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Strategic planning is a business process that many companies employ to identify their critical success factors that set the course for future growth and profits. As Lewis Carroll wrote in “Alice in Wonderland,” the direction you take depends on where you want to go. If you don’t care where you end up, then any direction will do.

But strategic planning is more than just developing a plan. It’s about effective implementation. Companies that successfully develop and execute their strategies gain a competitive edge, increasing their market share and gross profit margins. On the other hand, organizations that treat their plan as a mere decoration on an executive bookshelf will never reach their full potential for growth and profitability.

Many critics of strategic planning focus on the planning process itself. They question the validity of a plan based on market estimates, questionable assessments of competitors, and an overly positive view of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses. While these criticisms may be valid, they miss the main issue – implementation. It’s the implementation task that determines whether a strategic plan produces positive results, not the initial planning phase.

A rational strategic plan, poorly implemented, will yield limited positive results. Conversely, an overly optimistic plan, effectively implemented, can exceed expectations. So, what’s the key to effective implementation? One word: commitment.

Successful companies build commitment to the planning process and each strategy within the plan. They involve employees from all functions of the business to gain commitment before, during, and after the plan’s development.

These companies start building commitment early on. They encourage suggestions from managers at all levels and key executives who will participate in the planning sessions. They identify issues that require changes in processes or culture and pinpoint constraints that must be overcome for successful implementation.

During planning sessions, executives from each area contribute to the plan. They consider organizational strengths and the resources needed to achieve the strategies. Each strategy has a key executive who takes ownership and commits to a timeline. They also prioritize resource planning, recognizing that human resources drive progress in complex business environments.

After developing the plan, those responsible for implementation create their tactical plans. These plans, combined with self-directed work teams, contribute to successful implementation. Teams use their plan to manage, make decisions, and grow the business. They regularly review their tactical plans to monitor progress, revising strategies and tactics as needed.

To ensure successful implementation, companies continuously fine-tune the planning process. They ensure that inputs from all business functions are considered and that buy-in and commitment to the final plan exist at all levels of the organization.

So why are most operations management teams left out of the strategic planning process? Why do many line managers see strategic planning as a meaningless project with no value to customers? Perhaps it’s because they weren’t involved in its development and don’t see its validity, let alone commit to its execution. In short, they’re not connected to the process. To unlock a company’s full growth and profit potential, CEOs and business owners must ensure that operations management actively participates in strategic planning. If you need professional assistance, Business Basics, LLC is available to help. Give us a call.

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Ihab Salloum