Creating, Implementing and Abiding by a Strategic Plan

By: Jennifer Leahy
October 20th, 2011

Do you have a plan for your business? How do you see your business operating five years from now? What plans are in place to make that vision a reality?

Are these goals expressed in your business’ strategic plan?

They should be. Crafting and following a strategic plan offers clarity to businesses, says Janice Darling, founder and president of Springboard, a corporate consultant firm.

Only about 3 percent of companies are “very successful” at executing corporate strategies, according to a survey commissioned by the American Management Association (AMA) and conducted by the Human Resource Institute. The top best practices named in “The Keys to Strategy Execution” by the AMA are:

• Creating a clear strategy.

• Defining clear goals to support the strategy.

• Ensuring clear accountability.

• Having clear focus on implementing/executing strategy.

Adopting and abiding by these best practices will better any company, in any industry. And each and every business, no matter how small, should implement and abide by a strategic plan.

“It’s the roadmap. Where are we going? What’s the desired end state?” asks Darling.

The Society for Human Resource Management offers the following guide for strategic plan implementation. Business owners and managers should ask the following questions:

• Where are we now? (Assess the current situation.)

• Where do we want to be? (Envision and articulate a desired future.)

• How do we get there? (Formulate and implement a strategy and strategic objectives.)

• How will we know if we are on track toward our intended destination? (Establish a mechanism to evaluate progress.)

Once the plan is written and established it’s critical to communicate the tenets to all employees. Promote and familiarize all members of the corporate family with the components. Every employee should feel that they’re a critical component of the plan and have a clear idea of what their contribution will be as the business works toward the goal. Managers and employees should engage in open conversation about the role of each person and brainstorm as to how obstacles will be addressed. Supervisors should send a clear message that the company’s focus will be on adherence to the plan and all development and training will focus on implementation.

A defined purpose and clearly articulated expectations benefit both employees and managers. Employees have a sense of purpose and justification for their actions. Managers have a “guide” that illustrates the end goal.

A strategic plan is a fluid document that should be consulted frequently and revised as needed. Every major decision should be weighed against the strategic plan – judged to determine which answer best fits the tenets of the plan.

It’s also imperative to allocate resources to implement the strategic plan. The survey found that lack of resources not only rendered the plan ineffective, but also sent a message that the ranking members of the company did not place any value on the strategic plan.

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