Aligning on a strategic plan: Time well spent

We are approaching the last quarter of 2024. Are you reaching your strategic goals?

Strategic planning comes in many flavors and there are many methodologies to create a successful plan to achieve your substantial goals. 

Budget planning is not strategic planning. While many companies have some type of annual planning process to define goals and budgets, the plans are often more tactical than strategic and often define short-term goals by quarter for the next year.

For example: 
Sales and client service staff may know the revenue goals, yet they may not have a detailed plan to define the steps or new offerings it will take to achieve the goals. 
Technical teams may have defined projects to implement but may lack the time and resources to develop new products and services. 

Senior leaders typically track and review financial goals quarterly. As a consultant, I hear about quarterly successes or failures. Often the reviews are financially driven without detailed context of the strategies and steps that resulted in success or gaps in achieving the desired goals.

‘Vivid Vision’ 
I have facilitated strategic planning workshops based on strategies from the book ‘Vivid Vision’ by Cameron Herold. The concept is focused on the leadership team creating a vivid vision three years into the future and aligning the entire company with the strategies to create that future. 

Herold’s idea is to create a vivid vision based on a big, audacious goal – something so big and different that people won’t know how they’re going achieve it, or how to get there. This process can make people a bit uncomfortable. When we look at inspirational companies whose leaders made bold statements about their future products, companies like Apple, Virgin and Tesla, some people in those conference rooms must have been uncomfortable with the big ideas their leaders asked them to embrace. Aligning on a shared future empowers the teams to think differently and create new strategies for the entire company. 

The effectiveness of the vivid vision strategy is the alignment and purpose it generates among the leaders and managers. I saw tactically focused production and operations managers open up and generate supportive ideas based on imagining a new future for their company and their teams. The offsite workshop provided dedicated time spent giving people space to think big, without the daily constraints of getting production out the door.

The vivid vision process then enables teams to define goals and projects that are the building blocks for the future vision. By defining smaller projects with goals, milestones and metrics, the team will create the path, though not linear, to a future state. Herold recommends quarterly reviews of vivid vision and bringing the teams together to reinforce the long-term vision and celebrate the small wins along the way. The process of creating projects and tasks and taking small steps, with metrics, enables individuals and managers to see their future vision become reality. 

“The vivid vision framework is based on a big, audacious goal – something so big and different that people won’t know how they’re going achieve it, or how to get there”

Strategic thinking requires a different level of creativity and critical thinking to map out a vision for the future. Effective strategic planning requires discipline to stay on course and evaluate the metrics along the way. 

How will your company need to change and evolve to remain relevant as technology and industry change? What will cause disruption for you? For your customers? What will it take to achieve success? Where will new competition come from? 

Big questions that require time, commitment and creativity to boldly plan for the future. 

Another bestselling book that defines approaches for deploying strategy and accountability is ‘Traction, Get a Grip on Your Business’, by Gino Wickman. 

A commitment to strategic planning from the leadership team will enable managers to put aside daily responsibilities, pause and creatively define projects that will lead to larger goals. 

Managing and measuring to a defined strategic plan is what distinguishes success. 

A strategic plan does not need to be a lengthy document that sits on a shared drive. An effective strategic plan can be a short three-page document that clearly defines the future state and goals for each department. 

Spending the time to create alignment among the entire company and having the discipline to manage a strategic plan will provide clarity, energy and passion that informs daily decisions and generates results. It’s time well spent to deliver highly desired results.

Lois Ritarossi is a certified management consultant, and president of High Rock Strategies, an independent management consulting firm focused on sales and marketing strategies, and business growth for firms in the print, mail, communications and B2B sectors. You can read more about sales strategies at www.highrockstrategies.com.
Email Lois at Lritarossi@highrockstrategies.com