Strategic planning sessions can be both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. On the one hand, you get to dream up big plans and imagine a successful future, but on the other hand, there's the worry of agreeing on how to reach those goals and navigating the planning process itself.
So, what are the key steps to a successful strategic planning session? Check it out:
Take stock of your current performance and where you stand in the market.
Figure out which targets and priorities your company could realistically pursue.
Decide on which specific targets and priorities you want to focus on.
Manage the plan as you move forward to stay focused but flexible.
Sounds easy enough, right? But there's one big challenge you'll need to overcome if you want to see your strategic plans come to fruition: getting everyone on the same page. Building alignment among your executive team and throughout your organization is crucial to making your plans a reality.
In order to make planning with your team a bit easier, we came up with 7 helpful tips to get everyone on the same page.
First step is to choose a location away from the usual office environment. We suggest finding a spot that's energizing and inspiring, which can help boost creativity and minimize distractions. She notes that being away from your desk and regular work environment can keep you from getting sidetracked and pulled into other tasks.
Planning with your team can be tricky, but we have some awesome tips to help you out. Her second tip is to set some ground rules to keep everyone on track. She suggests that phones and computers be banned from the planning room, except for one person who can take notes or input info into Align. And, she stresses the importance of confidentiality during discussions. You can share the plan and results with others, but don't give away the details of the conversation that got you there. Everyone needs to be held accountable!
Third tip is to keep the energy up, especially during long planning sessions. She suggests taking breaks to stretch or get some fresh air to stay alert, and avoiding sugary snacks in favor of water. It's also important to have the right people in the room - negativity or people who don't want to be there can bring everyone down and hurt the outcome. Being part of the planning team should be a privilege, according to Jennifer.
We suggest starting off sessions with icebreaker activities to create a comfortable, trusting environment. Vulnerability builds trust, and teams with high trust perform better. According to Jennifer, establishing trust will help make your discussions and planning sessions go more smoothly. If you want to learn more about building trust and creating a safe space for honesty and vulnerability, she recommends checking out The Trust Edge by David Horsager or Dr. Brene Brown's Netflix special.
Her next suggestion is setting goals for what you want to achieve during the session, like prioritizing tasks and tracking them in software. During each section of the day, remind your team what you're aiming for, like identifying one thing to move your business forward during a SWOT analysis. Keep in mind that planning is different from solving problems, so try not to get bogged down in details. Stay focused on outcomes to make sure your planning stays on track and moves forward smoothly.
According to Jennifer, the biggest problem with strategic planning is when the top brass comes in with different ideas on how to move the company forward. This makes it impossible to get the team aligned. To avoid this, have a pre-planning meeting with the executive team to draft company priorities. This helps create a unified vision even before the actual planning starts. Although the output of the preplanning may still be a draft, it will guide the executive team and focus everyone's attention during the actual planning. For more ideas on building alignment, we recommend reading Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
The last piece of advice is for leaders is to push for clear and specific outcomes during planning sessions. Don't settle for wishy-washy goals that lack alignment and accountability - this way the team can take ownership of the execution. To help with this, we suggest using a software tool to track and assign ownership of priorities. If more than one person owns a priority, then nobody owns it. So, it's crucial to assign clear ownership to make sure everyone knows what they're responsible for.
There you have it! Good luck with your strategic planning session and please connect with us if we can help you in any way.