Our previous article detailed the technical analysis of our current recession. We need to develop a strategic plan to assess the impact on our lives and businesses, and plan accordingly. Even if you don’t think the current recession will impact your business you still need to have a strategic plan.
The Characteristics of Thinking Strategically:
Opportunity:
What are the opportunities for your company to work more efficiently, serve its customers, or enter into new markets?
Problem solving:
How can you build solutions that serve the interests of the company as a whole? Where your business is failing, you may need to think strategically about how you can improve systems and operations or find a solution to turn your business completely around.
Vision:
Can you imagine your ideal organisation and then figure out the practical steps for getting there?
The planning phase can be simplified by asking yourself three questions:
- Where are we now?
- Where are we going?
- How will we get there?
A strategic plan presents the company and team members with a clear course of action that aligns with the organisation’s long-term vision. But don’t see the planning document as an end in itself.
Set specific action plans that lead to implementing your goals. It is important to eliminate non-critical actions. You need to implement measures to track progress, so that forward momentum is felt throughout the organisation.
As you start to put your ideas into practice, remember that strategic thinking is not something you do alone. Collaboration is essential for gaining other people’s perspectives on critical issues, as well as their buy-in for solutions. Further, by collaborating with your team members and employees, you build bridges between groups that will serve you well. And by engaging the creativity of your employees, you can boost both their satisfaction and performance. Accountability and high visibility are needed to help drive change. Each measure, goal, data source and initiative needs to have an owner.
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