Strategic plans help identify what an organization strives to become and the steps needed to get there. I will walk you through each step and give you some examples to each step.
Step 1: Write a Vision Statement
A Vision Statement is a statement (typically 2-3 sentences simply stated) that gives the reader (and more importantly the organization) a mental picture of what the organization hopes to become or what the organization hopes to achieve. It is important to understand where an organization is going before it can develop a strategic plan on how to get there. The organizational value of a vision statement is that is gives leadership and employees a shared goal.
To facilitate the visioning session:
a. Get the visionaries in a room.
b. Ask them to close their eyes and describe the mental picture they see when the organization has reached its optimal state.
c. Document thoughts that describe the picture on a flip chart.
d. Come to agreement on all that is described.
e. Take some time to wordsmith or play with the wording until it describes the thoughts accurately.
Example Vision Statement: “ABC Dry Cleaners will be the premier professional laundry of the metropolitan area by providing unmatched customer service and cleaning services that exceed the competition”.
Step 2: Write a Mission Statement
A Mission Statement is an explanation of why an organization exists and the path it will take to achieve its vision. Mission statements are typically shorter than a vision statement but not always and are organization specific. This is a statement that describes what the organization is passionate about and why it exists.
To facilitate the mission statement process:
a. Have group look at vision statement and begin process to brainstorm mission statement.
b. Go around the room and have everyone give a brief description (5-7 words) describing their thoughts and flip chart them.
c. Once all have put their ideas down, look for similarities and usually a natural statement will flush itself out.
Example Mission Statement: We exist to “help our customers care for and extend the life of their clothes investment”.
Step 3: Perform a Gap Analysis
A Gap Analysis is a process an organization goes through to identify the “gaps” between its current state and its vision. To do a gap analysis, simply look at where the organization is and compare it to where it hopes to be. This process typically involves a step of researching data outside the organization as well as taking a good hard look at data within the organization. Examples of gaps an organization might look at would be: Market Share, Financials, Customer Satisfaction, and Quality of products/service. These are considered Critical Success Factors.
Example Organizations current state:
a. Customer Satisfaction scores of 65;
b. Profit margin 1%
c. 10% of market share
d. 10% return on poor quality cleanings
Step 4: Write SMART Goals
for 5 years out (some organizations choose to go shorter or longer depending on the organization).
Example Organizational Goals:
a. By 2015 ABC Dry Cleaner will have a customer satisfaction rate of 85
b. By 2015 ABC Dry Cleaner will have a profit margin of 5%
c. By 2015 ABC Dry Cleaner will have a 25% market share
d. By 2015 ABC Dry Cleaner will have less than 2% return for poor quality cleanings
Now this is where the rubber meets the road. Goals are a wonderful thing to have but unless they are implemented and someone is held accountable (see Performance Appraisal Process) they are nothing more than words on a piece of paper.
To give goals some teeth they need to be taken down to the department and ultimately the employee level. This means identifying the “who” will get it done.
Example Goal Document
| Goal | Action Steps | Resources Needed | Responsible Party | Due Date | Status |
| Improve Customer Satisfaction Rating by 25 pts. | 1 Perform customer Focus Group2 Identify areas of improvement
3 develop plan to address issues and implement improvements |
1. Possible outside focus group moderator | Susan Smith | By End of 2nd Quarter | |
| Reduce customer return by 5% | 1 Develop Customer Return tracking log2 track returns for 90 days
3 compile list of return issues 4 develop plan to address quality issues. |
Todd Jones | By End of 1st quarter |
Step 5: Monitor Progress
Goals should be monitored at least on a quarterly basis. This can be as simple as asking the responsible person to give a status update on their goals for the quarter. It is very important that this is done because all organizations are so busy today that the day-to-day responsibilities can sometimes get in the way of the longer term goals.
Once a year, usually in the fall before a year begins the strategy and goals should be re-reviewed and updated to reflect current market conditions and changes to ensure that goals are focused on current.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
This is a wonderfully concise description of the business planning process! I found the Goal Document particularly useful. Thanks!
- Carma