In a performance study released this year by The Australian Institute of Company Directors, strategic planning was identified as the #1 most pivotal activity that could be done better for greatest overall impact.
Frustrated CEOs and distracted Boards have identified these common scenarios that have made their planning lackluster and contrived, rather than inspirational and organic. Are any of these familiar to you?
- Strategic planning becomes a form filling, talk-fest that drags on for months.
- The Board has a plan for the sake of having a plan: there is no integration into the culture, budget, decision-making or operations of the organization.
- The planning team think they know the answers, rather than exploring the options, questions and possibilities.
- A few dominant personalities control the facilitation without the necessary training or experience, trampling on the group's ability to be strategic or form a consensus.
- The strategies begin to look like a long wish list without proper support from the required action plans, budget or staff.
- One or two pet projects find their way into the strategic plan – and the personal egos they are attached to make it impossible to remove them.
- It’s too hard to change elements of the strategic plan once it has been “finished,” so the pressure is on to get it right the first time without recognizing no plan survives contact with reality.
- The strategic planning consultants cost exceeds what is allocated in the budget.
- The last strategic planner was obsessed with post-it notes and butcher's paper...
Aaaargh...It’s no wonder many organizations find the process too much effort for what it is worth.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
The traditional planning models are rigid, unnecessarily complicated and too easy to derail. But perhaps the biggest impediment of all: they never leverage passion, vision or strategic thinking.
'Strategic Planning 2.0: Creating your future’ is totally different.
This learning program offers a step by step guide that will show you exactly how to forge your own high performing strategic plan, how to generate buy-in from your key stakeholders and staff and how to embed it into all of your primary governance and operational processes.
In essence, everything you need to be ready for the next three to four years... and the decade after that.
A good strategic plan ensures the right priorities are set, energy, time and resources are allocated to the right areas, innovation is encouraged and rewarded, and there is flexibility to change when change is required.
That means you no longer have to cross your fingers and hope nothing will come along and disrupt your sector, service delivery or cast doubt over your organization’s future. Using these tools, you will be ready.
Consider this:
- What if all your clients and stakeholders became active champions of the future you were creating?
- What if your organization was sought after by prospective Board members because of its reputation for innovation and expertise?
- What if you could increase the quality and standard of your service and your sector, simply by including stakeholders in your strategic planning process?
- What if you could manage all of your costs and keep a healthy bottom line while not being solely dependent on block funding or a single revenue stream?
- What if you could anticipate the future skills and expertise of your Board and staff years before they were required?
- What if you could position your organization to leverage trends and disruptions?
- What if you could create a massive amount of enthusiasm for the future of your service and the difference it creates in the community?
The power of great strategic planning can create all of the above.
Great strategic planning means you can feel confident that your leadership team will not lose momentum or become directionless.
Great strategic planning means no Board meeting is ever wasted on operational details. You meet to review and refine your critical strategies, monitor action plans and explore emerging strategic issues within the framework of governance, finance, risk and compliance.
Great strategic planning means you will continually capture new insights and opportunities otherwise missed, and have the flexibility to realign to any changing environment.
All of this is possible when you have the right tools in front of you.
