Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM November 2019 | Page 24
FROM THE BUSINESS COACH
MIKE HILDERBRAND, BS, MBA
ActionCOACH of Galveston
[email protected]
www.galvestonbizcoach.com
STRATEGIC PLAN
Plots the Course
S
trategic Planning is the most important
function of a CEO or business owner. It
identifies where a company wants to be
at a defined point in time in the future
and what actions it is going to take to get
there. Strategic Planning is critical to the growth and
success of every company. If the company has a Board
of Directors, a formal strategic planning process
enables the Board to have a significant impact on the
company’s overall direction and on-going performance.
For a company of any size, strategic planning is the
“roadmap” to future success.
The strategic aspect of the planning process is
understanding the current operating and performance
of the company and the relationship to the market, the
vision and mission of the company, the resources and
structure needed to achieve the roadmap goals, and
the summary of how the resulting strategic plan will
impact the future of the company.
In embracing the importance of strategic planning to
achieve both short term (1-3 years) and longer term (3-5
years) results, there are 4 key issues to recognize:
1. It is essential the process be led by the owner or
CEO and the executives as well as managers in the
company understand and use the planning process;
2. There must be organizational commitment to both
the planning process and the implementation of the
plan; all the
participants in
the process
must see
the benefits
to themselves personally as
well as to the company as a
whole;
3. The planning
process is as
important as the
content of the plan
itself;
4. The planning
process is never done. It is part of the
overall process of managing the company
and is an ongoing process rather than an annual
event.
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MOMENTUM
The structure of the strategic plan is designed to carry
out strategic thinking, direction, and action leading to
the achievement of consistent planned results.
Specifically, there are 7 elements that make up every
Strategic Plan:
1. Organization Vision and Mission
2. Strategic analysis
3. Strategy
4. Long-term objectives
5. Integrated programs
6. Financial projections
7. Executive summary
A strategic plan must be a living document, clearly
communicated throughout the business, and should not
be a “fluffy” document that ends up collecting dust on
a shelf and wasted time and energy in its development.
The purpose of planning is not to produce plans; it is to
produce results. A strategic plan needs to be the result
of a productive process of committed team members
led by the business owner or CEO of a business to
provide the thinking and planning for the future success
of the company, allowing for the detailed operational
planning to achieve short-term (90-day) results. It
should also define measurement performance criteria
representing the long-term success goals for the
company.
No business has the option of “hoping” it will
be successful; every business must have a
management-driven
committed and
disciplined process of
strategic planning to
create a roadmap to
both short-term and long-
term business
and financial
success. It
should be
reviewed every
90 days – and
updated as
needed - to ensure
that it remains alive, current and
relevant. Your business coach
can help you with this process.