“A good strategy provides a clear roadmap, consisting of a set of guiding principles or rules, that defines the actions people in the business should take (and not take) and the things they should prioritize (and not prioritize) to achieve desired goals.”
Watkins, M. (2007). Demystifying strategy: The what, who, how, and why. Harvard Business Review, 10.
Most businesses are required to have a 'Strategic Plan' document. So if you're going through the process anyway... Why not make it worthwhile? A good strategy has the power to align your purpose, plans, people and processes - getting them all pulling in the same direction to achieve whatever success looks like to your organisation. Sounds pretty worthwhile right?
I'll also address for a moment what I believe to be a growing misconception - that in a world of COVID-driven uncertainty, spending time on strategy and planning is pointless. This shines a light on what I believe to be a broader issue with strategic planning - that it's all too often externally focused, driven by what is happening around and to the business, rather than by the business itself and its unique purpose and people*. If your primary drivers for your strategy are factors outside of your control, then much like an individual with an external locus of control, you may well start questioning "why bother?"
*Is the first step in your strategic planning process an environmental scan or competitior analysis? If so, this could be setting your teams up for an 'external locus of control' mindset, making them more susceptible to external set-backs.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't ever do an environmental scan, competitior analysis, SWOT analysis, etc... These can be incredibly valuable tools, they're just better (in my opinion) considered as additional inputs to or constraints on the strategic planning process, not as drivers.
5 steps to creating a strategic plan that's worth more than the paper it's written on
Here, I've attempted to capture what I see (having both led and participated in numerous strategic planning processes) to be the pretty simple heart of solid strategic planning.
I believe that a successful strategy is human-centric - driven by a clear sense of why the organisation exists, who it exists to serve and how (including customers, staff, community, shareholders), then informed through a lens of external factors and constraints, and turned into clear, actionable, measurable accountabilities.
Yes, external factors that drop in at 3) above can have a big influence on your strategy - but having the solid foundation of 1) and 2) helps navigate this.
To elaborate a bit more (if I haven't lost you yet!), I've broken these steps down a little further below under each sub-heading.
1. Be clear on why your organisation exists
2a. Establish who your key stakeholder groups are
2b. Establish what the organisation needs from each of these stakeholder groups
2c. Establish stakeholder groups' expectations and priorities (what & how)
3. Scan the environment, and consider resource constraints
4a. Consolidate this into a list, prioritise (when & with what resources)
4b. Develop metrics and accountability (who, what, & by when)
5. Tell the story in an engaging way (why)
Yes, this can be a bit of work. But it's also an investment in your organisation's long term success, stakeholder relationships and employee engagement... All of which creates a better business, while also saving you time, money and frustrations in the long term. Once again, sounds pretty worthwhile to me.
Author: Karli Riseborough
MPsych (Organisational), BSc, BA
Founder, Mint Collaborative
How we can help
If you're looking for some help with any or all of the steps above, we can also help you through:
Facilitating engaging strategy/planning sessions
Defining and mapping who your key stakeholders are
Engaging your stakeholders to determine their goals and expectations, and incorporate their feedback
Adapting best practice processes and templates to meet your needs
Developing strategy and planning documents
Communication and engagement planning to ensure buy-in
For a no-strings chat about how we could help, get in touch - info@mintcollaborative.com.au, or 0407 520 383.
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