Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
Strategic planning can evoke a number of feelings for different people. As a leader, it is key to share the positive energy that surrounds planning for the future of your organization with your team and have them get behind it.
Strategic planning is an ongoing process and is a discipline that is used throughout the year. It isn’t enough to simply have a plan; that plan needs updating and course corrections throughout the year. As opportunities arise, regardless of their attractiveness, you need to ensure that they are in alignment with your plan.
I strongly suggest updating your three-year strategic plan annually and reviewing it, at a minimum, quarterly. You have a better chance sticking to your plan and being successful if you build time into a monthly team meeting to review where you stand on goals, strategies and actions. Ask the hard questions. Are your people being held accountable? Is there too much on your plate?
Now, let’s talk about the emotional aspect of a plan. Many consider strategic planning fun and find that their teams also truly enjoy the experience. So, get buy-in. Have your people see the value in the plan and what is being done to implement it. Once your team gets behind your strategic plan, they will more readily carry the positive energy into their everyday activities. The positivity becomes infectious as your people will see what the plan will mean for them as well as the company. Your team will more readily come up with great ideas on how to execute on the plan and these ideas are often better than your own.
Plans don’t have emotions, but people do. Effective leaders bring emotion to their plans. It starts in the planning process and then is carried forward into execution. It is fascinating and inspiring to watch your culture shift, for the better, as your people start to truly think like business owners. Be sure to create an emotional connection between your people and your strategic plan and reinforce that bond throughout the year.
Let me know how it goes.
By Blair Koch
