7 Steps to Developing a Successful Strategic Plan

Yesterday a client of mine asked me what I thought was the best way to execute a strategic plan and apply performance metrics to ensure success of the plan. This is a two part question which will be answered in two entries. Today, I'm going to discuss the best way to execute your business strategy, and tomorrow I'll get into how to integrate the performance plan into your strategy to ensure performance success.

A performance initiative cannot succeed unless executives have defined the organizational goals. Organizational goals must be defined and a strategic plan must address how these goals are going to be achieved in order for a performance initiative to be successful. There is no compromising here. Performance management depends on organizational goals being distributed and measured throughout the entire organization, originating from the executive board and communicated all the way down the line. Today's tip is going to discuss how to develop a plan that lays the foundation for your performance plan. Because without a solid plan, your performance initiative is setup for failure.

It's not uncommon for a smaller organization to have partially developed business objectives or a rough strategic plan, but still have a critical need to implement a performance management process. These seven steps will help guide you through the strategic planning process.

1. Organize a Leadership Team
2. Articulate Mission and Vision
3. Assess the Current Environment
4. Agree on priorities
5. Write the Strategic plan
6. Implement the strategic plan
7. Monitor and Evaluate

1. Organize a Leadership Team

The strategic planning phase requires a team of leaders, normally the executive board or a team of key management with CEO oversight. The strategic plan should identify this team and the wider community of present and potential stakeholders. If a decision is made to involve other stakeholders in the process, at which point will they be involved? Will an outside consultant or facilitator be necessary to assist with some or all of the process? Who will keep the planning on track, and what are the best ways to make the strategic plan most useful? How will questions be addressed and decisions made? These questions should be answered at the start of the planning phase.

2. Articulate Mission and Vision

Your mission statement will define the what, how and why of your organization's services. It should explain why your organization exists and what its objectives are. It should explain how your organization works to fulfill its objectives and its values. When wording the mission statement, consider your organization's products, services, markets, values, and concern for public image. The vision statement includes a vivid description of the organization as it effectively carries out its operations.

3. Assess the Current Environment

Now that you've answered why your organization exists, what it does and what it hopes to achieve, you are ready to assess your past and current state and begin identifying your future state. This activity is most effective when key personnel throughout the entire organization are involved. Outreach to employees can be achieved through town hall meetings, focal groups, surveys, emails, etc. Review services and performance against the mission and vision. At this point your organization may not have the proper data or tools to quantifiably measure this. That's ok, as qualitative analysis can provide you with a high level baseline assessment. Perform a SWOT Analysis; which is a look at the internal Strengths and Weaknesses, and the external Opportunities and Threats of your organization, for your current and future state.

4. Agree on priorities

Now that the mission is affirmed and critical issues are identified, the next step is to figure out goals, objectives and the strategy for attaining them. Goals are simply a clearer statement of the visions, specifying the accomplishments to be achieved when the vision becomes real. Objectives are clearer statements of the specific activities required to achieve the goals, starting from the current status. This is where the strategic planning process develops ideas and action steps, which are most effectively generated when delegated throughout management.

5. Write the Strategic plan

Once the mission has been communicated, strengths and weaknesses identified, and the strategies and goals agreed upon, the strategic plan is ready to be developed. This is where it all comes together. This is where the planning committee drafts the plan, and all key decision makers review it to ensure that the plan answers the key questions about objectives and can serve as a guide for the entire organization. A strategic plan will enable your organization to achieve optimal performance and embark upon a meaningful process of ongoing improvement.

6. Implement the strategic plan

The implementation phase begins with the development of the operating plan. The operating plan defines the short-term objectives that determine success and is tied to the operating budget and reporting cycles. Following the fiscal calendar, your organization can measure progress toward annual goals, and finance can offer feedback to guide other business areas. This is where the budget is established.

7. Monitor and Evaluate

In addition to implementing goals, objectives and strategies, an operating plan should be created to address how goals will be monitored and evaluated. The plan should be resourced at each board meeting. This will help keep the board and staff focused on the operational goals, and will maintain a culture of valued planning. The plan should be a living document enabling the flexibility to adapt to change.

If you apply these seven steps, your organization will no doubt be able to plan and execute organizational objectives and goals.

If you are looking for a performance management solution that focuses on applying the best practices and key processes that drive organizational success, check out my Free Performance Management Kit.

To learn about the 35 performance management best practices, the 48 key processes, 82 decision support techniques and more, go to The Peformance Portal.