How to Ace Your Next Strategic Planning Session: 10 Expert Secrets

Collaborative planning for an organization’s desired future is one of the most critical activities (and privileges) for any leader. It yields a clear roadmap to guide and inspire teams to collectively move toward specific goals.

There is no “perfect” way to conduct strategic planning. It is situational based on many factors. Yet there are foundational truths that can be followed to increase effectiveness. The following tips are shared from more than 15 years of guiding leaders through the planning and implementation journey. How might you apply them to your organization?

1. Are you building a Mission or Purpose statement? Lead the team through an activity of identifying what comprises “value to customers” and “employees’ passions”. The overlap or intersection of these two is a great place to start articulating the core reason the organization exists and the value it provides.
2. Also for Purpose, focus on emotion. Employees typically are much more inspired by the feelings they get by helping others compared to basic products or services delivered. In short, emotion almost always trumps logic.
3. Compelling Visions often are born out of an enthusiastic, consistent execution of what employees love doing. First discover how teammates thoughtfully live out the organization’s Purpose. Then use that as a foundation on which to construct an aspirational future state.
4. Examine demonstrated beliefs. Instead of considering Values (or Core Beliefs) as wished-for principles to create, approach them as an opportunity to discover Values that are already being lived out within the organization’s culture. What beliefs are being exemplified and actively demonstrated?
5. Address internal and external factors. Leaders typically focus first on their desired future (Vision) and leap into the steps to achieve it without fully assessing current state. As with any journey, one must know the starting point prior to mapping the path forward. Dedicate substantial time and resources early in the process to address internal and external factors that are (or could) impact your business model, industry, or other similar scenario.
6. Prioritize what’s in your control. As you determine critical success factors and begin shifting the process to implementation planning, don’t be sidetracked by factors over which you have limited or no agency. Teams often labor over items outside their span of influence, hindering progress on aspects that really matter. Be aware of important “external” factors? Yes. Spend time and resources integrating them into your strategic planning? Not so much.
7. Remember to include an antagonist role. Not every idea will be spot on. If your planning team is comprised only of “yes” people, you are in danger of a very mediocre result unrefined by healthy conflict. Invite dissenting opinions for respectful 360-degree views of key topics and strategies. Identify realistic barriers to plans and ways to mitigate them. This more thoughtful examination may require a bit more time, but it will be worth it.
8. The adage “make lemonade our of lemons” can apply to strategic planning. Consider how major obstacles can be reframed as a positive way forward. Frequently, teams accept barriers as blockers to be avoided. Limited budget, new regulatory constraints, leadership transitions; numerous examples apply. Instead of quickly accepting defeat, ask “what opportunity does this make possible?”.
9. Begin with the end in mind: accountability. A common approach to the implementation phase of strategic planning is assigning the “who” and “when” of specific actions. Then perhaps thought is given to progress tracking, team updates, and other ways of monitoring advancements. Imagine instead if stakeholder accountability was integrated throughout the entire strategic planning framework. It builds trust, adds clarity and transparency, and helps ensure productivity and performance in the long term.
10. Flip the goal of celebration from an end reward to an encouragement. Assume planned strategies will be successful (who wouldn’t?). Rather than waiting on the culmination of a key activity to reward those who accomplished it, consider integrating celebratory activities all along the journey to instill desire and expectation. Publicly acknowledge hitting milestones, recognizing employees and encouraging them toward positive change.

Gary McClure is a senior consultant at Thrivence, a consulting firm specializing in strategy, leader development, organizational performance, and technology. For more than 15 years, Gary has led organizational transformation initiatives and taught leaders how to navigate successful change. He can be reached at gary.mcclure@thrivence.com or visit here. We offer a full suite of planning services, from in-depth discovery and strategy activities to implementation and communications expertise.