Whether you’re a seasoned business leader or just starting, the strategic planning process is a great way to ensure you’re achieving your business goals. The process consists of four steps: Internal and external assessment, strategy evaluation, selecting goals, and developing a balanced scorecard.
Select Goals
Choosing the right strategic goal may be a daunting task for your organization. In the end, it will likely come down to a combination of factors, including organizational size, the size of your staff, and the direction in which your organization plans to operate. However, choosing a laudable strategic goal can help your organization achieve its desired outcomes.
One of the best ways to identify the optimal strategic goal is to take the time to think through the different options available to you. This can be accomplished by utilizing a process that requires top-level management to engage in a collaborative effort to select the best goals. The result can be a solid foundation to build future strategic efforts.
Another method for identifying the ideal strategic goal is to create a hybrid plan that includes both domain and goal planning. You can hire experts in strategic planning like David Geithner to ensure you are on the right track. This can be a worthwhile endeavor as it allows you to better align your company’s purpose with the objectives of your organization.
Strategy Evaluation
Creating a strategic planning process is an excellent way to make your business more effective. Your company must develop a plan that is both realistic and attainable. The plan must include a timeline, tactics, and responsibilities. It is also helpful to gather feedback on your strategy.
The first step in creating a strategic plan is to define the company’s mission. It is also helpful to determine the company’s position in the market. The company’s goals should be specific, measurable, and time-bound. These goals will help you measure how well your business is doing.
The next step is to determine your company’s assets. The assets can be internal or external. You can use an internal audit to identify your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. You can also use an external audit to identify threats and opportunities. The external audit can include information from the environment and the company’s competitors.
Once you have decided on your objectives, you can decide which tactics to use. Your strategies should be based on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. These strategies must be perceived as valuable to the target customer.
Balanced Scorecard Framework
Using a balanced scorecard framework for strategic planning in 4 steps is an excellent way to ensure that your enterprise is doing its best. This framework allows your organization to prioritize projects, communicate its strategy, and track progress. However, implementing this approach requires a great deal of time and effort. Thankfully, some templates help you get started. These templates are easy to use, allow managers to plug in data, and make comparisons easier.
When using a balanced scorecard framework for strategic planning, it’s essential to have a clear, quantitative set of measures. These metrics should reflect tradeoffs between cost and service. They should also be used to evaluate the performance of each of your departments.
You should also review your balance scorecard regularly. This is particularly important in the public sector. You must update your scorecard as you learn more about your business and your challenges change.
Internal and External Assessment
Performing internal and external assessments as part of strategic planning can help businesses strengthen their competitive advantage. It can also help companies react to changing conditions in the industry.
The main goal of performing an internal study is to identify opportunities for improvement. This can be done by identifying weaknesses in the organization and developing a strategy to address them.
Unlike external analysis, an internal study involves a more in-depth analysis of the resources and capabilities of the organization. Using this information, a company can develop a strategic plan for a specific business or market.
The analysis will usually involve several different tools. For example, Value Chain Analysis looks at the firm’s core activities, while a Resource-Based View examines the firm’s resources. Both frameworks evaluate the firm’s core competencies and growth potential.
