Status: Next year we have an election, possibly a new CEO, and a new corporate plan.
“Let’s wait until the dust settles” is a common response as a cautious approach to the strategic planning process and strategy execution.
However, every week you leave your planning can adversely impact you for several weeks, or months before you can return on track when the dust has finally settled. This delay in turn translates to labor and resources costs you may never have otherwise incurred. How is this going to look to the new Elected Officials/Members or CAO/CEO?
Your strategic and operating plans should be regularly reviewed and updated for changing circumstances. A variance to a plan may create unique problems to solve, and if you take your eyes off it for too long, it might end up a long way from where it started or was intended to go. However, if you check in on it regularly, ensure your communication and reporting processes are highlighting the significant tasks and issues, it’s not only going to survive but generate successful outcomes.
This issue does not pertain solely to the tail end of a plan’s lifecycle. Strategic, master and operational plans need to be maintained throughout their lifecycle to keep clarity, a line of sight, and accountability. After developing a comprehensive and well-aligned strategic planning process, one needs to avoid the trap of assuming that your plans will take care of themselves. Rarely does this happen.
If someone is leaving – no problem, all their strategic goals were linked to their job role, so it is merely a name change to transfer all their activities. If someone is overburdened with work – no problem, generate a report to see who has time available to take on another project.
If a new CEO comes in and wants to rewrite the existing operational plan – no problem, it is all on-screen in front of you and easy to evaluate and edit without having to go through 10-50 different documents. You’ve had to merge two business units mid-year – no problem, realign their goals with the click of a button.
Contingency is key when dealing with the strategic planning process. At GovernmentFrameworks.com, we are ready at each stage of your plan’s lifecycle to assist and help guide you through the process of being able to demonstrate progress across your integrated planning and reporting framework. Our Local Government Framework design, software, and ongoing training program are created to combat it.
Please Contact Us for a free analysis of your current strategic plan and an online live demonstration.
