6 Strategic Planning Skills
How They Power Organizational Success
(Strategic Planning Requires a Commitment to Change)
As Strategic Planning consultants Antrim Consulting knows that collaboration, innovation, and attention to detail ensure successful implementation of change initiatives. This is true for non-profit, corporate, and public sector agencies. Most importantly, everyone’s commitment to change guarantees successful Strategic Planning outcomes. It’s the commitment to change that ensures your organization’s future stability, long-term growth, bottom line profitability, and continuing raison d’être.
Antrim uses best practices in our client engagements. We collaborate with relevant stakeholders during the Pre-Planning, Design, and Implementation phases. In each phase, we focus on long-term solutions that will benefit your organization and your workforce.
In business as in life, change is crucial
Without it, the future becomes uncertain!
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic Planning is a process that sets, implements, and measures an organization’s Desired Future State. Throughout the process a skilled Strategic Planning consultant guides identified key stakeholders as they consider and develop broad Goals. Later, departmental leaders will set, implement, and achieve quantifiable Objectives. A Strategic Planning framework requires rich collaboration, research, and timely implementation.
Strategic Planning initiatives are used by non-profits, large and small organizations, and by public sector agencies. Everyone involved in Strategic Planning initiatives will identify opportunities to improve the organization’s markets, customers, and workforce needs.
Why Your Organization Needs Strategic Planning
Recent studies reflect serious issues in workforce performance, lost civility, and individual commitment to job tasks in all sectors of the American workplace. These issues may be caused by:
Flawed Strategic Planning resulting in uncertainty across the workforce; this includes an absence of focused and timely Implementation.
Lost commitment by departmental leaders during Implementation of departmental Objectives; this may be caused by a lack of buy-in or commitment to the departmental Objectives.
Operational inefficiencies and ineffective delivery of client services; this may be caused by lack of clear process and standards that are led by Strategic Planning.
Inadequate workforce training prior to and during Strategic Plan Implementation; this results in the absence of curious, agile, and adaptable learners, deficits in reasoning, communication, writing, and math skills. It may also result in opportunities for workforce buy-in.
Workforce Stress: indicates job redesign and/or reskilling needs.
Workplace Culture: incidences of incivility and Quiet Quitting ; mentoring and organizational Codes of Conduct required.
Artificial Intelligence Disruptions: flawed critical thinking skills result in flawed assumptions.
Your organization’s reputation as an employer of choice is always at stake. Antrim recommends training at all levels of your organization given the continuing tight labor market.
Value of Strategic Planning for Corporate, Public, & Nonprofit Organizations
Organizations frequently experience turbulence. From time to time, they may encounter the ire of disappointed customers. Your organization may even lose customers! At the same time, it’s not unusual for organizations to suffer internal performance shortfalls and alarming workplace turnover.
Strategic Planning solves these issues!
Key Stakeholders: Crucial to Successful Strategic Plan Outcomes
Strategic Planning isn’t hard. It’s not complicated. However, the success of any Strategic Planning initiative lies in the composition of its key stakeholders who must possess unique insights and knowledge of the organization’s market forces and competition. When chosen carefully, they will provide sound advice for the organization’s long-term growth and stability.
The most relevant key stakeholders will possess broad knowledge of finance, sales, marketing, IT, and, most importantly, current and future staffing needs across the organization. Internal key stakeholders within the organization will, no doubt, possess valuable insights into past initiatives that will enrich Strat Plan discussions. External key stakeholders will offer broad global and/or domestic knowledge that will be incredibly beneficial to your organization’s future.
6 Essential Strategic Planning Skills for Organizational Success
When developing a Strategic Plan, it’s important that senior management include key stakeholders, i.e., the heads of Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, IT, and identified high potential employees in the Strategic Planning process. Each will offer their expertise in developing the Strategic Plan. Depending upon the size of the organization, senior management may decide to invite a selected group of additional key stakeholders, i.e., department leaders who will be responsible for setting and managing Goals to meet the Plan’s stated Objectives. The following skills are required by Strategic Planning team members.
Research, Analytical, & Critical Thinking Skills
Strategic Planning team members must be adept at market and trend research, data analysis, and possess critical thinking skills. These competencies enable members to create feasible growth-focused strategies while considering current and fluctuating market conditions.
2. Sales & Marketing Strategies
Strat Plan team members with industry-relevant sales and marketing knowledge will be essential for the organization’s future growth opportunities. Their competencies in these areas should include logical thinking as well as deductive and inductive reasoning. The most effective team members will possess an adaptive mindset and enjoy collaborative brainstorming.
Additionally, their past experiences and social media awareness will be highly beneficial to the Strategic Plan’s outcomes.
3. Information Systems Technology Skills
An internal IST specialist will bring much needed expertise to the Strategic Planning process. That person will be responsible for research, management, and consolidation of all data and findings. As the Strategic Planning process unfolds, the IST Department team members will identify and recommend continuing departmental needs and implement indicated future changes.
A highly qualified IST specialist will possess sound computer skills, knowledge of multiple computer systems and programs we well as skills in systems analysis, data analysis, and data infrastructure.
4. Problem Solving Skills
You cannot expect every member of the Strategic Planning team to have the skills to identify each department’s issues and/or needs. It’s important, therefore, that team members possess superb problem-solving skills as they will be analyzing multiple areas of the organization. It is recommended that those internal key stakeholders be natural born leaders who enjoy the confidence and respect of others. Why is this important? As planners work together, they may feel lost at times. Skilled internal leaders will keep the process on track as they support and encourage critically important buy-in.
Everyone involved in the Strategic Planning process will be laying the foundation for an innovative and skilled workforce dedicated to client service excellence, workplace efficiencies, and dedicated workforce performance.
5. Communication Skills
Strategic Plan participants must possess superb communication skills as they will be working closely with other team members. As they design and shape the Plan’s Goals, they will be required to share research findings and the Plan’s Goals with the organization’s entire workforce. Communicating these findings and recommendations with accuracy will ensure successful and timely Strategic Plan outcomes.
Communication clarity can and will determine the Plan’s ultimate success
Each Planning team member should possess solid presentation skills including the ability to present information cogently, avoiding poor grammar, distracting behaviors, and remain attuned to other team members’ stated views. Team members must be able to respond to questions and clarify issues while making certain no one loses focus, opts out, or becomes a naysayer.
Strategic Plan team members must be skilled in the art of Active Listening, i.e., giving full attention to a speaker, not interrupting, and remaining respectful when asking probing questions. Calm demeanors, flexible mindsets, and superb collaboration are traits required of Strategic Plan members. At the same time, a good communicator remains alert to change resistors!
6. Leadership Skills
Great leaders build great organizations!
During the Strategic Planning process, leaders must be aware of their own actions and reactions. They must have the skills to be aware of and regulate their behavior at key moments. Additionally, leaders must be motivated to contain their emotions especially during chaotic times.
True leadership requires insight and sensitivity when dealing with others. Leaders who possess Emotional Intelligence use their empathy and social skills to support others when it’s most needed. Their responsive behaviors to the needs of coworkers during stressful times can, and will, make all the difference in performance and productivity during the Implementation phase.
Emotional Intelligence is the essence of great leaders
It’s essential during challenging and chaotic times
Ensuring Emotional Intelligence traits at all levels of your organization will guarantee performance, productivity, collaboration, and workplace civility. Emotional Intelligence across your organization will oxygenate civility during stressful times.
11 Benefits of Strategic Planning: Giddy Up!
Opportunity to define your organization’s Goals, Mission, Vision, and Values
SWOT analyses will indicate areas for growth and performance improvement, i.e., change
Defines and assesses Sales and Marketing opportunities
Guide for future investment
Sets organizational Goals and departmental Objectives
Aligns key stakeholders to a shared purpose
Opportunity to assess the need for Succession Plans
Time to evaluate workforce performance
Occasion to discussion organization’s culture
Stimulus to set, revise, and/or implement new Human Resource initiatives
Opportunity to develop the organization’s Desired Future State
Important Steps for Strategic Planning
The first step begins with Pre-Planning for the Strategic Planning sessions. This involves the selection of internal and external key stakeholders.
In each Strategic Plan meeting, Antrim works with all stakeholders present to gain knowledge of the customers and markets served and the organization’s current and future raison d’être.
During the Design phase, we guide collaborative discussions with those internal leaders who will be tasked with implementing the Strategic Plan’s Goals. The Design phase encompasses extensive discussions of your organization’s history and it’s services. Together, stakeholders discuss the organization’s successes and future opportunities while considering current and possible future barriers and constraints to market growth, customer service, and workforce issues.
The Implementation of the Strategic Planning initiative is critical for its success. During this phase, Antrim does not drop the ball. We continue our close collaboration with departmental leaders to ensure that each departmental Objective is designed and implemented for maximum impact using quantifiable measurements for long-term gains.
Continual monitoring of external customer and internal workforce needs is essential for successful Strategic Plan outcomes. Antrim Consulting will build essential monitoring guidelines into your Plan’s Implementation. However, identifying the causation of various issues that weaken and/or thwart beneficial workplace and workforce change is important. Identifying what’s happening, when, where, and why will become your drivers for change.
Often, during the Strategic Planning process, it becomes apparent that the organization must consider its future leadership. We encourage organizations to support the implementation of a broad Succession Plan, when indicated. Succession will ensure a ready supply of future leaders. Given today’s shortage of labor, Succession Planning must be given serious consideration.
Skilled Strategic Planning Specialists: Antrim’s Invitation
As Strategic Planning specialists, Antrim Consulting incorporates best practices for each client-based Strategic Planning development initiative. Why? Because we at Antrim Consulting know our commitment to your organization will guarantee continued workforce innovation, performance, business growth, and bottom-line profitability.
Antrim’s Invitation
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Online &/or Onsite Coaching
Free 1 Hour Initial Consultation
CONTACT ANTRIM CONSULTING NOW
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