Strategic Planning
Strategic planning and business planning are often used interchangeably. Strategic planning is directional in nature. Strategic plans answer questions such as "what business should we be in/not be in", "are we focused on the right activities (e.g. are we targeting the right customers)" and identifies measures to gauge success.
Business planning is operational in nature. They outline how a strategic plan is implemented. Business plans include forecasts of financial projections; tactical activities required during implementation (e.g. marketing campaigns); required resources and milestones.
For established organizations, strategic plans are revised every two to four years and should not change drastically year to year. Key aspects of the plan include vision, mission, objectives, key performance indicators and action plans.
Approach
- Preliminary meeting to assess state of strategic planning efforts
- Determine scope of strategic planning
- Gather existing material and resources to support creation of the plan (e.g., historical strategic plans, customer research, competitive summaries)
- Conduct internal interviews to identify key business issues
- Draft workshop agendas and presentation material to guide discussion
- Facilitation of two to three workshops to develop the strategic plan
- Between each workshop break out meetings are held with smaller teams or individuals to draft specific aspects of the plan
- Updated drafts of the strategic plan and meeting notes are distributed for comments between workshops
- Final version of the strategic plan is drafted and delivered.
- Optional: Annual reviews facilitated by TeamThink to assess progress
Success
While subcontracted by a marketing agency, TeamThink's principal led the development of a comprehensive e-business strategy for a one-billion billion dollar provider of telecom network software and consulting services. Working with the client's marketing department and the agency team; a strategy was established that included a three-year roadmap to implement the plan. The plan included prioritized tactics, budgets, human resource requirements and timelines. The client's marketing team approved the plan which was subsequently delivered to the executive team.
While working for a consulting company, TeamThink's principal facilitated the development of a distributed learning strategy for a private school. The initiative included facilitation of several workshops, conducting student focus groups and meeting with experts in education to understand best practices with respect to distributed learning. A final strategy report was drafted and presented to the school's Foundation Board of Directors. The plan was approved by the Board and was subsequently presented to the parent council for final approval prior to implementation.