From a department to a small business to a multi-national organization, strategic planning is critical to the success of any organization. To achieve our business objectives, we need to plan where we’re going and how we’re going to get there otherwise we run the risk of never reaching our intended destination.

Traditional strategic planning approaches are based on a model of reviewing an organization’s past accomplishments and charting its course for continued success. At Plus Delta, we prefer a model that focuses on envisioning an organization’s possible future irrespective of its past and then working backwards from this ideal state. This model of planning from the future rather than a place of what may be predictable based on the past enables powerful “out of the box” thinking rather than constraining an organization to where it has already been. To create an effective strategic plan, we partner with our clients to facilitate the following activities:

• Stakeholder engagement – Enlist the support of all your key stakeholders, including your business owners, senior leaders, employees, and customers, to name a few, to participate in the strategic planning process.
• Visioning – Define the organization’s vision, mission, and values to lay the foundation and serve as guideposts for your strategic plan.
• Strategic targets – Working backwards from the future, establish intermediary strategic targets throughout the planning horizon (e.g., 10 years, 5 years, 2 years) to move your organization towards achieving your vision.
• Action planning – Develop a Year One action plan with quarterly and monthly goals as needed to operationalize the strategic plan and establish clear accountabilities for those who must perform the strategic work.
• Implementation support – Conduct regular project status and review sesssions to measure your team’s progress against plan and monitor the results of your ongoing work.

By employing this proven approach to strategic planning, Plus Delta can help you identify your possible future and determine your ideal future state. From there, we can also partner with you in creating the strategic plan – and implementing it – to achieve your intended business results.