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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 9 of 12

Guest post by: Joe Evans

Article Overview: How do you assess your process for strategic planning and know if it is on track or as optimized as it might be? The analysis this week, and over the next three segments article series, should help you to objectively evaluate your planning process and identify potential issues and risks that may exist in your organization's current planning world. How would you answer these questions?

Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 9 of 12

How do you assess your process for strategic planning and know if it is on track or as optimized as it might be? The analysis this week, and over the next three segments article series, should help you to objectively evaluate your planning process and identify potential issues and risks that may exist in your organization's current planning world. How would you answer these questions?

1. Did you conduct a current-state analysis of your organization’s ecosystem as part of your planning process?

We are looking for a “yes” here. The odds are, you scratched your head and wondered “What is the point of doing a current-state analysis when we are planning our go-forward strategy?” At best, you might have answered with a “qualified” yes. Don’t be embarrassed if that is the case, but do consider adopting a new approach to your planning that includes the critical component of current-state analysis.

The current-state analysis phase of corporate strategic planning involves gaining a “business truth” of where the organization is today so that it is possible to plan effectively for moving from the current reality to the desired results. This integrated set of foundational activities is designed to accomplish the following:

Tack down where the organization is today, reviewing:

• The organization’s vision statement
• The organization’s mission statement
• The current strategic plan and goal attainment percentage
• In the case of divisions or subsidiaries, reviewing the current alignment of strategic goals
• The organization’s hierarchy
• Key executive and management job descriptions
• Organization’s core competencies
• Key executive and management leadership competencies
• The organization’s cultural heuristics
• Additionally:
  • Assess operations and the decision process within the enterprise "ecosystem"
  • Consider all functional areas that are involved in developing and delivering value to the marketplace
  • Identify potential paths to achieving the desired end outcomes

To accomplish an understanding both the business ecosystem and eco-cycle in the most effective manner, an internal assessment of the organization must review organizational assets, organizational hierarchies, resources, people, culture, systems, partnerships, suppliers, business process, financial model and numerous other factors. Likewise, an external assessment looks at the marketplace for the organization, competitors, social aspects, the regulatory environment, technology and economic cycles.

For more information, see the article "The Critical Step of Current-state Analysis & Review in Strategic Planning".

2. Were all strategic goal “candidates” systematically prioritized to ensure that the “right” goals were selected?

Hopefully, you were able to answer “yes” to this question. Applying a systematic prioritization method as part of the strategic planning process serves as a filter and a compass, helping to separate “wants” / “wishes” from actual corporate “needs” and provides direction to strategic planning. We are forced to make tough decisions that open one door and close another. Weighty strategic decisions can be made easier if we apply a decision “triage” to help structure the cognitive process we must complete.

But how do we separate requirements from “desirements” in the business world fairly and consistently? Sometimes budgetary constraints drive us to adopt a strategy of eliminating options that are not actually requirements for our business, at least not at this time. For that first round of elimination, we need a litmus test of sorts. More to the point, what we need is a decision process to help us filter the wants from the needs.

One simple technique to consider is the calculation of Relative Valuation (RV) for each candidate key outcome identified in the early stages of planning. For more information, see the article "Prioritizing Organizational Wants Versus Needs - How To Tell The Difference".

Join us again next week as we continue the discussion.

Get caught up on the previous sections to this article series:

• To View Part 1 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 2 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 3 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 4 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 5 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 6 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 7 of this Series, Click Here
• To View Part 8 of this Series, Click Here

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For permission to use or reprint any portions of this copyrighted article, contact Method Frameworks at articles@methodframeworks.com.

About the Author:

Joe Evans is the President and CEO of Method Frameworks. Joe is a published author, frequent speaker and recognized expert in corporate strategic planning. To contact Method Frameworks about scheduling Mr. Evans about an upcoming speaking engagement, visit www.methodframeworks.com/business-speaker or email requests to media_relations@methodframeworks.com.

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Our guide to successful strategic planning, called "Bridging the Gap Between Strategy and Execution", is a 13 page complimentary resource to help your organization initiate and manage the strategic planning discipline. Your business will richly benefit from the results you can achieve by successfully defining strategy, then linking it to all aspects of operational execution.

Receive our complimentary guide to successful strategic planning now. Click on the link below and you will receive instant access to "Bridging the Gap Between Strategy and Execution" in PDF format. Download now.

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Learn More

Method Frameworks is a leading business strategy and management consulting company, based in the Dallas / Fort Worth area and serving clients nationally and internationally.

Discover our capabilities and learn why Method Frameworks is the strategic planning partner chosen by Fortune-500 companies and small businesses alike. Let us show you how to realize 140%+ ROI on your strategic planning efforts through our unique Plan4^SM process that brings together strategy and execution into a powerful plan. Plan4 is our proprietary business planning process that involves an integrated set of actions designed to help companies gain sustainable advantage. Download our brochure to learn more about Method Frameworks and our services or download our Plan4 Planning Process Overview.

You can contact Method Frameworks at 877-317-5264 (877-31PLAN4) or follow this link to request a meeting with a planning consultant. Check our articles and blog often at www.methodframeworks.com to get many more planning tips and information about our Plan4 process.

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Article Tags: business consulting, business executive, business strategy, corporate strategy, joe evans, management consulting, method frameworks, planning process, strategic planning, strategic planning consulting, strategy consulting
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