5 Tips for Effective Strategic Planning

You will not achieve your short-term and long-term goals by simply “winging it.” Hope and luck are not enough! From planning to implementation, you must be strategic and thoughtful. Floro Business Strategies has compiled a list of dos and don’ts for effective strategic planning:

Develop a formal process

There’s a reason they call it strategic planning, and that’s because it requires strategy! From goal-setting to implementation, effective strategic planning is thoughtful and follows a formal process. There are many approaches to strategic planning, but most follow this basic structure: 

1. Setting goals
2. Analyzing goals
3. Research and strategy formation
4. Implementation
5. Strategy monitoring and review

Plan for the near (not distant) future

You can have a vision for your company for 10, 15, or 20 years down the line, but don’t plan for the distant future. Anything can happen or change in a moment’s notice — and even more can change over the span of 10 years. Think COVID-19! With the rise of COVID-19 in 2020, business leaders everywhere were forced to put their plans on hold and adapt to these unprecedented circumstances.

When things can change in a matter of weeks, it’s easier to adjust short-term plans than it is to adjust long-term plans. Plan for no more than 5 years out.

Get specific

Strategic planning is specific. If your plan is too broad or lacks detail, you lack direction — and you can’t take action if you lack direction. Your strategic plan does not have to be lengthy. If your plan is strategic and your vision is clear, you should be able to draft a concise outline that easily conveys the who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Stick to a timeline

Do not place so much emphasis on the planning phase of the process that you fall short in action and implementation. You can be thoughtful and work efficiently. The longer you drag out the process, the more likely it is you will lose momentum along the way. Define a strict timeline for each step of the process and all the actions you plan to take. You’re more likely to complete each step of the process in a timely manner when you enforce realistic deadlines. 

Review your strategy

You completed all the steps of a formal strategic planning process that yielded great results. Amazing! However, this does not mean your strategy is the “end all, be all.” Do not trust this one successful strategy to solve all your problems. The market and economy is changing constantly. Therefore, it is important that you review your strategy upon completion. How can you alter old strategies so they may better serve your business in the current economic climate?   

At Floro Business Strategies, we partner with executives to help identify and target specific areas of need and obtain the desired results through proper and strategic planning. Interested in learning more about our business alignment and strategic planning services? Contact us today! 

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