In the simplest of terms, a Strategic Plan provides a roadmap for accomplishing an organization’s strategic goals and objectives for a specified period of time and provides the activities, targets, timelines, owners and budget needed for execution. It serves as a guide for the implementers of the Plan.
Developing and implementing a strategic plan may prove more challenging than many organizations may anticipate, becoming surprisingly apparent at the end of the strategic period or the beginning of the next strategic planning activity. Too often, organizations reach the end of the strategic period only to realize that they have not achieved the desired level of growth, profitability, change, innovation and development detailed in the Plan. Why is this? There are three main reasons:
Firstly, the ‘strategic planning and development process’ is approximately 10-20% of the work involved in the planning, development and execution of an organization’s strategy yet it is one of the most underestimated and neglected phase when the strategic goals, objectives, activities and targets are developed.
Secondly, it is easy to inadvertently sacrifice quality for time. An organization may rush the planning and development process and neglect to:
- consult its key stakeholders (internal and external),
- ensure that a thorough and detailed review of the successes and failures of the previous Plan have been undertaken, documented, communicated and discussed with key stakeholders, and
- conduct an in-depth assessment of the organization’s capability paying close attention to its resources (finances, manpower, etc.).
Thirdly, the importance and value of reviewing the previous Strategic Plan and assessing the organization’s capability and readiness for the upcoming strategic period is too often minimized, this can lead to unnecessary challenges and stumbling blocks during the implementation phase that could have been easily avoided if proper due diligence is undertaken at the start of the strategic planning process.
The following are some key considerations for the planning and development phase of the Strategic Planning Process:
- be cognizant of the impact of changes in the external environmental, such as a pandemic;
- strategic goals should be realistic and achievable;
- fit your plan within your available or attainable resources;
- appoint a strategic champion;
- allocate adequate resources to monitoring and evaluation of the plan;
- garner buy-in from the non-developer stakeholders of the Plan;
- communicate the Plan to staff; and
- account for cultural barriers, resistance to change and structural inertia.
Having a detailed seventy-five page Strategic Plan does not guarantee success if the organization is not sufficiently equipped or prepared to execute it. Goals, objectives, targets and activities should be SMART and in line with the Organization’s mission and vision. A turbulent or uncertain period may require shorter Strategic Plans e.g. 18 or 24 months. Sufficient time should be invested in the development of the Plan for the best opportunity to achieve the desired results.
Natalie K.