Growth is the goal of almost every business. A growing business brings in more clients, more deals, more revenue, and more opportunities for future success. When you’re looking to add strategic planning services to your business, you’ll likely be looking for someone to help manage the complexities of business growth.
Rapid growth also brings more risk. Now your employees are at risk of becoming overwhelmed and bogged down by their heavy workloads. Your company might struggle to have the resources in place to continue serving your clients and maintaining profitability.
At this stage in the company’s lifecycle, it’s essential to have a strong strategic plan.
What Is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is a process that defines a company’s direction and allows its employees to make thoughtful decisions about allocating resources to accomplish strategic goals. The best strategic plans also include clear processes for implementation and maintenance.
Many companies work with strategic planning consultants to develop their strategic plans. This type of business consultant guides the strategic planning process and uses their wisdom to ensure it heads in the right direction. They also support the company as it pursues its strategic plan using a step-by-step approach.
Strategic planning isn’t a one-size-fits-all process because it must be customized to each company’s needs, goals, resources, and culture. When properly tailored to the company, a strategic plan should lead to measurable success in key areas like lead generation, revenue growth, employee productivity, and company profitability.
For a growing company, strategic planning ensures growth leads to growth. Otherwise, growth can lead to a period of struggle and conflict that hampers your company’s ability to succeed.
Difference Between Goals and Objectives in Strategic Planning
The process of strategic planning comes with many terms and definitions that could be slightly confusing to your employees. While we all know the everyday definitions of words like “goals” and “objectives,” strategic planning service providers have specific meanings when it comes to strategic planning in business.
Your company’s goals are its intended outcomes from the strategic planning process. Think of the goals as the goalposts on a football field, where the ball is headed. It takes time, practice, and planning to reach those goalposts.
Along the way, the objectives are the specific steps it takes to reach the goalposts. They’re the team’s plays that help them make it down the football field toward the end zone.
Another common term is the strategic goal. This is the overall goal of your entire strategic plan. Companies should have a wide variety of shorter goals, like yearly goals and 5-year goals, but the strategic goal is the overarching goal that broadly encompasses all of what your strategic plan is striving to achieve.
What About Remote Strategic Planning?
In today’s business world, where the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact, remote work is the new normal. This has increased the demand for remote strategic planning services that bring people together in the spirit of managing growth effectively.
There’s no need to worry that working remotely will hinder developing or following your strategic plan. Using the right tools and strategic planning consultants, any company can implement a strategic plan while working from anywhere in the world.
Virtual strategic planning sessions are now bringing people together just as effectively as in-person sessions.
Getting Buy-in for Strategic Planning Services From Key Stakeholders
Getting buy-in from key stakeholders is vital to the success of any strategic planning project. This buy-in process starts with effective communication. Project executives should clearly explain the project goals, mission, and plan for each stakeholder. They should also make clear the benefits and impact of the project. Understanding the stakeholder motivations and values is critical to building buy-in.
Getting buy-in for strategic planning services from key stakeholders also requires defining the needs of each stakeholder. Not all stakeholders are there for approvals; some are simply to gain awareness and provide input. Prioritize the project and set deadlines for key stakeholders to provide feedback. Make sure to create an implementation plan for the feedback and comments of key stakeholders. Then, work with your project team to define a strategy for bringing in strategic planning services.
Strategic Planning Services From the Pros
Leadership Resources provides business coaching and strategic planning services to help companies supercharge growth and manage it wisely. We offer a wide range of services including developing strategic plans, business coaching, helping emerging leaders hone interpersonal skills, and much more.
Support your growing business by making effective strategic plans that support a long and successful future. Connect with Leadership Resources today to discuss setting up in-person and/or virtual strategic planning sessions.
To learn more about smart strategic planning, please download our whitepaper about building the best operating system for a growing company.
