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Strategic Planning, A Must-Do
Strategic planning has evolved significantly from a trendy buzzword in the early 1980s to a must-do process that helps companies prepare for long-term goals and increase profitability.
Some consider the planning process to be too time-consuming and distracting from work that’s perceived as more important, such as business development and client relations. Others view the process as immeasurable, and therefore futile. Still other practices may not get the necessary support from partners and other leadership, which can doom the process from the outset. But there are many benefits to strategic planning that shouldn’t be overlooked, and it doesn’t have to be as difficult as it may sound.
Why You Should Do It
The strategic planning process focuses you on matters that impact the practice’s capabilities and ability to get more and better work from paying clients, which is especially important in a struggling economy. Effective strategic planning can help you:
- Understand how your culture and operations affect its performance,
- Recognize the impact of an evolving market on your company and identify any internal changes needed to adapt,
- Pinpoint opportunities and potential threats within the market,
- Identify weaknesses and poor-performing areas and determine how to remedy them and build on strengths, and
- Establish a shared vision and long-term goals.
Strategic planning helps you determine where your firm is now, where you want it to go and how to get there.
First Steps
Assemble a planning committee that consists of all levels and executives from all departments. Limit the number of committee members to a number that’s manageable, yet still representative of the entire firm. Also, you may want to hire a facilitator who can bring expertise, experience and objectivity to the group and keep the strategic plan moving forward.
When brainstorming what your goals should be, research clients, industries, competitors and geographic markets to obtain an accurate assessment of where you are now and what is achievable.
Also be sure to develop strategic goals — such as establishing a presence in a new market — and clear strategies for achieving them. Don’t focus on operational issues unless they’ll affect your ability to achieve its goals. For example, your practice may need technology upgrades but the planning committee shouldn’t address them unless doing so will serve a strategic objective.
The finalized strategic plan should be concise, providing an overall direction for the firm and a limited number of high-priority initiatives. A detailed implementation plan that assigns responsibilities, budgets and deadlines should then be created, and goals should be tracked, measured and reported to the committee regularly.
Choosing A Strategic Planning Model
You can follow your own strategic planning model or choose from several tested ones, including:
SWOT analysis. This calls for identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the firm. This process helps you determine which areas of your company that are in good shape and which need work.
Appreciative inquiry model. This was developed in reaction to perceptions that previous planning models started with a negative problem-solving approach, rather than a positive approach that “appreciates” the firm. Appreciative inquiry breaks down the planning process into five areas:
- Define the topics to learn more about, such as compensation or recruitment.
- Identify what the firm is doing when it performs at its best.
- Envision what the future will look like based on the firm’s strengths and core values identified in the previous phase.
- Articulate the building blocks for implementing the firm’s vision.
- Put the vision into action.
Fast track model. This approach, developed by David Maister, is based on the theory that all professional service organizations have the same goals:
- Raising client satisfaction,
- Increasing skills within the organization,
- Improving productivity, and
- Getting better business.
The objective of this process is to prepare an action plan for each goal that articulates the specific action; identifies who will be accountable; and determines how much time will be spent, when the deadlines will be, and what the end results should look like.
Driving Profitability
The strategic planning process enables you to develop a shared vision and long-term goals for your firm that will help clarify decision-making on all levels, whether it’s allocating your budget, recruiting or considering a merger or acquisition. Most important, the process can help drive your future growth and profitability. Don’t be part of the majority of companies that lack a strategic plan. Take the time to start or update one today.
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