Strategic business planning example
Every company wants to set a good strategic business planning example to help distinguish itself from others. A strategic business plan is not a document that any company can use as-is; a good strategic plan has different types and lengths. A basic strategic business planning example merely outlines a company’s goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics, while an advanced one extends on to cover several layers and phases. A number of aspects determine the degree to which you need to develop your strategic business planning example. They typically include company culture, the time to implement the plan, and the accountability level you need to create. This post will give you a good strategic business planning example that companies can follow to grow successfully.
Strategic Business Planning Example: Key Components
- ● Objectives: Strategic objectives are measurable and quantifiable targets that give answers to “by when”, “how much” and so on. An old saying goes that you can’t improve what you don’t measure. A strategic business planning example having no measurable objectives is not a functional plan to begin with, but just a list of tasks. Objectives include a date to achieve the objectives by, targeted performance, and baseline performance. A strategic business plan needs to have objectives in it, as they form the basis of the plan itself. This strategic business planning example intends to raise client satisfaction from 83% to 95% by December 31, 2021. How these objectives get achieved will determine the tactics and strategies.
- ● Strategies: Put together, tactics form a collection. This collection gets labeled as a corporate strategy. The strategy gets a name to make it focused in a specific direction, and the strategic plan covers all the different tactics. Strategies are action-based plans that are executed to achieve corporate objectives. In this strategic business planning example, an event strategy for the client is devised, to boost client satisfaction. Additional strategies may also be implemented to achieve the same objective, each having its own set of tactics.
- ● Tactics: Task assignments that need to be executed one by one are called tactics. Forming action items, put together tactics make up corporate strategies. For example, a client satisfaction strategy focuses on an annual client event and, for that event to take place, a number of tasks need to be executed. These tasks are labelled tactics, including the people they are assigned to, the deliverables, and deadlines.
Strategic Business Planning Example: Tactics, Strategies, and Objectives
To increase client satisfaction to 95% from 83% by December 31, 2021.
Strategic Business Planning Example: Tactics, Strategies, and Objectives
- ● Strategy 1: Hold an Annual Client Conference
- o Tactic 1.1: Determine Venue and Date
- o Tactic 1.2: Develop Agenda
- o Tactic 1.3: Enlist and Invite Speakers
- o Tactic 1.4: Hold Social Events
- o Tactic 1.5: Make Menus
- o Tactic 1.6: Make and Send Out Invites
Strategic Business Planning Example: Strategic Goals and Themes
While tactics, strategies, and objectives make up the key components of any strategic business planning example, they are not the only items. Several plans include more levels in the hierarchy, being more robust in nature. Typically referred to as strategic goals and themes, these goals take precedence over corporate objectives. A fully developed strategic business plan appears like the strategic business planning example below:
- ● Strategic Themes: One or three-word affinity group headings are strategic themes, applied to categorize operational and strategic plans, such as Growth, Finance, Service, Customers, People, Safety, and Quality. Companies that apply strategic themes have four to six such themes as the most commonly applied ones.
- ● Goals: Translating the corporate vision into a meaningful and time-oriented statement, a goal is a broad statement. Goal statements help translate the corporate vision into certain strategic themes provided that strategic themes are also used.
- ● Objectives: Just like goals, objectives are quantifiable terms that measure how successful your goals are. This ultimately decides how successful your strategic business planning example turns out to be. This helps you decide how you can maintain, decrease, or increase specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) essential for successful goal achievement.
- ● Strategies: A strategy will determine the execution of your strategic business planning example, required to achieve the specific objectives. Some companies call strategies programs, or projects, or initiatives. No matter what you call them, strategies make the basis of the work that is done to execute the strategic business plan.
- ● Tactics: You need to divide the strategy into subcategories to execute it right. Mostly these are tactics. These are parts of your strategic business planning example that help you measure how much success you have achieved. These are not tasks that you can check off the list after achieving them; instead, they are key deliverables or milestones.
Strategic Business Planning Example: Sample Plan
Strategic Theme: Customer Satisfaction
Goal 1: We want our clients to consider us a trusted partner
Objective 1: Raise client satisfaction from 83% to 95% by December 31, 2021.
- ● Strategy 1: Hold an Annual Client Conference
- o Tactic 1.1: Determine Venue and Date
- o Tactic 1.2: Develop Agenda
- o Tactic 1.3: Enlist and Invite Speakers
- o Tactic 1.4: Hold Social Events
- o Tactic 1.5: Make Menus
- o Tactic 1.6: Make and Send Out Invites
There are several forms of a strategic business planning example, so you need to ensure you know which one suits you better. This will help you use a better approach. A one-page approach is used by many companies, while others don’t cater to certain approaches except implementing a basic strategic
structure. Making the strategic business plan is just the beginning, its implementation/execution is the actual, challenging phase.
To ensure your plan gets executed, the best way is to keep everyone engaged, giving due consideration to all its aspects. Working with a team that offers you certain advantages also helps. Once your strategic business planning example has been made, and you are ready to execute, you need to move to the implementation phase.