Planning Power — Don’t Leave Your Fortunes to Chance
“It is better to deal with problems before they arise,” I said, reading the small slip of paper aloud to my friends. We had gathered for dinner to celebrate the holidays, to reflect on the year behind us and think about the year to come.
The group chuckled and nodded in agreement as each of them was probably remembering a problem they should have dealt with. I am sure that statement brings back similar thoughts for you as well. Those words came from a fortune cookie, but the message is one we need to hold on to.
How does one deal with problems before they arise? By planning. While many of us know this to be true, we still tend to continue to break open a new fortune cookie each day, hoping the future will be revealed, decisions will be made, problems will be solved and goals will be obtained.
Businesses must focus on a strategic means for moving forward. Successful strategic planning allows companies to:
Focus on actions and outcomes,
Build a shared vision based on organizational values,
Create shared ownership of outcomes,
Make decisions based on quality data,
Maintain an external focus on customer responsiveness and community accountability, and
Safely question the status quo in generating the greatest business results.
Generating these outcomes is not rocket science, but it should not be left to fortune, either. Here is a simple, five-step process:
Step 1 – Get Ready. To start any planning or change process, there must be a commitment from leadership to see the process through to its completion and implementation. It is important here to determine the specific issues the process will address, to clarify roles of people in the process and to determine what information will be needed.
Step 2 – Articulate a mission and vision. A business must be clear for itself on these two important components of planning. Mission indicates the focus and purpose of an organization; it states where an organization believes it is going.
Vision is very simply a compelling picture of what the future will look like. If planning occurs and implementation is successful, then the vision is the picture that the business and its people hope to achieve. This is a vital step to any successful planning process.
Step 3 – Assess the current situation. It is here where you look at the strengths and weaknesses of a business in comparison to its desired outcomes. Performance measurements are integral at this stage. They will be used to create a database that will help drive the planning decisions. Create a list of critical issues that require the greatest focus on generating results.
Step 4 – Develop objectives and strategies for achieving outcomes. This is the true planning process where specific goals are articulated and the process to achieve these goals are outlined. At this stage, broad participation is important. It helps create ownership of the outcomes across the organization. The outcome of this stage is an agreement on how critical issues will be addressed as well as an outline of specific strategic directions and desired objectives.
Step 5 – Complete and document the plan. This is the critical moment in the planning process. The plan should be easy to articulate and implement across the business.
The challenge at this point is that many businesses create a static document. It is important to remember that the strategic planning process is for a dynamic and changing environment. A final plan must be just as dynamic and flexible. We build bridges and buildings to be flexible for a reason. If we don’t, they snap, crumble and can do harm. The same goes for strategic plans.
The planning process is an important one, especially in today’s environment. If we leave the future of our businesses to fortune, we still may come out OK. But in today’s dynamic and competitive world of business, “may” is not what leads you to business success.
“It is better to deal with problems before they arise,” I said, reading the small slip of paper aloud to my friends. The group chuckled and nodded in agreement. I hope you can now better plan for the future of your business and leave the fortunes for dessert instead.
Jason A. Wolf is principal and senior partner of 4results – Workplace Solutions, a Nashville people and organization development firm. [email protected], 615-783-0014
© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc. Reprinted with permission of the author.