Planning
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Become a more strategic... planner!
It doesn't matter if your title is President, Manager or Strategic Planner.
If you are part of creating or executing the strategic plan, you can be more strategic.
Does your strategic plan deliver the desired results?Do your plans get fully implemented (or are they largely ignored)?Are they realistic and supported by your staff?
Strategic Planning is defined as the process used to create strategy, or direction, and make decisions on allocating resources to pursue this strategy, including capital and people.
Our Strategic Planning process, based upon our Systems Thinking Approach®, is a comprehensive planning and execution process that has helped organizations around the world harness the energy of their people to reach their goals.
Our Strategic Planning process starts with where you want to be as an organization and works backwards from that point. Our unique process includes:
Creating realistic plans for organizations, departments and teams ensuring the future external environment is considered. This means you are prepared for possible changes and can react rapidly.
Measuring progress towards the ideal future, not just measuring activities, so that you can make adjustments throughout the year to achieve targets.
Increasing employee & stakeholders buy-in by involving them in the planning process. This reduces resistance and ensures they want to implement the strategic plan.
Linking the strategic plan to the budgeting process so that strategy drives the budget, not the budget driving the strategy.
Managing the challenges associated with executing the plan to ensure organizational success.
Using understandable documents to communicate & regularly monitor progress so that the plan gets discussed and implemented.
Cascading to all levels of the organization to ensure that everyone is working in the same direction. This means increased teamwork, decreased friction and reduced costs.
Ensuring employees understand the plan and tie it to their daily work. This means you mobilize the energy and creativity of all staff to exceed goals.
Video: What is strategic planning?
Video: Future External Environmental Scanning
Do you think ahead AND consider current issues?
Being Strategic means balancing the aspirations for the future with the limited resources and risks of today.
Strategic thinkers keep their eye on the big goal. And are flexible in how to get to the goal - in light of changes around us.
Strategic thinkers can:
Manage complexity
Solve problems creatively
Create breakthroughs
Impact and influence
Thrive during ambiguity
Make decisions with insight
Strategic thinkers can:
Recognize and take advantage of opportunities that others may miss
Focus on solving the right problems
Achieve business goals rapidly
Are proactive instead of reactive during changing condition
Are you managing strategically - everyday?
Each day do you make decisions that move you closer to your goals?
Not only do you need to create strategic plans, you must steward to them daily. This is Strategic Management.
Strategic Management involves thinking strategically and applying that thinking to planning and implementing the associated changes. Every day.
Strategic Planning means:
Create strategy and make decisions on allocating resources to pursue the organization's direction - remembering both capital and people.
Select the highest leverage strategies to solve problems and reduce costs.
Develop plans that employees believe and want to implement.
Implementing the plan is:
Effectively and strategically manage changes at the organization, department, team and individual levels.
Be prepared for shifts instead of letting them “swamp” you.
Successfully implement strategy and ideas.
Create high-performing teams.
Influence and communicate effectively.
Fine tune leadership skills.
Align employees.
Monitor regularly and adjust plan and implementation.
Valerie’s work with our administration and Council has been extremely helpful in fostering and implementing a direction with Council and Staff that we fully participate in and adhere to.
Sharlene Brown - Mayor, Town of Black Diamond
Let's talk!
You get the Strategic Planning process that works for the size and complexity of your organization. I tailor the strategic planning (and implementation) for you.
I help you be successful - facilitating the process, delivering training and coaching you throughout.
Our Strategic Planning process is different. It's build on Systems Thinking - so we start with the future, reduce unintended consequences and produce superior results.
Let's talk about having a more successful plan implementation.
