3 Common Reasons Your Strategic Planning Efforts May Be Missing The Mark

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Ed Senen, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

1. The belief of those involved that the strategic planning process is little more than a recurring PowerPoint exercise.
Action Tips:
- This is a common unspoken belief in many organizations that must be addressed by leadership. Expose the elephant in the room and ensure leaders at all levels understand and accept that strategic planning is critical to the future success of the business.
- All too often the final PowerPoint presentation represents the culmination of the strategic planning process. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief that the annual strategy drill is over and largely walk away from the process until the next update. Where this is approach to strategic planning is operative, leadership must replace that behavior with a new perspective and attitude about the importance of a defined strategy to drive the business. Begin the transition to a strategically oriented leadership culture by regularly, and visibly, tying everyday decision making to the organizations strategic intent.
- Follow the plan! It is surprising how many organizations don’t aggressively follow through on executing their strategic plans. This is frequently because the strategic plan is not much more than a grand vision of good intentions that is loosely tied to the annual operating plan. Ensure you take the step of “operationalizing” your strategic plan into specific actions and tactics that are properly resourced and budgeted.

2. The Tyranny of the Urgent!
Action Tips:
- We must acknowledge the reality that most senior executives are consumed with their day to day roles. It can be hard to think and act strategically if your day to day house is on fire! To be successful in today’s global business environment executives must dedicate a significant amount of time to strategic planning and thinking. The amount of time required will vary based on the complexity of served markets and the organizations growth objectives. However, if senior executives in most medium to large sized businesses are not spending at least 20% of their time on the strategic issues facing the business, it is likely not enough! Executives that feel they cannot dedicate the needed time for strategic planning must find a way to do so! Delegation is almost always the answer to the time problem.
- Many senior executives think strategic planning is a burden they alone must carry. Share the load! Get other leaders involved in the process. They may give you insights you had not considered and in most cases will appreciate being included in the process of shaping the future of the company.

3. Insufficient understanding of market trends, dynamics and opportunities.
Action Tips:
-The velocity of business today requires that strategic planning be a never ending process and not simply an event. To survive and thrive companies must be constantly taking the pulse of the markets they serve and adapt their strategic plans accordingly. If you have not already, take the step of establishing an on-going strategic planning process in your company.
- Thoroughly validate all key assumptions that drive your strategic plan. Unfortunately too many organizations accept opinion stated with conviction as reality. The VP of Sales says…… and suddenly his or her opinion becomes an accepted assumption that drives the strategic plan. Ensure all key strategic planning assumptions are fully “market/customer validated” before allowing them to influence the strategic plan.
- Hold regular standing meetings to discuss developments and opportunities in your served markets. Regularly rotate through the topics of recent competitive, product, customer and market developments. These meetings will invariably identify key market input validation “go-gets” that will support the more formal portion of your strategic planning process.