Discover the keys to building an effective strategic plan that fits your companys needs.

by John Carroll

How many times have you heard goal-oriented motivational speakers say, By failing to plan, youre planning to fail. In reality, planning to fail is far easier, because planning done well is hard work.

Why is it that only about 5 percent of businesses in America operate from a written, long-range plan? Because its challenging to do it right, and many would rather go about their day-to-day chores than undertake the steps involved to create a plan. Its tougher still to follow through and make those long-range goals a reality for the organization.

Why, then, should you create a long-range, strategic plan in the first place? Here are 10 reasons:

1) You become less reactive. When you go through an effective strategic planning process, youre forced to think ahead. As a result, you consider preventive and pre-emptive approaches you can only dream about while desperately trying to drain the swamp.

2) You address critical issues. Will your organization take e-commerce seriously? What will that do to the existing sales force? Without the planning process, such questions remain unanswered, leaving uncertainty and doubt to rule in your organization.

3) You promote ownership. Buy-in is more important than ever in the execution of any plan or initiative. The more you give associates a chance to participate in plans that involve them, the more likely they will help turn those plans into reality.

4) You build your team. Force your management team (or your entire company, if practical) to come together and address challenges critical to the future of your business. In the vast majority of instances, the planning process builds teamwork among those involved. People faced with a common obstacle or challenge draw closer together.

5) You provide clear targets. How can you hit a target you cant see? You already know the answer, yet few organizations provide crystal-clear targets of the companys direction.

6) You answer why. My junior high school basketball coach reflected on the main difference between coaching then and now when he said, Now, when I tell a kid to do something, he wants to know why. The same is true in your organization. You can preach the companys goals repeatedly. If you dont communicate the reasons why those goals are critical, youve lost them before you start. The planning process provides a platform to share the purpose behind the objectives.

7) You create a management tool. In this fast-paced world where rapid change is the norm, last months profit and loss statement is hardly the best indicator of your companys progress. When you see your people take strong, proactive steps and you hold them accountable for their short-term actions supporting long-term goals, you have a better handle on your true progress.

8) You create a communications tool. A written plan becomes a critical, visible tool to improve communications at all levels in your company. You can point to the plan as the reason for initiating and following through on specific activities. You can wave the plan as you celebrate a small victory on a task completed. You can even roll it up and pound it on the desk, asking for more action to make it a reality.

9) You gain a competitive advantage. Most of your competitors are working full steam to get ahead of you in the marketplace. You can bet theyre too busy to go through the steps required for effective planning. Your investment in that process can become your competitive edge in the months and years to come.

10) You show youre serious about your organizational goals. You cant do it alone, even if youre a sole practitioner. You rely on associates, colleagues, suppliers and customers to help you reach your goals. When you can show them where youre heading and why, theyre more likely to find ways to help you get there.

Plan for the planners
Congratulations, youve decided to create a plan. Choose your planning team carefully. Go as wide and as deep into your company as practical. The more participants you have creating your plan, the greater buy-in and support youll enjoy later.

Ive facilitated planning involving as many as 20 people. It can be done effectively, so dont let someone tell you otherwise. If its impractical to involve everyone in your organization, set a minimum target of all key department heads, plus a front-line associate from each area. That way, at least two people from each area can emphasize the importance of a particular goal or activity among their respective team members because they participated in the original process.

Many forward-thinking companies also involve customers and key suppliers in their planning process. This adds perspectives that you might otherwise miss.

Time and site ideas
Set aside enough time for the planning process. Dont expect to create a viable long-range plan in one afternoon. The exact time required will depend upon the number and nature of elements involved in your plan.

Find a proper off-site location for planning sessions. This eliminates office distractions that can stick a dagger in the heart of a planning process. If participants contribute time outside of usual work hours, consider an upscale setting to show appreciation for their contributions.

Set your meeting dates based on the best available days to the highest percentage of your planning team. Accept only death or dismemberment as reasons for absence from the meetings. Participants can be responsive to customers and others at breaks.

Communicate clear expectations to those not involved in the planning to address issues to the best of their ability during this critical time. Invoke the 100-Mile Rule, which says that your people will pull you out of this meeting only if they would do the same to get you out of a meeting 100 miles away.

Pre-meeting goals
Get your participants thinking in advance about issues and questions that will arise in the planning process. One exercise is to have them write their own responses to the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Compile these responses before the planning sessions, conserving time to prioritize issues based on consensus or some other form of decision-making.

Have your facilitator meet one-on-one with each participant prior to planning. Because relatively few people have done strategic planning, this helps participants understand whats expected of them.

Consider advance reading assignments for participants. There are many books that can help participants bring valuable insights to the planning. My personal favorites are Strategy Pure and Simple by Michel Robert and The Discipline of Market Leaders by Michael Treacy and Frederik Weirsema. Each book asks valuable questions to consider and address during the planning process.

Choosing a facilitator
To do strategic planning well, you deserve a facilitator who has no stake in the content of the plan itself. This is nearly impossible for someone inside your organization. Anyone with enough inside knowledge of the company to guide the planning team usually has strong ideas that can be valuable when added to the planning. Why compromise that persons contribution by asking him or her to focus only on the process?

Some people recommend the president or CEO serve as the facilitator. This can be a major mistake, for three reasons.

First, the top executive often has a strong personality. Planning is reduced to what the boss says while everyone nods in agreement.

Second, its difficult for most owners to separate themselves from the content and encourage others to contribute.

Third, in the rare instances where a chief executive has the skills to facilitate the process, the organization loses valuable contributions to the plans content from its leader.

To find the right facilitator outside of your organization, ask business associates and friends who serve on non-profit boards. Theyre likely to have worked with a professional facilitator along the way. Get several candidates.

Interview these facilitators as you would any consultant youre considering. Ask for references of organizations theyve served in a planning capacity. Check also for specific industry experience. Ask each about the steps to be used in the planning process. Does he or she understand critical issues facing your industry? Your facilitator should be at least conversant about these pressures and how they might impact the content and process of your plan.

Call the references and ask tough questions. Did the facilitator keep things moving or did the process bog down repeatedly? Was the facilitator able to pull out the best thinking of the participants? Did the facilitator take accurate notes? Was the resulting written plan clear and simple? Did the facilitator offer to help you implement your plan? How successful have you been in reaching your goals from the planning process?

Clarify expectations with your facilitator of choice. Know ahead of time who will record decisions reached in the process and the nature of the document that will contain the written plan. How long will the written plan be? If its much more than 25 pages, it will appear unwieldy and will likely die on a shelf somewhere. Your plan should be a working document that you will refer to often.

Take these steps leading to your strategic planning process. Proper strategic planning can and will result in one of the best investments you can make in your organization and your people. 

John Carroll is president of Unlimited Performance of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., will present a seminar on Secrets of strategic planning success from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. He can be reached at , or via email at .

This article originally appeared in the November 1999 ASMMA/I.D.A. convention issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 1999.

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