Have you wondered if you needed a strategic plan for your business? A strategic plan isn’t just a set of rules to follow. It is a philosophical approach to growing your business. The senior management team has to be deeply involved in this process. It requires that everyone in the company understands the strategy.
Sounds like a daunting process, especially when coupled with the day-to-day management of the company? If yes, here’s some good news. You didn’t become a business leader because you wanted to stick to the status quo or let others guide your fate. You have come a long way, now it’s time to take ownership of the process and steer the course.
In order to begin your strategic management process, here are a few guidelines to follow.
There are 5 -stages of this process.
1. Setting your goals
To do this, it is very important to clarify your vision in terms of your short- and long-term objectives. After, you will need to decide on the tasks required to achieve those objectives. Then, customize the tasks for your team. Assign each person with a task they can accomplish. It will be important to remember that for every task your goals will be detailed, realistic and match the values of your visions for your company. It will be helpful to write a mission statement in order to communicate the goals with your team and stakeholders.
2. Analysis of your company
The second stage requires a complete understanding and analysis of the needs of the business. Its strategic direction and initiatives which will help the business to improve. The analysis is a vital step because the information you will be collecting on the business will shape the next steps. Consider the internal and external issues which may affect your goals and development. Be sure to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as any threats and opportunities that can help to understand how to improve and grow. SWOT and PESTEL analysis can be useful.
3. Formulate a strategy
Now that you have collected information and done an analysis of your company, the third stage is to formulate a strategy. To do this, review the information gathered for completing the analysis. Determine what resources the company should have to help it to accomplish its goals and objectives. Identify whether the business should seek external resources such a more capital, a consultant or new software. The weaknesses and issues facing the company should be prioritized in order of importance. Worthwhile also to consider the opportunities that exist for the company. These should be prioritized as well and cost to determine the value that could be added. Next, begin formulating the strategy. It is critical to also develop alternatives approaches that target each goal of the plan.
4. Implementing your strategy
The implementation stage is critical to the success of the business venture. This is the action stage of the strategic management process. The previous stages required lots of thinking and logic. If the overall strategy doesn’t blend with the business structure, a new structure has to be launched at the beginning of this stage. Then it is time to get moving. Everyone must be given their responsibilities and duties with full clarity on how it fits with the overall goals. Funding for the venture should be available at this point. If the funding is in place and employees are ready, its time to execute the plan.
5. Evaluate and control actions
This will include performance measurements, continuous review of the internal and external issues and adjusting as necessary. If opportunities were considered and adopted, the same measurements will apply for reviews and adjustments.
Any successful evaluation of the strategy begins with defining the variables and parameters to be measured. The parameters should reflect the goals set in stage 1. You can determine your success by measuring the results against the plan.
Monitoring how the issues changed and how the goals added value or improved the business will enable you to react proactively to future changes in your business environment. If the strategy is not moving the company towards its goals, then its time to take corrective actions or repeat the strategic management process.
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