Nowadays, it is difficult to be successful in business without a road map for success. A strategic plan would help to provide direction and focus. It points to specific results that are to be achieved and establishes a course of action for achieving them. Strategic Planning is the process you follow to form a Strategy. Strategic planning has become a concept that is commonly suggested as the "solution" to many business problems.
Strategic planning is the core of the work of an organization. Without a strategic framework you don’t know where you are going or why you are going there. So, then, it doesn't really matter how you get there!
A strategy is an overall approach, based on an understanding of the broader context in which you function, your own strengths and weaknesses, and the problem you are attempting to address. A strategy gives you a framework within which to work, it clarifies what you are trying to achieve and the approach you intend to use. It does not spell out specific activities.
A strategy is an overall approach and plan. So, strategic planning is the overall planning that facilitates the good management of a process. Strategic planning takes you outside the day to- day activities of your organization or project. It provides you with the big picture of what you are doing and where you are going. Strategic planning gives you clarity about what you actually want to achieve and how to go about achieving it, rather than a plan of action for day to- day operations.
A strategic planning process is not something that can happen in an ad hoc way, at a regular planning meeting or during a staff meeting. It requires careful planning to set it up so that the process is thorough and comprehensive. When you develop or revise a strategic plan, you are setting the parameters for the work of your organization, usually for two to three years or longer. So, it does make sense to spend some time and energy planning for your strategic planning process.
The strategic planning process helps an organization clarify, consolidate or establish its strategic framework. Embedded in the strategic framework are the values and vision of the organization. Because of this, it is important to involve the whole organization in at least part of the planning process.
In a diagrammatic form, the process of defining the strategic planning framework looks like this:
Most organizations have a structure that has both hierarchical and team elements. A hierarchical structure is one in which people report to someone who has authority over them, and who is accountable for ensuring that other people do their jobs properly. Some organizations are very hierarchical, with many levels, and others are flatter; so, for example, there might be a director, but most other people would be on the same level. This only works in fairly small organizations. Other organizations may decide not to be hierarchical at all, with everyone in the organization at the same level, and everyone equally accountable for ensuring that the work gets done. This can work in a small organization in which people have equal levels of skill and commitment, but it does not work when people have different levels of skill and commitment.
Within a hierarchical organization, it is still possible to work in teams. Teams can take different forms. The most important thing to remember about teams is that they are functional groups. Their reason for existing is to get a specific and clearly defined job done. This may be determined by the strategic framework, or by specific jobs that need to be managed. Each member of the team has a particular role which complements (fits together with) the role of other team members. The successful completion of the work depends on the team members working together.
Within organizations and projects, teams could take the form of departments that specialize in different kinds of work. So, for example, there might be Finance and Administration Department, or a Training Department, or an Advocacy Unit. The teams could, however, also cut across specializations to form multi-disciplinary teams. So, for example, an organization that supported informal sector building contractors might put together a team that had technical expertise, training expertise and tendering expertise to help an association of informal sector contractors tender for a particular job.
All functional teams need leaders. If the people in the team are of roughly equal skill, then it is probably enough to have a coordinator. That person is responsible for seeing that the team meets and that everything is on track. If there are discrepancies in skill and, possibly, commitment, then something more hierarchical, where the team leader has authority, is needed. Team leadership is a way of developing confidence and skills in people who have never thought of taking leadership positions. A team leader’s authority does not cut across a line manager’s authority. The line manager is the person to whom someone reports and who is accountable for his/her performance. Performance problems that affect a team should be referred back to the line manager.
Organizations strategic planning process may result in some things in the organization changing, either in terms of work done or in the internal structuring of the work. People struggle with change. No strategic plan will be implemented without hitches. Each organization or project will have its own set of problems. Many organizations and projects make the mistake of focusing all their energies on planning of activities. They see the strategic part of the process as “a waste of time”. The process is so simple, so simple that people sometimes prefer to ignore it, and instead, spend too much money to hire consultants to give them the same planning results.
Within a hierarchical organization, it is still possible to work in teams. Teams can take different forms. The most important thing to remember about teams is that they are functional groups. Their reason for existing is to get a specific and clearly defined job done. This may be determined by the strategic framework, or by specific jobs that need to be managed. Each member of the team has a particular role which complements (fits together with) the role of other team members. The successful completion of the work depends on the team members working together.
Within organizations and projects, teams could take the form of departments that specialize in different kinds of work. So, for example, there might be Finance and Administration Department, or a Training Department, or an Advocacy Unit. The teams could, however, also cut across specializations to form multi-disciplinary teams. So, for example, an organization that supported informal sector building contractors might put together a team that had technical expertise, training expertise and tendering expertise to help an association of informal sector contractors tender for a particular job.
All functional teams need leaders. If the people in the team are of roughly equal skill, then it is probably enough to have a coordinator. That person is responsible for seeing that the team meets and that everything is on track. If there are discrepancies in skill and, possibly, commitment, then something more hierarchical, where the team leader has authority, is needed. Team leadership is a way of developing confidence and skills in people who have never thought of taking leadership positions. A team leader’s authority does not cut across a line manager’s authority. The line manager is the person to whom someone reports and who is accountable for his/her performance. Performance problems that affect a team should be referred back to the line manager.
Organizations strategic planning process may result in some things in the organization changing, either in terms of work done or in the internal structuring of the work. People struggle with change. No strategic plan will be implemented without hitches. Each organization or project will have its own set of problems. Many organizations and projects make the mistake of focusing all their energies on planning of activities. They see the strategic part of the process as “a waste of time”. The process is so simple, so simple that people sometimes prefer to ignore it, and instead, spend too much money to hire consultants to give them the same planning results.
