What is a Strategic Plan?

By: Corporate Training Options, Australia

A Strategic plan is developed by your organisation’s leaders as a process to determine their vision for the future, as well as identify their goals and objectives for the organisation.

A Strategic Plan looks much further ahead than a Business Plan, and helps organisations make the sort of decisions that affect the entire destiny of the organision for years into the future. These decisions are not about small adjustments, but address the really big, important issues facing the orgnisation. These are the decisions you must get right in order to thrive.

Why do I need a Strategic Plan?

Your Strategic Plan is used to:

• set priorities to achieve your organisation’s goals
• establish agreement around intended outcomes and results
• ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward the common goals
• make decisions on allocating resources to pursue the strategy

Strategic planning can be extended to include the control and quality assurance procedures for managing the strategy.

A well written Strategic Plan can mean the difference between your organisation  meeting its goals, or falling short.  As a strategic plan is usually implemented by senior management, if your senior staff members don’t make a commitment to this process, it can cost your organisation time and money. So it is important to get your planning processes right!

What’s Included in a Strategic Plan?

Strategic planning includes:

• Determining your organisation’s Vision for the future
• Writing or updating your Vision Statement and your Mission Statement
• Setting Goals for your organisation
• Determining Actions to achieve these goals
• Allocating or purchasing Resources to execute the actions

Strategic Plans Streamline Your Processes

Strategic Planning can assist you to streamline your organisation’s management processes, to provide you with a sense of direction. This will help you obtain your written, measurable goals.

Strategic planning allows management to set, achieve and review goals efficiently and purposefully in relation to your mission statement.

Your businesses processes then become streamlined and goal orientated.

7 Steps to Create your Strategic Plan

A Strategic Plan takes time and effort.  However, a well devised plan can describe the purpose and ethical conduct for your organisation, together with the specific strategies required to achieve the business goals you have set.

The Strategic Planning course from CTO will teach you everything you need to know about creating, implementing and managing a Srategic Plan.

This includes the seven steps below, which have been proven time and again to bring results for those organisations that implement them.

1. Use the Right People to create your Strategic Plan

When creating a strategic plan, enlist a diverse range of people. People with different skill sets, perspectives and viewpoints will see that the team has a broad range of experience and outlooks.

Include on your team:

• Staff with the front of line business experience. This can be operations staff, sales staff, customer service staff, and finance team members.
• Team leaders from various departments
• Creative team members

2. Match Your Strategic Plan to Your Business Needs

List your oranisation’s long term goals. Your goals need to be clear and measurable. Goal setting is the basis of strategic planning and your team needs to spend considerable time on this step for best results.

Brainstorm what your precise business needs are in relation to your mission statement and your company’s goals. Ensure that everyone on the team has some input so that you get a range of opinions and perspectives. Don’t let a select few do all the talking!

3. Use a Template to Write your Plan

You want your Strategic Plan to be easy to manage. Therefore, use a template to write your plan. The CTO 1-Page Strategic Plan templateis available for download at the end of this article.

Include clear procedures to set objectives, monitor results, clarify issues and engage participants.  Ensure that each step of the process is efficient, saves time, and works towards the end goals.  Brainstorm and have fun, and encourage all team members present to participate.

4. Carry out a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique used to help you identify and analyse the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the viability of your organisation.  The 4 key elements of a SWOT Analysis are:

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

By examining each of these factors you can maximise those areas where your organisation is strong, minimise weaknesses and pursue opportunities that might otherwise not be explored. Your research should also identify threats to your organisation and create contingency plans to manage them. The SWOT analysis process is extremely enlightening – and a valuable part of the strategic planning process.

5. Include Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

By including KPIs, you can determine your organisation and team member’s performance in relation to your plan’s relevant goals. Without periodic assessment of your progress, your strategic plan could fail.

So what KPI’s should you include in your strategic plan?  What you need to track largely depends on where you are trying to go.  A good rule of thumb for measurement is going from X (current state) to Y (desired future state) by date (goal deadline).

Remember – what get’s measured, get’s managed.

6. Analyse Your Industry

Investigate trends in your industry. Who are your competitors? What are their strengths and weakness? What are the current trends and where are there opportunities for growth?

7. Choose Processes that Fit with Your Organisation’s Strengths

When choosing processes, choose methods that will match the strengths of your organisation and your team. Can you count on resources to implement every strategy? Select the best steps to match your organisation’s circumstances.

Everyone in your organisation should be aware of your strategic plan. Conduct regular meetings to check the progress of the plan. Make adjustments to your planning and take action if you are not getting the results that you want.

The Corporate Training Options Strategic Planning Course is ideal for business owners and managers. We will teach you and your team to:

• Prepare for the strategic planning process
• Define a vision for your organisation
• Develop a mission statement
• Assess internal and external factors that influence your business
• Apply the information you have gathered
• Apply the values of your company’s mission statement to create a successful strategy
• Put the plan into action and work toward the vision
• Monitor and manage the plan

For more information on how our innovative Strategic Planning course can help you and your team learn to streamline business processes, maximise efficiency and meet your businesses goals contact us at Corporate Traning Options.

To receive the CTO 1-Page Strategic Plan template, email us at training@cto.com.au

To book your training today:

• Click here to see the topics covered in the hands-on training, and receive a quote
• Click here to book your onsite, customised training – and have your Strategic Plan underway by the end of the day!

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About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is a Business Education Training Company, which provides customised Professional Development & Business Technology courses Australia-wide.

The courses provide a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.

CTO’s Strategic Planning course course is customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates which suit you.

We look forward to working with you, to build your confidence, improve your efficiency and maximise your potential.

For more information on the range of Corporate Training Courses available, please visit the CTO website – cto.com.au

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

E: training@cto.com.au

W: cto.noesis.chat/