More On Strategic Planning

Introduction

Many strategic plans can appear like the 'dogs breakfast', ie a bit of everything

A 6 steps process to make strategic planning work

i) identify key stakeholders, ie the people you depend on eg customers, staff, suppliers, owners, bureaucrats, etc, and their roles (some key stakeholders can have more than one role, eg supplier and shareholder, etc)

ii) identify your target customers/market (important word here is 'target'; need to initially think strategically and not operationally.)

iii) determine key stakeholders' expectations, ie what needs can you satisfy for them; focus on their point of view, not your own
"...these might include the factors influencing the decision to purchase from you (customers), work for you (employees), supply to you (suppliers) or invest in you (shareholders)......This can come from a variety of sources including: in-depth interviews of stakeholders, listening to stakeholders' stories about their experience with you and the competition, feedback via your complaint and suggestions system, focus groups and even casual conversations with stakeholders..."
Graham Kenny, 2018

Sometimes senior management members become customers, eg senior airline executives travelling in economy class to understand that experience

iv) understand what you want from the key stakeholders such as from staff, you could want to reduce staff turnover, increase productivity and innovation, etc.

v) strategic design, ie design your strategy around the important stakeholders' current and future requirements; identify strategic factors for each key stakeholder group as a basis for shaping your objectives

vi) focus on continual improvement (be prepared to adjust; continually monitor and evaluate your performance and make the necessary improvements to your plan and its implementation)