• Business strategy |
  • What is strategic planning? A 5-step gu ...

What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

Julia Martins contributor headshot

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. In this article, we'll guide you through the strategic planning process, including why it's important, the benefits and best practices, and five steps to get you from beginning to end.

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. The strategic planning process informs your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals.

Strategic planning helps you clearly define your company’s long-term objectives—and maps how your short-term goals and work will help you achieve them. This, in turn, gives you a clear sense of where your organization is going and allows you to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact. Think of it this way—if your goals and objectives are your destination on a map, your strategic plan is your navigation system.

In this article, we walk you through the 5-step strategic planning process and show you how to get started developing your own strategic plan.

How to build an organizational strategy

Get our free ebook and learn how to bridge the gap between mission, strategic goals, and work at your organization.

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization’s mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives. The product of the planning cycle is a strategic plan, which is shared throughout the company.

What is a strategic plan?

[inline illustration] Strategic plan elements (infographic)

A strategic plan is the end result of the strategic planning process. At its most basic, it’s a tool used to define your organization’s goals and what actions you’ll take to achieve them.

Typically, your strategic plan should include: 

Your company’s mission statement

Your organizational goals, including your long-term goals and short-term, yearly objectives

Any plan of action, tactics, or approaches you plan to take to meet those goals

What are the benefits of strategic planning?

Strategic planning can help with goal setting and decision-making by allowing you to map out how your company will move toward your organization’s vision and mission statements in the next three to five years. Let’s circle back to our map metaphor. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).

When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:

Build a strong organizational culture by clearly defining and aligning on your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

Align everyone around a shared purpose and ensure all departments and teams are working toward a common objective.

Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go and achieve desired outcomes.

Promote a long-term vision for your company rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.

Ensure resources are allocated around the most high-impact priorities.

Define long-term goals and set shorter-term goals to support them.

Assess your current situation and identify any opportunities—or threats—allowing your organization to mitigate potential risks.

Create a proactive business culture that enables your organization to respond more swiftly to emerging market changes and opportunities.

What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?

The strategic planning process involves a structured methodology that guides the organization from vision to implementation. The strategic planning process starts with assembling a small, dedicated team of key strategic planners—typically five to 10 members—who will form the strategic planning, or management, committee. This team is responsible for gathering crucial information, guiding the development of the plan, and overseeing strategy execution.

Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the planning process. 

Step 1: Assess your current business strategy and business environment

Before you can define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. Understanding the external environment, including market trends and competitive landscape, is crucial in the initial assessment phase of strategic planning.

To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders, like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:

Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future.

Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services.

Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether about the product, business practices, or the day-to-day company culture.

Consider different types of strategic planning tools and analytical techniques to gather this information, such as:

A balanced scorecard to help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process). 

To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:

What does your organization currently do well?

What separates you from your competitors?

What are your most valuable internal resources?

What tangible assets do you have?

What is your biggest strength? 

Weaknesses:

What does your organization do poorly?

What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?

What do your competitors do better than you?

What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?

What processes or products need improvement? 

Opportunities:

What opportunities does your organization have?

How can you leverage your unique company strengths?

Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?

How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?

Is there an emerging need for your product or service? 

What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?

Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?

Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?

Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company? 

Step 2: Identify your company’s goals and objectives

To begin strategy development, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your vision, mission, and current position to identify and define your goals—these are your final destination. 

To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” “What’s the ideal future state of this company?” This can help you figure out which path you need to take to get there.

During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents, such as:

Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose.

Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision.

Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company.

Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market.

Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years.

Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in.

Step 3: Develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics

Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Take your current business position and strategy into account, as well as your organization’s goals and objectives, and build out a strategic plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your plan should be created or revisited as the quarters and years go on.

As you build your strategic plan, you should define:

Company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.

Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals . 

Related key results and KPIs. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable. These KPIs will help you track progress and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.

A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.

Step 4: Implement and share your plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action. Strategy implementation involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success. 

Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to the strategic plan, so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and the overall strategy map. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management platform .  

A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch: 

Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process, to ensure all team members understand the strategic plan and how to implement it effectively. 

Define what “success” looks like by mapping your strategic plan to key performance indicators.

Ensure that the actions outlined in the strategic plan are integrated into the daily operations of the organization, so that every team member's daily activities are aligned with the broader strategic objectives.

Utilize tools and software—like a work management platform—that can aid in implementing and tracking the progress of your plan.

Regularly monitor and share the progress of the strategic plan with the entire organization, to keep everyone informed and reinforce the importance of the plan.

Establish regular check-ins to monitor the progress of your strategic plan and make adjustments as needed. 

Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed

Once you’ve created and implemented your new strategic framework, the final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.

Remember, your strategic plan isn’t set in stone. You’ll need to revisit and update the plan if your company changes directions or makes new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan. Make sure to review your plan regularly—meaning quarterly and annually—to ensure it’s still aligned with your organization’s vision and goals.

Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever, even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.

Build a smarter strategic plan with a work management platform

To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done. 

A work management platform plays a pivotal role in this process. It acts as a central hub for your strategic plan, ensuring that every task and project is directly tied to your broader company goals. This alignment is crucial for visibility and coordination, allowing team members to see how their individual efforts contribute to the company’s success. 

By leveraging such a platform, you not only streamline workflow and enhance team productivity but also align every action with your strategic objectives—allowing teams to drive greater impact and helping your company move toward goals more effectively. 

Strategic planning FAQs

Still have questions about strategic planning? We have answers.

Why do I need a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics that will help your company be successful.

When should I create a strategic plan?

You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed.

Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets. 

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a tool organizations can use to map out their strategic plan and track progress. Typically, a strategic planning template houses all the components needed to build out a strategic plan, including your company’s vision and mission statements, information from any competitive analyses or SWOT assessments, and relevant KPIs.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. business plan?

A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.

You should create a business plan when you’re: 

Just starting your business

Significantly restructuring your business

If your business is already established, you should create a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements?

Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.

Simply put: 

A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose.

A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose.

A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction. 

For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:

Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.” 

Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.” 

Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners. 

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. company objectives?

Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time. 

Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a business case?

A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business. 

You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a project plan?

A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan. 

What’s the difference between strategic management vs. strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning how you will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

Related resources

strategic plan development steps

Business impact analysis: 4 steps to prepare for anything

strategic plan development steps

The beginner’s guide to business process management (BPM)

strategic plan development steps

Project portfolio management 101

strategic plan development steps

Marketing campaign management: 7 steps for success

Build Your 2024 AI Transformation Roadmap 🚀

The strategic planning process in 4 steps, to help you throughout our strategic planning framework, we have created a how-to guide on the basics of a strategic plan, which we will take you through step-by-step..

Free Strategic Planning Guide

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic Planning is when organizations define a bold vision and create a plan with objectives and goals to reach that future. A great strategic plan defines where your organization is going, how you’ll win, who must do what, and how you’ll review and adapt your strategy development.

What

Overview of the Strategic Planning Process:

The strategic management process involves taking your organization on a journey from point A (where you are today) to point B (your vision of the future).

Part of that journey is the strategy built during strategic planning, and part of it is execution during the strategic management process. A good strategic plan dictates “how” you travel the selected road.

Effective execution ensures you are reviewing, refreshing, and recalibrating your strategy to reach your destination. The planning process should take no longer than 90 days. But, move at a pace that works best for you and your team and leverage this as a resource.

To kick this process off, we recommend 1-2 weeks (1-hour meeting with the Owner/CEO, Strategy Director, and Facilitator (if necessary) to discuss the information collected and direction for continued planning.)

Strategic Planning Guide and Process

Questions to Ask:

  • Who is on your Planning Team? What senior leadership members and key stakeholders are included? Checkout these links you need help finding a strategic planning consultant , someone to facilitate strategic planning , or expert AI strategy consulting .
  • Who will be the business process owner (Strategy Director) of planning in your organization?
  • Fast forward 12 months from now, what do you want to see differently in your organization as a result of your strategic plan and implementation?
  • Planning team members are informed of their roles and responsibilities.
  • A strategic planning schedule is established.
  • Existing planning information and secondary data collected.

Action Grid:

What

Step 1: Determine Organizational Readiness

Set up your plan for success – questions to ask:

  • Are the conditions and criteria for successful planning in place at the current time? Can certain pitfalls be avoided?
  • Is this the appropriate time for your organization to initiate a planning process? Yes or no? If no, where do you go from here?

Step 2: Develop Your Team & Schedule

Who is going to be on your planning team? You need to choose someone to oversee the strategy implementation (Chief Strategy Officer or Strategy Director) and strategic management of your plan? You need some of the key individuals and decision makers for this team. It should be a small group of approximately 12-15 people.

OnStrategy is the leader in strategic planning and performance management. Our cloud-based software and hands-on services closes the gap between strategy and execution. Learn more about OnStrategy here .

Step 3: Collect Current Data

All strategic plans are developed using the following information:

  • The last strategic plan, even if it is not current
  • Mission statement, vision statement, values statement
  • Past or current Business plan
  • Financial records for the last few years
  • Marketing plan
  • Other information, such as last year’s SWOT, sales figures and projections

Step 4: Review Collected Data

Review the data collected in the last action with your strategy director and facilitator.

  • What trends do you see?
  • Are there areas of obvious weakness or strengths?
  • Have you been following a plan or have you just been going along with the market?

Conclusion: A successful strategic plan must be adaptable to changing conditions. Organizations benefit from having a flexible plan that can evolve, as assumptions and goals may need adjustments. Preparing to adapt or restart the planning process is crucial, so we recommend updating actions quarterly and refreshing your plan annually.

Strategic Planning Pyramid

Strategic Planning Phase 1: Determine Your Strategic Position

Want more? Dive into the “ Evaluate Your Strategic Position ” How-To Guide.

Action Grid

Step 1: identify strategic issues.

Strategic issues are critical unknowns driving you to embark on a robust strategic planning process. These issues can be problems, opportunities, market shifts, or anything else that keeps you awake at night and begging for a solution or decision. The best strategic plans address your strategic issues head-on.

  • How will we grow, stabilize, or retrench in order to sustain our organization into the future?
  • How will we diversify our revenue to reduce our dependence on a major customer?
  • What must we do to improve our cost structure and stay competitive?
  • How and where must we innovate our products and services?

Step 2: Conduct an Environmental Scan

Conducting an environmental scan will help you understand your operating environment. An environmental scan is called a PEST analysis, an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological trends. Sometimes, it is helpful to include Ecological and Legal trends as well. All of these trends play a part in determining the overall business environment.

Step 3: Conduct a Competitive Analysis

The reason to do a competitive analysis is to assess the opportunities and threats that may occur from those organizations competing for the same business you are. You need to understand what your competitors are or aren’t offering your potential customers. Here are a few other key ways a competitive analysis fits into strategic planning:

  • To help you assess whether your competitive advantage is really an advantage.
  • To understand what your competitors’ current and future strategies are so you can plan accordingly.
  • To provide information that will help you evaluate your strategic decisions against what your competitors may or may not be doing.

Learn more on how to conduct a competitive analysis here .

Step 4: Identify Opportunities and Threats

Opportunities are situations that exist but must be acted on if the business is to benefit from them.

What do you want to capitalize on?

  • What new needs of customers could you meet?
  • What are the economic trends that benefit you?
  • What are the emerging political and social opportunities?
  • What niches have your competitors missed?

Threats refer to external conditions or barriers preventing a company from reaching its objectives.

What do you need to mitigate? What external driving force do you need to anticipate?

Questions to Answer:

  • What are the negative economic trends?
  • What are the negative political and social trends?
  • Where are competitors about to bite you?
  • Where are you vulnerable?

Step 5: Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths refer to what your company does well.

What do you want to build on?

  • What do you do well (in sales, marketing, operations, management)?
  • What are your core competencies?
  • What differentiates you from your competitors?
  • Why do your customers buy from you?

Weaknesses refer to any limitations a company faces in developing or implementing a strategy.

What do you need to shore up?

  • Where do you lack resources?
  • What can you do better?
  • Where are you losing money?
  • In what areas do your competitors have an edge?

Step 6: Customer Segments

What

Customer segmentation defines the different groups of people or organizations a company aims to reach or serve.

  • What needs or wants define your ideal customer?
  • What characteristics describe your typical customer?
  • Can you sort your customers into different profiles using their needs, wants and characteristics?
  • Can you reach this segment through clear communication channels?

Step 7: Develop Your SWOT

What

A SWOT analysis is a quick way of examining your organization by looking at the internal strengths and weaknesses in relation to the external opportunities and threats. Creating a SWOT analysis lets you see all the important factors affecting your organization together in one place.

It’s easy to read, easy to communicate, and easy to create. Take the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats you developed earlier, review, prioritize, and combine like terms. The SWOT analysis helps you ask and answer the following questions: “How do you….”

  • Build on your strengths
  • Shore up your weaknesses
  • Capitalize on your opportunities
  • Manage your threats

What

Strategic Planning Process Phase 2: Developing Strategy

Want More? Deep Dive Into the “Developing Your Strategy” How-To Guide.

Step 1: Develop Your Mission Statement

The mission statement describes an organization’s purpose or reason for existing.

What is our purpose? Why do we exist? What do we do?

  • What are your organization’s goals? What does your organization intend to accomplish?
  • Why do you work here? Why is it special to work here?
  • What would happen if we were not here?

Outcome: A short, concise, concrete statement that clearly defines the scope of the organization.

Step 2: discover your values.

Your values statement clarifies what your organization stands for, believes in and the behaviors you expect to see as a result. Check our the post on great what are core values and examples of core values .

How will we behave?

  • What are the key non-negotiables that are critical to the company’s success?
  • What guiding principles are core to how we operate in this organization?
  • What behaviors do you expect to see?
  • If the circumstances changed and penalized us for holding this core value, would we still keep it?

Outcome: Short list of 5-7 core values.

Step 3: casting your vision statement.

What

A Vision Statement defines your desired future state and directs where we are going as an organization.

Where are we going?

  • What will our organization look like 5–10 years from now?
  • What does success look like?
  • What are we aspiring to achieve?
  • What mountain are you climbing and why?

Outcome: A picture of the future.

Step 4: identify your competitive advantages.

How to Identify Competitive Advantages

A competitive advantage is a characteristic of an organization that allows it to meet its customer’s need(s) better than its competition can. It’s important to consider your competitive advantages when creating your competitive strategy.

What are we best at?

  • What are your unique strengths?
  • What are you best at in your market?
  • Do your customers still value what is being delivered? Ask them.
  • How do your value propositions stack up in the marketplace?

Outcome: A list of 2 or 3 items that honestly express the organization’s foundation for winning.

Step 5: crafting your organization-wide strategies.

What

Your competitive strategy is the general methods you intend to use to reach your vision. Regardless of the level, a strategy answers the question “how.”

How will we succeed?

  • Broad: market scope; a relatively wide market emphasis.
  • Narrow: limited to only one or few segments in the market
  • Does your competitive position focus on lowest total cost or product/service differentiation or both?

Outcome: Establish the general, umbrella methods you intend to use to reach your vision.

What

Phase 3: Strategic Plan Development

Want More? Deep Dive Into the “Build Your Plan” How-To Guide.

Strategic Planning Process Step 1: Use Your SWOT to Set Priorities

If your team wants to take the next step in the SWOT analysis, apply the TOWS Strategic Alternatives Matrix to your strategy map to help you think about the options you could pursue. To do this, match external opportunities and threats with your internal strengths and weaknesses, as illustrated in the matrix below:

TOWS Strategic Alternatives Matrix

Evaluate the options you’ve generated, and identify the ones that give the greatest benefit, and that best achieve the mission and vision of your organization. Add these to the other strategic options that you’re considering.

Step 2: Define Long-Term Strategic Objectives

Long-Term Strategic Objectives are long-term, broad, continuous statements that holistically address all areas of your organization. What must we focus on to achieve our vision? Check out examples of strategic objectives here. What are the “big rocks”?

Questions to ask:

  • What are our shareholders or stakeholders expectations for our financial performance or social outcomes?
  • To reach our outcomes, what value must we provide to our customers? What is our value proposition?
  • To provide value, what process must we excel at to deliver our products and services?
  • To drive our processes, what skills, capabilities and organizational structure must we have?

Outcome: Framework for your plan – no more than 6. You can use the balanced scorecard framework, OKRs, or whatever methodology works best for you. Just don’t exceed 6 long-term objectives.

Strategy Map

Step 3: Setting Organization-Wide Goals and Measures

What

Once you have formulated your strategic objectives, you should translate them into goals and measures that can be communicated to your strategic planning team (team of business leaders and/or team members).

You want to set goals that convert the strategic objectives into specific performance targets. Effective strategic goals clearly state what, when, how, and who, and they are specifically measurable. They should address what you must do in the short term (think 1-3 years) to achieve your strategic objectives.

Organization-wide goals are annual statements that are SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-bound. These are outcome statements expressing a result to achieve the desired outcomes expected in the organization.

What is most important right now to reach our long-term objectives?

Outcome: clear outcomes for the current year..

Strategic Planning Outcomes Table

Step 4: Select KPIs

What

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are the key measures that will have the most impact in moving your organization forward. We recommend you guide your organization with measures that matter. See examples of KPIs here.

How will we measure our success?

Outcome: 5-7 measures that help you keep the pulse on your performance. When selecting your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), ask, “What are the key performance measures we need to track to monitor if we are achieving our goals?” These KPIs include the key goals you want to measure that will have the most impact on moving your organization forward.

Step 5: Cascade Your Strategies to Operations

NPS Step #5

To move from big ideas to action, creating action items and to-dos for short-term goals is crucial. This involves translating strategy from the organizational level to individuals. Functional area managers and contributors play a role in developing short-term goals to support the organization.

Before taking action, decide whether to create plans directly derived from the strategic plan or sync existing operational, business, or account plans with organizational goals. Avoid the pitfall of managing multiple sets of goals and actions, as this shifts from strategic planning to annual planning.

Questions to Ask

  • How are we going to get there at a functional level?
  • Who must do what by when to accomplish and drive the organizational goals?
  • What strategic questions still remain and need to be solved?

Department/functional goals, actions, measures and targets for the next 12-24 months

Step 6: Cascading Goals to Departments and Team Members

Now in your Departments / Teams, you need to create goals to support the organization-wide goals. These goals should still be SMART and are generally (short-term) something to be done in the next 12-18 months. Finally, you should develop an action plan for each goal.

Keep the acronym SMART in mind again when setting action items, and make sure they include start and end dates and have someone assigned their responsibility. Since these action items support your previously established goals, it may be helpful to consider action items your immediate plans on the way to achieving your (short-term) goals. In other words, identify all the actions that need to occur in the next 90 days and continue this same process every 90 days until the goal is achieved.

Examples of Cascading Goals:

What

Phase 4: Executing Strategy and Managing Performance

Want more? Dive Into the “Managing Performance” How-To Guide.

Step 1: Strategic Plan Implementation Schedule

Implementation is the process that turns strategies and plans into actions in order to accomplish strategic objectives and goals.

How will we use the plan as a management tool?

  • Communication Schedule: How and when will you roll-out your plan to your staff? How frequently will you send out updates?
  • Process Leader: Who is your strategy director?
  • Structure: What are the dates for your strategy reviews (we recommend at least quarterly)?
  • System & Reports: What are you expecting each staff member to come prepared with to those strategy review sessions?

Outcome: Syncing your plan into the “rhythm of your business.”

Once your resources are in place, you can set your implementation schedule. Use the following steps as your base implementation plan:

  • Establish your performance management and reward system.
  • Set up monthly and quarterly strategy meetings with established reporting procedures.
  • Set up annual strategic review dates including new assessments and a large group meeting for an annual plan review.

Now you’re ready to start plan roll-out. Below are sample implementation schedules, which double for a full strategic management process timeline.

Strategic Planning Calendar

Step 2: Tracking Goals & Actions

Monthly strategy meetings don’t need to take a lot of time – 30 to 60 minutes should suffice. But it is important that key team members report on their progress toward the goals they are responsible for – including reporting on metrics in the scorecard they have been assigned.

By using the measurements already established, it’s easy to make course corrections if necessary. You should also commit to reviewing your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) during these regular meetings. Need help comparing strategic planning software ? Check out our guide.

Effective Strategic Planning: Your Bi-Annual Checklist

What

Never lose sight of the fact that strategic plans are guidelines, not rules. Every six months or so, you should evaluate your strategy execution and strategic plan implementation by asking these key questions:

  • Will your goals be achieved within the time frame of the plan? If not, why?
  • Should the deadlines be modified? (Before you modify deadlines, figure out why you’re behind schedule.)
  • Are your goals and action items still realistic?
  • Should the organization’s focus be changed to put more emphasis on achieving your goals?
  • Should your goals be changed? (Be careful about making these changes – know why efforts aren’t achieving the goals before changing the goals.)
  • What can be gathered from an adaptation to improve future planning activities?

Why Track Your Goals?

  • Ownership: Having a stake and responsibility in the plan makes you feel part of it and leads you to drive your goals forward.
  • Culture: Successful plans tie tracking and updating goals into organizational culture.
  • Implementation: If you don’t review and update your strategic goals, they are just good intentions
  • Accountability: Accountability and high visibility help drive change. This means that each measure, objective, data source and initiative must have an owner.
  • Empowerment: Changing goals from In Progress to Complete just feels good!

Step 3: Review & Adapt

Guidelines for your strategy review.

The most important part of this meeting is a 70/30 review. 30% is about reviewing performance, and 70% should be spent on making decisions to move the company’s strategy forward in the next quarter.

The best strategic planners spend about 60-90 minutes in the sessions. Holding meetings helps focus your goals on accomplishing top priorities and accelerating the organization’s growth. Although the meeting structure is relatively simple, it does require a high degree of discipline.

Strategy Review Session Questions:

Strategic planning frequently asked questions, read our frequently asked questions about strategic planning to learn how to build a great strategic plan..

Strategic planning is when organizations define a bold vision and create a plan with objectives and goals to reach that future. A great strategic plan defines where your organization is going, how you’ll win, who must do what, and how you’ll review and adapt your strategy..

Your strategic plan needs to include an assessment of your current state, a SWOT analysis, mission, vision, values, competitive advantages, growth strategy, growth enablers, a 3-year roadmap, and annual plan with strategic goals, OKRs, and KPIs.

A strategic planning process should take no longer than 90 days to complete from start to finish! Any longer could fatigue your organization and team.

There are four overarching phases to the strategic planning process that include: determining position, developing your strategy, building your plan, and managing performance. Each phase plays a unique but distinctly crucial role in the strategic planning process.

Prior to starting your strategic plan, you must go through this pre-planning process to determine your organization’s readiness by following these steps:

Ask yourself these questions: Are the conditions and criteria for successful planning in place now? Can we foresee any pitfalls that we can avoid? Is there an appropriate time for our organization to initiate this process?

Develop your team and schedule. Who will oversee the implementation as Chief Strategy Officer or Director? Do we have at least 12-15 other key individuals on our team?

Research and Collect Current Data. Find the following resources that your organization may have used in the past to assist you with your new plan: last strategic plan, mission, vision, and values statement, business plan, financial records, marketing plan, SWOT, sales figures, or projections.

Finally, review the data with your strategy director and facilitator and ask these questions: What trends do we see? Any obvious strengths or weaknesses? Have we been following a plan or just going along with the market?

Join 60,000 other leaders engaged in transforming their organizations.

Subscribe to get the latest agile strategy best practices, free guides, case studies, and videos in your inbox every week..

Keystone

Leading strategy? Join our FREE community.

Become a member of the chief strategy officer collaborative..

OnStrategy Collaborative

Free monthly sessions and exclusive content.

Do you want to 2x your impact.

strategic plan development steps

Cart

  • SUGGESTED TOPICS
  • The Magazine
  • Newsletters
  • Managing Yourself
  • Managing Teams
  • Work-life Balance
  • The Big Idea
  • Data & Visuals
  • Reading Lists
  • Case Selections
  • HBR Learning
  • Topic Feeds
  • Account Settings
  • Email Preferences

6 Steps to Make Your Strategic Plan Really Strategic

  • Graham Kenny

strategic plan development steps

You don’t need dozens of strategic goals.

Many strategic plans aren’t strategic, or even plans. To fix that, try a six step process: first, identify key stakeholders. Second, identify a specific, very important key stakeholder: your target customer. Third, figure out what these stakeholders want from you. Fourth, figure out what you want from them. Fifth, design your strategy around these requirements. Sixth, focus on continuously improving this plan.

Why is it that when a group of managers gets together for a strategic planning session they often emerge with a document that’s devoid of “strategy”, and often not even a plan ?

strategic plan development steps

  • Graham Kenny is CEO of  Strategic Factors and author of the book Strategy Discovery.   He is a recognized expert in strategy and performance measurement who helps managers, executives, and boards create successful organizations in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. He has been a professor of management in universities in the U.S., and Canada.  You can connect to or follow him on  LinkedIn .

Partner Center

Logo

Perfecting the strategy development process: 8 steps to success

Download our free Strategic Planning Template Download this template

You might have heard that we're a little nerdy about strategy development here at Cascade. What you might not know is that our nerdiness extends to a love of the fantasy series, The Witcher (and it’s not because Henry Cavill is built like the king of the lumberjacks).

Witchers draw on extensive knowledge to carefully plan for every battle—their success is a product of carefully considered strategy, perfect execution, and a willingness to improvise.

Unfortunately, most businesses don’t have much in common with fantasy action dramas. Only 22% of employees feel that their leaders have a clear direction for their organization. That lack of focus could cause you to miss out on your goals (or a troll could eat you—we're not sure which is worse).

Here’s what you will learn in this article: 

What is strategy development? 

When do you need to develop new strategies .

  • 8 steps of the strategy development process
  • What makes a good strategy 
  • Develop your own strategy

Free Download Download our Strategic Planning Template Download this template

Strategy development is the process an organization uses to determine how it will allocate its resources and get maximum impact from its people to achieve its objectives. It's the act a team will conduct to produce a measurable and specific action plan intended to help the business operate, innovate, and grow.

As you focus on strategy development, you must consider your business model and how you can engage everyone from the bottom up. They all must believe in your mission statement and vision if you are going to tap into their collective abilities to gain a competitive advantage. 

An effective strategy is agile, making it easy for you to quickly adapt to changes in circumstance, seize new opportunities, and remain relevant in a dynamic marketplace where customer interests change with the wind. It bobs and weaves like a sword-wielding (yet approachable) monster slayer in leather pants.

You may not always need to develop a brand new strategy every time you face a new challenge—you can tweak the existing one. That's not to say you should never scrap a strategy that isn't working. Sometimes, it's best to start from scratch. 

In all cases, strategic decisions are a product of your unique circumstances—if you're connected to your strategy, you will be best placed to decide what to do and when.

8 steps of the strategy development process 

With the basics covered, it's time to find out how you can help your people do their most meaningful work and drive your business to hit its goals. Let’s break it down with our eight-step strategy development process:

1. Determine your strategic position

Before you can set off on a new strategy adventure, you must get a fix on your current status. As you take a moment to review your assets and core competencies, you can avoid any snap judgments that over-commit your resources (or underestimate how much you need). You’ll also have a comparison point to look back on when you try to measure success.

A SWOT analysis is an effective tool that gives you a holistic overview of your current situation before getting into the weeds. It’s a smart idea to log key data such as revenues, employees, satisfaction levels, and other metrics at this point—the more information you have to compare with later, the more you will understand the impact of your strategy and how to adapt it in future.

2. Define your vision

Next, translate your overall business plan, vision, or mission into achievable strategic goals. You need quantifiable, realistic targets for your business as a whole that everyone can get behind and contribute towards. Consider how you will achieve these targets on every business level, from the top-down and the bottom-up.

We recommend you use the SMART framework to set goals that are Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. It's good to set KPIs (key performance indicators) at every level, from your overarching organizational goals to individual project targets. This approach is a great way to clarify the roadmap and help everyone connect their work to the vision, which closes the planning to execution gap.

3. Prioritize your strategic objectives

Right, you're kitted out, and you've got your strategic goals. What's next? Make sure there’s good coffee in the break room, right? No? What about a princely gift to the CEO to boost morale?

Not all objectives are created equal, and your task is now to get your ducks in a row to show your team what matters most. You must think about budget, time, impact, and the alignment of any daily actions with your organizational goals and overall vision.

When you create a hierarchy of goals, it guides your decision-making when you face challenges later. You may need to compromise something (like the budget for soya milk in the office kitchen), but with clarity on your objectives, your people will always know what to focus on and what is expendable. 

4. Decide who to involve in strategy development

Collaboration is crucial when you develop a strategy. So, you must make your people a priority. A human-centric attitude can benefit every stage of strategy development, but it is imperative once you have set and prioritized your primary objectives.

Consider which individuals and teams you need to reach each goal. In the spirit of strategy democratization, you must bring everyone on board (even Matt in legal, who always vetos your fun marketing ideas).

The more input and buy-in you get, the more engagement and enthusiasm you’ll see. In turn, it’s more likely that people will reach their targets. Where multiple teams have the same objective, ensure that there are clear channels for communication and collaboration between them. 

5. Figure out how to allocate your resources

Which team gets what and why? Is there a plan to help any team request more resources based on performance? Are the allowances realistic? Does everyone have enough coffee and staplers? 

The questions are endless. Everyone expects easy access to what they need. Trade-offs may be necessary, so refer to your priorities, and decide which areas are most important and when to cut losses. 

Don’t forget to include a safety net for unforeseen expenses, as you don't want to run out of anything mid-project. That said, you must incorporate limits, so you don't unwittingly drain the budget.

strategy development dashboard

Keep track of your team members' capacity and assign responsibilities accordingly.  

Humans are often neglected. In your business, remember people need to rest and have a good work-life balance. Even inanimate objects like car engines or computers will burn out quickly if they're always running, so be mindful of your people's efforts and spread out crunches between cool-down periods.

6. Roll out the execution

The core purpose of strategy development is to make sure you take your ideas to implementation. For that, you must dream bigger and execute better. 

At this stage, you must share information with your organization. With a focus on team alignment, you can get everyone on the same page about what they need to do and how they need to do it—and why. When people have the details and direction, it's easier to take action. This vital step is what helps your company make the leap from a plan to execution.

strategy development process model

Connect all plans, KPIs, and projects in one place. Cascade gives your teams access to the same data source. Increase transparency and ensure their daily tasks are aligned with the strategic plan. 

The question is, how can you tell if you execute better? How can you know if you do things right or if your actions make any impact at all? That brings us to our final step in strategy development.

7. Review and refocus

Data analytics is the secret to understanding how successful your strategy is in the real world. Remember those KPIs and targets you set on every project? Well, here is where it all makes sense (hopefully!)

Strategy is not like an arrow you fire at a minotaur and then forget—it’s more like a homing fireball spell where you can tweak your trajectory, speed, and power en route for maximum impact. As you track and measure your progress with real-time data feedback, you can identify problems and discover opportunities to add value to your strategy. 

strategy development process roadmap visualized

Create personalized and automated reports within Cascade. You’ll be able to analyze real-time data and make faster key decisions. 

When you make strategy everyone’s business, you can brainstorm better ways to do things in order to get more positive outcomes. Plan regular check-in meetings with everyone and encourage frank, open communication. 

Don’t be afraid to disrupt the way you do strategy if things aren’t panning out, and take the opportunity to revise goals if your people exceed expectations. Also, you must know when to pull the plug. You might be tempted to throw more resources at a problem-riddled project. But listen to your people, listen to the data, and make the hard (but smart) decisions.

8. Reward effective performance

The human-centric approach to strategy development doesn't stop with the plan—you must acknowledge savvy execution. People are happier when they do meaningful work and happier again when their colleague recognize their efforts. If the company doubles its revenue and all you do is roll out some cupcakes on a Friday afternoon, don't be surprised if the performance levels start to drop.

Take your cues from your employees, and don't be afraid to ask them what they would consider a suitable reward for hitting their goals. Try to find a mutually agreed-on reward or incentive structure that will help engage everyone in making your vision theirs and making success happen as a team.

What makes a good strategy (and why it's important)

Execution is what counts—but you first need a solid foundation that charts the course for your people to take action. Without a clear strategy roadmap , people will get lost like an elfen princess in the woods. 

When you get your strategy right, you empower your people with an inclusive plan that gives them more context, clarity, and responsibility. This human-centric approach improves engagement and motivation and ultimately helps you unlock more of your team's potential and reimagine your business's future. 

A good business strategy is dynamic, adaptive, and accessible to everyone in your business (not just the leadership team). And it’s not a one-and-done activity. Strategy development is an iterative, ongoing, collaborative process that constantly considers how to optimize every step of the way from the planning phase to successful execution (and to the celebratory drinks at The Fox tavern on a Saturday night).

These three tips will make your strategy as effective as possible:

  • Be self-aware. Know what you want to represent and achieve as a business and remain true to that vision. Don’t compromise your identity or values, and play to your strengths.
  • Prepare to adapt. You must not stick too rigidly to any plan in the digital age, especially in fast-paced markets. Sure, have a solid strategy, but it's crucial to plan contingencies, review regularly, and make changes whenever needed.
  • Remember to be radically human. People will make your vision a reality, not the jazzy little slideshow or spreadsheet your CEO raved about at that dull presentation. Your people aren't pawns—they're stakeholders you can turn into strategy activists and vision drivers. Put their needs first, and they'll do more for your strategy and vision.

When you excel at strategy development, you can replace the traditional model of an autocratic CEO who barks orders about his vision. Instead, you can usher in a new, open-minded C-suite that foster a close-knit culture where people talk about making our vision a reality. This shift in mindset will catapult you to better outcomes as you give everyone a voice in your strategy. 

Develop your own strategy 

Rejoice! You’ve learned the key ingredients of a perfect action plan. 

While you have done well, there is always more to learn on the path to true mastery of the strategic planning process. Thankfully, we have converted our sacred texts into a handy eBook with step-by-step guides to effective strategy creation, designed to be jargon-free, practical, and drawing on the experience of thousands of successful strategy executions . Strategy development just got a whole lot easier. 

Popular articles

strategic plan development steps

How To Implement The Balanced Scorecard Framework (With Examples)

strategic plan development steps

The Best Management Reporting Software For Strategy Officers (2024 Guide)

strategic plan development steps

How To Set And Execute Strategic Priorities

strategic plan development steps

How To Implement Effective Strategic Planning In Healthcare

Your toolkit for strategy success.

strategic plan development steps

The Complete Guide to Writing a Strategic Plan

By Joe Weller | April 12, 2019 (updated January 31, 2024)

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn

Link copied

Writing a strategic plan can be daunting, as the process includes many steps. In this article, you’ll learn the basics of writing a strategic plan, what to include, common challenges, and more.

Included on this page, you'll find details on what to include in a strategic plan , the importance of an executive summary , how to write a mission statement , how to write a vision statement , and more.

The Basics of Writing a Strategic Plan

The strategic planning process takes time, but the payoff is huge. If done correctly, your strategic plan will engage and align stakeholders around your company’s priorities.

Strategic planning, also called strategy development or analysis and assessment , requires attention to detail and should be performed by someone who can follow through on next steps and regular updates. Strategic plans are not static documents — they change as new circumstances arise, both internally and externally.

Before beginning the strategic planning process, it’s important to make sure you have buy-in from management, a board of directors, or other leaders. Without it, the process cannot succeed.

Next, gather your planning team. The group should include people from various departments at different levels, and the planning process should be an open, free discussion within the group. It’s important for leaders to get input from the group as a whole, but they don’t necessarily need approval from everyone — that will slow down the process.

The plan author is responsible for writing and putting the final plan together and should work with a smaller group of writers to establish and standardize the tone and style of the final document or presentation.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to hire an external party to help facilitate the strategic planning process.

John Bryson

“It often can be helpful to have a really good facilitator to organize and pursue strategic conversations,” says Professor John M. Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement .

Byson says the facilitator can be in-house or external, but they need experience. “You need to make sure someone is good, so there needs to be a vetting process,” he says.

One way to gauge a facilitator’s experience is by asking how they conduct conversations. “It’s important for facilitators to lead by asking questions,” Bryson says.

Bryson says that strong facilitators often ask the following questions:

What is the situation we find ourselves in?

What do we do?

How do we do it?

How do we link our purposes to our capabilities?

The facilitators also need to be able to handle conflict and diffuse situations by separating idea generation from judgement. “Conflict is part of strategic planning,” Bryson admits. “[Facilitators] need to hold the conversations open long enough to get enough ideas out there to be able to make wise choices.”

These outside helpers are sometimes more effective than internal facilitators since they are not emotionally invested in the outcome of the process. Thus, they can concentrate on the process and ask difficult questions.

A strategic plan is a dynamic document or presentation that details your company’s present situation, outlines your future plans, and shows you how the company can get there. You can take many approaches to the process and consider differing ideas about what needs to go into it, but some general concepts stand.

“Strategic planning is a prompt or a facilitator for fostering strategic thinking, acting, and learning,” says Bryson. He explains that he often begins planning projects with three questions:

What do you want to do?

How are we going to do it?

What would happen if you did what you want to do?

The answers to these questions make up the meat of the planning document.

A strategic plan is only effective when the writing and thinking is clear, since the intent is to help an organization keep to its mission through programs and capacity, while also building stakeholder engagement.

Question 1: Where Are We Now?

The answer (or answers) to the first question — where are we now? — addresses the foundation of your organization, and it can serve as an outline for the following sections of your strategic plan:

Mission statement

Core values and guiding principles

Identification of competing organizations

Industry analysis (this can include a SWOT or PEST analysis)

Question 2: Where Are We Going?

The answers to this question help you identify your goals for the future of the business and assess whether your current trajectory is the future you want. These aspects of the plan outline a strategy for achieving success and can include the following:

Vision statement about what the company will look like in the future

What is happening (both internally and externally) and what needs to change

The factors necessary for success

Question 3: How Do We Get There?

The answers to this question help you outline the many routes you can take to achieve your vision and match your strengths with opportunities in the market. A Gantt chart can help you map out and keep track of these initiatives.

You should include the following sections:

Specific and measurable goals

An execution plan that identifies who manages and monitors the plan

An evaluation plan that shows how you plan to measure the successes and setbacks that come with implementation

What to Include in a Strategic Plan

Strategic planning terminology is not standardized throughout the industry, and this can lead to confusion. Instead, strategic planning experts use many names for the different sections of a strategic plan.

Denise McNerney

“The terms are all over the map. It’s really the concept of what the intention of the terms are [that is important],” says Denise McNerney, President and CEO of iBossWell, Inc. , and incoming president of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). She recommends coming up with a kind of glossary that defines the terms for your team. “One of the most important elements when you’re starting the strategic planning process is to get some clarity on the nomenclature. It’s just what works for your organization. Every organization is slightly different.”

No matter what terms you use, the general idea of a strategic plan is the same. “It’s like drawing a map for your company. One of the first steps is committing to a process, then determining how you’re going to do it,” McNerney explains.

She uses a basic diagram that she calls the strategic plan architecture . The areas above the red dotted line are the strategic parts of the plan. Below the red dotted line are the implementation pieces.

Strategic Plan Architecture

While the specific terminology varies, basic sections of a strategic plan include the following in roughly this order:

Executive summary

Elevator pitch or company description

Vision statement

Industry analysis

Marketing plan

Operations plan

Financial projections

Evaluation methods

Signature page

Some plans will contain all the above sections, but others will not — what you include depends on your organization’s structure and culture.

“I want to keep it simple, so organizations can be successful in achieving [the strategic plan],” McNerney explains. “Your plan has to be aligned with your culture and your culture needs to be aligned with your plan if you’re going to be successful in implementing it.”

The following checklist will help you keep track of what you have done and what you still need to do.

Writing A Strategic Plan Section

‌ Download Strategic Plan Sections Checklist

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Once you’ve assembled your team and defined your terms, it’s time to formalize your ideas by writing the strategic plan. The plan may be in the form of a document, a presentation, or another format.

You can use many models and formats to create your strategic plan (read more about them in this article ). However, you will likely need to include some basic sections, regardless of the particular method you choose (even if the order and way you present them vary). In many cases, the sections of a strategic plan build on each other, so you may have to write them in order.

One tip: Try to avoid jargon and generic terms; for example, words like maximize and succeed lose their punch. Additionally, remember that there are many terms for the same object in strategic planning.

The following sections walk you through how to write common sections of a strategic plan.

How to Write an Executive Summary

The key to writing a strong executive summary is being clear and concise. Don’t feel pressured to put anything and everything into this section — executive summaries should only be about one to two pages long and include the main points of the strategic plan.

The idea is to pique the reader’s interest and get them to read the rest of the plan. Because it functions as a review of the entire document, write the executive summary after you complete the rest of your strategic plan.

Jim Stockmal

“If you have a plan that’s really lengthy, you should have a summary,” says Jim Stockmal, President of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). He always writes summaries last, after he has all the data and information he needs for the plan. He says it is easier to cut than to create something.

For more information about writing an effective executive summary, a checklist, and free templates, read this article .

If you want a one-page executive summary, this template can help you decide what information to include.

One-page Executive Summary Template

Download One-Page Executive Summary Template

Excel | Word | PDF

How to Write a Company Description

Also called an elevator pitch , the company description is a brief outline of your organization and what it does. It should be short enough that it can be read or heard during the average elevator ride.

The company description should include the history of your company, the major products and services you provide, and any highlights and accomplishments, and it should accomplish the following:

Define what you are as a company.

Describe what the company does.

Identify your ideal client and customer.

Highlight what makes your company unique.

While this may seem basic, the company description changes as your company grows and changes. For example, your ideal customer five years ago might not be the same as the current standard or the one you want in five years.

Share the company description with everyone in your organization. If employees cannot accurately articulate what you do to others, you might miss out on opportunities.

How to Write a Mission Statement

The mission statement explains what your business is trying to achieve. In addition to guiding your entire company, it also helps your employees make decisions that move them toward the company’s overall mission and goals.

“Ideally, [the mission statement is] something that describes what you’re about at the highest level,” McNerney says. “It’s the reason you exist or what you do.”

Strong mission statements can help differentiate your company from your competitors and keep you on track toward your goals. It can also function as a type of tagline for your organization.

Mission statements should do the following:

Define your company’s purpose. Say what you do, who you do it for, and why it is valuable.

Use specific and easy-to-understand language.

Be inspirational while remaining realistic.

Be short and succinct.

This is your chance to define the way your company will make decisions based on goals, culture, and ethics. Mission statements should not be vague or generic, and they should set your business apart from others. If your mission statement could define many companies in your line of work, it is not a good mission statement.

Mission statements don’t have to be only outward-facing for customers or partners. In fact, it is also possible to include what your company does for its employees in your mission statement.

Unlike other parts of your strategic plan that are designed to be reviewed and edited periodically, your company’s mission statement should live as is for a while.

That said, make the effort to edit and refine your mission statement. Take out jargon like world class, best possible, state of the art, maximize, succeed , and so on, and cut vague or unspecific phrasing. Then let your strategic planning committee review it.

How to Write a Vision Statement

Every action your company does contributes to its vision. The vision statement explains what your company wants to achieve in the long term and can help inspire and align your team.

“The vision is the highest-ordered statement of the desired future or state of what you want your business to achieve,” McNerney explains.

A clear vision statement can help all stakeholders understand the meaning and purpose of your company. It should encourage and inspire employees while setting your company’s direction. It also helps you rule out elements that might not align with your vision.

Vision statements should be short (a few sentences). They should also be memorable, specific, and ambitious. But there is a fine line between being ambitious and creating a fantasy. The vision should be clearly attainable if you follow the goals and objectives you outline later in your strategic planning plan.

Because you need to know your company’s goals and objectives to create an accurate vision statement, you might need to wait until you have more information about the company’s direction to write your vision statement.

Below are questions to ask your team as you craft your vision statement:

What impact do we want to have on our community and industry?

How will we interact with others as a company?

What is the culture of the business?

Avoid broad statements that could apply to any company or industry. For example, phrases like “delivering a wonderful experience” could apply to many industries. Write in the present tense, avoid jargon, and be clear and concise.

Vision statements should accomplish the following:

Be inspiring.

Focus on success.

Look at and project about five to 10 years ahead.

Stay in line with the goals and values of your organization.

Once you write your vision statement, communicate it to everyone in your company. Your team should be able to easily understand and repeat the company’s vision statement. Remember, the statements can change as the environment in and around your company changes.

The Difference Between Mission and Vision Statements

Mission and vision statements are both important, but they serve very different purposes.

Mission statements show why a business exists, while vision statements are meant to inspire and provide direction. Mission statements are about the present, and vision statements are about the future. The mission provides items to act upon, and the vision offers goals to aspire to.

For example, if a vision statement is “No child goes to bed hungry,” the accompanying mission would be to provide food banks within the city limits.

While many organizations have both mission and vision statements, it’s not imperative. “Not everyone has a vision statement,” McNerney says. “Some organizations just have one.”

If you choose to have only one statement, McNerney offers some advice: “Any statement you have, if you have just one, needs to include what [you do], how [you do it], why [you do it], and who you do it for.”

During the planning process, these key statements might change. “Early on in the process, you need to talk about what you are doing and why and how you are doing it. Sometimes you think you know where you want to go, but you’re not really sure,” McNerney says. “You need to have flexibility both on the plan content and in the process.”

How to Write Your Company’s Core Values

Company core values , sometimes called organizational values , help you understand what drives the company to do what it does. In this section, you’ll learn a lot about your company and the people who work with you. It should be relatively easy to write.

“The values are the core of how you operate [and] how you treat your people, both internally and externally. Values describe the behaviors you really want to advance,” McNerney says.

There are both internal and external values looking at your employees and coworkers, as well as customers and outside stakeholders. Pinpointing values will help you figure out the traits of the people you want to hire and promote, as well as the qualities you’re looking for in your customers.

Your values should align with your vision statement and highlight your strengths while mitigating weaknesses. McNerney says many organizations do not really consider or are not honest about their company’s values when working on strategic plans, which can lead to failure.

“Your strategies have to align with your values and vice versa,” she explains.

Many companies’ values sound like meaningless jargon, so take the time to figure out what matters to your company and push beyond generic language.

How to Write about Your Industry

When planning ahead for your business, it’s important to look around. How are matters inside your company? What are your competitors doing? Who are your target customers?

“[If you don’t do a thorough industry analysis], you’re doing your planning with your head in the sand. If you’re not looking at the world around you, you’re missing a whole dimension about what should inform your decision making,” McNerney advises.

Writing about your industry helps you identify new opportunities for growth and shows you how you need to change in order to take advantage of those opportunities. Identify your key competitors, and define what you see as their strengths and weaknesses. Performing this analysis will help you figure out what you do best and how you compare to your competition. Once you know what you do well, you can exploit your strengths to your advantage.

In this section, also include your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. You can choose from many templates to help you write this section.

Next, identify your target customers. Think about what they want and need, as well as how you can provide it. Do your competitors attract your target customers, or do you have a niche that sets you apart?

The industry analysis carries a price, but also provides many benefits. “It takes some time and money to do [a thorough industry analysis], but the lack of that understanding says a lot about the future of your organization. If you don’t know what is going on around you, how can you stay competitive?” explains McNerney.

How to Write Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives

This section is the bulk of your strategic plan. Many people confuse goals and objectives, thinking the terms are interchangeable, but many argue that the two are distinct. You can think of them this way:

Goals : Goals are broad statements about what you want to achieve as a company, and they’re usually qualitative. They function as a description of where you want to go, and they can address both the short and long term.

Objectives : Objectives support goals, and they’re usually quantitative and measurable. They describe how you will measure the progress needed to arrive at the destination you outlined in the goal. More than one objective can support one goal.

For example, if your goal is to achieve success as a strategic planner, your objective would be to write all sections of the strategic plan in one month.

iBossWell, Inc.’s McNerney reiterates that there are not hard and fast definitions for the terms goals and objectives , as well as many other strategic planning concepts. “I wouldn’t attempt to put a definition to the terms. You hear the terms goals and objectives a lot, but they mean different things to different people. What some people call a goal , others call an objective . What some people call an objective , others would call a KPI. ” They key, she explains, is to decide what the terms mean in your organization, explain the definitions to key stakeholders, and stick to those definitions.

How to Write Goals

Goals form the basis of your strategic plan. They set out your priorities and initiatives, and therefore are critical elements and define what your plan will accomplish. Some planning specialists use the term strategic objectives or strategic priorities when referring to goals, but for clarity, this article will use the term goals.

“[Goals] are the higher level that contain several statements about what your priorities are,” McNerney explains. They are often near the top of your plan’s hierarchy.

Each goal should reflect something you uncovered during the analysis phase of your strategic planning process. Goals should be precise and concise statements, not long narratives. For example, your goals might be the following:

Eliminate case backlog.

Lower production costs.

Increase total revenue.

Each goal should have a stated outcome and a deadline. Think of goal writing as a formula: Action + detail of the action + a measurable metric + a deadline = goal. For example, your goal might be: Increase total revenue by 5 percent in three product areas by the third quarter of 2020.

Another way to look at it: Verb (action) + adjective (description) = noun (result). An example goal: Increase website fundraising.

Your goals should strike a balance between being aspirational and tangible. You want to stretch your limits, but not make them too difficult to reach. Your entire organization and stakeholders should be able to remember and understand your goals.

Think about goals with varying lengths. Some should go out five to 10 years, others will be shorter — some significantly so. Some goals might even be quarterly, monthly, or weekly. But be careful to not create too many goals. Focus on the ones that allow you to zero in on what is critical for your company’s success. Remember, several objectives and action steps will likely come from each goal.

How to Write Objectives

Objectives are the turn-by-turn directions of how to achieve your goals. They are set in statement and purpose with no ambiguity about whether you achieve them or not.

Your goals are where you want to go. Next, you have to determine how to get there, via a few different objectives that support each goal. Note that objectives can cover several areas.

“You need implementation elements of the plan to be successful,” McNerney says, adding that some people refer to objectives as tactics , actions , and many other terms.

Objectives often begin with the words increase or decrease because they are quantifiable and measurable. You will know when you achieve an objective. They are action items, often with start and end dates.

Use the goal example from earlier: Increase total revenue by 5 percent in three product areas by the third quarter of 2020. In this example, your objectives could be:

Approach three new possible clients each month.

Promote the three key product areas on the website and in email newsletters.

Think of the acronym SMART when writing objectives: Make them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and time-bound.

Breaking down the process further, some strategic planners use the terms strategies and tactics to label ways to achieve objectives. Using these terms, strategies describe an approach or method you will use to achieve an objective. A tactic is a specific activity or project that achieves the strategy, which, in turn, helps achieve the objective.

How to Write about Capacity, Operations Plans, Marketing Plans, and Financial Plans

After you come up with your goals and objectives, you need to figure out who will do what, how you will market what they do, and how you will pay for what you need to do.

“If you choose to shortchange the process [and not talk about capacity and finances], you need to know what the consequences will be,” explains McNerney. “If you do not consider the additional costs or revenues your plan is going to drive, you may be creating a plan you cannot implement.”

To achieve all the goals outlined in your strategic plan, you need the right people in place. Include a section in your strategic plan where you talk about the capacity of your organization. Do you have the team members to accomplish the objectives you have outlined in order to reach your goals? If not, you may need to hire personnel.

The operations plan maps out your initiatives and shows you who is going to do what, when, and how. This helps transform your goals and objectives into a reality. A summary of it should go into your strategic plan. If you need assistance writing a comprehensive implementation plan for your organization, this article can guide you through the process.

A marketing plan describes how you attract prospects and convert them into customers. You don’t need to include the entire marketing plan in your strategic plan, but you might want to include a summary. For more information about writing marketing plans, this article can help.

Then there are finances. We would all like to accomplish every goal, but sometimes we do not have enough money to do so. A financial plan can help you set your priorities. Check out these templates to help you get started with a financial plan.

How to Write Performance Indicators

In order to know if you are reaching the goals you outline in your strategic plan, you need performance indicators. These indicators will show you what success looks like and ensure accountability. Sadly, strategic plans have a tendency to fail when nobody periodically assesses progress.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) can show you how your business is progressing. KPIs can be both financial and nonfinancial measures that help you chart your progress and take corrective measures if actions are not unfolding as they should. Other terms similar to KPIs include performance measures and performance indicators .

Performance indicators are not always financial, but they must be quantifiable. For example, tracking visitors to a website, customers completing a contact form, or the number of proposals that close with deals are all performance indicators that keep you on track toward achieving your goals.

When writing your performance indicators, pay attention to the following:

Define how often you need to report results.

Every KPI must have some sort of measure.

List a measure and a time period.

Note the data source where you will get your information to measure and track.

ASP’s Stockmal has some questions for you to ask yourself about picking performance indicators.

Are you in control of the performance measure?

Does the performance measure support the strategic outcomes?

Is it feasible?

Is data available?

Who is collecting that data, and how will they do it?

Is the data timely?

Is it cost-effective to collect that data?

ls the goal quantifiable, and can you measure it over time?

Are your targets realistic and time-bound?

Stockmal also says performance indicators cannot focus on only one thing at the detriment of another. “Don’t lose what makes you good,” he says. He adds that focusing on one KPI can hurt other areas of a company’s performance, so reaching a goal can be short-sided.

Some performance indicators can go into your strategic plan, but you might want to set other goals for your organization. A KPI dashboard can help you set up and track your performance and for more information about setting up a KPI dashboard, this article can help.

Communicating Your Strategic Plan

While writing your strategic plan, you should think about how to share it. A plan is no good if it sits on a shelf and nobody reads it.

Stefan Hofmeyer

“After the meetings are over, you have to turn your strategy into action,” says Stefan Hofmeyer, an experienced strategist and co-founder of Global PMI Partners . “Get in front of employees and present the plan [to get everyone involved].” Hofmeyer explains his research has shown that people stay with companies not always because of money, but often because they buy into the organization’s vision and want to play a part in helping it get where it wants to go. “These are the people you want to keep because they are invested,” he says.

Decide who should get a physical copy of the entire plan. This could include management, the board of directors, owners, and more. Do your best to keep it from your competitors. If you distribute it outside of your company, you might want to attach a confidentiality waiver.

You can communicate your plan to stakeholders in the following ways:

Hold a meeting to present the plan in person.

Highlight the plan in a company newsletter.

Include the plan in new employee onboarding.

Post the plan on the employee intranet, along with key highlights and a way to track progress.

If you hold a meeting, make sure you and other key planners are prepared to handle the feedback and discussion that will arise. You should be able to defend your plan and reinforce its key areas. The goal of the plan’s distribution is to make sure everyone understands their role in making the plan successful.

Remind people of your company’s mission, vision, and values to reinforce their importance. You can use posters or other visual methods to post around the office. The more that people feel they play an important part in the organization’s success, they more successful you will be in reaching your goals of your strategic plan.

Challenges in Writing a Strategic Plan

As mentioned, strategic planning is a process and involves a team. As with any team activity, there will be challenges.

Sometimes the consensus can take priority over what is clear. Peer pressure can be a strong force, especially if a boss or other manager is the one making suggestions and people feel pressured to conform. Some people might feel reluctant to give any input because they do not think it matters to the person who ultimately decides what goes into the plan.

Team troubles can also occur when one or more members does not think the plan is important or does not buy into the process. Team leaders need to take care of these troubles before they get out of hand.

Pay attention to your company culture and the readiness you have as a group, and adapt the planning process to fit accordingly. You need to find the balance between the process and the final product.

The planning process takes time. Many organizations do not give themselves enough time to plan properly, and once you finish planning, writing the document or presentation also takes time, as does implementation. Don’t plan so much that you ignore how you are going to put the plan into action. One symptom of this is not aligning the plan to fit the capacity or finances of the company.

Stockmal explains that many organizations often focus too much on the future and reaching their goals that they forget what made them a strong company in the first place. Business architecture is important, which Stockmal says is “building the capabilities the organization needs to fulfill its strategy.” He adds that nothing happens if there is no budget workers to do the work necessary to drive change.

Be careful with the information you gather. Do not take shortcuts in the research phase — that will lead to bad information coming out further in the process. Also, do not ignore negative information you may learn. Overcoming adversity is one way for companies to grow.

Be wary of cutting and pasting either from plans from past years or from other similar organizations. Every company is unique.

And while this may sound obvious, do not ignore what your planning process tells you. Your research might show you should not go in a direction you might want to.

Writing Different Types of Strategic Plans

The strategic planning process will differ based on your organization, but the basic concepts will stay the same. Whether you are a nonprofit, a school, or a for-profit entity, strategic plans will look at where you are and how you will get to where you want to go.

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a Nonprofit

For a nonprofit, the strategic plan’s purpose is mainly how to best advance the mission. It’s imperative to make sure the mission statement accurately fits the organization.

In addition to a SWOT analysis and other sections that go into any strategic plan, a nonprofit needs to keep an eye on changing factors, such as funding. Some funding sources have finite beginnings and endings. Strategic planning is often continuous for nonprofits.

A nonprofit has to make the community care about its cause. In a for-profit organization, the marketing department works to promote the company’s product or services to bring in new revenue. For a nonprofit, however, conveying that message needs to be part of the strategic plan.

Coming up with an evaluation method and KPIs can sometimes be difficult for a nonprofit, since they are often focused on goals other than financial gain. For example, a substance abuse prevention coalition is trying to keep teens from starting to drink or use drugs, and proving the coalition’s methods work is often difficult to quantify.

This template can help you visually outline your strategic plan for your nonprofit.

Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Download Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Excel | Smartsheet

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a School

Writing a strategic plan for a school can be difficult because of the variety of stakeholders involved, including students, teachers, other staff, and parents.

Strategic planning in a school is different from others because there are no markets to explore, products to produce, clients to woo, or adjustable timelines. Schools often have set boundaries, missions, and budgets.

Even with the differences, the same planning process and structure should be in place for schools as it is for other types of organizations.

This template can help your university or school outline your strategic plan.

University Strategic Plan Outline Word Template

‌ ‌Download University Strategic Plan Outline – Word

How to Write a 5-Year Strategic Plan

There is no set time period for a strategic plan, but five years can be a sweet spot. In some cases, yearly planning might keep you continually stuck in the planning process, while 10 years might be too far out.

In addition to the basic sections that go into any strategic plan, when forecasting five years into the future, put one- and three-year checkpoints into the plan so you can track progress intermittently.

How to Write a 3-Year Strategic Plan

While five years is often the strategic planning sweet spot, some organizations choose to create three-year plans. Looking too far ahead can be daunting, especially for a new or changing company.

In a three-year plan, the goals and objectives have a shorter timeframe and you need to monitor them more frequently. Build those checkpoints into the plan.

“Most organizations do a three- to five-year plan now because they recognize the technology and the changes in business that are pretty dynamic now,” Stockmal says.

How to Write a Departmental Strategic Plan

The first step in writing a strategic plan for your department is to pay attention to your company’s overall strategic plan. You want to make sure the plans align.

The steps in creating a plan for a department are the same as for an overall strategic plan, but the mission statement, vision, SWOT analysis, goals, objectives, and so on are specific to only the people in your department. Look at each person separately and consider their core competencies, strengths, capabilities, and weaknesses. Assign people who will be responsible for certain tasks and tactics necessary to achieve your goals.

If you have access to a plan from a previous year, see how your department did in meeting its goals. Adjust the new plan accordingly.

When you finish your departmental plan, make sure to submit it to whomever is responsible for your company’s overall plan. Expect to make changes.

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a Project

A strategic plan is for the big picture, not for a particular project for an organization. Instead of a strategic plan, this area would fall under project management.

If you have a failing project and need to turn it around, this article might help.

How to Write a Personal Strategic Plan

Creating a strategic plan isn’t only for businesses. You can also create a strategic plan to help guide both your professional and personal life. The key is to include what is important to you. This process takes time and reflection.

Be prepared for what you discover about yourself. Because you will be looking at your strengths and weaknesses, you might see things you do not like. It is important to be honest with yourself. A SWOT analysis on yourself will give you some honest feedback if you let it.

Begin with looking at your life as it is now. Are you satisfied? What do you want to do more or less? What do you value most in your life? Go deeper than saying family, happiness, and health. This exercise will help you clarify your values.

Once you know what is important to you, come up with a personal mission statement that reflects the values you cherish. As it does within a business, this statement will help guide you in making future decisions. If something does not fit within your personal mission, you shouldn’t do it.

Using the information you discovered during your SWOT and mission statement process, come up with goals that align with your values. The goals can be broad, but don’t forget to include action items and timeframes to help you reach your goals.

As for the evaluation portion, identify how you will keep yourself accountable and on track. You might involve a person to remind you about your plan, calendar reminders, small rewards when you achieve a goal, or another method that works for you.

Below is additional advice for personal strategic plans:

There are things you can control and things you cannot. Keep your focus on what you can act on.

Look at the positive instead of what you will give up. For example, instead of focusing on losing weight, concentrate on being healthier.

Do not overcommit, and do not ignore the little details that help you reach your goals.

No matter what, do not dwell on setbacks and remember to celebrate successes.

Improve Strategic Planning with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

Learn more

How it works

Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.

Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.

We pair AI with the latest in human-centered coaching to drive powerful, lasting learning and behavior change.

Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.

Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.

Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.

Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.

Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.

Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.

A demo is the first step to transforming your business. Meet with us to develop a plan for attaining your goals.

Request a demo

  • For Individuals

Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.

View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.

The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

  • BetterUp Briefing

The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.

Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

Strategic planning: Read this before it's that time again

Understand Yourself Better:

Big 5 Personality Test

Find my Coach

Jump to section

What is strategic planning?

What is strategic plan management?

Benefits of robust strategic planning and management

10 steps in the strategic planning process.

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

It’s that time again. 

Every three to five years, most larger organizations periodically plan for the future. Many times strategic planning documents are shelved and forgotten until the next cycle begins. On the other hand, many smaller and newer organizations, propelled by urgency, may not devote the necessary time and energy to the strategic planning process. 

Only 63% of businesses plan more than a year out. They fail to see that — contrary to Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire cat — “any way” does not take you there. 

For all organizations, a more rigorous annual planning process is critical for driving future success, profitability, value, and impact.

John Kotter, a former professor at Harvard Business School and noted expert on innovation says, “ Strategy should be viewed as a dynamic force that constantly seeks opportunities, identifies initiatives that will capitalize on them, and completes those initiatives swiftly and efficiently.”

There’s hardly a better case that can be made for dynamic planning than in the tech industry, where mergers and acquisitions are accelerating exponentially. Companies need to be nimble enough to navigate rapid change . In this case, planning should occur quarterly.

Strategic planning is an ongoing process by which an organization sets its forward course by bringing all of its stakeholders together to examine current realities and define its vision for the future.

It examines its strengths and weaknesses, resources available, and opportunities. Strategic planning seeks to anticipate future industry trends .  During the process, the organization creates a vision, articulates its purpose, and sets strategic goals that are long-term and forward-focused. 

Those strategic goals inform operational goals and incremental milestones that need to be reached. The operational plan has clear objectives and supporting initiatives tied to metrics to which everyone is accountable . The plan should be agile enough to allow for recalibrating when necessary and redistributing resources based on internal and external forces.

The output of the planning process is a document that is shared across the enterprise. 

See how BetterUp Works - Watch Demo

Strategic planning for individuals

Strategic planning isn’t just for companies. At BetterUp, strategic planning is one of the skills that we identify, track, and develop within the Whole Person Model . For individuals, strategic planning is the ability to think through ways to achieve desired outcomes. Just as strategic planning helps organizations realize their goals for the future, it helps individuals grow and achieve goals in a unified direction. 

Working backward from the desired outcome, effective strategic planning consists of coming up with the steps we need to take today in order to get where we want to be tomorrow. 

While no plan is infallible, people who develop this skill are good at checking to make sure that their actions are in alignment with the outcomes that they want to see in the future. Even when things don’t go according to plan, their long-term goals act as a “North star” to get them back on course. In addition, envisioning desired future states and figuring out how to turn them into reality enhances an individual’s sense of personal meaning and motivation. 

Whether we’re talking about strategic planning for the company or the individual, strategic plans can go awry in a variety of ways including: 

  • Unrealistic goals and too many priorities
  • Poor communication
  • Using the wrong measures
  • Lack of leadership

The extent to which that document is shelved until the next planning cycle or becomes a dynamic map of the future depends on the people responsible for overseeing the execution of the plan.

strategic-planning-person-smiling-at-his-computer

What is strategic plan management? 

"Most people think of strategy as an event, but that’s not the way the world works," according to Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen. "When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process. More often than not, the strategy that leads to success emerges through a process that works 24/7 in almost every industry."

Strategic business management is the ongoing process by which an organization creates and sustains a successful roadmap that moves the company in the direction it needs to move, year after year, for long-term success. It spans from research and formulation to execution, evaluation, and adjustment. Given the pace of change, strategic management is more relevant and important than ever for assigning measurable goals and action steps

Many organizations fail because they don’t have the strategic management team at the table right from the beginning of the planning process. A strategic plan is only as good as its ability to be executed and sustained. 

A strategic management initiative might be driven by an internal group — many companies have an internal strategy team — or an outside consulting firm. Ultimately company leaders need to own executing and sustaining the strategy. 

Strategic management teams

In this Harvard Business Review article, Ron Carucci from consulting firm Navalent reports that 61% of executives in a 10-year longitudinal study felt they were not prepared for the strategic challenges they faced upon being appointed to senior leadership roles. Lack of commitment to the plan is also a contributing factor. In addition, leaders attending to quarterly targets, crisis management , and reconciling budgets often consider the execution of a long-term strategy a low priority.

A dedicated strategic management team works with those senior leaders and managers throughout the organization to communicate, coordinate and evaluate progress against goals. They tie strategic objectives to day-to-day operational metrics throughout the enterprise. 

A good strategic management group can assist in creating a culture of empowerment and learning . It holds regular meetings with employees. It sets a clear agenda and expectations to make the strategic plan real and compelling to the organization through concrete objectives, results, and timelines. 

Strategy development is a lot of work, but the benefits are lasting. After all, as the saying goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Taking the time for review and planning activities has the following benefits:

  • Organizations and people are set up to succeed
  • Increased likelihood of staying on track
  • Decreased likelihood of being distracted or derailed
  • Progress through the plan is communicated throughout the organization
  • Metrics facilitate course correction
  • Budgets enterprise-wide are based on strategy
  • Cross-organization alignment
  • Robust employee performance and compensation plans
  • Commitment to learning and training
  • A robust strategic planning process gets everyone involved and invested in the organizations
  • Employees inform management about what’s working or not working at the operational level
  • Innovation is encouraged and rewarded
  • Increased productivity

1. Define mission and vision  

Begin by articulating the organization's vision for the future. Ask, "What would success look like in five years?" Create a mission statement describing organizational values and how you intend to reach the vision. What values inform and determine mission, vision, and purpose?

Purpose-driven strategic goals articulate the “why” of what the corporation is doing. It connects the vision statement to specific objectives, drawing a line between the larger goals and the work that teams and individuals do.

2. Conduct a comprehensive assessment  

This stage includes identifying an organization’s strategic position.

Gathering data from internal and external environments and respective stakeholders takes place at this time. Involving employees and customers in the research.

The task is to gather market data through research. One of the most critical components of this stage is a comprehensive SWOT analysis that involves gathering people and bringing perspectives from all stakeholders to determine:

  • W eaknesses
  • O pportunities

Strengths and weaknesses  — In this stage, planners identify the company’s assets that contribute to its current competitive advantage and/or the likelihood of a significant increase in the organization’s market share in the future. It should be an objective assessment rather than an inflated perspective of its strengths. 

An accurate assessment of weaknesses requires looking outward at external forces that can reveal new opportunities as well as threats. Consider the massive shift in multiple industries whose strategy has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was disastrous to the airline and restaurant industries’ business models , tech companies were able to seize the opportunity and address the demands of remote work. 

Michael Porter’s book Competetive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors claims that there are five forces at work in an industry that influence that industry’s ability to develop a competitive strategy. Since the book was published in 1979, organizations have turned to Porter’s theory to create their strategic framework. 

Here are the 5 forces (and key questions) that determine the competitive strategy for most industries.

  • Competitive rivalry : When considering the strengths of an organization’s competitors it’s important to ask: How do our products/services hold up to our competition? If the rivalry is intense, companies need to consider what capacity they have to gain leverage through price cuts or bold marketing strategies. If there is little competition, the organization has a substantial gain in the market.
  • Supplier power: How might suppliers influence strategy? For example, what if suppliers raised their prices? To what extent would a company need a particular supplier for our product(s)? Is it possible to switch suppliers in a way that is more cost effective and efficient? The number of suppliers that exist will determine your ability to keep costs low.
  • Buyer power: To what extent do buyers have the ability to shop around right into the hands of your competitors? How much power does your customer base have in determining price? A small number of well-informed buyers shifts the power in their direction while a large pool may give you the strategic advantage
  • Threat of substitution:  What is the threat of a company’s buyer substituting your services/products from the competition? What if the buyer figures out another way to access the services/products that it offers?
  • Threat of new entry:  How easy is it for newcomers to enter the organization’s market?

strategic-planning-a-group-talks-in-a-room

3. Forecast  

Considering the factors above, determine the company’s value through financial forecasting . While almost certainly to become a moving target influenced by the five forces, a forecast can assign initial anticipated measurable results expected in the plan or ROI: profits/cost of investment.

4. Set the organizational direction of the business

The above research and assessment will help an organization to set goals and priorities. Too often an organization’s strategic plan is too broad and over-ambitious. Planners need to ask, ”What kind of impact are we seeking to have, and in what time frame?” They need to drill down to objectives that will have the most impact. 

5. Create strategic objectives

This next phase of operational planning consists of creating strategic objectives and initiatives. Kaplan and Norton posit in their balanced scorecard methodology that there are four perspectives for consideration in identifying the conditions for success. They are interrelated and must be evaluated simultaneously.

  • Financial : Such considerations as growing shareholder value, increasing revenue, managing cost, profitability, or financial stability inform strategic initiatives. 
  • Customer-satisfaction:  Objectives can be determined by identifying targets related to one or some of the following: value for the cost, best service, increased market share, or providing customers with solutions.
  • Internal processes such as operational processes and efficiencies, investment in innovation, investment in total quality and performance management , cost reduction, improvement of workplace safety, or streamlining processes.
  • Learning and growth: Organizations must ask: Are initiatives in place in terms of human capital and learning and growth to sustain change? Objectives may include employee retention, productivity, building high-performing teams, or creating a pipeline for future leaders .

6. Align with key stakeholders

It’s a team effort. The success of the plan is in direct proportion to the organization’s commitment to inform and engage the entire workforce in strategy execution. People will only be committed to strategy implementation when they're connected to the organization's goals. With everyone pulling in the same direction, cross-functional decision-making becomes easier and more aligned.

7. Begin strategy mapping

A strategy map is a powerful tool for illustrating the cause-effect of those perspectives and connecting them to between 12 and 18 strategic objectives. Since most people are visual learners, the map provides an easy-to-understand diagram for everyone in the organization creating shared knowledge at all levels.

8. Determine strategic initiatives

Following the development of strategic objectives, strategic initiatives are determined. These are the actions the organization will take to reach those objectives. They may relate initiatives related to factors such as scope, budget, raising brand awareness, product development, and employee training.

9. Benchmark performance measures and analysis

Strategic initiatives inform SMART goals to which metrics are assigned to evaluate performance. These measures cascade from senior management to management to front-line workers. At this stage, the task is to create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based informing the operational plan.

Benchmarks are established against so that performance can be measures, and a time frame is created. Key performance indicators (KPI’s) are assigned based on organizational goals. These indicators align workers’ performance and productivity with long-term strategic objectives. 

10. Performance evaluation

Assessment of whether the plan has been successful . It measures activities and progress toward objectives and allows for the creation of improved plans and objectives in order to improve overall performance . 

Think of strategic planning as a circular process beginning and ending with evaluation. Adjust a  plan as necessary. The pace at which review of the plan is necessary may be once a year for many organizations or quarterly for organizations in rapidly evolving industries. 

Prioritizing the strategic planning process

The strategic planning meeting may have a reputation for being just another to-do, but it might be time to take a second look. With the right action plan and a little strategic thinking, you can reinvigorate your business environment and start planning for success.

It's that time to get excited about the future again.

New call-to-action

Meredith Betz

Betterup Fellow Coach, M.S.Ed, M.S.O.D.

Contingency planning: 4 steps to prepare for the unexpected

4 reasons why you can't afford to skip out on succession planning, the only guide you’ll ever need for career planning, strategic plan vs. work plan: what's the difference, declining capabilities in productivity and wellness signal a need for worker support, how to excel at life planning (a life planning template), what is strategic plan management and how does it benefit teams, strategy versus tactics: planning and executing on your goals, what is an action plan how to become a real-life action hero, similar articles, everything you need to know about strategic leadership, 6 tactics to unlock operational excellence and drive performance, what i didn’t know before working with a coach: the power of intentionality, when you need to set the direction, swot analysis is a classic tool, how organizational effectiveness enhances how you work and grow, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

  • Platform Overview
  • Integrations
  • Powered by AI
  • BetterUp Lead
  • BetterUp Manage™
  • BetterUp Care™
  • Sales Performance
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Case Studies
  • Why BetterUp?
  • Career Coaching
  • Communication Coaching
  • Life Coaching
  • News and Press
  • Leadership Team
  • Become a BetterUp Coach
  • BetterUp Labs
  • Center for Purpose & Performance
  • What is coaching?
  • Leadership Training
  • Business Coaching
  • Contact Support
  • Contact Sales
  • Privacy Policy
  • Acceptable Use Policy
  • Trust & Security
  • Cookie Preferences

Strategic Planning Process: 7 Crucial Steps to Success

a transparent grid illustration connecting a circle and square representing the strategic planning process

What to read next:

Playing chess without a strong opening is a guaranteed way to disadvantage yourself. Just like in chess, organizations without an adequate strategic planning process are unlikely to thrive and adapt long-term. 

The strategic planning process is essential for aligning your organization on key priorities, goals, and initiatives, making it crucial for organizational success.   

This article will empower you to craft and perfect your strategic planning process by exploring the following:  

  • What is strategic planning
  • Why strategic planning is important for your business  
  • The seven steps of the strategic planning process   

Strategic planning frameworks

  • Best practices supporting the strategic planning process  

By the end of this article, you’ll have the knowledge needed to perfect the key elements of strategic planning. Ready? Let’s begin.  

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning charts your business's course toward success. Using your organization’s vision, mission, and values — with internal and external information — each step of the strategic planning process helps you craft long-term objectives and attain your goals with strategic management.  

The key elements of strategic planning includes a SWOT analysis, goal setting , stakeholder involvement, plus developing actionable strategies, approaches, and tactics aligned with primary objectives.  

In short, the strategic planning process bridges the gap between your organization’s current and desired state, providing a clear and actionable framework that answers:   Where are you now?   Where do you want to be?   How will you get there?

7 key elements of strategic planning 

The following strategic planning components work together to create cohesive strategic plans for your business goals. Let’s take a close look at each of these:  

  • Vision : What your organization wants to achieve in the future, the long-term goal  
  • Mission : The driving force behind why your company exists, who it serves, and how it creates value  
  • Values : Fundamental beliefs guiding your company’s decision-making process  
  • Goals : Measurable objectives in alignment with your business mission, vision, and values  
  • Strategy : A long-term strategy map for achieving your objectives based on both internal and external factors  
  • Approach : How you execute strategy and achieve objectives using actions and initiatives   
  • Tactics : Granular short-term actions, programs, and activities  

Why a concrete strategic planning is important

Just as a chess player needs a gameplan to reach checkmate, a company needs a solid strategic plan to achieve its goals.   

Without a strategic plan, your business will waste precious time, energy, and resources on endeavors that won’t get your company closer to where it needs to be.   

Your ideal plan should cover all key strategic planning areas, while allowing you to stay present by measuring success and course-correcting or redefining the strategic direction when necessary. Ultimately, enabling your company to stay future-proof through the creation of an always-on strategy.   

An always-on strategy involves continuous environmental scanning even after the strategic plan has been devised, ensuring readiness to adapt in response to quick, drastic changes in the environment.

Let’s dive deeper into the steps of the strategic planning process.  

What are the 7 stages of the strategic planning process?

You understand the overall value of implementing a strategic planning process — now let’s put it in practice. Here's our 7-step approach to strategic planning that ensures everyone is on the same page:  

  • Clarify your vision, mission, and values  
  • Conduct an environmental scan  
  • Define strategic priorities  
  • Develop goals and metrics  
  • Derive a strategic plan  
  • Write and communicate your strategic plan  
  • Implement, monitor, and revise   

1. Clarify your vision, mission, and values 

The first step of the strategic planning process is understanding your organization’s core elements: vision, mission, and values. Clarifying these will align your strategic plan with your company’s definition of success. Once established, these are the foundation for the rest of the strategic planning process.   

Questions to ask:

  • What do we aspire to achieve in the long term?
  • What is our purpose or ultimate goal?
  • What do we do to fulfill our vision?
  • What key activities or services do we provide?
  • What are our organization's ethics?
  • What qualities or behaviors do we expect from employees?

Read more: What is Mission vs. Vision  

A green flag with hollow filling placed to the left of an outline of an eye, with the iris also outlined in green, all on a green background, to signal mission vs. vision

2. Conduct an environmental scan

Once everyone on the same page about vision, mission, and values, it's time to scan your internal and external environment. This involves a long-term SWOT analysis, evaluating your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  

Internal factors 

Internal strengths and weaknesses help you understand where your organization excels and what it could improve. Strengths and weaknesses awareness helps make more informed decisions with your capabilities and resource allocation in mind.  

External factors

Externally, opportunities and threats in the market help you understand the power of your industry’s customers, suppliers, and competitors. Additionally, consider how broader forces like technology, culture, politics, and regulation may impact your organization.   

  • What are our organization's key strengths or competitive advantages?
  • What areas or functions within our organization need improvement?
  • What emerging trends or opportunities can we leverage?
  • How do changes in technology, regulations, or consumer behavior impact us?

3. Define strategic priorities

Prioritization puts the “strategic” in strategic planning process. Your organization’s mission, vision, values, and environmental scan serve as a lens to identify top priorities. Limiting priorities ensures your organization intentionally allocates resources.  

These categories can help you rank your strategic priorities:  

  • Critical : Urgent tasks whose failure to complete will have severe consequences — financial losses, reputation damage, or legal consequences  
  • Important : Significant tasks which support organizational achievements and require timely completion  
  • Desirable : Valuable tasks not essential in the short-term, but can contribute to long-term success and growth  
  • How do these priorities align with our mission, vision, and values?
  • Which tasks need to be completed quickly to ensure effective progress towards our desired outcomes?
  • What resources and capabilities do we need to pursue these priorities effectively?

4. Develop goals and metrics

Next, you establish goals and metrics to reflect your strategic priorities. Purpose-driven, long-term, actionable strategic planning goals should flow down through the organization, with lower-level goals contributing to higher-level ones.  

One approach that can help you set and measure your aligned goals is objectives and key results (OKRs). OKRs consist of objectives, qualitative statements of what you want to achieve, and key results, 3-5 supporting metrics that track progress toward your objective.  

OKRs ensure alignment at every level of the organization, with tracking and accountability built into the framework to keep everyone engaged. With ambitious, intentional goals, OKRs can help you drive the strategic plan forward.  

  • What metrics can we use to track progress toward each objective?
  • How can we ensure that lower-level goals and metrics support and contribute to higher-level ones?
  • How will we track and measure progress towards key results?
  • How will we ensure accountability?

Get an in-depth look at OKRs with our Ultimate OKR Playbook

an illustration of a circle in a shifting square to represent an okr playbook

5. Derive a strategic plan

The next step of the strategic planning process gets down to the nitty-gritty “how” — outlining a clear, practical plan for bridging the gap between now and the future.   

To do this, you’ll need to brainstorm short- and long-term approaches to achieving the goals you’ve set, answering a couple of key questions along the way. You must evaluate ideas based on factors like:  

  • Feasibility : How realistic and achievable is it?  
  • Impact : How conducive is it to goal attainment?  
  • Cost : Can we fund this approach, and is it worth the investment?  
  • Alignment : Does it support our mission, vision, and values?  

From your approaches, you can devise a detailed action plan, which covers things like:  

  • Timelines : When will we take each step, and what are the deadlines?  
  • Milestones : What key achievements will ensure consistent progress?  
  • Resource requirements : What’s needed to achieve each step?  
  • Responsibilities : Who's accountable in each step?  
  • Risks and challenges : What can affect our ability to execute our plan? How will we address these?  

With a detailed action plan like this, you can move from abstract goals to concrete steps, bringing you closer to achieving your strategic objectives.  

6. Write and communicate your strategic plan

Writing and communicating your strategic plan involves everyone, ensuring each team is on the same page. Here’s a clear, concise structure you can use to cover the most important strategic planning components:  

  • Executive summary : Highlights and priorities in your strategic overview   
  • Introduction : Background on your strategic plan  
  • Connection : How your strategic plan aligns with your organization’s mission, vision, and values  
  • Environmental scan : An overview of your SWOT analysis findings  
  • Strategic priorities and goals : Informed short and long-term organizational goals  
  • Strategic approach : An overview of your tactical plan   
  • Resource needs : How you'll deploy technology, funding, and employees  
  • Risk and challenges : How you’ll mitigate the unknowns if and when they arise  
  • Implementation plan : A step-by-step resource deployment plan for achieving your strategy  
  • Monitoring and evaluation : How you’ll keep your plan heading in the right direction  
  • Conclusion : A summary of the strategic plan and everything it entails  
  • What information or context do stakeholders need to understand the strategic plan?
  • How can we emphasize the connection between the strategic plan and the overall purpose and direction of the organization?
  • What initiatives or strategies will we implement to drive progress?
  • How will we mitigate or address risks?
  • What are the specific steps and actions we need to take to implement the strategic plan?
  • Any additional information or next steps we need to communicate?

7. Implement, monitor, and revise performance 

Finally, it’s time to implement your strategic plan, making sure it's up to date, creating a persistent, always-on strategy that doesn't lag behind. As you get the ball rolling, keep a close eye on your timelines, milestones, and performance targets, and whether these align with your internal and external environment.   

Internally, indicators like completions, issues, and delays provide visibility into your process. If any bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or misalignment arises, take corrective action promptly — adjust the plan, reallocate resources, or provide additional training to employees.  

Externally, you should monitor changes such as customer preferences, competitive pressures, economic shifts , and regulatory changes. These impact the success of your strategic action plan and may require tweaks along the way.   

Remember, implementing a strategic plan isn’t a one-time task — continual evaluation is essential for an always-on strategy. It involves extending beyond planning stages and contextualizing the strategy in real-time, allowing for swift adaptations to changing circumstances to ensure your plan remains relevant.

  • Are there any bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or misalignments we need to address?
  • Are we monitoring and analyzing external factors?
  • Are we prepared to make necessary tweaks or adaptations along the way?
  • Are we agile enough to promptly correct deviations from our strategic plan while maintaining an "always-on" strategy for continual adjustments?

You can use several frameworks to guide you through the strategic planning process. Some of the most influential ones include:

  • Balanced scorecard (BSC) : Takes an overarching approach to strategic planning, covering financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth, aligning short-term operational tasks with long-term strategic goals.
  • SWOT analysis : Highlights your business's internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats to enable informed decisions about your strategic direction.
  • OKRs : Structures goals as a set of measurable objectives and key results. They cascade down from top-level organizational objectives to lower-level team goals, ensuring alignment across the entire organization. Get an in-depth look at OKRs here . 
  • Scenario planning : Involves envisioning and planning for various possible future scenarios, allowing you to prepare for a range of potential outcomes. It's particularly useful in volatile environments rife with uncertainties.
  • Porter's five forces : Evaluates the competitive forces within your industry — rivalry among existing competitors, bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threat of new entrants, and threat of substitutes — to shape strategies that position the organization for success.

Common problems with strategic planning and how to overcome them

While strategic planning provides a roadmap for business success, it's not immune to challenges. Recognizing and addressing these is crucial for effective strategy implementation. Let's explore common issues encountered in strategic planning and strategies to overcome them.

Static nature

Traditional strategic planning models often follow a linear, annual, and inflexible process that doesn't accommodate quick changes in the business landscape. Strategies formulated this way may quickly become outdated in today's fast-paced environment.

To overcome the rigidity of traditional strategic planning, your organization should integrate continuous environmental scanning processes. This includes monitoring market changes, competitor actions, and technological advancements, ensuring real-time insights inform strategic decision-making. Additionally, adopting agile methodologies allows for iterative planning, breaking down strategies into smaller, manageable components reviewed and adjusted regularly, ensuring adaptability in today's fast-paced landscape.

Disconnect between strategic plan and execution

There's often a significant gap between the strategic objectives and their actual implementation, leading to misalignment, confusion, and inefficiency within the organization.

To bridge the gap, ensure accountability, alignment, and feedback-driven processes across the business. Linking team roles and responsibilities to lower-level objectives can fosters alignment and accountability, whereas aligning these with overarching strategic objectives ensure coherence in execution. To ensure goals are optimized on an ongoing basis, implement a feedback mechanism that continuously evaluates progress against goals, enabling regular adjustments based on market feedback and internal insights.

Lack of real-time insights

Traditional planning models rely on historical data and periodic reviews, which might not capture real-time changes or emerging trends accurately. This can result in misaligned strategies unsuitable for the current business landscape.

Leverage advanced analytics tools and AI-driven technologies. Invest in technologies that offer real-time tracking and reporting of key performance indicators, with dashboards and monitoring systems that provide up-to-date insights. These allow you to gather, process, and interpret real-time data for proactive decision-making that aligns with the current business landscape. 

Failure to close the feedback loop

The absence of a feedback loop between strategy formulation, execution, and evaluation can impact learning and improvement. Companies might therefore struggle to refine their strategies based on real-time performance insights.

Establish a structured feedback loop encompassing strategy formulation, execution, and evaluation stages. Encourage employees to actively contribute insights on strategy execution, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptation.

Best practices during the strategic planning process

Navigating strategic planning goes beyond overcoming challenges. A successful strategic plan requires you to embrace a set of guiding best practices, helping you navigate the development and implementation of your strategic planning process.   

1. Keep the planning process flexible

With ever-changing business environments, a one-and-done approach to strategic planning is insufficient. Your strategic plan needs to be adaptable to ensure its relevancy and its ability to weather the effects of changing circumstances.  

2. Pull together a diverse group of stakeholders

By including voices from across the organization, you can account for varying thoughts, perspectives, and experiences at each step of the strategic planning process, ensuring cross-functional alignment .  

3. Document the process

Continuous documentation of the strategic management process is crucial in capturing and communicating the key elements of strategic planning. This keeps everyone on the same page and your strategic plan up-to-date and relevant.  

4. Make data-driven decisions

Root your decisions in evidence and facts rather than assumptions or opinions. This cultivates accurate insights, improves prioritization, and reduces biased (flawed) decisions.  

5. Align your company culture with the strategic plan 

Your strategic plan can only be successful if everyone is on board with it — company culture supports what you’re trying to achieve. Behaviors, rules, and attitudes optimize the execution of your strategic plan.  

6. Leverage AI 

Using AI in strategic planning supports the development of an always-on strategy — amplifying strategic agility, conducting comprehensive environmental scans, and expediting planning phases. It can streamline operations, facilitate data-driven decision-making, and provide transparent insights into progress to drive accountability, engagement, and alignment with the strategic plan.

The strategic planning process in a nutshell

Careful strategy mapping is crucial for any organization looking to achieve its long-term goals while staying true to its mission, vision, and values. The seven steps in the strategic planning process outlined in this article provide a solid framework your organization can follow — from clarifying your organization’s purpose and developing a strategic plan, to implementing, monitoring, and revising performance. These steps will help your company meet goal measurements and create an always-on strategy that's rooted in the present. 

It’s important to remember that strategic planning is not a one-time event. To stay effective and relevant, you must continuously monitor and adapt your strategy in response to changing circumstances. This ongoing process of improvement keeps your organization competitive and demonstrates your commitment to achieving your goals.  

  Quantive is your bridge between strategy and execution. Founded on the objectives and key results (OKR) methodology, our Strategy Execution solution is where businesses plan successful strategy, focus and align teams to it, and stay on the leading edge of progress.  

As your company looks to achieve the best possible results, you need a modern approach to run your business and change your business. The Modern Operating Model brings strategy, teams, and data together to help make decisions faster, optimize operations, and drive better business outcomes.  

Whether you’re a large enterprise facing competitive disruption or a small business leading the innovative charge, Quantive helps get you where you want to go.  

Ready to achieve the best possible? Start your free trial today. 

Additional resources

Strategy execution in 4 steps: keys to successful strategy, how top companies are closing the strategy execution gap, 7 best practices for strategy execution, why your business needs strategy execution software, subscribe for our newsletter.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

strategic plan development steps

Health & Nursing

Courses and certificates.

  • Bachelor's Degrees
  • View all Business Bachelor's Degrees
  • Business Management – B.S. Business Administration
  • Healthcare Administration – B.S.
  • Human Resource Management – B.S. Business Administration
  • Information Technology Management – B.S. Business Administration
  • Marketing – B.S. Business Administration
  • Accounting – B.S. Business Administration
  • Finance – B.S.
  • Supply Chain and Operations Management – B.S.
  • Accelerated Information Technology Bachelor's and Master's Degree (from the College of IT)
  • Health Information Management – B.S. (from the Leavitt School of Health)

Master's Degrees

  • View all Business Master's Degrees
  • Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • MBA Information Technology Management
  • MBA Healthcare Management
  • Management and Leadership – M.S.
  • Accounting – M.S.
  • Marketing – M.S.
  • Human Resource Management – M.S.
  • Master of Healthcare Administration (from the Leavitt School of Health)
  • Data Analytics – M.S. (from the College of IT)
  • Information Technology Management – M.S. (from the College of IT)
  • Education Technology and Instructional Design – M.Ed. (from the School of Education)

Certificates

  • View all Business Degrees

Bachelor's Preparing For Licensure

  • View all Education Bachelor's Degrees
  • Elementary Education – B.A.
  • Special Education and Elementary Education (Dual Licensure) – B.A.
  • Special Education (Mild-to-Moderate) – B.A.
  • Mathematics Education (Middle Grades) – B.S.
  • Mathematics Education (Secondary)– B.S.
  • Science Education (Middle Grades) – B.S.
  • Science Education (Secondary Chemistry) – B.S.
  • Science Education (Secondary Physics) – B.S.
  • Science Education (Secondary Biological Sciences) – B.S.
  • Science Education (Secondary Earth Science)– B.S.
  • View all Education Degrees

Bachelor of Arts in Education Degrees

  • Educational Studies – B.A.

Master of Science in Education Degrees

  • View all Education Master's Degrees
  • Curriculum and Instruction – M.S.
  • Educational Leadership – M.S.
  • Education Technology and Instructional Design – M.Ed.

Master's Preparing for Licensure

  • Teaching, Elementary Education – M.A.
  • Teaching, English Education (Secondary) – M.A.
  • Teaching, Mathematics Education (Middle Grades) – M.A.
  • Teaching, Mathematics Education (Secondary) – M.A.
  • Teaching, Science Education (Secondary) – M.A.
  • Teaching, Special Education (K-12) – M.A.

Licensure Information

  • State Teaching Licensure Information

Master's Degrees for Teachers

  • Mathematics Education (K-6) – M.A.
  • Mathematics Education (Middle Grade) – M.A.
  • Mathematics Education (Secondary) – M.A.
  • English Language Learning (PreK-12) – M.A.
  • Endorsement Preparation Program, English Language Learning (PreK-12)
  • Science Education (Middle Grades) – M.A.
  • Science Education (Secondary Chemistry) – M.A.
  • Science Education (Secondary Physics) – M.A.
  • Science Education (Secondary Biological Sciences) – M.A.
  • Science Education (Secondary Earth Science)– M.A.
  • View all IT Bachelor's Degrees
  • Cloud Computing – B.S.
  • Computer Science – B.S.
  • Cybersecurity and Information Assurance – B.S.
  • Data Analytics – B.S.
  • Information Technology – B.S.
  • Network Engineering and Security – B.S.
  • Software Engineering – B.S.
  • Accelerated Information Technology Bachelor's and Master's Degree
  • Information Technology Management – B.S. Business Administration (from the School of Business)
  • View all IT Master's Degrees
  • Cybersecurity and Information Assurance – M.S.
  • Data Analytics – M.S.
  • Information Technology Management – M.S.
  • MBA Information Technology Management (from the School of Business)
  • Full Stack Engineering
  • Web Application Deployment and Support
  • Front End Web Development
  • Back End Web Development

3rd Party Certifications

  • IT Certifications Included in WGU Degrees
  • View all IT Degrees
  • View all Health & Nursing Bachelor's Degrees
  • Nursing (RN-to-BSN online) – B.S.
  • Nursing (Prelicensure) – B.S. (Available in select states)
  • Health Information Management – B.S.
  • Health and Human Services – B.S.
  • Psychology – B.S.
  • Healthcare Administration – B.S. (from the School of Business)
  • View all Nursing Post-Master's Certificates
  • Nursing Education—Post-Master's Certificate
  • Nursing Leadership and Management—Post-Master's Certificate
  • Family Nurse Practitioner—Post-Master's Certificate
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner —Post-Master's Certificate
  • View all Health & Nursing Degrees
  • View all Nursing & Health Master's Degrees
  • Nursing – Education (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Nursing – Leadership and Management (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Nursing – Nursing Informatics (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S. (Available in select states)
  • Nursing – Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (BSN-to-MSN Program) – M.S. (Available in select states)
  • Nursing – Education (RN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Nursing – Leadership and Management (RN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Nursing – Nursing Informatics (RN-to-MSN Program) – M.S.
  • Master of Healthcare Administration
  • MBA Healthcare Management (from the School of Business)

Single Courses

  • American Politics and the U.S. Constitution
  • Applied Algebra
  • CompTIA IT Fundamentals
  • English Composition
  • Ethics in Technology
  • Fundamentals of Information Security
  • PACA: Communication and Reflective Development
  • Precalculus
  • Project Management
  • U.S. History
  • Learn about WGU Academy

Course Bundles

  • Computer Science
  • Data Analytics
  • Healthcare and Nursing
  • Information Technology
  • Business Leadership (with the School of Business)
  • Web Application Deployment and Support (with the College of IT)
  • Front End Web Development (with the College of IT)
  • Back End Web Development (with the College of IT)
  • Full Stack Engineering (with the College of IT)

Apply for Admission

Admission requirements.

  • New Students
  • WGU Returning Graduates
  • WGU Readmission
  • Enrollment Checklist
  • Accessibility
  • Accommodation Request
  • School of Education Admission Requirements
  • School of Business Admission Requirements
  • College of IT Admission Requirements
  • Leavitt School of Health Admission Requirements

Additional Requirements

  • Computer Requirements
  • No Standardized Testing
  • Clinical and Student Teaching Information

Transferring

  • FAQs about Transferring
  • Transfer to WGU
  • Transferrable Certifications
  • Request WGU Transcripts
  • International Transfer Credit
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Financial Aid
  • Scholarships

Other Ways to Pay for School

  • Tuition—School of Business
  • Tuition—School of Education
  • Tuition—College of IT
  • Tuition—Leavitt School of Health
  • Your Financial Obligations
  • Tuition Comparison
  • Applying for Financial Aid
  • State Grants
  • Consumer Information Guide
  • Responsible Borrowing Initiative
  • Higher Education Relief Fund

FAFSA Support

  • Net Price Calculator
  • FAFSA Simplification
  • See All Scholarships
  • Military Scholarships
  • State Scholarships
  • Scholarship FAQs

Payment Options

  • Payment Plans
  • Corporate Reimbursement
  • Current Student Hardship Assistance
  • Military Tuition Assistance

WGU Experience

  • How You'll Learn
  • Scheduling/Assessments
  • Accreditation
  • Student Support/Faculty
  • Military Students
  • Part-Time Options
  • Virtual Veteran Resources
  • Student Outcomes
  • Return on Investment
  • Students and Gradutes
  • Career Growth
  • Student Resources
  • Communities
  • Testimonials
  • Career Guides
  • Skills Guides
  • Online Degrees
  • All Degrees
  • Find Your Future

Admissions & Transfers

  • Admissions Overview

Tuition & Financial Aid

Student Success

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Military and Veterans
  • Commencement
  • Careers at WGU
  • Advancement & Giving
  • Partnering with WGU

7 Essential Steps in Strategic Planning

  • See More Tags

strategic plan development steps

What is Strategic Planning?

Think of strategic planning as a company’s roadmap for success. It lays out a plan for moving forward, sets milestones to reach along the way, and tracks the progress of those milestones. When done effectively, strategic planning can give your company a sense of direction, reveal ways to improve performance, and rally everyone around a common goal.

As a future leader , learning how to develop a strategic plan can provide lasting value to your organization—and it’s one of the important skills you’ll learn in a business degree program .

What are the Steps of Strategic Planning?

Creating a strategic plan is a multi-step process in which one step builds off the other. Here are seven steps to consider:

1. Establish Your Strategic Position

Positioning is a fundamental step of the strategic planning process. Its purpose is to clearly define what sets your organization—and the product or services it offers—apart from the competition.

Strategic positioning is a team effort that typically involves stakeholders of the organization’s finance, marketing, and sales departments. It requires decision making about priorities, what value your products and services offer customers, and how they'll be made and marketed by your company.

Laying out a strategic position involves two things:

  • Determining the kind of value your product will offer to your consumers
  • Deciding how that value will be created differently from your competition

These decisions help lay the foundation for how your organization will operate and inform the strategic choices that will be made in your planning process.

2. Identify Objectives

Strategic planning is all about establishing a roadmap for success, and objectives are the mileposts that determine whether your organization is on the right path. Objectives are clear, measurable goals that are communicated in terms of quantities and timelines. This can be part of a mission statement, a vision statement, or a business plan.

There are multiple ways to set and measure goals. One popular way is using key performance indicators, also known as KPIs. KPIs are measurable values that set a standard for success and track a company’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives.

An effective KPI should follow the SMART goal-setting framework, which means it needs to be:

  • Specific: An effective KPI should be detailed, simple, and clear. For example, “Improve sales” is too broad.
  • Measurable: KPIs need to be measured quantifiably, whether that’s in dollar amounts, percentages, or raw numbers.
  • Achievable: Ensure your KPI is actually attainable and that your organization has the resources to support it.
  • Relevant: Make sure your KPI aligns with a larger business objective.
  • Time-bound: Good goals have a timeline that’s both ambitious yet realistic.

In addition to being SMART, objectives in a business plan should also:

  • Line up with your company’s overall vision. Any objectives you create should be cross-checked with your mission, vision, and values to confirm they’re all aligned.
  • Consider potential risks. Companies are often exposed to a variety of risks related to the development and implementation of their business strategy. When creating new objectives, it’s important to ensure your company is being as safe as possible and taking into account the likelihood of a financial, physical, or technological problem.

3. Analyze the Industry, Competitor, and Customer Trends

To create the most effective strategic plan for your organization, you need to fully understand the landscape you’re working in. This is known as an industry analysis. A thorough analysis plan helps you take a deep dive into your industry, consumers, competition, and potential trends within your niche. You can analyze your competitive advantage, business model, strategic objectives, and long-term goals. This can empower everyone, from employees to board members, to know the best steps to take in every area of the company. 

The data gained from industry analysis can help identify how your organization measures up against its competition. It can also point out potential threats to your organization, as well as opportunities. Armed with this information, you’ll be better equipped to plan for the future of your business.

But how do you conduct an industry analysis?

There are two common methods to consider:

  • A SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This method helps you identify your company’s internal weaknesses and strengths and the external forces—like market trends—that could impact your business.
  • A PEST Analysis: An alternative to SWOT is a PEST analysis. This method pinpoints organizational threats and opportunities through the lens of Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors.

Industry analysis isn’t meant to be a one-and-done activity. It’s important to look into the competitive landscape on a regular basis so that your organization can continue to grow, improve, and find new ways to disrupt the market.

strategic plan development steps

4. Create a Strategic Planning Team

Strategic planning can’t be done in a silo. Involving the right people in your organization will give you extra sets of eyes and expertise, ensuring that important details don’t slip through the cracks.

So, who should make up a strategic planning team?

Every team will look different based on your organization, but for starters, you can tap into managers from your finance, marketing, or HR departments. A team that has diverse ideas and perspectives will only strengthen yours. In fact, according to an article by Fierce Inc. , “Without diversity of thought, innovation is thwarted, initiatives may stall, and you alone cannot save your organization. You need to approach issues with a number of perspectives to be able to see the whole truth.”

With a diverse group of people on your planning team, you’ll know people from all sides of your organization are working together to push things forward.

5. Create an Actionable Plan

Now that you’ve established your strategic position, objectives, industry analysis, and a team to support it, it’s time to create a plan of action. An action plan is a series of steps that outline how your company will use its strategies to meet its goals.

This plan should clearly outline:

  • What action needs to happen
  • Who will carry it out
  • When it will be executed
  • What resources are needed to make it happen

There are many moving parts to this process, which is why utilizing a visual tool—such as a strategy map, can be beneficial. This map can help your team see the entire strategic planning method laid out in one simple visual.

6. Communicate Your Plan

The quickest way to sabotage your organization’s strategy is failing to communicate it. Research shows that, on average, 95% of a company’s employees don’t understand its strategy. To ensure your plan is successful, everyone in your organization needs to be aware of the how and why of your goals and what they can do to help reach them. This creates a united vision with everyone working together.

Because everyone absorbs information differently, it’s important to communicate your strategic plan in several different ways. For instance, if you only send out an e-newsletter, there’s a good chance some employees might not open it or even read the entire email. Instead, use a multi-channel approach such as:

  • A company-wide meeting
  • An announcement in your company newsletter or blog
  • A video from leadership breaking down the new strategy
  • A detailed handout passed out among employees or posted on a bulletin board

You should continue to communicate your strategy routinely (whether that’s every month or quarter) and keep your people in the know when there are changes or updates to the plan.

7. Assess and Revise the Plan Regularly

Once your strategy is launched, you’ll need to know how it’s working. After all, good planning is just part of the process. The other part is consistently checking in on how your organization is progressing toward its goals. A quarterly or monthly review with your strategy team is a good way to check in on your efforts. As you're reviewing your progress, see what worked and what didn’t. Also, look at whether you hit your numbers and deadlines. It’s common for a strategic plan to need some updates along the way, whether that’s revising the timeline, resources, or people working on the plan.

Remember, the strategic planning process is meant to be a constant work in progress. With a committed and communicative leadership team, your organization has a better chance of seeing its vision come to life.

Ready to Start Your Journey?

HEALTH & NURSING

Recommended Articles

Take a look at other articles from WGU. Our articles feature information on a wide variety of subjects, written with the help of subject matter experts and researchers who are well-versed in their industries. This allows us to provide articles with interesting, relevant, and accurate information. 

{{item.date}}

{{item.preTitleTag}}

{{item.title}}

The university, for students.

  • Student Portal
  • Alumni Services

Most Visited Links

  • Business Programs
  • Student Experience
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Student Communities

linkedin

Official website of the U.S. government

  • Priority 1: Workforce
  • Priority 2: Customer Experience
  • Priority 3: Business of Government
  • PMA Learning Agenda

How to Strategic Plan in 7 Steps

By Avery Collins, GSA

April 26, 2022

This is the second post in a series highlighting different aspects of strategic planning in the Federal Government. Today, we will meet Agency Alpha, a fictional agency that will help us learn more about the strategic planning process.

L ast week, we met Carson and learned how she used strategic planning to land a new job . We talked about how this same process applies to government agencies and leaders, who use strategic planning to determine their vision for the future and create a strategic plan to serve as their roadmap.

The strategic planning process that agencies follow is more in-depth than most of us use for our personal goals. Today we will be following Agency Alpha, a fictional federal agency that will help illustrate the strategic planning process. While each federal agency approaches strategic planning a little differently and there is not a single best approach, a sound strategic planning process includes the following 7 key steps.

Step 1: Environmental Scan

The first step of any strategic planning process starts with research. Agency Alpha conducts an environmental scan , a process where they identify and monitor factors that may impact the long-term direction of the agency. Agency Alpha starts by looking at the incoming administration’s priorities and potential new regulations. They identify climate change, customer experience, and equity as a few Administration priorities that they would need to incorporate into their future vision.

Step 2: Internal Analysis

Research doesn’t stop after assessing the environment outside of an agency. Agency Alpha also needs to complete an internal analysis , including a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) assessment. They utilize their annual review process to evaluate performance across the agency and engage with staff and senior leadership. They compare their operations with the Administration priorities they identified in step 1, and in this instance they focus specifically on climate.

Step 3: Strategic Direction

Agency Alpha uses what they learned from their environmental scan and internal analysis to create a strategic direction . They meet with staff and stakeholders and use that input to build a vision for the future that is both idealistic and high-impact. They theorize how to align Administration priorities like equity, customer experience, and climate with agency operations. They determine what is actually achievable and what the agency should strive for. Climate is important to the agency employees and those they serve. They see it as a big part of the future, and thus a big part of the vision for Agency Alpha.

Step 4: Develop Goals and Objectives

After determining their strategic direction and vision, Agency Alpha engages with internal stakeholders and senior leadership to create a focused set of goals and objectives . They facilitate focus groups and meet with subject matter experts to come up with strategies, indicators, and desired outcomes for each goal. They use existing processes like staff engagement, communities of practice, and quarterly reviews to get buy-in from across the agency.

Step 5: Define Metrics, Set Timelines, and Track Progress

After the goals and objectives are set, Agency Alpha adds details to their plan. They determine the responsible offices and bureaus for each goal. They identify the necessary resource allocations, create actionable timeframes, and define metrics that best measure success. Agency Alpha appoints Team Beta to lead clean energy initiatives and Team Cobra to lead climate literacy initiatives. They set milestones and timelines to ensure they stay on track.

Step 6: Write and Publish a Strategic Plan

Once Agency Alpha gathers the information in step 5, they write an informed strategic plan that captures the voice and purpose of the agency. Their engagement with staff and stakeholders in steps 2 through 5 gained agency-wide support for the plan to help ensure that the strategic plan does not end up as a stand-alone document.

Step 7: Plan for Implementation and the Future

While drafting their plan, Agency Alpha begins to prepare for how to implement it after publication. They include performance measures that track progress and create a formal system for leadership and staff to annually review the plan and update goals and objectives as needed. Every agency follows a slightly different process, but most have gone through these 7 steps over the last year and a half. Last month, federal agencies published their strategic plans for 2022 to 2026 on performance.gov .

Stay tuned as we explore the importance of strategy and performance in the Federal Government and share agency success stories. The next post in this series will feature the National Endowment for the Arts and look at how staff and external engagement shaped their overall vision for the next four years.

Back to top

The 5 steps of the strategic planning process

An illustration of a digital whiteboard with a bullseye diagram and sticky notes

Starting a project without a strategy is like trying to bake a cake without a recipe — you might have all the ingredients you need, but without a plan for how to combine them, or a vision for what the finished product will look like, you’re likely to end up with a mess. This is especially true when working with a team — it’s crucial to have a shared plan that can serve as a map on the pathway to success.

Creating a strategic plan not only provides a useful document for the future, but also helps you define what you have right now, and think through and outline all of the steps and considerations you’ll need to succeed.

What is strategic planning?

While there is no single approach to creating a strategic plan, most approaches can be boiled down to five overarching steps:

  • Define your vision
  • Assess where you are
  • Determine your priorities and objectives
  • Define responsibilities
  • Measure and evaluate results

Each step requires close collaboration as you build a shared vision, strategy for implementation, and system for understanding performance.

Related: Learn how to hold an effective strategic planning meeting

Why do I need a strategic plan?

Building a strategic plan is the best way to ensure that your whole team is on the same page, from the initial vision and the metrics for success to evaluating outcomes and adjusting (if necessary) for the future. Even if you’re an expert baker, working with a team to bake a cake means having a collaborative approach and clearly defined steps so that the result reflects the strategic goals you laid out at the beginning.

The benefits of strategic planning also permeate into the general efficiency and productivity of your organization as a whole. They include: 

  • Greater attention to potential biases or flaws, improving decision-making 
  • Clear direction and focus, motivating and engaging employees
  • Better resource management, improving project outcomes 
  • Improved employee performance, increasing profitability
  • Enhanced communication and collaboration, fostering team efficiency 

Next, let’s dive into how to build and structure your strategic plan, complete with templates and assets to help you along the way.

Before you begin: Pick a brainstorming method

There are many brainstorming methods you can use to come up with, outline, and rank your priorities. When it comes to strategy planning, it’s important to get everyone’s thoughts and ideas out before committing to any one strategy. With the right facilitation , brainstorming helps make this process fair and transparent for everyone involved.  

First, decide if you want to run a real-time rapid ideation session or a structured brainstorming . In a rapid ideation session, you encourage sharing half-baked or silly ideas, typically within a set time frame. The key is to just get out all your ideas quickly and then edit the best ones. Examples of rapid ideation methods include round robin , brainwriting , mind mapping , and crazy eights . 

In a structured brainstorming session, you allow for more time to prepare and edit your thoughts before getting together to share and discuss those more polished ideas. This might involve brainstorming methods that entail unconventional ways of thinking, such as reverse brainstorming or rolestorming . 

Using a platform like Mural, you can easily capture and organize your team’s ideas through sticky notes, diagrams, text, or even images and videos. These features allow you to build actionable next steps immediately (and in the same place) through color coding and tagging. 

Whichever method you choose, the ideal outcome is that you avoid groupthink by giving everyone a voice and a say. Once you’ve reached a consensus on your top priorities, add specific objectives tied to each of those priorities.

Related: Brainstorming and ideation template

1. Define your vision

Whether it’s for your business as a whole, or a specific initiative, successful strategic planning involves alignment with a vision for success. You can think of it as a project-specific mission statement or a north star to guide employees toward fulfilling organizational goals. 

To create a vision statement that explicitly states the ideal results of your project or company transformation, follow these four key steps: 

  • Engage and involve the entire team . Inclusivity like this helps bring diverse perspectives to the table. 
  • Align the vision with your core values and purpose . This will make it familiar and easy to follow through. 
  • Stay grounded . The vision should be ambitious enough to motivate and inspire yet grounded enough to be achievable and relevant.
  • Think long-term flexibility . Consider future trends and how your vision can be flexible in the face of challenges or opportunities. 

For example, say your vision is to revolutionize customer success by streamlining and optimizing your process for handling support tickets. It’s important to have a strategy map that allows stakeholders (like the support team, marketing team, and engineering team) to know the overall objective and understand the roles they will play in realizing the goals. 

This can be done in real time or asynchronously , whether in person, hybrid, or remote. By leveraging a shared digital space , everyone has a voice in the process and room to add their thoughts, comments, and feedback. 

Related: Vision board template

2. Assess where you are

The next step in creating a strategic plan is to conduct an assessment of where you stand in terms of your own initiatives, as well as the greater marketplace. Start by conducting a resource assessment. Figure out which financial, human, and/or technological resources you have available and if there are any limitations. You can do this using a SWOT analysis.

What is SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis is an exercise where you define:

  • Strengths: What are your unique strengths for this initiative or this product? In what ways are you a leader?
  • Weaknesses: What weaknesses can you identify in your offering? How does your product compare to others in the marketplace?
  • Opportunities: Are there areas for improvement that'd help differentiate your business?
  • Threats: Beyond weaknesses, are there existing potential threats to your idea that could limit or prevent its success? How can those be anticipated?

For example, say you have an eco-friendly tech company and your vision is to launch a new service in the next year. Here’s what the SWOT analysis might look like: 

  • Strengths : Strong brand reputation, loyal customer base, and a talented team focused on innovation
  • Weaknesses : Limited bandwidth to work on new projects, which might impact the scope of its strategy formulation 
  • Opportunities : How to leverage and experiment with existing customers when goal-setting
  • Threats : Factors in the external environment out of its control, like the state of the economy and supply chain shortages

This SWOT analysis will guide the company in setting strategic objectives and formulating a robust plan to navigate the challenges it might face. 

Related: SWOT analysis template

3. Determine your priorities and objectives

Once you've identified your organization’s mission and current standing, start a preliminary plan document that outlines your priorities and their corresponding objectives. Priorities and objectives should be set based on what is achievable with your available resources. The SMART framework is a great way to ensure you set effective goals . It looks like this:  

  • Specific: Set clear objectives, leaving no room for ambiguity about the desired outcomes.
  • Measurable : Choose quantifiable criteria to make it easier to track progress.
  • Achievable : Ensure it is realistic and attainable within the constraints of your resources and environment.
  • Relevant : Develop objectives that are relevant to the direction your organization seeks to move.
  • Time-bound : Set a clear timeline for achieving each objective to maintain a sense of urgency and focus.

For instance, going back to the eco-friendly tech company, the SMART goals might be: 

  • Specific : Target residential customers and small businesses to increase the sales of its solar-powered device line by 25%. 
  • Measurable : Track monthly sales and monitor customer feedback and reviews. 
  • Achievable : Allocate more resources to the marketing, sales, and customer service departments. 
  • Relevant : Supports the company's growth goals in a growing market of eco-conscious consumers. 
  • Time-bound : Conduct quarterly reviews and achieve this 25% increase in sales over the next 12 months.

With strategic objectives like this, you’ll be ready to put the work into action. 

Related: Project kickoff template

4. Define tactics and responsibilities

In this stage, individuals or units within your team can get granular about how to achieve your goals and who'll be accountable for each step. For example, the senior leadership team might be in charge of assigning specific tasks to their team members, while human resources works on recruiting new talent. 

It’s important to note that everyone’s responsibilities may shift over time as you launch and gather initial data about your project. For this reason, it’s key to define responsibilities with clear short-term metrics for success. This way, you can make sure that your plan is adaptable to changing circumstances. 

One of the more common ways to define tactics and metrics is to use the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) method. By outlining your OKRs, you’ll know exactly what key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and have a framework for analyzing the results once you begin to accumulate relevant data. 

For instance, if our eco-friendly tech company has a goal of increasing sales, one objective might be to expand market reach for its solar-powered products. The sales team lead would be in charge of developing an outreach strategy. The key result would be to successfully launch its products in two new regions by Q2. The KPI would be a 60% conversation rate in those targeted markets.  

Related: OKR planning template  

5. Manage, measure, and evaluate

Once your plan is set into motion, it’s important to actively manage (and measure) progress. Before launching your plan, settle on a management process that allows you to measure success or failure. In this way, everyone is aligned on progress and can come together to evaluate your strategy execution at regular intervals.

Determine the milestones at which you’ll come together and go over results — this can take place weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the nature of the project.

One of the best ways to evaluate progress is through agile retrospectives (or retros) , which can be done in real time or asynchronously. During this process, gather and organize feedback about the key elements that played a role in your strategy. 

Related: Retrospective radar template

Retrospectives are typically divided into three parts:

  • What went well.
  • What didn’t go well.
  • New opportunities for improvement.

This structure is also sometimes called the “ rose, thorn, bud ” framework. By using this approach, team members can collectively brainstorm and categorize their feedback, making the next steps clear and actionable. Creating an action plan during a post-mortem meeting is a crucial step in ensuring that lessons learned from past projects or events are effectively translated into tangible improvements. 

Another method for reviewing progress is the quarterly business review (QBR). Like the agile retrospective, it allows you to collect feedback and adjust accordingly. In the case of QBRs, however, we recommend dividing your feedback into four categories:

  • Start (what new items should be launched?).
  • Stop (what items need to be paused?).
  • Continue (what is going well?).
  • Change (what could be modified to perform better?).

Strategic planners know that planning activities continue even after a project is complete. There’s always room for improvement and an action plan waiting to be implemented. Using the above approaches, your team can make room for new ideas within the existing strategic framework in order to track better to your long-term goals.

Related: Quarterly business review template

Conclusions

The beauty of the strategic plan is that it can be applied from the campaign level all the way up to organizational vision. Using the strategic planning framework, you build buy-in , trust, and transparency by collaboratively creating a vision for success, and mapping out the steps together on the road to your goals.

Also, in so doing, you build in an ability to adapt effectively on the fly in response to data through measurement and evaluation, making your plan both flexible and resilient.

Related: 5 Tips for Holding Effective Post-mortems

Why Mural for strategic planning

Mural unlocks collaborative strategic planning through a shared digital space with an intuitive interface, a library of pre-fab templates, and methodologies based on design thinking principles.

Outline goals, identify key metrics, and track progress with a platform built for any enterprise.

Learn more about strategic planning with Mural.

About the authors

Bryan Kitch

Bryan Kitch

Tagged Topics

Related blog posts

strategic plan development steps

How to hold effective strategic planning meetings

strategic plan development steps

Tactical vs. strategic planning: Why you need both

strategic plan development steps

5 effective strategic planning models for your business

Related blog posts.

strategic plan development steps

Teamwork 2024 Report: This isn't working

strategic plan development steps

Collaborative leadership: What it is and why it works so well for distributed teams

strategic plan development steps

Trust your people — you hired them for a reason

Get the free 2023 collaboration trends report.

Extraordinary teamwork isn't an accident

The Easy Guide to the Strategic Planning Process

Updated on: 23 May 2023

Strategic planning is a process that may take months for some organizations, but its importance to the growth of the organization cannot be measured.

It helps guide company decisions, set measurable goals, and define the direction of the organization.  

In this guide we will discuss what is strategic planning process and describe in detail the strategic planning process steps along with some visual techniques you can use during each phase.

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the process by which organizations make decisions about the goals they want to accomplish and the steps that need to be taken to get there.

The strategic planning process helps prioritize their objectives and effectively make use of the available resources to move from the current state to the desired state of things, or in other words accomplish their goals.

Importance of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is crucial to the growth of any organization. Here’s why it is important to each and every small and large company out there.

  • Helps with maintaining a company’s competitive advantage
  • Gives insight into what may happen in the future and prepare accordingly
  • Helps define the direction the organization should take
  • Facilitates decision-making with regard to allocating resources and setting a budget
  • Helps derive useful information on market trends, target audience, competitors etc.

Strategic Planning Steps

The strategic planning process helps an organization fill the gap between its current state and the desired state. Below, we have explained the different steps you need to take along with tools that can accelerate the process.

Conduct an Environmental Scan

To do an environmental scan, you need to gather a cross-functional team capable of providing information on different aspects of the organization. Get the input of relevant stakeholders, interviewing them to learn about the current strategic issues and situation.

In an environmental scan you need to take both internal and external factors that may affect the growth and performance of the organization into consideration.

Internal factors may include company resources, financial capabilities, employee skills etc. On the other hand, external factors include market trends, economic and political changes, technological advances etc.

You can make use of situational analysis tools such as SWOT and PESTLE analysis to gather and examine information relevant to these areas.

SWOT analysis for strategic planning process

Perform a Gap Analysis

Using the data such as the available resources, financial situation etc. you have gathered through your environmental scan, you can effectively perform a gap analysis to determine whether you are getting the best out of the resources available to you.

It helps identify the gaps between the current performance of the organization and the desired performance and what you should do differently and what additional resources you may need to achieve your goals.  

To learn about the gap analysis tools you can make use of in detail, refer to our articles on

5 Gap Analysis Tools to Identify and Close the Gaps in Your Business  

Gap Analysis Templates to Edit Online, Download or Print

Define the Vision, Mission and Values

Clarify the vision (where are you headed?), mission (why do you exist?) and the core values of your organization.

Based on their definition, you can set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (SMART) goals and objectives.

Do a Competitive Analysis

Understanding the challenges posed by your competitors in the industry is essential to creating an effective strategic plan.

It can help you gather important insight necessary to identify market gaps and trends and develop new products and strategies.

Once you have a proper idea about the competitive landscape, you can tailor your strategies to overcome the challenges and increase the competitive advantage.   

Here are some handy visual techniques to conduct a competitive analysis .

Develop an Action Plan

Once you have identified your objectives and what you should prioritize, create your action plan .

Allocate your resources, time and budget, outline the action steps and assign tasks to the relevant employees.

Use the following action plan template to proceed.

Strategic Action Plan Template - strategic planning process

Create Your Communication Plan

The purpose of a communication plan is to help guide the process of communicating your strategic plan and action plan to the relevant employees and other stakeholders.

Strategic Communication Plan

Read our guide on Creating an Effective Communications Plan to learn how to create a consistent messaging strategy.

Once the strategic planning process is explained to everyone in the company, roll it out.

Evaluate Results

Monitor the progress of your goals and measure the performance on a monthly basis. You can inquire the responsible task owners for the status of their targets and hold them accountable.

Make use of Gantt chart to track progress on given targets.

Strategic Planning Gantt Chart

Identify areas for improvements and take the necessary measures to fix them.

What’s Your Company’s Strategic Planning Process?

A proper strategic plan is key to keeping your business on track when reaching your goals. Follow the steps discussed above and make use of the visual tools provided to facilitate and accelerate your strategic planning process steps.

What are the strategic planning process steps your organization take. Share with us in the comment section below.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

strategic plan development steps

More Related Articles

Improve Organizational Performance

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Please enter an answer in digits: five × 2 =

Download our all-new eBook for tips on 50 powerful Business Diagrams for Strategic Planning.

  • Business Essentials
  • Leadership & Management
  • Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation
  • *New* Digital Transformation
  • Finance & Accounting
  • Business in Society
  • For Organizations
  • Support Portal
  • Media Coverage
  • Founding Donors
  • Leadership Team

strategic plan development steps

  • Harvard Business School →
  • HBS Online →
  • Business Insights →

Business Insights

Harvard Business School Online's Business Insights Blog provides the career insights you need to achieve your goals and gain confidence in your business skills.

  • Career Development
  • Communication
  • Decision-Making
  • Earning Your MBA
  • Negotiation
  • News & Events
  • Productivity
  • Staff Spotlight
  • Student Profiles
  • Work-Life Balance
  • Alternative Investments
  • Business Analytics
  • Business Strategy
  • Business and Climate Change
  • Design Thinking and Innovation
  • Digital Marketing Strategy
  • Disruptive Strategy
  • Economics for Managers
  • Entrepreneurship Essentials
  • Financial Accounting
  • Global Business
  • Launching Tech Ventures
  • Leadership Principles
  • Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability
  • Leading with Finance
  • Management Essentials
  • Negotiation Mastery
  • Organizational Leadership
  • Power and Influence for Positive Impact
  • Strategy Execution
  • Sustainable Business Strategy
  • Sustainable Investing
  • Winning with Digital Platforms

How to Develop a Business Strategy: 6 Steps

colleagues developing a business strategy using sticky notes on glass window

  • 25 Oct 2022

Business strategy can seem daunting, and for good reason: It can make or break an organization. Yet, developing a strong strategy doesn’t need to be overwhelming.

In the online course Business Strategy , Harvard Business School Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee posits that strategy is simple. His secret? Focus on your organization’s value creation.

“Strategy often sounds like a lofty concept that only the most senior executives can develop,” Oberholzer-Gee says. “But actually, anyone can think and act strategically. It doesn’t need to be difficult; all you need is a proven framework.”

Here’s a breakdown of why business strategy is important, the basics of value-based strategy, and six steps for developing your own.

Why Do You Need a Business Strategy?

Business strategy is the development, alignment, and integration of an organization’s strategic initiatives to give it a competitive edge in the market. Devising a business strategy can ensure you have a clear plan for reaching organizational goals and continue to survive and thrive.

According to a study by Bridges Business Consultancy , 48 percent of organizations fail to meet half of their strategic targets and 85 percent fail to meet two-thirds, highlighting why dedication to the business strategy process is crucial.

One type of business strategy is called value-based strategy, which simplifies the process by leveraging the value stick framework to focus on the advantage your business creates.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Value-Based Strategy?

Value-based strategy , also called value-based pricing, is a pricing method in which an organization relies on the perceived value of its goods and services to determine its pricing structure and resource allocation.

The value stick framework can be used to visualize how various factors impact each other and determine which initiatives to pursue to increase value for all parties.

The value stick framework

The value stick has four factors:

  • Willingness to pay (WTP) : The highest price a customer is willing to pay for your product or service
  • Price : The amount customers have to pay for goods or services
  • Cost : The amount a company spends on producing goods or services
  • Willingness to sell (WTS) : The lowest amount suppliers are willing to accept for the materials required to produce goods or services

To determine how to best create value, you can toggle each factor on the value stick to see how the others are affected. For instance, lowering price increases customer delight.

"As strategists, we really ask three questions,” Oberholzer-Gee says in Business Strategy. “How can my business best create value for customers? How can my business create value for employees? And how can my business create value by collaborating with suppliers? Think of a company's strategy as an answer to these three questions."

Related: 4 Business Strategy Skills Every Business Leader Needs

6 Steps to Develop a Value-Based Business Strategy

1. define your purpose.

When approaching business strategy, defining your organization’s purpose can be a useful starting point.

This is vital in creating customer and employee value, especially if your organization’s purpose is linked to a cause such as environmental protection or alleviating specific social issues.

A recent survey conducted by clean energy company Swytch found that nearly 75 percent of millennials would take a decrease in salary if it meant working for an environmentally responsible company. Nearly 40 percent selected one job over another because of an organization’s sustainability practices.

Additionally, research in the Harvard Business Review shows that consumers’ motivation to buy from sustainable brands is on the rise. Sales of products marked as sustainable grew more than five times faster than those that weren’t.

By starting with purpose, your organization can create more value down the line.

2. Assess Market Opportunity

Next, understand your market’s competitive landscape. Which companies own shares of the market? What differentiates your competitors’ products from yours? Are there any unmet needs your organization could take advantage of?

Conducting this research before planning a strategy is critical in identifying how your organization provides unique customer value and opportunities to create even more.

3. Create Value for Customers

With an understanding of the market and your company’s purpose, you can determine how your organization provides unique or greater value and strategize ways to improve.

On the value stick, the value captured by customers is called “customer delight.” It can be increased by raising their willingness to pay and decreasing the product’s price. If lowering the price isn’t an option, brainstorm how you could make the product more valuable to customers, thus increasing their willingness to pay.

Some ways to create customer value include:

  • Lowering the product’s price
  • Increasing the product’s physical quality and longevity
  • Providing quick, high-quality customer service and a smooth shopping experience
  • Leveraging network effects , if applicable, to create a community of users
  • Incorporating an environmental or social cause into processes, packaging, and branding

4. Create Value for Suppliers

In addition to creating value for customers, you also need to provide value for suppliers. Suppliers can include any company that provides raw materials, labor, and transportation to help your organization produce goods or deliver services.

Supplier surplus, also called supplier delight, is created when the cost of materials increases or their willingness to sell decreases. The relationship between a firm and its suppliers can be contentious, given that both want to increase their margins. Yet, there are ways to create value for both parties.

Some ways to create value for suppliers include:

  • Agreeing to pay more for higher quality materials : While this increases the supplier surplus, it may also increase customer delight by raising willingness to pay, or increase the firm’s margin by allowing you to raise prices.
  • Working with the supplier to increase efficiency : This strategy can increase supplier surplus by lowering the overall cost of the supplier’s labor and their willingness to sell.

Business Strategy | Simplify Strategy to Make the Greatest Business Impact | Learn More

5. Create Value for Employees

Creating value for employees is a critical part of an effective business strategy and can be assessed using the value stick. Think of your employees as the “supplier” of labor and the supplier margin as employee satisfaction.

Employee satisfaction can be increased by raising wages or lowering the minimum salary they’re willing to receive by delivering value in other ways. Satisfied employees may provide a better customer experience, resulting in increased customer delight.

The value you provide employees ensures they’re motivated to do their best work, develop their skills, and stay with your company long-term.

Some examples of ways to create value for your employees include:

  • Offering competitive salaries and bonuses
  • Offering benefits like ample paid vacation and sick days, generous parental leave, and wellness budgets
  • Providing flexibility of work location, whether your team is fully remote or hybrid
  • Aiding in professional development
  • Creating a workplace rich with a diversity of experiences, identities, and ideas
  • Fostering a supportive organizational culture

One example from Business Strategy is that of a call center for a diagnostics company. The employees were being paid minimum wage and expressed that the analytical nature of their phone calls with customers warranted higher pay. They also expressed pain points about cumbersome tasks and work conditions.

When a pay increase was implemented for all employees, along with operational changes to make processes smoother, employee productivity increased to the point that it balanced out the higher cost of salaries.

Because the employees’ satisfaction increased, they also began providing better experiences on the phone with customers. This increased the customers’ willingness to pay, directly impacting customer delight.

6. Map Strategy to Actionable Tasks and KPIs

Amidst creating value for each of the three groups, don’t forget the fourth party that needs value: your company. By creating value for employees, suppliers, and customers, you’re creating value for your firm, too.

To ensure you’re tracking to goals, determine your key performance indicators, what metrics constitute success, and how you’ll report results over time. Then, break each of the above value-creation goals into action items. For instance, what steps can you take to increase your employees’ compensation? Who will be responsible for each task?

Having actionable assignments and clear metrics for success will allow for a smooth transition from strategy formulation to execution.

Which HBS Online Strategy Course is Right for You? | Download Your Free Flowchart

Building Your Strategic Skill Set

By leveraging the value stick, you can create a business strategy that provides value to employees, customers, suppliers, and your firm.

To develop your strategies further and dig deeper into how to navigate value creation, consider taking an online course like Business Strategy . Professor Oberholzer-Gee walks through real-world examples of business challenges, prompts you to consider how you’d create value, and then reveals what those business leaders did and how you can apply the lessons to your organization.

Want to learn more about how to craft a successful strategy for your organization? Explore Business Strategy , one of our online strategy courses , to learn how to create organizational value. Not sure which course is the right fit? Download our free flowchart .

strategic plan development steps

About the Author

strategic plan development steps

Search form

strategic plan development steps

  • Table of Contents
  • Troubleshooting Guide
  • A Model for Getting Started
  • Justice Action Toolkit
  • Coronavirus Response Tool Box
  • Best Change Processes
  • Databases of Best Practices
  • Online Courses
  • Ask an Advisor
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Community Stories
  • YouTube Channel
  • About the Tool Box
  • How to Use the Tool Box
  • Privacy Statement
  • Workstation/Check Box Sign-In
  • Online Training Courses
  • Capacity Building Training
  • Training Curriculum - Order Now
  • Community Check Box Evaluation System
  • Build Your Toolbox
  • Facilitation of Community Processes
  • Community Health Assessment and Planning
  • Section 4. Developing Successful Strategies: Planning to Win

Chapter 8 Sections

  • Section 1. An Overview of Strategic Planning or "VMOSA" (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans)
  • Section 2. Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements
  • Section 3. Creating Objectives
  • Section 5. Developing an Action Plan
  • Section 6. Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes are Important and Feasible?
  • Section 7. Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and System Change
  • Main Section

What is a strategy?

What are the criteria for developing a good strategy, why develop strategies, when should you develop strategies for your initiative, how do you develop strategies.

A strategy is a way of describing how you are going to get things done. It is less specific than an action plan (which tells the who-what-when); instead, it tries to broadly answer the question, "How do we get there from here?" (Do we want to take the train? Fly? Walk?)

A good strategy will take into account existing barriers and resources (people, money, power, materials, etc.). It will also stay with the overall vision, mission, and objectives of the initiative. Often, an initiative will use many different strategies--providing information, enhancing support, removing barriers, providing resources, etc.--to achieve its goals.

Objectives outline the aims of an initiative--what success would look like in achieving the vision and mission. By contrast, strategies suggest paths to take (and how to move along) on the road to success. That is, strategies help you determine how you will realize your vision and objectives through the nitty-gritty world of action.

Strategies for your community initiative should meet several criteria.

Does the strategy:

  • Give overall direction ? A strategy, such as enhancing experience and skill or increasing resources and opportunities, should point out the overall path without dictating a particular narrow approach (e.g., using a specific skills training program).
  • Fit resources and opportunities ? A good strategy takes advantage of current resources and assets, such as people's willingness to act or a tradition of self-help and community pride. It also embraces new opportunities such as an emerging public concern for neighborhood safety or parallel economic development efforts in the business community.
  • Minimize resistance and barriers ? When initiatives set out to accomplish important things, resistance (even opposition) is inevitable. However, strategies need not provide a reason for opponents to attack the initiative. Good strategies attract allies and deter opponents.
  • Reach those affected ? To address the issue or problem, strategies must connect the intervention with those who it should benefit. For example, if the mission of the initiative is to get people into decent jobs, do the strategies (providing education and skills training, creating job opportunities, etc.) reach those currently unemployed?
  • Advance the mission ? Taken together, are strategies likely to make a difference on the mission and objectives? If the aim is to reduce a problem such as unemployment, are the strategies enough to make a difference on rates of employment? If the aim is to prevent a problem, such as substance use, have factors contributing to risk (and protection) been changed sufficiently to reduce use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs?

Developing strategies is really a way to focus your efforts and figure out how you're going to get things done. By doing so, you can achieve the following advantages:

  • Taking advantage of resources and emerging opportunities
  • Responding effectively to resistance and barriers
  • A more efficient use of time, energy, and resources

Developing strategies is the fourth step in the VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) process outlined at the beginning of this chapter. Developing strategies is the essential step between figuring out your objectives and making the changes to reach them. Strategies should always be formed in advance of taking action, not deciding how to do something after you have done it. Without a clear idea of the how, your group's actions may waste time and effort and fail to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Strategies should also be updated periodically to meet the needs of a changing environment, including new opportunities and emerging opposition to the group's efforts.

Once again, let's refer back to our friends at the fictional Reducing the Risk (RTR) Coalition that hopes to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy in its community. We'll walk through the process of developing strategies with this group so as to better explain the who, what, and why of strategies.

As with the process you went through to write your vision and mission statements and to set your objectives, developing strategies involves brainstorming and talking to community members.

Organize a brainstorming meeting with members of your organization and members of the community

Remember, people will work best in a relaxed and welcoming environment. You can help achieve this by:

  • One person speaks at a time
  • No interrupting each other
  • Everyone's ideas are respected
  • Bringing fans or heaters (if needed) so people will be comfortable.
  • Asking members to escort each other home or to their cars, the subway, or the bus stop if the meeting runs late.
  • Providing refreshments. Never underestimate the power of homemade food, drinks, and other treats.

The RTR Coalition held brainstorming sessions among organization members. They invited local teens, parents, teachers, counselors, church members, and other community leaders to participate in listening sessions. These were used to help develop strategies to reduce the risk of teen pregnancy. Homemade cookies, fruit, and coffee helped make participants feel welcome.

Review (identify) the targets and agents of change for your initiative

  • Your targets of change include all of the people who experience (or are at risk for) this issue or problem addressed by your initiative. Remember to be inclusive; that is, include everyone who is affected by the problem or issue or whose action or inaction contributes to it. For example, a coalition such the RTR Coalition would want to include all teenagers as potential targets of change, not just adolescents who seem particularly at risk, and parents, peers, and teachers whose actions or inactions might make a difference.
  • Your agents of change include everyone who is in a position to help contribute to the solution. With the RTR Coalition, examples of agents of change might include teens, teachers, guidance counselors, parents of teens, lawmakers, and others.

Review your vision, mission, and objectives to keep you on the right track

It is helpful to review your mission, vision, and objectives to ensure that your strategies are all aligned with the goals expressed in your previous work.

Work together to brainstorm the best strategies for your initiative

The following list of questions can be a guide for deciding on the most beneficial strategies for your group:

  • What resources and assets exist that can be used to help achieve the vision and mission? How can they be used best?
  • What obstacles or resistance exist that could make it difficult to achieve your vision and mission? How can you minimize or get around them?
  • What are potential agents of change willing to do to serve the mission?
  • Do you want to reduce the existing problem, or does it make more sense to try to prevent (or reduce risk for) problems before they start? For example, if you are trying to reduce teen sexual activity, you might consider gearing some of your strategies to younger children, for whom sex is not yet a personal issue; or, to promote academic success, to work with younger children who still have full potential for learning and school success.
  • How will your potential strategies decrease the risk for experiencing the problem (e.g., young girls getting pressure for sex from older men)? How will the strategies increase protective factors (e.g., support from peers; access to contraceptives)?
  • What potential strategies will affect the whole population and problem? For example, connecting youth with caring adults might be good for virtually all youth, regardless of income or past experience with the problem. Also, just one strategy, affecting just one part of the community such as schools or youth organizations, often isn't enough to improve the situation. Make sure that your strategies affect the problem or issue as a whole.
  • What potential strategies reach those at particular risk for the problem? For example, early screenings might help focus on those at higher risk for heart disease or cancer; past academic failure or history of drug use, for identifying with whom support and other intervention efforts might be focused.

Let's look at the strategies proposed by the members of the RTR Coalition to prevent teen pregnancy.

Example: The strategies of the RTR Coalition We will pursue the following strategies to reach each of our objectives: Assist local churches in implementing parent-child awareness sessions (for example, a series of talks might be given discussing how to talk to your preteen about sex); Include comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of students from kindergarten through grade twelve, including information on abstinence, sexual decision-making skills, and family planning / contraception at age-appropriate times; Incorporate options for teacher-led and peer support programs in the schools; Survey and report on student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to sexual issues; Increase access to contraception; Organize a school/community action group to create supervised after-school activities, mentor programs, etc.

Things to note about the RTR strategies:

  • They give overall direction (without dictating specifics, such as the particular sexuality education curricula to be used).
  • They fit local resources, including a variety of the available agents of change (in this case, peers, parents and guardians, clergy, and teachers).
  • Some of the strategies try to change existing situations (such as increased access to contraception); others are geared to stop the problem of teen pregnancy before it starts (for example, assisting local churches to improve early parent-child communication).
  • The strategies involve many different parts of the community, including churches and other groups from whom opposition to some strategies (such as access to contraceptives) might be expected.
  • The strategies try to decrease some of the probable risk factors for teen pregnancy (lack of information, lack of access to contraceptives, peer pressure), and at the same time, they try to increase some of the possible protective factors (increased parent-child communication, church involvement, education, opportunities for a better future).

Check your proposed strategies for completeness, accuracy, and whether they contribute to the vision, mission, and objectives

Online Resource

Tom Wolff / AHEC/Community Partners. (1993).  Coalition building tip sheets [Resource Sheets]. Amherst, MA

Concerns Report Handbook: Planning for Community Health

Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Youth Violence: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Promoting Child Well-Being: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Promoting Health for All: Improving Access and Eliminating Disparities in Community Health

Promoting Healthy Living and Preventing Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Communities

Promoting Urban Neighborhood Development: An Action Planning Guide for Improving Housing, Jobs, Education, Safety and Health

Reducing Risk for Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Work Group Evaluation Handbook

Youth Development: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Print Resources

Berkowitz, W. (1982).  Community impact: creating grassroots change in hard times . Cambridge: Schenkman.

Brown, C. (1984).  The art of coalition building: a guide for community leaders . The American Jewish Committee.

Fawcett, S., Francisco, V., Paine, A., Fisher, J., Lewis, R., Williams, E., Richter, K.., Harris, K.., & Berkley, J., with assistance from Oxley, L., Graham, A., & Amawi, L. (1994).  Preventing youth violence: an action planning guide . Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas.

Fawcett, S.., Harris, K., Paine- A., Richter, K., Lewis, R., Francisco, V., Arbaje, A., Davis, A., Cheng, H. in collaboration with Johnston, J. (1995).  Reducing risk for chronic disease: an action planning guide for community-based initiatives . Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas.

Hawkins, J., & Catalano, R., et al. (1992).  Communities that care . San Francisco, CA.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (1996).  Strategic execution plan  (DOT HS 808-377).

Mastering the building blocks of strategy

Left unchecked, market forces continually conspire to deplete profits. Powerful business strategies can counteract those tendencies, but good strategy is difficult to formulate. 1 1. A 2011 McKinsey survey asked executives to evaluate their strategies against ten objective tests of business strategy. It found that 65 percent of companies passed just three or fewer tests. For more, see Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit, “ Have you tested your strategy lately? ,” McKinsey Quarterly , January 2011. Indeed, the latest McKinsey research (see “ The strategic yardstick you can’t afford to ignore .”) finds that a very small number of companies create most economic profit. 2 2. What’s left over after subtracting the cost of capital from net operating profit. The research also shows that a significant number of good companies outperform even in so-called bad industries, where the average economic profit is less than the market average.

How do they do it? In other words, where do powerful strategies come from? Sometimes it’s luck, or good timing, or a stroke of inspiration. In our experience, it’s also possible to load the dice in favor of developing good strategies by focusing on the core building blocks that often get overlooked. One is the need to gain agreement—before creating strategy—on the essential decisions and the criteria for making them. Another is to ensure that the company is prepared and willing to act on a strategy once it is adopted. Too much of what passes for strategy development, we find, consists of hurried efforts that skip one or more of the essentials. The resulting strategies are often flawed from the start.

It’s also easy, though, to go too far in the other direction and make the creation of strategy a rigid, box-checking exercise. Appealing as a formula-driven approach might be, it ignores the truth that strategy creation is a journey—and an inherently messy one at that. Proprietary insights are hard to come by. Shaping keen insights into good strategies requires deep interpersonal engagement and debate from senior executives, as well as the ability to deal with ambiguity in charged and often stressful circumstances. When would-be strategists overlook these dynamics, they cover the essentials in name only. Consequently, they miss opportunities and threats, or create great paper strategies that remain unfinished in practice.

In this article, we’ll outline a middle path—an end-to-end way of thinking that views the creation of strategy as a journey, not a project. This method, developed through our work with some 900 global companies over the past five years, can help senior executives approach strategy in a rigorous and complete way. We’ll also describe some principles that strategists should keep in mind as they use the method to ensure that their strategic-planning processes embody the spirit of debate and engagement, which, in turn, yields inspiration. By better understanding both the method and how to get the most out of it, companies can boost the odds that the strategies they create will beat the market.

Do justice to strategy’s building blocks

Most companies we’re familiar with demonstrate a variety of good habits when they create strategies, and they get many things right. But what they miss can be critical. Consider these examples:

  • a technology company that prided itself on analytical rigor but never accurately diagnosed how difficult it would be for a targeted customer group to provide reasonable returns
  • a beer company that rightly focused on industry structure in its core business but made a losing bet on a related business—wine—after failing to forecast declining returns stemming from structural shifts there
  • a telecommunications company’s strategy team, which recognized the importance of involving senior managers but ended up alienating them by holding a series of time-consuming workshops that focused on alignment around strategic choices, though the full set of choices hadn’t yet been identified

These problems don’t have to happen. We find that companies do better when they ground all their strategy-development efforts and processes in an understanding of the building blocks of strategy. These straightforward modes of activity (exhibit) track the progression of a strategy from its roots as an idea through its emergence as an operational reality.

The building blocks of strategy help companies make strategic choices and carry them through to operational reality.

One central building block is deep insight into the starting position of the company: where and why it creates—or destroys—value (diagnose). Executives also need a point of view on how the future may unfold (forecast). By combining insights into a company’s starting position with a perspective on the future, the company can develop and explore alternative ways to win (search) and ultimately decide which alternative to pursue (choose). With the strategy selected, the company needs to create an action plan and reallocate resources to deliver it (commit).

These five core building blocks are book-ended by two others. One is an initial block (frame) to ensure that the team properly identifies and agrees to both the questions asked and the decisions made as the strategy is developed. The final block (evolve) is dedicated to the constant monitoring and refreshing of the strategy as conditions change and new information becomes available.

To some extent, the building blocks simply represent a thorough list of activities that all good strategists perform. And while all are important and should be included in the creation of strategy, slavishly following this or any other framework won’t bring success. Depending on the situation, some blocks will be more critical than others and therefore require more attention (see sidebar, “Re-create, recommit, and refresh”).

Re-create, recommit, and refresh

For a number of years, we, our colleagues, and many others who are engaged in the practice of strategy have been pointing out how ill-suited traditional strategic-planning processes are to the dynamism and pace of 21st-century business life. Less clear is what should happen to many organizations’ well-oiled approaches. Shut them down? Morph them into budgeting and operational-planning processes? Use them to synthesize the valuable insights emerging from more frequent strategic dialogues involving larger numbers of executives?

The building blocks of strategy shed fresh light on what strategic planning should and shouldn’t try to do. For starters, we’d emphasize that periodically—perhaps as often as every three to five years, if new competitors arrive or markets unexpectedly shift—companies must re-create their strategies. This cannot be accomplished through typical planning processes, as it requires broader skills, wider engagement, and more flexibility to make big strategic choices than they allow. So forget about strategic planning when you need to revamp your strategy; instead, take a more immersive strategy-development approach using all of the seven building blocks described in this article.

At the other end of the spectrum is what we would describe as the need to recommit organizations to established strategies. Traditional strategic planning is tailor-made for this purpose, and thinking about the task in these terms helps elevate it above the glorified budgeting exercise into which some processes lapse. Two of the building blocks we have described in this article—commit and evolve—are useful reminders of what any such strategic- planning process should accomplish: the constant monitoring of strategy, the reallocation of resources, the alignment of management on strategic priorities, and the creation of targets, budgets, and operational plans.

Between these two extremes lies the strategic refresh, which is particularly relevant for organizations where a lot of valuable, ongoing strategy dialogue takes place among members of the top team. Such engagement can highlight nagging issues that might one day necessitate a strategic redo but certainly merit attention now. For example, if signs suggesting that one or more key assumptions have become less valid emerge from strategic dialogues at the business-unit level, it might be time to update the company’s perspective on long-term trends. This exercise could be elevated in importance by making it a core theme of the upcoming strategic-planning process. In such situations, it’s a good idea to check all seven building blocks quickly, with an emphasis on understanding the strategic implications of underlying changes. If they are big enough, that could be a red flag signaling the need to re-create the strategy and thus to elevate the discussion beyond strategic-planning parameters.

For a closer look at how to improve strategic planning, see “ Managing the strategy journey ” and “ Dynamic management: Better decisions in uncertain times .”

That’s why taking some time to frame issues at the outset is so important. When strategists do so, they are better able to identify the real choices and constraints facing their organizations and to see which building blocks are likely to matter most given the situation at hand. Unfortunately, many executives feel that taking the time to frame strategy choices thoughtfully and to decide where to focus strategy-development efforts is a luxury they don’t have.

We’ve seen evidence of this pressure firsthand and in the responses to an executive survey we’ve been conducting as part of an ongoing research project. Fully two-thirds of the 200 executives we’ve surveyed so far report that they feel rushed to provide outputs in their strategic-planning processes. This pressure is understandable in today’s always-on, fast-changing environment, but it can be hazardous to a company’s strategic health. That’s especially true in the all-too-common situations when it’s not immediately obvious what factors will determine the success or failure of a change to strategy.

A financial-services institution in the Asia–Pacific region, for example, was investigating a growth opportunity involving the creation of an online business. Changing the company’s focus in this way would be a big undertaking, but the upside potential was large. Moreover, the members of the strategy team could already see that demonstrating the channel’s significant potential to the top team would be straightforward. Before doing that, however, they stepped back to spend some time thinking through the idea’s broader strategic context—framing, in other words.

When they did, they saw a serious risk of cannibalization for one of the company’s existing businesses. The new venture would also require substantial funding over the next three to five years before it contributed financially. This had important implications, and the team’s members needed to convince themselves that the risk was worth taking. Moreover, if the company made the move, would it stick with the effort when the time came to provide funding for people and technology?

Instead of steaming ahead with analytical work to prove the potential, the team recognized that it would be critical to invest a disproportionate amount of time and effort to the commit building block. The strategy team did this, in part, by developing a powerful multimedia concept prototype to capture the imaginations of the top team and the executives representing key support functions. The team’s focus on gaining commitment was prescient; the prototype and the communication around it helped convince the leaders that the concept was so compelling for consumers that if the company didn’t cannibalize its existing business, a competitor would probably come up with the idea. The effort also helped motivate the leaders of the finance and IT functions to support the new offer. The company launched it in record time, to promising early results in both customer acquisition and levels of customer engagement.

In retrospect, the team credits the conversations and debates held during this framing period as necessary to identify and resolve the potential stumbling blocks related to the organization’s strategic direction. Although messy at times, this activity helped build an organizational commitment to the strategy and its importance to the company.

Myth-bust your story

A focus on strategic building blocks also can help companies develop penetrating insights. While “insight” conjures up visions of research, data crunching, and “aha” moments, real strategic insight also rests on a seemingly mundane and easy-to-overlook factor: a thorough understanding of how and why a company, its competitors, and others in the industry value chain make money. Absent dumb luck, a strategy that doesn’t tap directly into such an understanding will underperform.

The difficulty, as professor Phil Rosenzweig of the International Institute for Management Development has explained so well, 3 3. See Phil Rosenzweig, “ The halo effect, and other managerial delusions ,” McKinsey Quarterly , February 2007. is that a company’s performance—good or bad—creates strong impressions that powerfully shape the way people perceive strategies, leaders, cultures, and organizational effectiveness. A commodity company, for instance, might falsely attribute its strong performance to the efficiency of its operations. Yet despite its efficiency, the economics of those operations could be swamped by market-structure changes that have significant pricing implications or by unexpectedly volatile demand.

One way senior executives can address the challenge, we find, is explicitly questioning received corporate wisdom—much as the popular US television show MythBusters does when it takes apparent axioms, urban legends, and popular assumptions and (in entertaining fashion) tries to prove or disprove them. In the creation of strategy, this approach means dispassionately identifying the elements that contribute to performance, while discounting any factor contaminated by perceptions of the company’s supposed greatness. It also requires a curiosity that’s woefully lacking in some strategic-planning processes. Nearly eight in ten executives we surveyed, for example, say that the processes of their companies are more geared to confirming existing hypotheses than to testing new ones.

To see how these dynamics play out in practice, consider the experience of a global retailer that was revisiting its strategy after the previous one had delivered five years of strong earnings. The positive results, most in the company believed, reflected good execution and the success of a recent initiative to refresh the store format. Still, the leader of the business felt there could be more to the story and worried that continuing along the same path might not produce the same results in the future. To determine what was actually driving performance, the leader met with the company’s strategy team, as well as other executives.

This was time well spent. The resulting discussions sparked important insights—revealing, for example, that while overall performance was good, there were problems under the surface. On the positive side, the company was steadily improving its margins and winning customers from a higher-cost competitor. Nonetheless, the solid network growth at the top-line level appeared to be masking a worrisome decline in the productivity of older stores. The big drag on performance, the team discovered, was the loss of mainstream customers to a cheaper competitor, which careful analysis showed to have an unassailable advantage on cost. Increasing promotional activity had so far seemed to stem the march of this aggressive rival, but the retailer was running out of steam and hitting practical limits. Significant changes would be necessary.

Let them grapple

This realization was the product of more than just number crunching. The thoughtful argument and debate surrounding the analysis from day one played a vital part in generating the insights. In our experience, many companies forget this truth when they create strategy. Instead, they put too much emphasis on preparing documents and completing analyses and not enough on stimulating the productive debates that lead to better decisions.

Getting executives to grapple with the issues can be a messy process, and the debates may be quite personal. After all, formulating good strategies typically involves revisiting fundamental and deeply held beliefs about a company’s past and future, and people tend not to shift their views without a fight. 4 4. We also know that executives exhibit a number of biases that lead them to be overconfident about their beliefs and adept at finding facts to confirm them and reject challenges. To learn more about addressing this problem, see Dan Lovallo and Olivier Sibony, “ The case for behavioral strategy ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 2010. But without the necessary fights, and without the use of carefully designed decision-making techniques, companies may end up with rubber-stamped strategies whose flaws are exposed during implementation—or afterward, by competitors.

When companies find ways to get executives grappling—throughout the strategy-development process—with the choices that matter, they make better, less biased decisions. They also improve the likelihood that the relevant stakeholders will be on board when the time comes to make and act on choices. 5 5. The importance of gaining social support for a strategy is often overlooked. Fully 62 percent of executives in our survey say that their strategy processes focus on the strategy itself, not on building a support base of influencers who will drive implementation.

To exemplify our point, let’s look again at the retailer’s strategy team as it engaged with the company’s broader leadership group to share its observations. Most strategy teams interact with decision makers by presenting management with a summary report and recommendations. But this team understood that senior managers needed time to debate the issues themselves and reach their own conclusions—and that such collective discussions would improve the resulting strategy.

Because the senior managers had a very hands-on attitude, the strategy team designed a series of weekly meetings called think tanks to let them work through a profit-deconstruction exercise illuminating the company’s past. In each session, the analysis was tabled after a certain point, and the management team’s members took turns drawing out conclusions or identifying further questions that needed answering. The strategy team was prohibited from bringing any conclusions of the analysis to these meetings, much to its discomfort. This ensured that company leaders were invested in the decision-making process and could challenge the strategy team with new ideas.

Through a series of small-group meetings, the leadership team (with analytical help from the strategy team) debated the reasons for the company’s past success and how to continue it. By unpacking these complex dynamics together, the leadership team arrived at an accurate, sharp diagnosis: the company needed to restore mainstream shoppers’ trust in its prices. The result was a simple, focused strategy for delivering “value” products and reinforcing that market position with customers. Furthermore, because the management team was deeply involved in the diagnosis, its members had a strong incentive to drive implementation.

Don’t leave the strategy unfinished

In conversations with senior executives, we occasionally hear some version of this saying: “I’d rather have a good strategy and great execution than vice versa.” We believe that this attitude reflects confusion about what great strategy is. Such a strategy creates a path for action and is inherently incomplete without it. Yet many companies fail to get the conditions for successful implementation right, and fully two-thirds of the executives in our survey admit that their companies struggle with the issue.

It’s a crucial struggle. No strategy, however brilliant, can be implemented successfully unless the people who have the most important jobs know what they need to do differently, understand how and why they should do it, and have the necessary resources. An added challenge, of course, is that strategic choices often involve big changes over long, three- to five-year time frames.

Finishing a strategy, therefore, requires creating tangible, proximate goals that connect to the longer-term strategy. It’s easy to create a high-level list of next steps and things to do differently on Monday morning. It’s much harder to roll back the future and connect it to the present so that people understand what they need to do differently and actually do it.

When companies fail to set proximate goals, the results can be disappointing. An Asian telecommunications company, for example, had landed on an intriguing and counterintuitive strategy involving two big shifts: it wanted to move its target customer base from big business to the midmarket and to standardize its products rather than provide customized service to large clients. Making the changes work, however, would require salespeople to start saying no to new business from large and complex clients so that the company could redirect its efforts to midmarket customers. The short-term pain (lower revenues and higher costs) would ultimately lead the company to a market-beating position.

The management team understood and encouraged the shift and was ready to act. But the strategy team did not do enough to prepare the organization for the moves, instead spending its time on detailed initiative-planning exercises. Absent any effort to translate the company’s strategic desires into proximate goals for its employees, those employees balked at the changes.

Sales managers, for example, not only viewed saying no to larger customers as a short-term loss for the business but also were simply not as excited about pursuing midmarket customers with simpler needs. They understood the strategy intellectually and believed the analysis, but their skills, incentives, and ways of working and even thinking had not changed. Without such changes, they couldn’t connect the necessary steps to a longer-term goal and naturally reverted to their old ways, creating a backlash that inevitably undermined the strategy. Only afterward did the team recognize the kinds of activities that might have helped—for example, changing the salespeople’s goals, resetting the overall budget to acknowledge the transition from one customer segment to another, and using the reallocated funding to generate a new product-development road map.

Creating strategy in today’s environment of complexity, ever-changing priorities, and conflicting agendas is a daunting task. Yet when senior executives invest the time and effort to develop a more thorough, thoughtful approach to strategy, they not only increase the odds of building a winning business but also often enjoy a positive spin-off: the gifts of simplicity and focus, as well as the conviction to get things done.

Chris Bradley is a principal in McKinsey’s Sydney office, where Angus Dawson is a director and Antoine Montard is a senior expert.

The authors wish to thank Matthew Chapman, Pia Mortensen, and Victoria Newman for their contributions to the development of this article.

Explore a career with us

Make A Payment

  • Business Valuation
  • Construction & Real Estate
  • Forensics & Litigation Support
  • Government Contractors
  • High Net Worth
  • Manufacturing & Distribution
  • Outsourced Accounting
  • Service Businesses
  • Technology for Businesses
  • Wealth Management
  • Management Advisory
  • Tax Planning & Compliance
  • Technology Solutions
  • Wealth Advisory
  • We’re CPAs and advisors, but our clients know us as much more. Learn more about our people, including who has two Elvis-style jumpsuits, who likes to iron, and who almost chose a career at Friendly’s Ice Cream over a career in accounting.
  • Putting our clients first is our top priority, but don’t take our word for it. Read success stories about how we’ve helped our clients grow.
  • Check out our library of free resources, including whitepapers, eBooks, calculators, industry reports and more!
  • Learn what you can expect as a client, and about our approach to pricing.
  • Get the latest updates in accounting, tax, business and more from our CPAs and advisors.
  • Being in business for 60+ years has taught us one big lesson – our firm succeeds because of our people. Check out our open positions and learn why our people love working at Gross Mendelsohn.
  • Business Intelligence & Custom Reporting
  • Cloud Productivity & Collaboration
  • Cyber Security
  • ERP & CRM Systems
  • Integrations & Development
  • Construction
  • Manufacturing and Distribution
  • Success Stories
  • All the content you want from a library, but without the smell and sassy librarians.
  • World-class insights from Gross Mendelsohn's technology consultants for executives, IT managers, and everyone in between.
  • GGM Wealth Advisors

Let's Talk

  • Fresh Ideas
  • High Net Worth Families

Strategic Planning: 11 Steps to Developing a Strategic Plan

By: Richard Wolf

Print/Save as PDF

Strategic Planning: 11 Steps to Developing a Strategic Plan

When it comes to strategic planning, there are several key steps that organizations must prepare themselves for. Strategic planning is the formal process of determining an organization’s long term goals and identifying the best approach to take to achieve those goals. This usually involves key people in an organization, sometimes with the help of outside advisors, who analyze the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

This short video offers tips for developing your nonprofit's strategic plan:

Here are 11 steps to developing your organization’s strongest strategic plan to date:

1. Decide Who Will Be Involved

Determine who will participate in the strategic planning process. You should consider including:

  • The management team
  • Board members
  • Key staff members
  • Other stakeholders (significant donors, customers, etc.)
  • Outside professionals (attorney, CPA, consultants, etc.)

You should also start to consider who will facilitate your organization’s strategic planning and form any relevant committees.

2. Determine the Scope

Scope deals with the length of time that is covered by the strategic plan and how in-depth the plan will be. Some plans are scoped for one to two years, others five to ten years in the future. Some include only top-level initiatives while others include detailed action plans. Scope may be dependent on a variety of factors like:

  • Is the marketplace stable or highly-dynamic?
  • When was the last strategic plan completed?
  • What are the expected outcomes of the plan?

3. Determine a Timeline

Part of keeping your organization accountable during the strategic planning process includes determining a timeline. You must identify any time commitments and deadlines for the strategic planning process at the beginning of the process.

Also, don’t try to tackle your strategic planning at a regular board meeting. Expect to allot at least eight hours for at least one strategic planning session. 

This case study offers an inside look at how one Maryland nonprofit organization approached the strategic planning process − and the results they achieved.

4. Choose a Facilitator

While you might be tempted to handle your organization’s strategic planning process internally, hiring a strategic planning facilitator is essential to getting the most out of the process. You need someone who is unbiased and able to bring fresh insight and outside perspective to the development of the plan. Here are six qualities to look for when hiring a strategic planning facilitator.

5. Plan Ahead

To ensure your strategic planning will be thorough and comprehensive, you must be prepared to plan ahead. You should have an expected outcome for your strategic plan before you start the process.

6. Coordinate the Logistics

As part of the preparation for your strategic planning session(s), you must be able to identify:

  • The time and location of the strategic planning session(s)
  • The participants who will be involved
  • Who will lead the facilitation
  • Your organization’s priorities given the time constraints

7. Conduct the Strategic Planning Session(s)

The strategic planning sessions are the meat of your strategic planning process. During these session(s), you will discuss:

  • Organization history
  • SWOT analysis, including current challenges from an internal and external perspective
  • A collective organizational vision for the future
  • Developing action steps to meet that vision

8.  Develop a Written Plan

With the input gathered from your strategic planning session, your facilitator will prepare a draft of your strategic plan. This is one of the most vital steps of the strategic planning process because it will serve as the written document of what was discussed in the strategic planning session(s).

9. Seek Approval By the Board

To get buy-in on the strategic plan from your organization’s board of directors, you should present the written draft of your strategic plan at a board meeting. While the board shouldn’t reinvent the plan you’ve already developed, you want to solicit their comments and feedback before finalizing the plan.

10. Implement and Monitor the Plan

After all your hard work, it’s time to implement your strategic plan. At this phase, your board and committees should be using the plan as a guide for their day-to-day activities and short- and long-term goals. The plan should be referenced and reviewed at meetings. You can also review the plan during your employee onboarding process in order to communicate organizational goals to your new staff.  

11. Update the Plan

Strategic planning isn’t a one-time thing. The general rule of thumb is that a strategic plan should be renewed every five years, but certain organizational changes may signify a need for a new plan sooner than that. Check out this blog post for seven signs it may be time for a new strategic plan.

Where Do You Start?

When undertaking the strategic planning process – whether it’s your first or fifteenth – you may want to catch up on some strategic planning need-to-knows by watching this webinar .

Contact our Nonprofit Group   online   or call 800.899.4623.

nonprofit budget template

Published on June 07, 2018

More From Forbes

Strategic planning for business growth in 2024: key steps for entrepreneurs.

Forbes Communications Council

  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to Twitter
  • Share to Linkedin

Jessica is the founder and CEO of nationally recognized marketing and PR firms Valux Digital and uPro Digital.

Uncertainty has been one of the key markers of the business landscape in 2023. Two of the biggest contributors to this general sense of insecurity concerning economic performance have been the potential for inflation and how interest rates are being used to mitigate that risk.

The macroeconomic considerations may seem far removed from reality as a small-business owner, but they can have a significant influence on company performance. To prepare and protect themselves in 2024, here are eight steps that entrepreneurs can consider.

1. Understand the current business landscape.

It is simply impossible to create a meaningful business strategy without understanding your economic environment. Staying informed about market trends will help you take advantage of new developments and spot potential problems early.

Moreover, regularly reviewing the landscape you operate in can help you prepare for industry shifts. Cast your mind back just a few years to the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Suddenly, businesses around the world needed to connect their workforces remotely. The companies providing relevant tools to support this change were able to both help and benefit.

New Mass Gmail Rejections To Start April 2024, Google Says

Apple confirms impressive macbook pro special offer, super bowl earns record 123 million viewers—most-watched tv event since apollo 11, 2. set clear business goals in 2024..

When you set off on a road trip, you have a clear idea of where you are planning to go. Perhaps your goal is to drive straight from your current location to your destination, or maybe you are planning several stops. The point is that it is easy to compare where you are and where you need to be.

This position is what you are aiming for in business planning and goal setting for 2024. To be effective, business goals need to be “SMART” —specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Here is an example of a smart goal to parallel to your own: By the end of 2024, we aim to grow the revenue generated online by core product A by 10%. To ensure we do so, we’ll take steps X, Y and Z. Avoid simplifying goals too much or setting goals that are too generic. Neither will make it easy to measure performance.

3. Perform a SWOT analysis for informed decision-making.

SWOT analyses examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats a company is facing. Strengths and weaknesses refer to internal factors, while external influences determine opportunities and threats.

The easiest way to get started when determining your company’s strengths and weaknesses is to simply list the points that come to mind. Then consider your main competitors and how your business compares to them to sharpen your analysis.

Externally, take a look at your wider economic environment and determine what may put your growth in jeopardy. Perhaps new competitors are entering the market, or perhaps your services can be completed by emerging technologies. On the other hand, where can you see opportunities that you are not yet taking advantage of? Clarifying these four components can make it easier to decide where to put your focus strategically in 2024.

4. Consider market expansion strategies.

During your SWOT analysis, market expansion may be one of the opportunities you find. Market expansion can mean entering new geographic areas or diversifying your products and services to reach new audiences. Another option to expand the reach of your business is to form strategic partnerships with companies in related fields.

Whichever market expansion strategy you choose to pursue, it is critical to do your due diligence and understand potential risks and advantages fully before committing.

5. Foster innovation and adaptation.

Business has never moved as fast as today. Allowing and fostering a culture of innovation and adaptation within your business is essential to stay flexible, take advantage of opportunities as they arise, and avoid potential problems.

Depending on the nature of the business, entrepreneurs can encourage creative thinking by holding regular brainstorming sessions. Encouraging experimentation not only supports learning but can also motivate employees to actively seek out fresh opportunities.

6. Plan for financial growth.

Growth is impossible without solid finances in place. At the most basic level, every entrepreneur needs to understand their company’s core financial information. In practice, this usually comes down to being able to read three essential documents:

• Profit and loss overviews.

• Balance sheets.

• Cash flow statements.

All three help with financial forecasting. Arguably, I've found cash flow statements are the most important for growth. They show what expenses the business needs to cover and what revenue is coming in over a period of time. As an entrepreneur, you can quickly see whether you can cover upcoming expenses. You will also be able to determine how much money there is to invest in growth initiatives and where additional funding is needed.

7. Embrace technology.

Over the past few decades, technology has changed business as we know it, almost beyond recognition. To be successful in 2024, entrepreneurs need to leverage technology to streamline time-consuming processes, enhance operational efficiency and increase productivity.

Incorporating technology into your business doesn't always require significant upfront investments. Entrepreneurs can start by harnessing the power of existing resources. For instance, implementing project management tools can enhance team collaboration and task organization. Leveraging customer relationship management (CRM) systems, even on a small scale, can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviors.

Additionally, exploring automation tools for repetitive tasks, such as email marketing or social media posting, can significantly help reduce manual workload. By gradually integrating these technological solutions, entrepreneurs can optimize their operations and pave the way for more sophisticated advancements in the future. Without embracing technology, it may become harder to stay competitive in almost every industry. The goal is not to replace humans but to free up their time for tasks requiring creative and strategic thinking.

8. Secure and develop top talent.

Aside from “uncertainty,” “skills shortage” has been another oft-quoted challenge in 2023’s economy. Attracting, developing and retaining top talent remain challenging for businesses across every sector as the job market remains strong for employees.

A skilled, motivated and loyal workforce can make the difference between a company struggling, surviving or thriving. To ensure your business can take advantage of existing talent and attract sought-after candidates, consider a flexible approach to employment by offering remote working, child care support and other benefits where possible.

As the world economy continues to recover from the pandemic while facing the challenges brought by major conflicts, entrepreneurs need to plan strategically for a successful 2024. This guide details a few of the key factors that I believe will set businesses apart in the coming months.

Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

Jessica Wong

  • Editorial Standards
  • Reprints & Permissions

PA Department of Community & Economic Development

Governor Shapiro Unveils 2024-25 Budget Proposal to Get Stuff Done, Create Opportunity, and Advance Real Freedom for All Pennsylvanians

  • February 6, 2024

Governor Shapiro’s budget proposal continues to get stuff done for Pennsylvanians by investing in economic development and higher education, funding K-12 education and Pre-K, building healthier, safer communities, and creating opportunity all across our Commonwealth.

Governor Shapiro’s bold vision maintains a balanced budget and does not raise taxes – and if every initiative is funded, Pennsylvania will still have an $11 billion surplus by the end of FY2024-25.

Harrisburg, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro presented his 2024-25 budget proposal to the General Assembly and to the people of Pennsylvania – sharing his ‘get stuff done’ approach and vision to create more opportunity and continue delivering real solutions to the most pressing issues Pennsylvanians face. By prioritizing economic opportunity and access to higher education, making historic investments in public education, supporting law enforcement and public safety, ensuring people receive the care they need, and funding critical initiatives to help Pennsylvanians from our cities to our farmlands – this budget will deliver real results for the Commonwealth.

“This year, we have a real chance to build safer communities, become more competitive economically, and invest in our students and their success – and this budget lays out a comprehensive and aggressive focus on doing just that without raising taxes and maintaining a surplus of $11 billion at the end of June 2025,” said Governor Josh Shapiro . “Since my first day in office, I’ve been focused on getting stuff done – and this budget will continue to create opportunity for every Pennsylvanian with historic investments in economic development, education, healthier and safer communities, and much more. I look forward to working with the General Assembly to continue to get stuff done for the good people of Pennsylvania, solve the most pressing problems we face, and meet this moment responsibly and with bipartisan compromise.”

The Governor’s 2024-25 budget proposal takes advantage of the Commonwealth’s significant surplus to invest in Pennsylvanians and their future. The budget proposal does not raise taxes and even if every initiative is funded, the Commonwealth will still have an $11 billion surplus by the end of FY2024-25.

During his first year in office, Governor Shapiro and his Administration got stuff done and accomplished a vast majority of the goals laid out in his first budget address – including expanding the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program for the first time in nearly 20 years, delivering universal free breakfast for 1.7 million K-12 students, implementing the largest-ever increase in basic education funding , providing mental health resources for students , investing in vo-tech and apprenticeship programs , allocating first-ever statewide funding for indigent defense , and more.

“As the Governor and I have traveled the Commonwealth since taking office, we’ve heard from Pennsylvanians about the most pressing challenges they face – and the Governor’s budget proposal makes critical investments to make their lives better and create ladders of opportunity,” said Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis . “The Shapiro-Davis budget will create more economic opportunity for all, make our communities safer and healthier, support students from Pre-K through high school and beyond, invest in our workforce, and help working families across the Commonwealth build generational wealth.”

Watch the Governor’s full budget address to a joint session of the House and Senate online . See here for the Governor’s full remarks as prepared for delivery.

Below, you can read more about the Governor’s 2024-25 budget proposal, and you can read the full budget in brief on the budget website .

Creating Opportunity by Building on Historic Education Investments & Making Progress to Support Every Pennsylvania Child

In the 2023-24 budget, Governor Shapiro delivered the largest increase in K-12 basic education funding in Pennsylvania history and secured universal free breakfast for 1.7 million students.

This budget builds on that historic progress by acting on the work of the Basic Education Funding Commission and delivering a comprehensive solution on K-12 education in Pennsylvania. Governor Shapiro knows ensuring all Pennsylvania children have the opportunity to succeed is critical to our Commonwealth’s future – and that is why he is proposing investments to fully fund public schools, support our teachers, and provide high-quality, affordable, and accessible childcare and early learning opportunities for families.

Continued Historic Investments in Basic Education Funding

  • Building on the progress made in the 2023-24 budget, the 2024-25 budget proposal includes a historic nearly $1.1 billion increase in basic education funding – the largest increase in Pennsylvania history, recognizing the work of the BEFC and the need to direct these investments to the schools that need them the most.
  • Of this significant increase, nearly $900 million is proposed as a first-year adequacy investment as recommended by the BEFC. The remaining $200 million will be distributed through the Basic Education Funding Formula.

Funding Special Education and Protecting Vulnerable Students

  • Additionally, this budget includes supports for Pennsylvania students in their classrooms, including a $50 million increase for special education funding to ensure school districts have the basic resources necessary to provide special education services to students with disabilities and special needs.

Ensuring Safe and Healthy School Facilities

  • Pennsylvania students cannot receive an adequate education if their classrooms aren’t safe and healthy to learn in and for teachers to work in. The 2024-25 budget calls for continuing a $50 million annual investment in school safety and security improvements and $300 million in sustainable funding for environmental repair projects in school buildings.
  • These investments will help schools address the environmental issues that threaten the health, safety, and opportunity of students.

Recruiting and Retaining the Talent Our Schools and Students Need

Schools across the Commonwealth are facing critical staff shortages – particularly those serving low-income students and students of color – and helping to fill staffing gaps for critical teacher and education positions is an essential part of ensuring every student has the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed.

  • The 2024-25 budget invests $10 million for the Educator Talent Recruitment Account and $450,000 to support the Talent Recruitment Office at the Pennsylvania Department of Education to provide sustainable funding for colleges to increase participation in the education workforce by covering tuition, fees, supplies or other costs that serve as barriers to secondary school students enrolling in college coursework prior to high school graduation.
  • To further strengthen the educator pipeline and put more teachers in Pennsylvania classrooms, the Governor’s budget increases funding for student teacher stipends by $5 million to a total of $15 million to support Pennsylvanians training to become certified and committed educators in the Commonwealth.

Creating Opportunity by Ensuring All Pennsylvanians Have the Freedom to Chart Their Own Course & the Opportunity to Succeed

Investments in Our Workforce and Innovations That Create Opportunity

Governor Shapiro has been focused on creating opportunities for Pennsylvanians to get good-paying jobs and championing skills-based hiring and workforce development. This budget invests:

  • $2.2 million to support the workforce development and workforce needs of Pennsylvania’s workers and businesses, respectively.
  • $2 million for ‘Career Connect’, an investment that will connect employers with talented workers, help create thousands of internships, keep young people in our Commonwealth, and enable Pennsylvanians to secure family-sustaining jobs.
  • $2 million to help businesses transition to skills-based hiring practices, away from arbitrary degree requirements.
  • $2 million to build a one-stop-shop for career pathways. By having a single digital location for all career, education, and training resources, all Pennsylvanians, regardless of whether they are in middle school or mid-career, can find the resources they need to plan a better, brighter future for themselves and their families in one place.
  • $500,000 to expand and improve the Department of State’s Military Occupational Crosswalk, which connects veterans with civilian career opportunities equivalent to their military experience.

Creating Opportunity by Delivering a New Blueprint for Higher Education Grounded in Access & Affordability

Governor Shapiro believes every Pennsylvanian deserves the freedom to chart their own course and have the opportunity to succeed – and whether Pennsylvanians choose to pursue a degree, take one course to sharpen a skill, or earn a certificate to qualify for a promotion, they deserve accessible, affordable higher education options.

Last month, Governor Shapiro released a new blueprint for higher education in Pennsylvania – one that’s focused on competitiveness and workforce development, and grounded in access and affordability.

Under the Governor’s plan, higher education will serve as an economic driver for Pennsylvania, prepare workers for the future, and address workforce shortages by creating a new system that unites our PASSHE universities and 15 community colleges under a new governance system, increases access, affordability, transparency, and invests in outcomes.

To support this new system and address the historic lack of investment in Pennsylvania’s higher education system, the Governor’s budget proposes:

  • $975 million in this new governance system that combines our community colleges and PASSHE schools – a 15 percent increase from $850 million last year in state investment in state-owned universities, community colleges, and the students they serve.
  • A 5 percent increase in institutional support for the Commonwealth’s state-related universities – Penn State, Temple, Lincoln, and Pitt. Through these investments and governance changes, Pennsylvania will build a thriving, innovative, and responsive higher education system that better serves students and grows our economy.

Governor Shapiro knows accessibility and affordability are two of the largest obstacles for postsecondary students – and those who can afford to attend college often start their careers with significant debt, as Pennsylvania graduates carry the third largest student debt load in the nation. To address this, under the Governor’s new proposed governance structure for higher education, this budget:

  • Recommends an increase in financial aid for students who attend the schools under the new governance system, so that Pennsylvanians making up to the median income will pay no more than $1,000 in tuition and fees per semester beginning in FY2025-26 .
  • Increases Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) state grants by $1,000 , bringing the maximum award up from $5,750 to $6,750 beginning in FY2025-26.
  • Invests $279 million annually starting in FY2025-26 so Pennsylvania students can attend college in-state with a limited debt load after they graduate and can enter the workforce ready to start their careers and build a future in our Commonwealth.

Creating Opportunity by Making Pennsylvania a Leader in Economic Development, Job Creation, and Innovation

From day one, Governor Shapiro and his Administration have worked aggressively to make Pennsylvania a leader in innovation and economic development and create economic opportunity for all Pennsylvanians – securing over $1.2 billion in private sector investments in his first year, significantly cutting down business licensing time, and rethinking the way government works to operate at the speed of business.

To build on this progress and continue growing our economy, create jobs, foster innovation and economic opportunity, and build vibrant communities, Governor Shapiro and the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) created the Commonwealth’s first comprehensive economic development strategy in nearly two decades.

Implementing the First State Economic Development Strategy in Nearly 20 Years

The Governor’s 2024-25 budget calls for significant investments directly tied back to this ten-year strategy and issues a strong call to action for partners across all sectors to join in with their support. This budget invests $600 million in total new and expanded investments that will enhance DCED’s ability to implement the Commonwealth’s new ten-year strategic plan for economic development and better serve Pennsylvania’s business community. The investments include:

  • $500 million in PA SITES funding to bring more commercial and industrial sites online and ensure companies have options for attractive business environments where they can move quickly and thrive in Pennsylvania.
  • $25 million for the Main Street Matters program, to support small businesses and commercial corridors that are the backbone of communities across our Commonwealth. This new program will build upon and modernize the Keystone Communities program.
  • $20 million to support large-scale innovation and leverage Pennsylvania’s best-in-class research and development assets. This funding will be used to incentivize additional private venture capital, positioning Pennsylvania as a national leader in innovation while proactively investing in entrepreneurs who have historically lacked access to venture capital funding.
  • $3.5 million to create and launch the Pennsylvania Regional Economic Competitiveness Challenge , which will incentivize regional growth, build vibrant and resilient regions, and support communities by investing in the development of comprehensive strategies to propel entire regions forward.

Supporting Public Transportation

Those employers and employees need to get to work safely and affordably – and hundreds of thousands of people across the Commonwealth rely on public transit every day to commute to work, go to school, and travel where they need to go.

To ensure Pennsylvanians can reliably and safely do so, thus budget makes significant investments in public transit, including:

  • Increasing the state share of public transit funding by 1.75% – a $282.8 million increase in investment , and nearly $1.5 billion in new state funding over five years, in transit systems that Pennsylvanians rely on.
  • Public transit is particularly critical in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Over the last several months, the Governor worked closely with the Southeastern Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the General Assembly, local leadership, and public transit partners to assess their needs and prepare a serious proposal to address them – and this budget proposes over $160 million to support SEPTA.
  • Additionally, PRT in Allegheny County will receive nearly $40 million in additional funding this year and LANTA in Lehigh and Northampton counties will receive an additional $6 million this year. Transit systems across Pennsylvania will receive millions in additional funding this year.

This increased funding will help to attract new companies to Pennsylvania, make it easier for folks to get to work and do business, and will be critical as millions of visitors come to Pennsylvania for many high-profile events in the years to come.

Continuing Pennsylvania’s Legacy as a National Leader in Agriculture

The Governor’s Economic Development Strategy also puts agriculture front and center in the conversation – because Governor Shapiro knows that the 53,000 farms across the Commonwealth support over 600,000 jobs and contribute $132 billion to our state’s economy. The agriculture sector is a critical economic driver – and to continue Pennsylvania’s national legacy as an agriculture leader, the 2024-25 budget proposes:

  • $10.3 million in agriculture innovation to help support and attract new agricultural businesses, including energy and conservation endeavors, and to continue to build the future of American agriculture right here in Pennsylvania.
  • $5.6 million to reform the Dairy Margin Coverage Protections that protect dairy farmers from harmful price fluctuations.

Legalizing Adult Use Cannabis

This budget recognizes that the time has come for Pennsylvania to legalize adult use cannabis. Every one of Pennsylvania’s neighbors except West Virginia has legalized adult use cannabis, including Ohio. Pennsylvania is currently at a competitive disadvantage, losing out on critical revenue and new businesses to our neighbors.

This budget proposes the legalization of adult-use cannabis effective July 1, 2024, with sales within Pennsylvania beginning January 1, 2025, and invests $5 million in restorative justice initiatives from adult use cannabis proceeds, in addition to the immediate expungement of the records of those incarcerated for only a possession related offense attributed to cannabis. Once up and running, this industry will yield $250 million in additional revenue for the Commonwealth.

Creating Opportunity by Cutting Costs for Pennsylvania Families

Investing in Pennsylvania’s Families and Supporting the Childcare Workforce

While traveling across the Commonwealth, Governor Shapiro has heard from Pennsylvanians about rising costs – especially childcare. In December, Governor Shapiro signed into law a historic expansion of the Pennsylvania Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit, helping to ease costs for working Pennsylvania families.

A lack of affordable childcare is holding back our children, parents, and economy. This budget will continue to invest in Pennsylvania families and support the childcare workforce by:

  • Investing $96,000 in state funds, which will further leverage $62 million in existing federal resources , to increase reimbursement rates for childcare providers participating in the Child Care Works program to the nationally recommended 75th percentile of the current market cost of childcare services.

Addressing Critical Housing Needs

In addition to significant investments in education, workforce development, and infrastructure, Governor Shapiro’s proposed budget is focused on continuing to cut costs for Pennsylvanians.

To fight back against those high costs, we need to do more to help Pennsylvanians stay in – and take care of – their homes. The 2024-25 budget:

  • Proposes $50 million for the Whole Home Repairs program, to continue to provide direct assistance to homeowners and keep more families in their homes.
  • Increases the cap for PHARE funding by $10 million every year for the next 4 years to help rehabilitate properties in need of repair and build new homes and apartments.

Ensuring Every Pennsylvanian has Access to Health Insurance

Four years after the Commonwealth launched Pennie – our own state-run insurance marketplace – Pennie enrollment has grown by more than 150,000 people in the past four years. To help Pennsylvanians keep their health insurance, Governor Shapiro’s budget invests:

  • $50 million to make sure that Pennsylvanians keep their health insurance, and Pennie can continue to drive down costs for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania families.

If we do not do this, as many as 100,000 individuals could be at risk of losing the health insurance they rely on. This is a commonsense, fiscally responsible investment.

Reducing Medical Debt

Governor Shapiro knows that access to health insurance can be the difference between a bad day and a life-defining financial crisis – and as of December 2020 in Pennsylvania, the total balance of medical debt in a collections stage was over $1.8 billion.

To help eliminate medical debt for low-income Pennsylvanians – and stopping the cycle of worse health and more debt in its tracks – Governor Shapiro’s proposal dedicates:

  • $4 million for medical debt relief for low-income Pennsylvanians and calls for healthcare providers to implement transparent practices to limit medical debt from being incurred in the first place.

Safeguarding Pennsylvania’s Environment & Natural Resources

Supporting Commonsense Investments in Environmental Innovation and Monitoring

In his first budget address , Governor Shapiro promised to draw down as much federal funding as possible to cap and plug the orphaned and abandoned wells that leak methane and endanger our air, our land, and our homes.

After just one year in office, the Shapiro Administration capped and plugged 169 wells – more than the previous eight years combined – and the Administration has plugged 18 wells since January 1. The 2024-25 budget will continue this progress by:

  • Allocating $11 million from the General Fund to continue the important work of finding and capping abandoned wells. This funding will help the Commonwealth continue its work to address climate change and draw down as much funding to cap and plug as many orphaned and abandoned wells as possible.

Improving Pennsylvania’s Public Lands and Inviting a New Generation to Engage in Service

Governor Shapiro is also investing in our outdoor recreation industry because it’s a key driver of economic growth, especially in rural areas. In 2022, outdoor recreation added $17 billion to our economy – a $4 billion increase from the year before.

When we put money into our parks and trails, we’re helping Pennsylvanians stay healthy and enjoy the great outdoors while creating outdoor recreation jobs and supporting the local businesses near those parks and trails that benefit from increased foot traffic.

The Shapiro Administration will continue supporting outdoor recreation and opening up more opportunity for Pennsylvanians to get outdoors by investing:

  • $8.5 million to improve and expand the Commonwealth’s outdoor trail system to encourage outdoor recreation, benefiting Pennsylvania’s tourism industry, public health, and the economic competitiveness of local communities.
  • An additional $5 million in the Outdoor Corps to provide a growing pathway for Pennsylvanians to engage in meaningful and impactful work improving natural habitats, trails, and environments, and gain important job skills and experience. Pennsylvania’s trails and natural lands are national treasures in part because of the hard work of the Outdoor Corps and crews across the Commonwealth who help make Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation sector impactful.

Combatting Gun Violence and Ensuring Access to Effective Emergency Services

$100 Million Investment to Reduce Gun Violence

All Pennsylvanians deserve to be safe and feel safe in their communities. That means living in a community free from the crime and violence impacting too many families, and having a criminal justice system that enforces the las in a fair and consistent manner.

This budget continues the Governor’s work to create safer communities and includes new initiatives to support our first responders and ensure they have the tools and personnel they need to succeed.

To address and prevent gun violence in our communities, this budget provides a $100 million increase in Commonwealth initiatives to reduce gun violence, including:

  • A $37.5 million increase for the successful Violence Intervention and Prevention program in the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). This program supports a wide range of models focused on reducing community violence and relies on community groups that are most in tune with specific local needs.
  • A $37.5 million investment in the Gun Violence Investigation and Prosecution program through PCCD to make grants to support district attorneys’ offices and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute crimes related to gun violence.
  • A $5 million increase for the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund at PCCD, which provides resources for places of worship, community centers, and other entities to equip themselves with security measures – because all Pennsylvanians deserve to worship peacefully if they choose to.
  • $1 million for a Firearm Injury Prevention Program within the Department of Health (DOH) to enhance data collection and analysis around gun violence, engage in community education initiatives, support evidence-based interventions, and collaborate with county coroners and law enforcement.
  • $11.5 million to create a statewide Building Opportunity through Out of School Time (BOOST) program, which will aim to reduce community violence by providing more after-school learning opportunities for young people.
  • $11 million within PCCD to create more welcoming environments by building parks, addressing blight, and improving shared spaces, such as parks, streets, and playgrounds to promote safer communities.

Ensuring the State Police Are Equipped to Continue Protecting Pennsylvanians

In the 2023-24 budget, Governor Shapiro invested in four new state trooper cadet classes – and PSP is already well on its way to hiring and training those 384 new state troopers. In 2023, PSP saw a 258% increase in the number of applicants taking the test to become a state trooper.

For many, especially in our rural communities, the Pennsylvania State Police routinely aid municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. At a time when our state troopers are asked to do more in communities across the Commonwealth, it’s our responsibility to ensure they have the tools, the flexibility and the personnel to succeed.

To ensure police departments are well-staffed, well-funded, and well-equipped, this budget:

  • Invests $16 million to create four more new cadet classes for the Pennsylvania State Police and support PSP’s mission to protect the safety of Pennsylvania communities and residents, building on the action undertaken by the Shapiro Administration to enable more individuals to qualify as Troopers through the elimination of college degree requirements.

Investing in First Responders and Emergency Services

Law enforcement is not the only class of first responders facing workforce shortages that place a burden on local communities – staffing shortages impact all of Pennsylvania’s first responders.

Our emergency medical services (EMS) workers and firefighters put their lives on the line each day to help Pennsylvanians when they are in crisis – and we need to have their backs.

To support EMS companies, who can use grants for many things including equipment, facilities upgrades, training, recruitment, and more, Governor Shapiro’s budget:

  • Proposes a $30 million increase for EMS and firefighter funding in the 2024-25 budget through the Fire Company and Emergency Medical Services Grant Program – doubling last year’s investment of $30 million to a total of $60 million.

Protecting Vulnerable Populations

Supporting the Intellectual Disability and Autism Community

Governor Shapiro has heard from those with intellectual disabilities or autism – and those who care for them. He knows that we need to do something different to support home and community-based services and address the shortage of direct support professionals in our Commonwealth, because what we’re doing now isn’t working.

The Governor’s budget supports the intellectual disability and autism community by making a major investment:

  • $215 million – and draws down another $266 million in federal funds – to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers, so they in turn can pay competitive rates to attract and retain the staff who provide these essential services.
  • $36 million to help get more Pennsylvanians the home and community-based services they need.

Defending Women’s Access to the Healthcare They Need to Live Successful Lives

Governor Shapiro believes that women and girls deserve access to a full range of reproductive health care services and the freedom to make their own choices about their own bodies. This budget increases support for health care providers that provide high-quality family planning tools and reproductive health care services.

Increasing Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products

Governor Shapiro recognizes that access to affordable menstrual hygiene products is an important factor in students’ health, and no student should have to miss school due to not being able to afford basic necessities like menstrual products.

To ensure Pennsylvania students are given the necessary tools to succeed in the classroom, this budget proposes $3 million to provide menstrual hygiene products at no cost to students in schools.

Ensuring Pennsylvania Seniors Age with Dignity

In May 2023, Governor Shapiro signed an Executive Order directing the Pennsylvania Department of Aging to develop a 10-year Master Plan for Older Adults to meet the needs of Pennsylvania’s senior population and improve Commonwealth services for older Pennsylvanians.

The 2024-25 budget will help to ensure Pennsylvania seniors are able to live out their golden years with dignity by investing:

  • $11.7 million reflects the Shapiro Administration’s dedication to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for older Pennsylvanians and their caregivers. Through these initiatives, the Commonwealth can enhance accessibility, empower caregivers, bridge disparities, and build a resilient and compassionate community for everyone, all of which may result in lowering the reliance on government-funded healthcare and long-term services and supports.
  • $1.9 million towards the creation of the first Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Division at the Department of Aging to support Pennsylvania seniors and their caregivers.

Supporting the Mental Health of Every Pennsylvanian

In the 2023-24 budget, Governor Shapiro secured $100 million for student mental health services and $20 million for county mental health support. The 2024-25 budget matches those investments and takes a step further by investing:

  • $100 million in mental health funding for K-12 schools, building upon one-time federal funds and will ensure schools have the continued resources to provide mental health services to students and staff.
  • Increasing funding for community-based mental health services by an additional $20 million this year and calling for additional funds in successive years, reaching an overall increase of $60 million per year increase by 2025-26.
  • $10 million for 988 crisis line operations to enhance Pennsylvania’s crisis intervention services, expand mental health resources, and ensure competent and resilient staffers are available to support those in need.

Providing Care and Opportunity to Those in the Justice System

During his first year in office, Governor Shapiro signed expanded Clean Slate legislation and probation reform into law and secured the first-ever sustainable state funding for indigent defense in Pennsylvania. The Governor believes people who have paid their debt to society and are working to put their lives back together deserve a real path to opportunity and success.

The Governor’s 2024-25 budget proposal builds on that work to make our legal system more fair and pave the way for more Pennsylvanians to get the second chances they deserve.

To make our criminal justice system fairer and ensure our legal system works for everyone, this budget invests:

  • $5 million to ensure those facing eviction have access to legal counsel.
  • $5 million for the DOC to hire additional staff for to reduce the use of Extended Restrictive Housing, formerly solitary confinement, in correctional facilities.
  • A $4 million increase through PCCD to implement the changes made through recent probation reform and to provide additional resources to counties for adult probation services that reduce recidivism, increase the use of evidence-based practices, reduce caseload sizes, and improve the quality of services.
  • A $2.5 million increase for indigent defense to be funded through PCCD and the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. Previously, Pennsylvania was one of only two states in the country that did not allocate state funding for indigent defense – but the 2023-24 budget funded indigent defense for the first time in Pennsylvania history.
  • An additional $239,000 to support staff well-being at DOC. Well-supported and resilient corrections staff are better equipped to handle the stressors of the job, which directly impact the safety and security of correctional facilities.

Governor Shapiro has been laser focused on getting things done for Pennsylvanians and delivered on many of the promises he made in his first budget address – and this budget will continue to deliver real results for the Commonwealth and create economic opportunity for all.

Learn more about Governor Shapiro’s budget online .

For more information about the Department of Community and Economic Development, visit the DCED website , and be sure to stay up-to-date with all of our agency news on Facebook , X , and LinkedIn .

MEDIA CONTACT: Governor’s Office, [email protected] , 717.783.1116

  • Economic Development Governor Josh Shapiro PA Budget

Russia-Ukraine latest: Vladimir Putin blamed for death of Alexei Navalny - as mourners arrested

The jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny has died in prison, according to Russian officials. Western leaders have condemned Vladimir Putin's regime and say the Russian president should be held accountable for the death.

Friday 16 February 2024 22:28, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

  • Jailed Putin critic Navalny dies in prison after 'losing consciousness'
  • Navalny's wife says Putin 'personally liable'
  • Biden: 'Make no mistake, Putin is responsible' for Navalny's death
  • Russian TV spends just 30 seconds on Navalny's death
  • James Matthews: Navalny's death may refocus Trump-wing Republicans on danger of Putin
  • Citizens warned not to take part in protests in Moscow
  • Diana Magnay: Death is stain on conscience of the Russian state
  • Obituary: The man Putin refused to name
  • Explained: What's happened to other opponents in Russia?
  • Watch special programme on Navalny's death at 9pm on Sky News
  • Live reporting by Brad Young and (earlier) Narbeh Minassian

There are no words or sanctions that can compensate for renewing aid to Ukraine, said the former Washington director of Human Rights Watch.

Tom Malinowski said the US congress must fulfill its responsibility, appearing to refer to Republican politicians holding up an multi-billion dollar aid vote in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, EU governments should "remember what Navalny taught us about Putin - that he is basically just a thief".

"We have Putin's money, mostly in European banks. What better response to this than to take the money that Putin stole from the Russian people and to give it to Ukraine to help rebuild and defend their country."

Winning the war in Ukraine is the "ultimate sanction", said Mr Malinowski.

Ukraine has withdrawn outnumbered troops from the southeastern part of the city of Avdiivka.

Soldiers were moving from destroyed positions and entrenching themselves in new lines of defence, said Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of Ukraine's southeastern sector.

Capturing the eastern city is seen as key to Moscow's aim of securing full control of the two provinces that make up the industrial Donbas region.

Ukraine's decision came amid escalating battles, said Mr Tarnavskyi,

 "In a difficult battlefield situation, when only ruins and a pile of broken bricks remain from the fortification, our priority is to save the soldiers' lives.

"The enemy launches massive bomb attacks day and night, and does not stop attacking simultaneously from several directions," he said. 

Heavy fighting continues on the frontline and Russia keeps "practically wiping the city from the face of the earth", he said.

He insisted the withdrawal did not give Russia "a strategic advantage and does not change the situation in the Avdiivka defence operation".

At least 100 people have been arrested for gathering in memory of Alexei Navalny, according to Russian human rights group OVD-info.

The organisation said the detentions occurred in eight cities, including: 

  • St Petersburg
  • Nizhny Novgorod
  • Rostov-on-Don

Two Russian citizens have expressed their shame and fury following the death of Alexei Navalny.

Mourners told Sky News the events taking place in their country were "a disgrace".

Watch the full interviews below...

One of the many questions that surround Alexi Navalny's death is why it happened now, almost three years after he returned to Russia.

Author and financier Bill Browder said there were three reasons for the timing.

Firstly, Vladimir Putin wanted to eliminate a political opponent.

Secondly, he wanted to show Russians that if you oppose Mr Putin you will face death.

And thirdly, it sent a message to those sitting at the Munich Security Conference, where world leaders meet to discuss defence issues, that Mr Putin can "cross every red line and get away with it".

"To watch somebody who I knew, who I respected, who I worked with, murdered in the light of day was a huge shock to the system," said Mr Browder.

"Let's not mince words here - he was murdered, he didn't die, he was murdered at the hands of Vladimir Putin."

The British foreign office has summoned the Russian ambassador over the death of Alexei Navalny.

The move was intended to "make clear that we hold the Russian authorities fully responsible," said spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

"No-one should doubt the brutal nature of the Russian system.

"His death must be investigated fully and transparently."

The FCDO paid tribute to Mr Navalny for dedicating his life to "exposing the corruption of the Russian system, calling for free and open politics, and holding the Kremlin to account".

"The Russian authorities saw Mr Navalny as a threat. Many Russian citizens felt he gave them a voice."

The spokesperson continued: "Even from his prison cell, he continued to speak up for the rights of the Russian people. His dedication to human rights and exposing corruption was an inspiration to millions. The ideals for which he stood and died will live forever."

Photographers on the ground have captured the moment people gathering after Alexei Navalny's death were detained in St Petersburg.

Sky's Yalda Hakim will host a special programme this evening, focusing on Alexei Navalny's death.

Tune in on Sky News from 9pm, or by clicking the livestream at the top of this page. 

There is no one in Russia with a rallying cry that could replace Alexei Navalny, said Moscow correspondent Diana Magnay .

And the ability of security forces to shut dissent down is "very extensive", she said.

"Even now we're already seeing the first arrests and these aren't even rallies," said Magnay, referring to the stream of people coming out across the country to lay flowers.

"Individuals who have decided to come and also hold up a piece of paper, they are promptly arrested... a journalist in St Petersburg has been arrested."

In tributes unrelated to Mr Navalny, wives and mothers of soldiers have been journeying to the tomb of the unknown soldier to lay flowers. They haven't been arrested, but the journalists covering them have been, said Magnay.

"Once you get within the legal system, the charges start coming against you, and your questioned first and then things get more and more difficult, and then suddenly you're in jail for a Tweet.

"I have seen that happen to so many people which is why so many people, a lot of whom are supporters of Alexei Navalny, have left the country and why other people just choose to look the other way.

"Unfortunately, there is no one to replace him who has the kind of rallying-cry effect that he had."

We can now bring you footage of arrests taking place in St Petersburg, where people were gathering to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny.

Footage taken by RusNews shows participants and journalists being grabbed and led away by balaclava-clad officers.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

strategic plan development steps

IMAGES

  1. Strategic Planning Cycle as a graphic illustration free image download

    strategic plan development steps

  2. The Strategic Planning Process in 4 Steps

    strategic plan development steps

  3. The Ultimate Strategic Planning Framework Tool: Introduction

    strategic plan development steps

  4. What Is Strategic Planning And How To Do It Right In 5 Key Steps

    strategic plan development steps

  5. Unlocking Success with the 8-Step Strategy Map

    strategic plan development steps

  6. Lesson 3

    strategic plan development steps

VIDEO

  1. Strategic Plan Training 6 15 23

  2. Strategic Plan Cycle II

  3. Strategic Planning

  4. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRATEGIC PLANNING AND OPERATIONAL PLANNING

  5. Strategic Planning 1

  6. Introduction to Strategic Planning

COMMENTS

  1. What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

    A 5-step guide Julia Martins January 23rd, 2024 11 min read Jump to section Summary Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization's growth and how they're going to get there.

  2. PDF How to write a strategic plan

    Strategy Development process, not simply a product Dynamic, not static Engages board, staff, funders, clients, community Helps organization align mission, programs, capacity Key Components Executive Summary Mission and Vision Environmental Analysis / SWOT

  3. The Strategic Planning Process in 4 Steps

    Step 1: Determine Organizational Readiness Set up your plan for success - questions to ask: Are the conditions and criteria for successful planning in place at the current time? Can certain pitfalls be avoided? Is this the appropriate time for your organization to initiate a planning process? Yes or no? If no, where do you go from here?

  4. 6 Steps to Make Your Strategic Plan Really Strategic

    To fix that, try a six step process: first, identify key stakeholders. Second, identify a specific, very important key stakeholder: your target customer. Third, figure out what these stakeholders...

  5. Strategic Planning: A Guide to Develop a Strategic Plan

    Step 2: Build out your five-year plan. Develop the framework that will hold your high-level priorities. You can use your OAS or Strategic Shift exercises to help you define your priorities and objectives—but more importantly, you need a way to manage these elements.The way to do that is by selecting and developing a strategy management framework that will bring all your priorities together ...

  6. Perfecting the strategy development process: 8 steps to success

    1. Determine your strategic position Before you can set off on a new strategy adventure, you must get a fix on your current status. As you take a moment to review your assets and core competencies, you can avoid any snap judgments that over-commit your resources (or underestimate how much you need).

  7. Quick Guide: How to Write a Strategic Plan

    Managing Work Strategic planning The Complete Guide to Writing a Strategic Plan Get free Smartsheet templates By Joe Weller | April 12, 2019 (updated January 31, 2024) Writing a strategic plan can be daunting, as the process includes many steps.

  8. Strategic Planning: A 10-Step Planning Process

    November 29, 2022 - 17 min read Share this article Jump to section What is strategic planning? What is strategic plan management? Benefits of robust strategic planning and management 10 steps in the strategic planning process Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. - Dwight D. Eisenhower It's that time again.

  9. Strategic Planning Process: 7 Crucial Steps to Success

    How will you get there? 7 key elements of strategic planning The following strategic planning components work together to create cohesive strategic plans for your business goals. Let's take a close look at each of these: Vision: What your organization wants to achieve in the future, the long-term goal

  10. 7 Essential Steps in Strategic Planning

    1. Establish Your Strategic Position Positioning is a fundamental step of the strategic planning process. Its purpose is to clearly define what sets your organization—and the product or services it offers—apart from the competition.

  11. How to improve strategic planning

    00:00. Audio. How to improve strategic planning. This sense of disappointment was captured in a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey of nearly 800 executives: just 45 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the strategic-planning process. 1 Moreover, only 23 percent indicated that major strategic decisions were made within its ...

  12. Strategic Planning: What Are the 7 Stages to the Process?

    1. Understand the need for a strategic plan The first and perhaps most important step of the planning process is understanding that there's a need for a plan. In terms of management, this means that you need to be aware of the industry environment in which the business operates so that you can identify opportunities for development.

  13. How to Strategic Plan in 7 Steps

    While each federal agency approaches strategic planning a little differently and there is not a single best approach, a sound strategic planning process includes the following 7 key steps. Step 1: Environmental Scan The first step of any strategic planning process starts with research.

  14. PDF STRATEGIC PLANNING: A TEN-STEP GUIDE

    Frequently, Steps 1-3 occur before a strategic planning retreat, Steps 4-7 during the retreat, and Steps 8-10 after the retreat. 1. Agree on a strategic planning process. This may be done at a Board meeting with key staff present, or may require a special meeting or retreat, including Board, key staff, and some external stakeholders. At the ...

  15. The 5 steps of the strategic planning process

    First, decide if you want to run a real-time rapid ideation session or a structured brainstorming. In a rapid ideation session, you encourage sharing half-baked or silly ideas, typically within a set time frame. The key is to just get out all your ideas quickly and then edit the best ones.

  16. Strategic Planning Process

    Updated on: 23 May 2023 Strategic planning is a process that may take months for some organizations, but its importance to the growth of the organization cannot be measured. It helps guide company decisions, set measurable goals, and define the direction of the organization.

  17. How to Develop a Business Strategy: 6 Steps

    How to Develop a Business Strategy: 6 Steps 25 Oct 2022 Catherine Cote Staff Business Strategy Strategy Business strategy can seem daunting, and for good reason: It can make or break an organization. Yet, developing a strong strategy doesn't need to be overwhelming.

  18. Strategic Planning

    The development and execution of strategic planning are typically viewed as consisting of being performed in three critical steps: 1. Strategy Formulation ... All three steps in strategic planning occur within three hierarchical levels: upper management, middle management, and operational levels. Thus, it is imperative to foster communication ...

  19. Chapter 8. Developing a Strategic Plan

    A strategy, such as enhancing experience and skill or increasing resources and opportunities, should point out the overall path without dictating a particular narrow approach (e.g., using a specific skills training program). Fit resources and opportunities?

  20. Mastering the building blocks of strategy

    The building blocks of strategy help companies make strategic choices and carry them through to operational reality. One central building block is deep insight into the starting position of the company: where and why it creates—or destroys—value (diagnose). Executives also need a point of view on how the future may unfold (forecast).

  21. Strategic Planning: 11 Steps to Developing a Strategic Plan

    Here are 11 steps to developing your organization's strongest strategic plan to date: 1. Decide Who Will Be Involved. Determine who will participate in the strategic planning process. You should consider including: The management team.

  22. Five Steps to a Strategic Plan

    Developing a strategic plan might seem like an overwhelming process, but if you break it down, it's easy to tackle. Here's our five-step approach: 1. Determine where you are. This is harder ...

  23. Business Growth In 2024: Key Steps For Entrepreneurs

    This position is what you are aiming for in business planning and goal setting for 2024. To be effective, business goals need to be "SMART"—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and ...

  24. What Is a Professional Development Plan, and How Do You ...

    Steps for creating your professional development plan. Going through a few steps when creating a PDP can help guide your thinking and ensure accuracy. Everyone is different, so while this plan includes three steps, yours may consist of more. Step one: Think about the goals you want to achieve and list them on paper.

  25. Governor Shapiro Unveils 2024-25 Budget Proposal to Get Stuff Done

    Governor Shapiro's budget proposal continues to get stuff done for Pennsylvanians by investing in economic development and higher education, funding K-12 education and Pre-K, building healthier, safer communities, and creating opportunity all across our Commonwealth. Governor Shapiro's bold vision maintains a balanced budget and does not raise taxes - and if every initiative is funded, […]

  26. Jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny has died

    The death of Putin critic Alexei Navalny was "murder", Russian newspaper editor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov has said. Mr Muratov also said he believed prison conditions had led to