Issue NL2: 

Strategic Planning

“When you come to the fork in the road, take it.”
Yogi Berra

In the strategic planning process, you ask:
Where are we?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there?
Where are we?

Have you ever been at a large shopping center
directory map with the “Your are here” arrow missing.
You quickly become frustrated, because, even if
you know the name and location of the store you
are seeking, you don't know how to get there because
you don't know where you are.

You may know your business goals, but if you don't
know where you are now, you can't plan how to
achieve your goals.

So the first step in the strategic planning process
is an analysis of where you are. What are the
company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats (SWOT analysis). Do the SWOT analysis
from several angles: profitability, markets, competitors,
technologies, operations and organization. In
your particular business, other functions may
come into play and should be analyzed. Look at
the historical trends and project the future trends.

Where do we want to be?

If you don't' know where you're going, you surely
won't get there.

So the next step is creating the big picture goals
and deciding where you want the company to be
in the next three to five years. What will your
sales and profits be? How will you fit in the
marketplace?

How do you get there?

Based on the analysis of where you are and where
you want to be, what has to happen for you to
achieve your goals?

What creative leaps need to happen? What are the
projects and tasks that have to be implemented
and in what order?

The definition of the projects that happen two
to three years down the road can be general whereas
the project tasks to do tomorrow and next week
need specific definition, time schedule, asset
allocation and responsibility assigned, accepted
and committed to.

Strategic planning is about thinking and doing.
It's about creating and implementing. And since
no one has infinite time and money, the “how”
has to be tempered with realistic judgment based
on your resources. This means setting priorities
and allocating resources.

Many of my clients have successfully created and
implemented their strategic plan (and achieved
their big picture goal) with their existing staff
and within their existing budget. How does this
happen? It happens by setting priorities, getting
full commitment from all staff so everyone is
focused in the same direction. It happens by eliminating
those “not urgent” and “not important” tasks while
focusing on the important tasks as defined and
committed to in the plan.

Creating a successful plan

There are several facets to a successful plan.
You might even call them rules.
1. Include your key staff people in the process.
Tell each of them that for the purpose of the
planning process, they are the CEO. They are to
look at the company through the CEO's eyes. And
you participate in the planning process as a peer
with your staff. When the plan is done. You will
have consensus, commitment and high morale centered
on achieving common goals in moving the company forward.

2. Make time and facilities available for an off
site retreat. Have cell phones and pagers silent.
The creative process involves what psychologists
call “flow.” The flow can be seriously interrupted
by a telephone call, pager beep or absent participant.
The process can take from two days to two weeks,
depending upon the complexity of your company,
its organization and processes. It's best to execute
the planning process in consecutive days.
Most middle-sized companies can complete the process
in two days. (My clients usually choose a Friday
and Saturday, so as not to interrupt their operations
too much.)

3. Have a facilitator from outside the company.

The facilitator makes sure the process proceeds
effectively and makes sure your vision is developed
as a group vision. The facilitator will control
emotions and enforce the self-imposed rules of
the retreat without any fear of fractured working
relationships between the staff later on.

4. Schedule regular follow-ups meetings with the
facilitator. These are report meetings to report
on progress according the schedule. People tend
to get their tasks done on time when they know
thy have to respond to an outside person in front
of their peers.

5. Update the plan at least once per year with
an offsite retreat. These usually can be shorter
than the original retreat.

Having said that, update the plan as needed. If
some project becomes obsolete, can it. Or, if
some other project suddenly is required, make
room for it. When I act as facilitator, I always
make my participants promise that they will never
do something stupid, just because it is written
on paper in the plan.

6. Execute, implement with determination. Don't
accept lame excuses for missed schedule dates.
This is your company's future.

That's it. A strategic plan jump starts your company
to achieve your vision. The management team commits
to the goals and morale soars. My clients tell
me that strategic planning is a great antidote
to burnout--the company becomes fun again.

For names of facilitators, give me a call at 925/934-3072.

Hank James

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Tip of the Month

When you ask buyer candidate to see his financial

statement and the response is, "Money is no problem,

my rich uncle is backing me." Talk to the rich

uncle. Don't waste your time talking to the buyer

candidate. The uncle (if he exists) will make

the buying decision.

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