strategic planning

Goals Based Planning

by Alan Lowe on September 30, 2011

As companies grow, they often evolve into a Goals Based planning model. This model focuses on the major Opportunities and Challenges facing a company or organization. The Planning team begins by defining or revisiting the Vision, Mission and Core Values of the company.

Next, the team assesses all aspects of the company’s strengths and weaknesses especially as compared to the strengths of their competitors in the marketplace. In this phase, it is critical to gather as many facts as possible to confirm or refute the validity of the assessments being made.

The focus of the process then moves to the external environment in which the company operates- the markets, the customers, economic forces, governmental regulation, demographics and more. All are evaluated to identify the potential opportunities and the possible negative impacts that these forces will have on the company and its future growth.

Explicitly identifying and documenting the key assumptions that are being made in planning for the future of the company – its ideal customer, target markets and competitive advantage is a big part of this step.

Once all the analysis is completed, the planning team then begins to set goals and objectives that will address the opportunities and challenges identified in the previous steps.  For each goal that is agreed upon, 3 additional items must be spelled out:

(1)   Identify the action steps needed to reach the goal, including who will be responsible for executing this part of the plan and what resources are needed.

(2)   Determine the strategies that will be employed in reaching the goal.

(3)   Agree on the metrics that will be used to track and measure the company’s progress toward reaching the goal.

The last phase of process is documenting in writing all of the conclusions, assumptions, goals, objectives, action plans, and performance measures that have been developed.  From this document the leaders can now outline a 12 month operational plan to be communicated to all employees.

Remember …… less is more. Having fewer goals but having them well defined and well executed is better than having many goals that are never realized

Each quarter the planning team should set aside a day to evaluate and measure progress against the goals, make any needed adjustments and set priorities for the next 3 months.  Internally, the team must communicate the plan to all levels of the organization and assure that individual goals are aligned with the overall direction and strategies of the organization.

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The Foundations of Basic Strategic Planning

Basic Strategic Planning

by Alan Lowe on August 8, 2011

Last time we talked about the types of models a company could use to conduct a Strategic Planning session. Today, let’s take a quick look at the Basic Strategic Planning model. Conceptually, there are 7 questions which all CEOs must address.

At its core, Strategic Planning seeks to answer the fundamental questions all businesses face:

  1. What business are we in?
  2. Who are our customers?
  3. Why does our company exist? (mission)
  4. Where are we headed? (vision)
  5. What do we need to accomplish? (goals)
  6. How will we get there? (strategies)
  7. Who will go with us? (people)

[Read the Full Article…]

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How to do “Real” Strategic Planning

by Alan Lowe on July 27, 2011

[Editor’s note: This week, we are pleased to introduce guest contributor Alan Lowe to share his thoughts about strategic planning. Alan is CEO and President of The Lowe Group. He helps Business Owners and Executives grow their companies and reach their Long Term Goals. He has extensive experience in Strategic Planning, Financial Management, Executive Coaching and Leadership Development. ]

Is your plan really strategic? Or is it more of a tactical plan? Or do you even have a written plan at all? One thing is certain…… your brain is the worst place in your business to store this vital information.

So if you want to do a better job planning for success, where do you start? There is not one perfect strategic planning model that fits every company. Each business seems to develop its own way of doing planning which fits its culture. However, you can decide which model would be a good starting place for you and your team.

There are five models to consider:

(1) The Basic Strategic Planning is often used by organizations that are smaller and have not done strategic planning before.

(2) Goal Based planning is more comprehensive and seeks to assess the external and internal threats and opportunities facing the company.

(3) The goal of the Alignment Model is to get all the stakeholders of the business working together to accomplish the same goals.

(4) Scenario Planning works to ensure that the participants in the process are fully engaged in strategic thinking. Created by Shell Oil, this model can help a company make critical decisions by identifying the major trends and uncertainties facing the organization. Some entrepreneurs resist doing strategic planning at all because they perceive the process as being too structured, too linear, or too confining.

(5) Organic Planning seeks to address that concern by using techniques such as story boarding and dialogue to identify and articulate the organization’s vision and values. This process focuses more on the learning that can be derived and less on the process.

Over the next few weeks, we will discuss each of these models in more detail. My encouragement to you is this…… no matter which model you choose – just GET STARTED! In today’s world, the winners will be those companies who accurately assess themselves and their market and then take action quickly.

Alan Lowe
The Lowe Group, Inc.

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