The pace of change shows no signs of slowing down. Your company, department, nonprofit or educational organization must become expert in planning for an uncertain future. Not doing so means increasing irrelevance and the possibility that a more nimble enterprise will take your place. Your customers and stakeholders are affected as well, and they will favor the prepared.
The Endicott House— a premier Boston meeting rooms provider— is here to help. While you may feel like you don’t have much control over what happens around you, there is a place where you can succeed at taking a breath and forging a plan to navigate the path in front of you.
What is Strategic Planning?
This is a process that organizations use to look forward as they plan for growth. As a first step, the organization looks at what’s happening now and analyzes how it affects their operations now and in the future. Once a starting point is established, goals and measurable steps are planned and assigned.
How some organizations fail to plan
Some organizations assume that strategic planning can be done in one meeting and don’t prioritize the more effective parts of the process. Effective strategic planning is a gradual process that involves data collection, discussion, brainstorming, and teamwork.
There is also a tendency by some managers to rely too much on their personal experience when making decisions. These managers don’t do strategic planning because they may have done well so far based on hunches and gut feelings. That can last for a short while, but as your company grows and diversifies, you need a broader basis for future success.
Here’s how to plan strategically in ways that will help for the long term.
How to Create a Strategic Plan that Works
1. Create a Team
You have to select a group of people that will be in charge of devising and executing the plan. Among those people, Make this a cross-functional team, which includes members from top management and representatives from all departments.
2. Create a Schedule
Your strategic plan process must have a beginning and an end. Depending on the size of your enterprise, it may take a week or a couple of months. Keeping a deadline in sight helps keep things moving, so hold participants accountable for their part.
3. Gather your Resources
You need people, technology, and budget to successfully create and execute a strategic plan. Many groups opt for an offsite location so distractions are minimized. We would recommend our place— MIT’s Endicott mansion and grounds— if you’re looking for Boston meeting rooms for strategic planning.
4. Create the Plan
The first thing that you need to do is review your mission and vision statements that properly define what you want to achieve. Firm up your objective, or ultimate goal, ask how it will give you an advantage over your competition and define the scope of every strategy. Second, determine a five-year plan. Define your financial, customer, process, and people goals for the time span.
5. Implement the Strategy
What resources are required for execution of the plan, what do you possess now and what do you need to acquire? Spell out what is expected from each constituent and come up with a communication system to discuss progress on a regular basis to evaluate progress.
Let strategic planning should be an integral part of your company’s culture. It will allow you to remain relevant and profitable and stay ahead of the competition. Because planning like this can be taxing and time consuming, consider the Boston meeting rooms of the Endicott House. We’re located just minutes from downtown in the serene, green environs of Dedham, Mass.
