Budget and Operating Plans: Highlight resources you will need and how you will implement them.

Monitoring and Evaluation: In this section, describe how you will check your progress and determine when you achieve your goals.

One of the first steps in creating a strategic plan is to perform both an internal and external analysis of the company’s environment. Internally, look at your company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the personal values of those who will implement your plan (managers, executives, board members). Externally, examine threats and opportunities within the industry and any broad societal expectations that might exist.

You can perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to sum up where you are currently and what you should focus on to help you achieve your future goals. Strengths shows you what you do well, weaknesses point out obstacles that could keep you from achieving your objectives, opportunities highlight where you can grow, and threats pinpoint external factors that could be obstacles in your way.

You can find more information about performing a SWOT analysis and free templates in this article . Another analysis technique, STEEPLE (social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, and ethical), often accompanies a SWOT analysis.

Basics of Strategic Planning

How you navigate the strategic planning process will vary. Several tools and techniques are available, and your choice depends on your company’s leadership, culture, environment, and size, as well as the expertise of the planners.

All include similar sections in the final plan, but the ways of driving those results differ. Some tools are goals-based, while others are issues- or scenario-based. Some rely on a more organic or rigid process.

Hofmeyer summarizes what goes into strategic planning:

Understand the stakeholders and involve them from the beginning.

Agree on a vision.

Hold successful meetings and sessions.

Summarize and present the plan to stakeholders.

Identify and check metrics.

Make periodic adjustments.

Items That Go into Strategic Planning

Strategic planning contains inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Inputs and activities are elements that are internal to the company, while outputs and outcomes are external.

Remember, there are many different names for the sections of strategic plans. The key is to agree what terms you will use and define them for everyone involved.

Inputs are important because it is impossible to know where you are going until you know what is around you where you are now.

Companies need to gather data from a variety of sources to get a clear look at the competitive environment and the opportunities and risks within that environment. You can think of it like a competitive intelligence program.

Data should come from the following sources:

Interviews with executives

A review of documents about the competition or market that are publicly available

Primary research by visiting or observing competitors

Studies of your industry

The values of key stakeholders

This information often goes into writing an organization’s vision and mission statements.

Activities are the meetings and other communications that need to happen during the strategic planning process to help everyone understand the competition that surrounds the organization.

It is important both to understand the competitive environment and your company’s response to it. This is where everyone looks at and responds to the data gathered from the inputs.

The strategic planning process produces outputs. Outputs can be as basic as the strategic planning document itself. The documentation and communications that describe your organization’s strategy, as well as financial statements and budgets, can also be outputs.

The implementation of the strategic plan produces outcomes (distinct from outputs). The outcomes determine the success or failure of the strategic plan by measuring how close they are to the goals and vision you outline in your plan.

It is important to understand there will be unplanned and unintended outcomes, too. How you learn from and adapt to these changes influence the success of the strategic plan.

During the planning process, decide how you will measure both the successes and failures of different parts of the strategic plan.

Sharing, Evaluating, and Monitoring the Progress of a Strategic Plan

After companies go through a lengthy strategic planning process, it is important that the plan does not sit and collect dust. Share, evaluate, and monitor the plan to assess how you are doing and make any necessary updates.

“[Some] leaders think that once they have their strategy, it’s up to someone else to execute it. That’s a mistake I see,” Stockmal says.

The process begins with distributing and communicating the plan. Decide who will get a copy of the plan and how those people will tell others about it. Will you have a meeting to kick off the implementation? How will you specify who will do what and when? Clearly communicate the roles people will have.

“Before you communicate the plan [to everyone], you need to have the commitment of stakeholders,” Hofmeyer recommends. Have the stakeholders be a part of announcing the plan to everyone — this keeps them accountable because workers will associate them with the strategy. “That applies pressure to the stakeholders to actually do the work.”

Once the team begins implementation, it’s necessary to have benchmarks to help measure your successes against the plan’s objectives. Sometimes, having smaller action plans within the larger plan can help keep the work on track.

During the planning process, you should have decided how you will measure success. Now, figure out how and when you will document progress. Keep an eye out for gaps between the vision and its implementation — a big gap could be a sign that you are deviating from the plan.

Tools are available to assist with tracking performance of strategic plans, including several types of software. “For some organizations, a spreadsheet is enough, but you are going to manually enter the data, so someone needs to be responsible for that,” Stockmal recommends.

Remember: strategic plans are not written in stone. Some deviation will be necessary, and when it happens, it’s important to understand why it occurred and how the change might impact the company's vision and goals.

Deviation from the plan does not mean failure, reminds Hofmeyer. Instead, understanding what transpired is the key. “Things happen, [and] you should always be on the lookout for that. I’m a firm believer in continuous improvement,” he says. Explain to stakeholders why a change is taking place. “There’s always a sense of re-evaluation, but do it methodically.”

Build in a schedule to review and amend the plan as necessary; this can help keep companies on track.

What Is Strategic Management?

Strategic planning is part of strategic management, and it involves the activities that make the strategic plan a reality. Essentially, strategic management is getting from the starting point to the goal effectively and efficiently using the ongoing activities and processes that a company takes on in order to keep in line with its mission, vision, and strategic plan.

“[Strategic management] closes the gap between the plan and executing the strategy,” Stockmal of ASP says. Strategic management is part of a larger planning process that includes budgeting, forecasting, capital allocation, and more.

There is no right or wrong way to do strategic management — only guidelines. The basic phases are preparing for strategic planning, creating the strategic plan, and implementing that plan.

No matter how you manage your plan, it’s key to allow the strategic plan to evolve and grow as necessary, due to both the internal and external factors.

“We get caught up in all of the day-to-day issues,” Stockmal explains, adding that people do not often leave enough time for implementing the plan and making progress. That’s what strategic management implores: doing things that are in the plan and not letting the plan sit on a shelf.

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More From Forbes

The seven keys to successful strategic planning.

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Strategic planning is a critical business practice for positioning an organization for success, aligning leaders to a common plan, and guiding management decisions. Most companies conduct some form of strategic planning event before starting a new year. However, most strategic planning processes fail to deliver real value due to some common pitfalls.

All too often, leaders view strategic planning as an event, not an annual process. This results in strategic plans that are not fully implemented since, once they are done, they are seldom reviewed throughout the year. Managers who seemed to support the strategic plan may not be fully aligned to the organization’s goals and priorities, undermining execution. In addition, it is common that without a proper assessment of the industry and the organization’s capabilities, the plan lacks true strategic thinking, and becomes more of a projection of past performance into the next year.

To address these concerns, the following seven steps will guide the creation of a successful strategic planning process.

1. Assess your industry, competitors and market trends.

The initial step in creating an effective strategic plan is to assess the external forces shaping your industry, understanding the competitive and regulatory landscape and identifying market trends. If data is not already available, conduct an efficient external assessment before the strategic planning event to provide insights and valid data to inform decisions and test assumptions. This results in more strategic conversations during the event.

2. Identify opportunities and threats by conducting a SWOT analysis.

In conjunction with an external market assessment, an internal organizational review will ground the strategy and set a baseline for the organization’s culture and capabilities. A SWOT analysis will reveal the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. With this information, leaders will be able to draw a set of offensive and defensive strategies that capitalize on opportunities and offset the risks of potential threats.

3. Review your organization’s mission and vision.

One of the values of a successful strategic event is to inspire leaders to achieve meaningful goals. Reviewing the organization’s mission and vision is an important step at the start of the strategic planning event. An engaging envisioning session helps leaders collaborate in creating a shared story of success. This activity unites and inspires the leaders and ultimately everyone to embrace the organization’s greater purpose.

4. Set business goals and priorities.

Leveraging the external and internal assessments and guided by a compelling vision, it is important to focus on the specific goals and priorities to achieve that vision. This is a critical stage for decision making. It is where leaders engage in rich decision-making conversations that define the big plays that will move the organization forward towards its goals. Having an objective, skilled facilitator can be useful at this point to help bring up, clarify, test and harmonize leadership's views.

5. Define functional objectives and key initiatives.

With a clear set of business goals and priorities, the next step is to define the specific objectives and initiatives that activate the strategic plan. This is best done at the functional level to enable alignment and increase ownership. It is important to keep the number of initiatives per function to what can be realistically done in a year. It is also important that these initiatives truly align and help deliver on the business goals.

6. Determine staffing, budgets and financing needs.

The strategic plan is operationalized by assigning sponsors, champions and resources behind the plan. Senior leaders act as the sponsors of specific initiatives, managing their budgets and staff. At this point, it may be necessary to identify and deploy strategic activation teams representing the various functions charged to tackle cross-functional strategic initiatives.

7. Identify and track success measures monthly and quarterly.

Tracking progress on strategic goals and objectives on a regular basis is key to ensuring that the plan is being implemented and to making course corrections as needed. The discipline to make progress and report on success measures on a regular basis ensures accountability and follow-through. It may be helpful to assign a person responsible for collecting, tracking and reporting progress on the strategic plan using scorecards and dashboards. A quarterly business review includes a status report on strategy implementation through key performance indicators.

These seven steps will ensure that your strategic planning process is successful, and more importantly, that your organization is on the right track. Making the right strategic choices will accelerate your organization to the next level.

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Strategic Planning and Management, Essay Example

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Strategic planning is a technique that has gained a great number of supporters in the modern management. Some mistake this valuable tool with regular planning, but these two concepts are very different from one another. It is also often supposed that strategic planning is only suitable for large businesses with great numbers of staff and massive production volumes. Smaller enterprises were expected to “move with the flow” and never implement the ideas, which the larger businesses use.

However, the existence of a strategic plan is an absolute necessity for the business that intends to succeed. It is not to be confused with the business plan. Business plan is a thorough set of operations, which describe in every detail how the everyday operations of the enterprise are going to be organized and the way the entire system will work. Strategic planning involves explaining the true mission, goal, and final aim of the existence of the company. Strategy is about setting a vision of what the business will be in the future, to which size it will grow, etc. Lack of the ultimate, long-term perspective leads to an eventual failure, or significant underperformance of the business. If the owner of the small business wishes to achieve some local success and does not think about what it is going to be like in 10 years, his company is highly unlikely to live for ten years, or grow into anything bigger than he initially thought. Planning strategically means first asking the reason for the existence of the organization, and then generating a direction, in which it should develop.

There is no common technique that can be used to create a strategic plan, though some pieces of advice have to be followed. A good strategic plan should answer to the following criteria ( Small Business Resource ):

• Serve as a framework for decisions or for securing support/approval,
• Explain the business to others in order to inform, motivate and involve,
• Assist benchmarking and performance monitoring,
• Stimulate change and become building block for next plan.

Strategic Management

Strategic management is the art of leading the organization to its long-term goals in the most efficient manner. It involve s a number of vital practices, such as setting long-term goals, choosing the company’s organizational form, deciding on the steps that need to be made on the way to the final objective, etc. This type of activity may seem a very abstract one, as no specific numerical details need to be provided on this stage. This, however, does not make a strategic management a set of pointless proclamations.

Strategic management includes series of highly useful tools that can help any organization in its development. Six sigma method, SWOT analysis, and systematic thinking are only a small part of all the highly efficient business instrumentals, which were generated by this field of studies. Using strategic thinking in management allows setting long term goals, creating a strong corporate culture, thoroughly study the environment in which the company is going to function.

Small Business

Strategic planning and management tools can be effectively used to run a small business. Moreover, it actually should be used to compete successfully on the market. It is rather interesting to note that strategic planning is easily applicable to the small size of a company. In order to prove that, generic small business can be takes as an example. A very fast evolution in the field of information technologies has opened a great variety of possibilities for the small businesses in this area. Therefore, I suppose that a small company specializing in creating the web-sites and the search engine optimization (SEO) could be a good example. Even if the size of the company does not exceed 5 employees, some strategic management tools are applicable (Stowel, 2007):

• Step 1: Foresee the threats and opportunities for the business. (Threats – competition from the cheap labor force from India and Pakistan. Opportunities – good possibilities for remote employment, growing demand for the IT services)
• Step 2: Decide how to respond to these emerging threats and opportunities. (To deal with the competition from the cheap labor force, strategic marketing can be used to position the business as a genuine US service, which will attract more loyal customers)
• Step 3: Identify the source which those risks and opportunities will come from (A simple competitor analysis can be preformed to study the sources of potential threat).
• Step 4: Figure out when the risks will hit or if the opportunity is truly valuable (Estimate the actual probability that the threats will harm the business).
• Step 5: Execute actions to mitigate the threats or take advantage of the opportunities (Stowel, 2007).

As related to the four function of management, they are easily and effectively applied in any business model, no matter large or small. Strategic planning is vital to analyze the environment in which the business will be operating. Organizing involves choosing the most effective structure for the business. Leading involves creating a strong culture and raising the motivation for the employees. And finally, strategic control means monitoring the results of the operations, comparing them with the plan, and developing executive decisions.

Strategic Planning. Small Business Resources. Retrieved August 2, 2009 from: http://www.2-small-business.com/business_strategic_planning.html

Stowel, S. (2007) Strategic Planning is For Small Businesses Too . Retrieved August 2, 2009 from:  http://www.cmoe.com/blog/strategic-planning-is-for-smaller-businesses-too-part-1.htm

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Strategic Planning in Business

The contemporary business landscape is increasingly becoming dynamic and complex. Changing consumer preferences, emerging technology, and increasing competition make it imperative for companies to reassess existing processes, systems, and structures. Strategic planning creates a map for a company to align organizational activities to achieve set objectives and goals through strategic formulation and implementation. Adopting strategic planning increases a company’s competitive advantage, brand value, operational efficiency, and productivity, plus minimizes risks. Managers can ensure sustainable success by strategically planning the future of their business. Therefore, senior leaders need to realize the significance of strategic planning and the actions to take for that planning.

Strategic planning is necessary for a company’s success regardless of whether it is a for-profit or nonprofit organization. Bryson (2018) explained strategic planning as the process of creating, implementing, and evaluating specific business strategies. Through a successfully implemented strategic plan, a company can improve performance effectively and efficiently to reach its objectives, mission, and goals. Additionally, it provides growth opportunities and ensures accountability (Byron, 2018). Therefore, the paper focuses on strategic planning and is divided into two sections. The first section covers the definition, functions, purpose, and impact of strategic planning, including the ABCs of strategic planning. Section two provides a synthesis of an article covering the steps to successful strategic planning.

The contemporary marketplace has become increasingly complex, dynamic, and uncertain. For example, the world economy faces numerous trends, such as the dramatic shift in customer preferences, e-commerce, and declining social capital. Bryson (2018) asserted that organizations could track progress toward sustainable growth through strategic planning. Strategic planning essentially implies a disciplined effort toward fundamental actions or decisions shaping and guiding every facet of an organization (Bryson, 2018; Rana et al., 2017). Thus, strategic planning requires effective and broad-scale information gathering for organizations to keep pace with changing market trends and remain competitive. A strategic plan offers a foundation through which companies can establish realistic and achievable goals. Adopting a strategic plan further increases profitability and market share (AlQershi, 2021; Rana et al., 2017).

For example, a company can get valuable insights into consumer segments and trends that potentially affect its success. A well-strategized and targeted approach increases operational efficiency, productivity, minimizes risks, and gives companies a sense of direction. Therefore, companies should incorporate strategic planning within operations to achieve organizational goals and sustainable growth.

While strategic planning is central to the growth and health of an organization, certain aspects must be taken into consideration: the ABCs of strategic planning. According to Bryson (2018), A answers the company’s current position , structure, systems, processes, programs, services, mission, and mandates. The content of B focuses on the organization’s projections largely influenced by the company’s vision, mission, and goals (Bryson, 2018).

On the other hand, C answers how a company can achieve desired outcomes through hiring and training, restructuring, rebuilding, or through budget allocations (Bryson, 2018). Thus, the interconnections of A , B , and C show strategic planning as a set of procedures and concepts. Despite the benefits, strategic planning is particularly inappropriate for small entities because of associated costs. Organizations that invest resources in strategic planning often miss out on long-term benefits when they consider the planning as quick, easy, and complete after the generation of a written strategic plan.

Strategic planning positions a company for success and aligns leaders and managers to a common goal. Riboldi (2019) outlined the steps to creating a successful strategic plan. The initial step entails assessing the industry, market trends, and competitors. Conducting an external assessment provides tangible insight and valid information to make informed decisions before the strategic planning process. Next, an internal organizational review will set a baseline for organizational capabilities and culture (Riboldi, 2019). Conducting a SWOT analysis will identify the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Leaders or senior management must be agile to adapt the strategy to capitalize on strengths and opportunities while offsetting potential threats. In conjunction with an internal and external assessment, a review of organizational mission and vision is critical in inspiring leaders to embrace strategic planning toward achieving meaningful goals (Riboldi, 2019). Strategic planning involves ideation and analysis, which ultimately lead to critical decision-making. Therefore, corporate leaders must be rigorous in communicating the plan through the company’s mission and vision.

Furthermore, the strategic plan must align and delivers on organizational goals. Thus, defining functional objectives and specific initiatives that activate the plan is important (Riboldi, 2019). Objectives should be measurable, distinct, and align with the company’s mission. Nonetheless, resources, champions, and sponsors help operationalize the strategic plan. Riboldi (2019) stated that the primary sponsors of the plan are senior leaders who further manage the budget and staff needs. Subsequently, the leaders must track progress regularly to make necessary changes, which includes reviewing and revising the plan. Tracking progress allows a company to reevaluate priorities based on past successes and failures. The steps will ensure that an organization remains on the right track to ensure the success of its strategic planning. Additionally, repeating each step is an effort toward maintaining a long-term perspective and making measurable progress toward achieving organizational goals and vision.

AlQershi, N. (2021). Strategic thinking, strategic planning, strategic innovation and the performance of SMEs: The mediating role of human capital . Management Science Letters , 11 (3), 1003-1012. Web.

Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement . John Wiley & Sons.

Rana, R. A., Rana, F. Z., & Rana, H. A. (2017). Strategic planning role in nonprofit organizations. Journal for Studies in Management and Planning , 3 (6), 166-170.

Riboldi, J. (2019). The seven keys to successful strategic planning . Forbes . Web.

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Be Strategic on Strategic Planning

By  Patrick Sanaghan and Mary Hinton

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Just about every higher education institution periodically engages in strategic planning. Some of this planning is part of the fabric and culture of a college, but many campuses engage in planning only when required by accrediting agencies or mandated by statewide system offices, or after a crisis. Regardless of the motivating factor, challenges with the planning process result in too many campuses failing to achieve their original planning goals even when a great deal of time and effort are invested

We wanted to find out what made strategic planning work on campuses and initiated a series of discussions with presidents, faculty and senior administrators of institutions that believe in strategic planning and embrace it as a cultural practice.

We also spoke to a handful of campus leaders and faculty who were unsure about the importance of strategic planning. While these presidents conduct planning in order to comply with a variety of mandates, they question the value of the  process and indicate that plans are rarely utilized once developed. These postures of resistance to planning are as valuable as hearing from those who truly believe in its value. In fact, both perspectives are needed.

The following advice might provide some helpful information to administrators and faculty as they think about crafting their institution's strategic planning process and connecting it to the life of the campus.

1. Visible and committed senior leadership is essential.   The president needs to be seen as visibly and meaningfully supporting, but not exclusively controlling, the planning process. If campus stakeholders believe the president is engaged in the planning process, they tend to participate more. If they don't witness this engagement, they will question the credibility of the process and meaningful participation will be minimal.  In fact, if the president is resistant to planning or in any way intimates that the plan will not be utilized once developed, campus stakeholders will pick up on this and will have limited or no investment.

On many campuses today, there are senior-level administrators whose titles include planning or planner.  While these individuals are responsible for carrying out the planning process, in no way should they be the sole drivers of the plan. Rather, these administrators should be ensuring that the information needed to develop the plan is readily available.  They should also ensure that all of the planning processes are transparent and that there is widespread engagement in the process. While many presidents may be tempted to divest themselves of the planning process and allow the "planners" to take the lead, this is a mistake. A president must be the leader of the planning process and use the designated "planner" as a key resource.

2. Authentic faculty involvement and engagement will make or break a strategic planning process. Without the meaningful engagement of faculty in the strategic planning process, the resulting plan will not get carried out. Top-down, administrative planning simply won't work any more. There was a time when senior leadership, along with the board, created a strategic plan and "sold" it to the campus with limited results. Those days are gone. In fact, faculty should play a key role – often in concert with the president and any "official" planners on campus -- in designing the process.

Presidents also need to organize a planning task force of highly credible leaders throughout the campus and make sure a majority of the task force consists of faculty. On many campuses this task force will emerge from – or morph into – a standing committee that is responsible for monitoring the implementation and assessment of the strategic plan.

Campuses should seriously consider the benefits (and challenges) of having such a standing committee. On the plus side, it does ensure that a wide swath of the campus has ongoing engagement with the strategic plan. It also increases the likelihood that the plan will be subject to rigorous assessment if a group is formally charged with carrying it out. A potential negative consequence, though, is that the campus community may view this standing committee as the group responsible for the plan when, in fact, the plan is owned by the entire campus community. If such a committee is in place, one of their explicit directives must be to engage all campus stakeholders in the planning process.

Again, faculty should play a leading role in this process. The president and senior leaders need to talk openly with the faculty about the strategic planning process and its importance to the institution. Most importantly, they need to listen to the hopes and concerns of campus stakeholders, especially faculty.  If they listen well, they will have access to vital information many senior leaders never hear.

3. The board of trustees needs to have a balanced role in the strategic planning process. Having faculty and other campus community stakeholders lead the strategic planning process may be difficult for some trustees to hear as they often take seriously their charge of setting the trajectory and strategic priorities of the institution. This is a trend presidents across higher education are reporting. Of course, trustees need to play a prominent and informed role in the planning process. However, while they are responsible for ensuring the plan is carried out and strategic goals accomplished, the day-to-day execution of the plan happens on the campus.

In fact, regional accreditors discourage top-down planning and instead emphasize collaborative, participatory planning processes. The board is responsible for ensuring that an intelligent, disciplined and inclusive planning process takes place for their institution. Trustees need to charge the president and senior leadership with conducting this kind of process and hold them accountable.

4. It is important to avoid "listening to yourself too much." Attention to the external environment is an ongoing necessity and practice. Faculty and administrators need to pay attention to what is going on regionally, nationally and internationally.  They need to be well versed about program enrollment trends, student demographics, parent expectations, broad financial trends and issues, employment demand, technological innovations and new teaching strategies. Just think about how much change we have experienced over the past five years.

The next five years promise to be equally complex, fast-paced and challenging. Campus stakeholders throughout the campus, not just the senior level, need to understand the big picture and changing context of higher education on an ongoing basis. This type of engagement can only happen if the president and senior leaders create opportunities for people to convene and discuss the events, trends and issues facing their institution. This is not a one-shot thing. There should be multiple opportunities throughout the year for these important and strategic discussions. These internal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analyses are a vital component of the planning process and remain equally critical once the plan is implemented in order to ensure assessment of the plan is realistic and ongoing.

5. You need to make extraordinary efforts to communicate with stakeholders throughout the planning process. Too often there is some kind of an official kickoff to a strategic planning process and then things just seem to fade away until the plan is launched, when another big event may be held. This is poor process. Instead, the strategic plan needs to be a part of the fabric of the community, from the time it is being developed until the time it is concluded. While many campuses believe periodic e-mail updates about the plan are sufficient, it is important to use a variety of communication vehicles that include both high-touch (e.g., town hall meetings or "chews and chats" where stakeholders congregate over a breakfast or light lunch to discuss institutional issues and receive updates about the planning process) and high-tech.

High tech has its place (e.g., electronic newsletters and updates) but don't make technology your primary vehicle for communication. It may be efficient and convenient but we have found that face-to-face interactions keep the planning process alive. This is especially important during the planning process when you are trying to gather campuswide input into the plan priorities. Rich dialogue can help unveil hidden aspirations that are easily ignored or passed over when using electronic communication tools. Utilizing a variety of communication tools enables participants to choose their most comfortable level of engagement and increases the likelihood you will hear from a variety of perspectives.

6. Trust is the most important factor in a planning process. This was the pervasive theme in all of our conversations. It kept coming up over and over again. Trust is one of the most enduring and fragile elements in institutional life. With a great deal of trust you can accomplish many things, even if there are scarce resources. Without a fair amount of institutional trust, every detail becomes a debate; conversations quickly become contentious and things move at a glacial pace. Without trust, a “perfect” plan will be sure to fail. Campus leaders need to know how to build and nurture institutional trust if they are going to carry out their strategic plan. They can build campus trust by creating an inclusive, transparent and participative planning process.

7. Planning is not a linear process. There is a myth that lives large in higher education that there is a perfect process. This myth is driven by the belief that facts, data and quantitative information are all you need to create a strategic plan. Although good information and clear thinking are essential to effective planning, people's hopes and aspirations, fears and doubts all play an important role. People, not perfect data, develop and execute plans. Great care should be taken to avoid the "plan to plan" syndrome where there is way too much research, planning, analysis and synthesis in an attempt to do planning perfectly. In these instances there is a lot of thinking but little doing. The plan never really lifts off the ground.  Perfection should never be the goal for either the planning process or the plan.  Rather, campuswide engagement, a shared vision, and ongoing feedback about achieving goals is the priority.

The linear approach is an attempt to control the future, which simply cannot be done. Intelligently responding to and influencing the future, however, is possible. We need to build agility and resiliency into our strategic planning process given the changing and complex environment we live in. Recognizing this early on in the planning process will ensure work is done rather than merely thought about.

8. Visionaries are a dime a dozen. Those leaders who can actually execute important things are as rare as blue diamonds.

It is not difficult for really smart people to create beautiful pictures of the future. But beautiful ideas won't matter unless things are actually accomplished. Senior leadership needs to be committed to paying attention to the process, rewarding and recognizing accomplishments, and resourcing the strategic plan. Implementation is the hard part of strategic planning but essential to its success. If the campus culture lacks rigor and discipline, and is unwilling to hold stakeholders accountable for shared aspirations, implementation will falter.

9. Campus stakeholders need a way to keep score. People need to see and feel that they are making progress toward the goals outlined in their plan. This can only happen if processes and protocols are established that keep people informed and updated. At a minimum, senior leadership needs to commit to a series of yearly "report outs" to the campus community about progress toward institutional goals. This holds stakeholders accountable for implementation and communicates to everyone that the strategic plan is an institutional priority.

It is essential that leadership reports shortcomings as well as successes, especially in dynamic times. It helps build transparency, credibility and faith in the planning process, especially in low-trust environments. If a campus has been less than successful in accomplishing their stated goals, senior leadership can communicate why certain things did not occur and share what they will do moving forward. These report outs also further the premise that the campus "owns" the strategic plan, not the president, a planner, or a committee.

10. The danger of doing too much.  When it comes to carrying out  the strategic plan there is often an attempt to do way too much in the first year.  People want to see progress toward the plan goals and often try and move on all fronts. This well-intentioned effort soon becomes exhausting rather than creating momentum and energy. Pace and manage the implementation process in chewable chunks. Ongoing communication about achieving goals, no matter how small, is key to keeping the momentum of the plan alive.

Taken together, the above ten points suggest that the most important elements of planning are around connectedness.  Connecting colleagues across the campus in the development of a shared vision and shared plan. Connecting in multiple modes – face-to-face and electronically – to gather robust feedback and support. Connecting our individual institutions to the broader higher education landscape. Connecting the planning process and the subsequent plan to the daily operations of the institution. Connecting realistic goals with shared aspirations.  And, finally, connecting what we do with what is measured and valued on our campus.

These connections are led and facilitated by the president and extend up to trustees and down to faculty, staff and students.  The plan becomes a reflection of the valuable – and valued – connections needed to thrive.

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Strategic Planning and Management Argumentative Essay

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It is true that a company’s realized strategy is the product of whatever planned strategies that are actually put into action (the company’s deliberate strategies) and of any unplanned or emergent strategies (Haines, 2004, p. 22). This is because planned strategies will play an important role in coming up with the right cross functional decisions that will enable the company achieve its long term objectives. Planned strategies will ultimately lead to a good strategic approach in the market.

There are cases where a company can come up with these strategies in advance with a well laid out plan, but in other occasions there might be need to involve unplanned or emergent strategies (Kotler, 1986, p. 17). Unplanned or emergent strategies are necessitated by circumstances. The situation in the market might demand that the company comes up with new strategies to succeed. One of these unforeseen circumstances might be increased competition in the market.

Although competition can be seen coming, its intensity always shifts in different times and this can force the company to come up with new strategies. These strategies will enable the company to come up with the right avenues to survive in the market. So, a good strategy will be a product of whatever strategies that the management has put in place to advance its goals (Drucker, 1954, p. 13). In cases where the market (competitors included) changes its strategies, the company will be forced to come up with new emergent strategies to succeed in its operations.

A normal planned strategy should be initiated by the management. The long term effect will be a strategic management process that will enhance the company’s ability to achieve the set strategies. A good strategic management process should also cater for unplanned or emergent strategies as this is the only way that the company can be guaranteed flexibility (Senge, 1990, p.13). A good strategy needs a strategic plan which is done by a strategic management process.

Strategic planning is the process by which an organization defines its strategy thereby coming up with the right direction to pursue their goals (Ansoff, 1965, p.5). In the process, they will be able to make the right decisions on how resources will be allocated to achieve these strategies (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 7). Resource allocation involves the necessary capital that will be used in implementation together with the human resource that will enforce the strategy and make it practical.

There are various business techniques that need to be used to ensure that a strategic plan is effective as this will ultimately lead to an appropriate business strategic position (Drucker, 1954, p. 5). In a broad perspective, strategic planning seems to be the consideration of an organizations future course of direction (Christensen, 1997, p. 27). This gives the organization a framework that they will use to achieve their long term objectives. It should be concerned on how the whole process will be done (Chandler, 1962, p. 12).

A strategic plan should be having a major concern on why the company is coming up with it (Kotler, 1986, p. 11). This means that there should be a viable intention of coming up with a strategic plan. With this in place, the company will have a good framework of withstanding competition (Tracy, 2000, p. 9). In the long run, the company will be able to survive in harsh business environments with an intention of ensuring that customers, employees and shareholders are well catered for.

Before a company comes up with a strategic plan it must know where it is by reviewing its performance in relation to what it had projected to achieve (Moore, 1995, p. 10). This is important as the company will tell if indeed what it had projected to achieve was really achieved (Allison & Kaye, 2005, p. 6). In coming up with a strategy(for a company), it can be quite difficult to tell how the market will evolve in the next coming days or years and this will call for a review of the planned strategies.

For a company to achieve its strategic projections there is need for strategic innovation and tinkering (Burkhart & Reuss, 1993, p. 9). Strategic innovation and tinkering is the ultimate strategy that a company needs to be able to survive in the ever changing market and business environment. This means that the company must have a good combination of goals that it seeks to achieve (Senge, 1990, p.16). The means of achieving these goals is what forms the necessity of a strategic plan.

Strategic planning should seek to analyze the company’s current situation. This should also take care of the market in general. In doing this, it is necessary to look at the business trends and market analysis (Haines,2004, p. 14). Later on, the company can look at the marketing mix, segmentation and competitive analysis. The company’s current situation should evaluate its positioning in the market with a SWOT analysis (Haines, 2004, p. 18).

After doing this analysis, the company should now shift its attention to the expected or desired situation that it wishes to see itself in the coming years as a result of these strategies (Kotler, 1982, p. 3). This should critically look at the position and perceptual gaps as it plans to execute its strategy. In addition, it needs to look at its desired marketing mix and segmentation.

In developing a strategy that will help the company to achieve results, a proper environmental analysis needs to done. This analysis should be executed at an internal and external level to know the threats and opportunities that a company faces in the market (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 26).

On the other hand, this will identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses which are important in a bid to achieve unrivalled growth in the market. Analysis of the external environment should take some important factors into consideration (Allison & Kaye, 2005, p. 8). This includes customers and supplier markets as they have a direct bearing on the strategies that the company will ultimately decide to embrace.

Competition is an external environment that can make a company adopt its intended strategy or review it to be strategic (Christensen, 1997, p. 43). Sometimes, competitors in the market can be very innovative in coming up with their strategies. They can do this by looking at what the company has put in place (Castells, 1996, p. 25). This therefore implies that the company needs to be highly flexible in relation to its strategies.

Other factors that need to be looked at include; the economy at that given time, technology and the regulatory environment (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 21). The company must always look at the regulatory environment because some of its strategies can be in contravention of the legal frameworks put in place and this will be an impediment to the success of the strategy (Drucker, 1954, p. 24).

Some strategies might need a good technological framework for efficiency and the company needs to put this in mind before it comes up with a strategy that will positively advance its goals (in both the long run and short run).

In a broad view, the set strategy should be able to translate into an action plan (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 32). This means that a strategic plan should be articulated into the day to day activities of an organization. Specific tasks will be and should be put in place to achieve the objectives of a strategic plan (Castells, 1996, p.17).

This means that they should not be filled with conceptual terms that may end up not being tied to the day to day realities that the staff expects. In a more objective way, this will help to achieve the company’s strategic moves and expectations.

A company should employ Unplanned or emergent strategies for it to succeed with its strategy. Although the management can be visionary in formulating its strategies, this should be critically and carefully done while looking at the market environment shifts (Kotter, 1986, p.27).

In cases where a company is faced with unexpected market environment shifts, it has to come up with unplanned or emergent strategies that will help it to achieve its goals (Castells, 1996, p. 35). Unplanned and emergent strategies will be necessitated by threats and opportunities that a company is exposed to.

A strategic plan can either be planned partially or unplanned (Moore, 1995, p. 67). These strategies need to be developed because of the relative influence that business and industry factors have on the overall performance of a company. If they are not reviewed in relation to changing market and business dynamics, the company will perform poorly because it will be behind as far as competition in the market is concerned (Ansoff, 1965, p.27).

Emergent strategies will in most occasions come about as the company interacts with its environment (Senge, 1990, p. 45). This is because ideas and actions will come from different and multiple sources thereby integrating into an efficient pattern. Wholesomely, these unplanned and emergent strategies will lead to the achievement of the company’s realized strategy.

Strategic management will assist in decision making that will enhance the achievement of long term objectives (Haines, 2004, p. 29). In other words, strategic management is the only way that organizations goals, missions and visions are specified mostly in programs and projects so that the set objectives are fully achieved (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 43). In the course of embarking on strategic management, resources are supposed to be well allocated to help in achieving the set programs and projects.

After programs and projects have been set, there should be a scoreboard that will be used in evaluating if the anticipated targets have been achieved (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 21). Strategic management more so provides the overall direction that an organization should take in a bid to ensure that there is unrivaled success (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 22). Those in the management level are supposed to come up with good tactics that will enhance the achievement of the company’s set goals as per the strategy.

For strategic management to be effective and achieve what it was set to, it must follow a process that will enhance this. This is because it is an ongoing process that has a long term effect on the company’s performance (Tracy, 2000, p. 29). A strategic management process should first of all have a vision that will lead to the formulation of a mission statement. The mission should then be converted into performance objectives.

For these objectives to be achieved, the company should then develop strategies for proper enforcement. This should be followed by proper strategy implementation (Drucker, 1954, p. 18). After a strategy has been implemented there should be an evaluation on how the strategy has helped the company’s to achieve its expectations and goals.

Companies need to have a strategic management process; this is because strategic planning lies in the value of planning ahead of time so that they can perform well (Castells, 1996, p. 54). It is necessary for unity, direction and a sense of identity in achieving business goals.

It is undeniable that a company’s planned and unplanned strategies will help it to achieve its business goals as it had anticipated. The situation in the market might demand that the company comes up with new strategies to succeed (Haines, 2004, p. 20). One of these unforeseen circumstances might be increased competition and changing business dynamics in the market.

There are various business techniques that need to be used to ensure that a strategic plan in effective as this will ultimately lead to an appropriate business strategic position (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 18).

In general, strategic planning should be taken as the key course of direction of an organization. This gives the organization a framework that they will use to achieve their long term objectives. It should be concerned on how the whole process will be done.

Before a company comes up with a strategic plan it must know where it is by reviewing its performance in relation to what it had projected to achieve. This is important as the company will tell if what it had projected to achieve was really achieved (Tracy, 2000, p. 23). In coming up with a strategy (for the company), it can be quite difficult to tell how the market will evolve in the next coming days or years and this will call for a review of the planned strategies.

For strategic management to be effective and achieve what it was set to, it must follow a process that will enhance this. This is because it is an ongoing process that has a long term effect on the company’s performance (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 20).

A strategic management process should first of all have a vision that will lead to the formulation of a mission statement. The mission should then be converted into performance objectives.

Reference List

Allison, M. & Kaye, J. (2005). Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations . New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Ansoff, I. (1965). Corporate Strategy. New York: McGraw Hill.

Burkhart, P. & Reuss, S. (1993). Successful Strategic Planning: A Guide for Nonprofit Agencies and Organizations . Newbury Park: Sage Publications.

Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Networked Society: The information age. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.

Chandler, A. (1962). Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the history of industrial enterprise. New York: Doubleday.

Christensen, C. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma . Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Drucker, P. (1954). The Practice of Management. New York: Harper and Row.

Haines, S. (2004). ABCs of strategic management: an executive briefing and plan-to-plan day on strategic management in the 21st century . New York: Free Press.

Kotler, P. (1986). Megamarketing . Harvard: Harvard Business Review.

Kotter, J. (1982). The general manager. New York: Free Press.

Mintzberg, H. (1987). Crafting Strategy . Harvard: Harvard Business Review.

Moore, M. (1995). Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Naisbitt, J. (1982). Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming our Lives . USA: Macdonald.

Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Slywotzky, A. (1996). Value Migration . Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Web.

Tracy, B. (2000). The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success . San Francisco: Berrett, Koehler Publishers.

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Strategic Planning: Why It Makes a Difference, and How to Do It

Short abstract.

Take action before problems reach crisis level. Strategic planning provides the structure to make day-to-day decisions that follow a larger vision, creates a direction for your practice, and maximizes your options for influencing your environment.

In oncology practice, where dramatic changes in reimbursement, technology, and the marketplace are just a few of the driving forces, “the future,” as Yogi Berra once said, “ain't what it used to be.” You may not be able to control the future, but strategic planning can create a direction for your practice and maximize your options for influencing your environment. Without it, your group will likely take action only to address immediate problems—a kind of crisis management approach. Strategic planning gives a practice the structure to make day-to-day decisions that follow a larger vision. This article presents the principles of strategic planning and outlines processes that your practice can adapt for short- or long-term planning. Strategic decision making is needed now more than ever for success in oncology practice.

A strategic plan is a tool that moves your practice toward a goal you have set. However, the definition of a strategic plan differs among different people, according to management consultant Teri Guidi, MBA. Guidi, chief executive officer of Oncology Management Consulting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, points out that although there is “no wrong idea” of what a strategic plan encompasses, people often do have misconceptions about it. “Some expect a strategic plan to be precise—it's not. Some think that it will take you forward forever—it won't. The biggest mistake people make is already having the end result in mind when they start.”

Of all the compelling reasons for your group to engage in strategic planning, perhaps the most critical is the speed at which forces in your environment are changing. “Physicians who try to keep practicing as they have in the last five years will be at a disadvantage,” says Dawn Holcombe, MBA, president of DGH Consulting in South Windsor, Connecticut. “The world swirling around oncologists is changing, and things they may not even know about will affect their practice.”

Engaging in the process of strategic planning has benefits in addition to the plan that comes out of it. For starters, having everyone in the same room fosters collegiality and creates a milieu in which you can focus on the direction of your practice, away from patient care and other duties. In addition, the process promotes the open and creative exchange of ideas, including putting disagreements on the table and working out effective solutions.

Short- and Long-Term Planning

Establishing the direction of your practice and identifying overarching goals provide the foundation for strategic planning, whether short or long term. In the field of health care today, a long-term plan will likely address no more than the next 3 years. After the strategic course is determined in the initial planning session, the group should meet at least annually. During these sessions, the partners should revisit the practice goals, update the environmental assessment with new data, and identify strategies needed to address issues that will arise within the next 12 months. For example, as the retirement of one or more partners approaches, a succession plan may need to be developed (as described in related article on page 136). Meanwhile, growth in patient volume may call for recruitment strategies for both physicians and midlevel providers.

Should You Use a Consultant?

Although use of an outside facilitator entails expense, turning to a strategic planning professional has a number of advantages that can contribute greatly to success, especially if you are undertaking strategic planning for the first time. A professional has done this before—many times—and thus can direct the process efficiently. He or she knows how to collect and analyze diverse information—opinions, practice data, and market reports, for example—and present it in a concise way, thereby saving you and your administrator many hours of work. As a moderator, a consultant knows how to keep a group moving forward, prevent it from getting bogged down in side issues, and objectively help participants resolve disagreements and develop effective solutions.

Perhaps the biggest value added by a consultant is guidance in assessing your environment. A well-qualified strategic planning consultant should have a thorough and current knowledge of national trends in medicine as well as detailed knowledge about oncology practice. Regarding your community, although your group naturally knows the local marketplace well, an outsider can provide a fresh and objective perspective; in fact, the familiarity of physicians with the local scene may create blind spots. Similarly, in assessing the strengths and limitations of a group, a consultant can contribute objectivity and should be able to provide national benchmarks for objective comparison.

In choosing a consultant, look for an individual or firm that will contribute valuable knowledge about national reimbursement, patient care, and business initiatives and trends affecting oncology practice. Many management consultant firms offer strategic planning services, but you will be best served by a consultant who has worked with physician practices and has significant recent experience with oncology practice.

Scheduling a Strategic Planning Session: Who, When, and Where

Just as there is no one way to define strategic planning, there is no single way of doing it. Examples and guidelines are presented here that you may draw on to implement a process that makes sense for your practice.

The decision makers of the practice should be the ones who conduct strategic planning. If your practice is so large that including all partners could make a meeting unwieldy, it might make sense to have a smaller group, such as the executive board, do the planning. In addition to shareholders, you may want physician associates and key managers to participate. Inclusion of individuals who are not partners, at least for some parts of the meeting, may also have advantages. This can foster buy-in to the strategic direction, thereby contributing to the success of the resulting action plan. The oncology group at the Toledo Clinic, a large multispecialty center in Toledo, Ohio, found it beneficial to include the executive director of the clinic. By participating, the director gained valuable insight into the special administrative and practice needs of oncology.

Setting aside at least one day for strategic planning is recommended, especially if this is the first time your group has undertaken it. Distribute an agenda ahead of time, and use a moderator to keep the meeting on track. The location should be comfortable and private. The participants must be able to focus solely on strategic planning, without interruption, so arrange to have patient-related calls covered. Members of the Toledo Clinic used a consultant to guide them through strategic planning, and the consultant facilitated a one-day retreat at a country club. The meeting began around 9 am , after physician rounds, and the nurse practitioners of the group provided patient coverage. Other oncology groups may have conference space available in their office. A half-day meeting can be adequate for groups that have been doing strategic planning for many years.

Starting Point: Mission and Values

Developing a mission statement for your practice—a statement of its basic purpose—is the first step of strategic planning and provides the foundation for the entire process. You may think that putting your mission in writing is a bureaucratic waste of time, but in fact, determining how to articulate your mission is a productive experience. It sets the stage for later prioritization, and the process compels the shareholders to reflect on and express the purpose of the practice. Is providing high-quality care to patients with cancer your entire mission? What about research? Does your practice have a mission to serve the community through education? Answering questions such as these helps spell out the core mission of the group.

Once you succinctly define the mission of your organization, you should develop value statements expressing your core beliefs regarding issues such as patient care, interaction with the community, and how members of the practice work together. In the framework of a traditional strategic plan, the mission statement is concisely expressed in not more than one or two sentences, with value statements articulated separately. However, some organizations combine the mission and values into a narrative of one or more paragraphs. The format used is inconsequential; most important is that your group express the enduring elements of your practice, which will form the foundation on which the practice direction and strategies are expounded.

For a practice that is hospital based or part of a larger organization, the mission and values of the group should be consistent with those of the larger organization. Your group may want to state its own distinct mission or simply adopt that of the larger organization, as did the group of nine oncologists affiliated with the Toledo Clinic. “In practices like ours, which are within a larger organization, it's important to support the larger organization's mission,” says Peggy Barton, group manager. “It could lead to confusion if the broad organization and the practice are going in different directions.”

Vision: Where Do You Want to Go?

With the mission and values defined, the next step for the group is determining what kind of practice you want in the future. Again, the words of Yogi Berra apply: “If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else.” A vision statement—whether just a few words or a longer document—creates the desired image of the future state of your practice. Do you want to be recognized for treatment of a certain type of cancer? Is your vision to be the leader in clinical research in your state? Do you want to grow larger and have a network of practice sites? The vision of the group must complement your practice environment, so you may find that your review of internal and external information (described in SWOT Analysis) leads you to revise your vision statement to some extent as you continue planning strategically.

The vision statement for your group should be painted in broad strokes, not in detail, and it should represent the end point, not the strategy for achieving it. For example, your vision may be to provide multidisciplinary services to your community, but your vision statement would not include a specific strategy, such as merging with a certain radiology group or recruiting two physicians. When developing a vision statement, an atmosphere of openness should prevail to encourage creativity and thinking beyond current boundaries.

As in all stages of strategic planning, disagreements may surface. “Different opinions about the direction of a practice are very healthy,” says Guidi. “The ideas might be in conflict, but getting them out on the table helps [you] to see what is really important.”

Barton agrees. “One purpose of the strategic planning meeting was to get everyone in the room at the same time to identify where we agree and disagree and to reach compromise. The process encouraged input from everyone, and the group made some important decisions that have helped them over the past year.”

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis—an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your practice—is a staple of strategic planning. This analysis uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative information, most of which should be gathered and analyzed before the planning meeting. The process for gathering information and performing a SWOT analysis varies greatly, and there is no single correct method. The size of the group, the frequency of strategic planning meetings, and how fast changes are taking place both nationally and locally are all significant factors affecting the process.

Internal Assessment: Strengths and Weaknesses

In identifying internal strengths and weaknesses, include hard data such as the number of new consults, cost of drugs per full-time-equivalent physician, and financial reports. It is useful to benchmark aspects of the quality and efficiency of the practice against data on other oncology practices (Sources for Benchmarking Data provides references for locating this information).

If possible, investigate the perceptions of individuals outside the practice—patients, hospital administrators, and referring physicians, for example. A consultant naturally has an advantage in gathering candid assessments from such individuals, unless an anonymous survey is used. How others view the practice can be critical to performing an accurate SWOT analysis, as demonstrated in an experience reported by consultant Guidi. In one practice that had rather long wait times, the physicians believed that the patients did not mind, because “they know that when it's their turn, they'll get just as much attention as the patient before.” But the patients interviewed by Guidi cited long wait times as a top complaint and said they would mention it to others considering the practice for treatment.

Gather qualitative information and opinions from physicians and staff. What do they see as the top issues facing the practice, and what do they consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of the practice? These perspectives can be provided during the meeting, but it is useful to collect information ahead of time, so a larger group can be polled, and anonymity can be assured. Holcombe distributes a questionnaire to solicit information from each physician and also interviews key individuals. Her summary is then reviewed and discussed during the strategic planning retreat.

Sources for Benchmarking Data

• ASCO Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI). http://qopi.asco.org
• Medical Group Management Association: Performance and practices of successful medical groups. www.mgma.com/surveys or call 877-275-6462
• American College of Physicians: Practice management check up: Examining the business health of your practice. www.acponline.org/pmc/new_checkup.htm
• Akscin J, Barr TR, Towle EL: Benchmarking practice operations: Results from a survey of office-based oncology practices. J Oncol Pract 3:9-12, 2007
• Akscin J, Barr TR, Towle EL: Key practice indicators in office-based oncology practices: 2007 report on 2006 data. J Oncol Pract 3:200-203, 2007
• Barr TR, Towle EL, Jordan W: The 2007 National Practice Benchmark: Results of a national survey of oncology practices. J Oncol Pract 4:178-183, 2008

Oncology Associates in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, uses its face-to-face planning meeting to share personal perspectives about the practice. The group is small—currently five oncologists—and has been doing strategic planning for many years. SWOT data for analysis is gathered ahead of time, but at the beginning of the meeting, each physician discusses how he feels about his own practice, including his workload, his satisfaction with the schedule, and other aspects of practice. “With everyone in the room, they all hear each other's perspective, which helps later on when we are talking about the practice as a whole and making decisions about issues such as expanding services or recruiting a new provider,” says Carole Dzingle, practice manager.

A third method is used at the Mark H. Zangmeister Center in Columbus, Ohio. The executive board of the 16-oncologist practice holds an annual strategic planning session. Glenn Balasky, executive director, obtains input from six or seven staff managers and works with the managing partner to complete a SWOT analysis that is presented at the meeting.

External Assessment: Opportunities and Threats

Data about the marketplace of the practice, such as demographics, economic trends, referral patterns, and competition, should be analyzed in light of whether they represent threats or opportunities. In addition to the local picture, the broader environment, including the regional health care system and approaching changes in reimbursement and regulation, should also be assessed. Although the physicians and staff in some groups stay abreast of local, regional, and national trends, a consultant knowledgeable about oncology market forces is often needed to provide an analysis of the environment. The Toledo Clinic found the report on the national picture prepared by the consultant significantly helpful.

Some groups work to keep up with trends on their own through active involvement in state and national oncology societies. The physicians of Oncology Associates are active in ASCO as well as in the Iowa Oncology Society, and the staff managers are involved with organizations such as the Association of Community Cancer Centers and the Medical Group Management Association. Physicians and staff leaders at the Zangmeister Center are involved with the Community Oncology Alliance and other oncology organizations at both national and state levels, and each staff manager actively participates in a professional organization. Monitoring the environment takes energy and commitment, but it produces advantages, according to Balasky. “It pays off in the raw market intelligence we get, and we stay in touch continually rather than having a once-a-year report.”

Developing Strategies

Once a clear picture of the practice and its environment has been established, the group should develop strategic options for moving the practice from its current status toward the desired future position. Be alert to the pitfalls of discussing operational issues and trying to decide on tactics instead of identifying strategies. For example, a strategic decision may be to go forward with implementing an electronic medical record system, but the strategic planning meeting is not the place to discuss available systems, preferred data fields, or training required. Managing these kinds of details will be the responsibility of individuals assigned in the action plan.

In some cases, the SWOT analysis can reveal weaknesses that call for implementing one or more strategic priorities before pursuing others. Practices sometimes realize they need to create the infrastructure necessary to reach their goals. For example, they may not have systems in place to provide data that will be needed to remain competitive.

In other cases, the group may come up with many strategies that need to be prioritized during the meeting or at a subsequent meeting. To narrow down big lists, Guidi describes two approaches that work well when groups meet more than once. One mechanism she uses is to put all the strategies in writing after the first meeting; she then asks individuals via e-mail to score the importance, difficulty, and cost of each strategy on a scale of one to five. In another approach, after one or two brainstorming sessions, Guidi boils down the information to three or four overarching goals for additional discussion by the group. Guidi finds that several short strategic planning sessions are often more productive than is a full- or half-day retreat, and in the end, the shorter sessions call for about the same total hours of physician time.

More Information About Strategic Planning

• Soper WD: The meeting you won't want to miss: Annual strategic planning. www.aafp.org/fpm/20010200/28them.html
• Holcombe D: Strategic planning and retreats for practices. www.dghconsulting.net/images/holcombe_strategic_planning_0908.pdf
• McNamara C: Strategic planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations). www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/str_plan/str_plan.htm

Action Plan

The outcome of developing strategies should be the prioritization of a few (ie, two to five) achievable strategies and creation of related action plans. Many strategic plans have faltered or failed because they were too ambitious or too complex. Do not try to take advantage of every opportunity or address every limitation identified in your SWOT analysis. Some goals may be important but can be scheduled for implementation in a year or two. By having an annual strategic planning meeting to update your plan, these goals will stay in sight and can be addressed successfully.

Create an action plan to address each strategic priority within the next 12 months. Spell out steps to be taken, who will have the lead responsibility, and the milestones that will show progress. For example, a strategy of adding midlevel providers might have a work plan with dates and assignments for finalizing a position description, creating a compensation package, recruiting, hiring, and conducting orientation. A strategy of building a new facility or merging with another practice will ultimately involve complex actions, but initially, the work plan might specify only the steps involved in finding and retaining a consultant to present a business plan by a certain date. Make sure the action plan is in a format that can and will be used by those with responsibility for implementation.

Communicate the strategic goals and action plan to all clinical and administrative staff. Everyone in the practice should know the goals and clearly understand his or her role in implementing strategies to achieve them. Effective communication and cultivation of a team culture are especially important if your strategic planning results in changes or begins moving the practice in a new direction.

Keep in mind that a strategic plan does not have to involve a lot of paperwork or a big report. The mission, values, and vision of the practice should be documented, and the group should revisit them at the beginning of subsequent strategic planning meetings to validate them or make revisions if appropriate. A summary of the SWOT analysis should be included, but this may be brief, with the data that went into it provided as appendices or even stored elsewhere while remaining easily available for updating. The action plan must be available for tracking progress. Your strategic plan must be a living document—a roadmap that guides what happens in your practice on a day-to-day basis—not a report that sits on a shelf.