Dozens of leaders were flown in from around the world to converge in a beautifully appointed conference center to take part in the organization’s annual planning session.
No expenses were spared on food, amenities and the high-priced management consulting firm called in to design and facilitate the two-day workshop.
Participants spent the first day exploring the current state of the organization and conducting a SWOT analysis, focusing on strengths to help capitalize on the most promising opportunities over the next one to three years. They spent much of day two brainstorming ideas through a series of engaging activities, followed by a briefer session where participants weighed in on what they considered the most promising ideas.
At the end of the session, they gave themselves a round of applause for winnowing down their list of terrific ideas into a handful of strategic initiatives to be launched over the next 12 months. They left the conference center feeling energized, hopeful and confident that their organization was on the precipice of accomplishing truly great things in the coming year.
That didn’t last long. Weeks passed with no mention of any actions being taken to launch even one of these initiatives. Enthusiasm faded as one by one, these leaders realized they had been invited to participate in a time-consuming activity that proved to be nothing more than a performative strategic planning exercise, once again.
What happened? Let’s talk about what didn’t happen. What they didn’t discuss in their planning session was how, exactly, the work to support these new initiatives would get done, by whom, or by when. They didn’t talk about the viability of each one, what resources would be required, the relative sense of urgency, the risks and dependencies, success metrics, or the relative timing of each. No one had been named to manage the overall planning project, and nor was anyone asked to spearhead the planning of each strategic initiative.
Sound familiar? It should. I’ve seen this same scenario play out far too often. When a client engages me to facilitate a strategic planning session, I always ask questions like these about their past efforts: Whose input was considered? Who was on the core team? Who made the decisions? What changes or actions took place as a result? How were the results communicated? How did participants feel about the process?
I’d say that 80 percent of the time their answers are much the same: We were overwhelmed by the number of initiatives and couldn’t agree on our priorities. Senior leadership was too busy to champion this work. We couldn’t ask people who were stretched way too thinly already to take on any additional work, and no one was willing to volunteer. More urgent matters kept cropping up, and we had to put these ideas on the back burner. Business priorities kept shifting. People know that nothing will change as a result. And so on.
Moving from planning to execution
Any strategic planning process that doesn’t include a clear implementation plan that senior leaders commit to up front can be a huge waste of time, resources and money. Not only that, but those involved in previous planning activities are likely to be skeptical, jaded and downright resistant about participating again.
Before I agree to facilitate any strategic planning process, I ask senior decision-makers to commit to and actively participate in a strategic planning process that includes these steps:
- Set realistic expectations across the organization about what this planning process will entail (scope, time horizon, rationale, etc.), who’s involved, how decisions will be made and communicated, and the relative timing.
- Solicit perspectives and ideas from a broad cross-section of the organization, using a variety of methods, including online conversation spaces, focus groups and 1:1 interviews. Include representative voices from different functions, roles, job levels, tenure, ages and other demographics.
- Create a core team to lead the strategic planning process. Be clear about the roles and time commitment required. Members synthesize and assimilate ideas, set priorities and make decisions after agreeing on a set of criteria they will be using to make go/no-go decisions later on. Appoint one person to lead the effort, coordinating the work, scheduling meetings, sharing important documents, communicating progress, etc.
- After agreeing on a handful of strategic initiatives, assign one member to spearhead each initiative. This person acts as champion and guide, helping to remove barriers and appoints a subteam leader who collaborates with a small team to develop a proposed plan, along with measurable goals, resource requirements, timing, milestones, risks and dependencies. (Note: Subteam members may or may not be involved in the implementation of their proposed plans.) See the link below for a sample subteam template.
- Subteam leaders present their plans to the core team, whose members then decide which of these proposed plans to present to senior leadership, using the agreed-upon criteria. Core team members notify subteam members of their decisions, along with their rationale.
- Senior leaders vet the proposed plans with core team members and then agree on which one or two initiatives they support for near-term implementation. They communicate their decisions to the wider organization, along with their reasoning. They can reconsider any of the other plans not initially chosen at any time.
- Senior leaders take ownership of allocating or acquiring the resources needed to implement these plans. This may mean negotiating with managers to reprioritize existing activities or to integrate needed actions into existing work streams; reallocating resources or acquiring additional resources; making a business case to present to the Board, donors, business partners or other funding sources; and acting as visible champion and executive sponsor throughout the life of the project.
- Managers are kept informed and receive the information and materials they need to provide and discuss updates with their teams, focusing on their roles and the possible implications for them as individuals, their team, function, department and the overall organization. At the same time, senior leaders provide periodic updates across the organization.
- When actions or changes are made as a result of the strategic planning process, everyone in the organization should be kept informed through targeted communications. Whenever possible, focus on quantifiable results. (Examples: Retention, error rate, sales growth, faster time to market, clinical trial success rate, etc.)
Brainstorming new ideas for sustainable growth can be a lot of fun. But that’s not where change happens. It’s in the successful implementation of the ideas that have the most merit. Organizations that leave a detailed implementation plan out of the strategic planning process are probably better off waiting until they have one.
When I think of strategic planning efforts that fail to launch, my favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau comes to mind: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
If people in your organization are tired of strategic planning efforts that seem to lead nowhere, please drop me a line to set up time to talk.
Links
Downloadable resources from Guided Insights:
- Strategic planning process flow for nonprofit client – 1-page graphic – Example: Strategic Planning Process for Board
- Example of subteam program proposal template: Development Department -Strategic Planning Proposal
- Strategic planning activities timeline of activities – Example
- Process for creating your own Magic Wall – perfect for in-person strategic planning! – MagicWallRecipe_2019-01-03-1.pdf
- Making commitments for your best year ever – Personal template
Past Communiques:
Before Attempting Big Change, First, Root Out the Dysfunction
Converting the Best Intentions to Meaningful Actions
Virtual Strategic Planning: The Silver Lining
Create a 12-Month Plan in Just Two Hours, With a Little Bit of Magic
Moving from Ideas to Action in a Virtual World
External resources:
Your Strategic Plans Probably Aren’t Strategic, or Even Plans – Harvard Business Review
