The Power of Strategic Planning

Like a stone thrown into a pond, strategic planning will create a ripple effect. Positive impacts within an organization can become evident long before the strategic plan itself is finalized. Strategic planning is a critical activity for an organization to be successful and can be defined as “An organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment.” Sounds pretty important, huh? We met with Dr. Kris Lea, owner of Lea Associates, who specializes in creating organizations that are more efficient, productive, and happier places to be to learn more about the power of strategic planning.    

Anatomy of a strategic plan 

In the simplest form, a strategic plan includes a vision, mission, strategic objectives, and values. According to Dr. Lea, “As simple as the strategic plan components may sound, they’re not simple to create. It can be challenging for a group of people who are passionate about their company to find agreement on the components of a strategic plan.” While the strategic plan itself provides ongoing clarity, the process of creating it provides the most clarity for involved team members. Of particular importance is the mission statement because “it serves as the anchor to the entire organization” shares Dr. Lea. 

The process of creating a strategic plan: benefits and challenges 

Benefits  

• Team members establish and deepen trust with one another. While every organization needs some version of a strategic plan, the real value comes from the process of creating the strategic plan. By collaborating and seeking alignment on what the organization does, the key stakeholders build trust which boosts teamwork. Team members inevitably share stories or reveal parts about themselves during strategic planning sessions which can make them more approachable. Strategic planning can be the beginning of solid relationships which is foundational for trust within an organization.   

• Team members gain a holistic understanding of the organization. By documenting the basic functions and high-level processes needed for the strategic plan, team members can develop a holistic understanding of the organization. The planning sessions help the team understand operations at a deeper level, which informs roles and responsibilities, and how they're interdependent with each other, which can result in a more cohesive team. 

• The strategic plan itself. To state the obvious, a benefit of strategic planning is the output: the mission, vision, strategic objectives, and values! Having an established strategic plan helps an organization reach its stated goals. The organization often shares the mission, vision, strategic objectives, and values with employees, post them on the organization’s website, use them to create key performance indicators (KPIs), and more. Strategic plan components provide a common language and goal that helps everyone in an organization be on the same page.  

Challenges 

• It can be difficult to gain alignment. Oftentimes, strategic planning sessions include a substantial amount of people that represent the organization which means it can be challenging to gain alignment on everyone’s thoughts. While it’s important to have key players from different parts of the organization, attendees should be limited to a representative from each part of the business.  

• The strategic plan isn’t one size fits all. Each organization’s needs are different. Strategic planning isn’t as simple as looking at a competitor’s vision, mission, strategic objectives, and values and tweaking them. There are unique components of an organization that should be vetted, considered, and agreed upon by key stakeholders. For all of these reasons and more, it takes substantial time, effort, and money for involved key stakeholders to draft and finalize the strategic plan.    

Strategic planning is an opportunity to honor the past and embrace the future of an organization; it grounds team members and sets them up for future planning discussions. Strategic planning requires substantial time and effort to create because each component is so meaningful to planners and the organization. The engagement between team members during strategic planning sessions expands knowledge, deepens trust, and strengthens relationships, which is the real power of strategic planning.  

Contact ChangeStaffing to learn more about the power of strategic planning for your organization!  

A very special thank you to Dr. Kris Lea for her thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog.  

Written by Kylette Harrison