Strategic Planning 101

According to a Business Dictionary, Corporate Strategy is the overall scope and direction of a corporation and the way in which its various business operations work together to achieve particular goals. Focus, Measurable Progress and Long-Term Success shapes the heart of a successful corporate strategy. Strategies are ideas and the plans you create to achieve your objectives, and they allow you to focus your multiple resources to accomplish your goal.

It is critical to have a clear and focused strategy in place that provides a company with key principles such as:

1. Direction, 
2. Detail Actions Plan, 
3. Accountability, 
4. Communication Channels, 
5. Engagement,
6. Innovation,
7. Market Indicators, 
8. Ideal Customer Identity,
9. Time framework,
10. Flexibility,
11. Talent.
     

Strategy is about making choices and what you should do, but also what you shouldn’t do. Strategic planning is a powerful tool how to execute all the actions to reach your vision. 

The main reason for having a strategy in place is to get a sense of how your company is performing, and what is your potential today and also in the future. The strategy identifies trends and opportunities and can help to create a competitive advantage.

Needless to say, you have to stay continually ahead of your competitors. According to a study performed by McKinsey & Company, ”…companies who enjoy higher profitability than their competitors are more likely to review strategy on an ongoing basis as opposed to say annually or even three to five years” (for an excellent read I am including a link to this article - Rethink the Role of Strategist)
Our team at TeamGuru understands how important the strategy is; therefore, we disclose in our management online system a Strategy Deployment tool that supports all the aspects of strategic expertise. 

Do you have a great strategy constructed at your company? Are you using the right tools to achieve your vision?  

 “Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” Michael Porter
“Manage the top line: your strategy, your people, and your products, and the bottom line will follow.” Steve Jobs