Strategic Planning

A note to attendees of the class

Strategic planning is a long-range envisioning sort of thing, a somewhat “what do we (or I) want to be when we grow up”. It is a “what do we want to look like when we become even more sophisticated and respected than we are now?” Operational Planning tends to have to do with what we want to do in the next year and asking ourselves what accomplishments we would like to see. Strategic Planning is different. It involves looking even further. Our strategic plan has to do with the nature of what we want to be. So we ask ourselves what is the nature of what I want my business to be, and the nature of what we want our organization to look like in the eyes of the world. It really has to do with getting a view of the horizon so that we can focus on where it is that we are going, then planning the steps to get there.

So where are we going to be positioned within the industry? What kind of market mix do we want to have? How do we want to be perceived by our clients, and by the public? What is the general income level I would like to see?

What do you see as the basis by which future decisions will be made in the  industry? And ask yourself these questions. What are you doing now that you want to continue doing? What are you doing that should be discontinued, or modified? Who do you want to attract to you? Who do you want to rid yourself of? What might surprise us in the future and how will we react to those surprises?

This is where your input is critical to the mission and goals of our organization. Your participation today will have long term far-reaching impact. What you do here today will mold and guide this organization into the next generation. So what makes sense to us as we position ourselves for the future? What is the nature of what we are doing and what are the principals that guide us in getting there?

• Recognize the "business problem" before the project begins
• Organize tasks easily into logical groups of activities
• Create a project plan to guide all your efforts
• Keep critical stakeholders in mind - their needs, wants, and expectations
• Track progress and recognize quickly when things are slipping
• Envision successful project completion
• Apply lessons learned to the next projectn
• Use a creative four-question opinion survey to understand internal needs
• Project out ten years: who are we then?

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