Recently I have had the pleasure of helping several organizations with their strategic planning processes. These organizations face the same challenges that many private, nonprofit and governments face in current times – high expectations, doing more with less, being flexible in times of change, serving the needs of diverse constituencies, and achieving effective results. The best part of working with these organizations has been that they have taken the time to include other perspectives in their strategic plan for their future.
Organizations take a lot of different approaches to strategic planning and believe me, throughout my career in the corporate and non-profit world, I’ve seen good plans put on shelves to never be looked at again, bad plans that never moved an organization forward and plans developed in silos.
What are some of the factors that contribute to this? Too often, strategic plans come from the top down, with pre-determined focus areas and objectives. They lack critical perspectives from their employees and external stakeholders.
Research continues to indicate that employees are not highly committed to their employers, not engaged in their workplaces, not happy in their jobs and are often actively looking for another job. There are many reasons that this happens, but several of the primary reasons are that employees feel their feedback is not welcome or that they are truly part of the organization. And external stakeholders are wanting more engagement with organizations, not less.
Here are a few top takeaways to consider:
- Keep your plan simple. Don’t produce a 50-page document that no one wants to look at again. Make it understandable, usable and inclusive.
- Include your employees in the process, either by getting their input prior to your planning session or better yet, by including them in your session. Continue to encourage their engagement after the plan is final by creating employee teams related to goals, providing updates on successes and challenges related to the plan, and celebrating successes.
- Do some research before you sit down in a planning session. You can’t prepare a decent plan without some external perspectives — whether it’s consumer behavior, public policy directions, competitor information, changes in markets or stakeholder perceptions. Consider not only finding outside research but committing the time to interview some of the key stakeholders who interact with your organization.
- Have honest and real conversations when you finally sit down to prepare your plan. If members of your team don’t feel that dialogue and ideas related to the plan are encouraged, the plan will fail. Create a safe space that encourages honest participation and dialogue.
What do you want to accomplish in your next strategic plan? Do you want to do it in a siloed approach, or do you want to hear perspectives from critical stakeholders about how your organization can move forward?
Check out my approach to strategic planning at www.ammconsultingstrategies.com .