Good to Great: How to Scale With an Outsourced CFO

Without strategic planning, businesses can be buffeted by market changes, personnel dynamics, economic ups and downs, and even regulatory changes. Take control of your company’s future with a strategic plan that can steady the ship even through storms.

 

Every company needs a vision for its future. And yet, too many businesses get so bogged down in their everyday operations that they never develop strategic plans. If you find yourself in this situation, take a deep breath. Strategic planning doesn’t have to be time-consuming or difficult. In this post, we’ll look at five factors that contribute to successful strategic planning.

 

1 - Employee Engagement

Too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil a meal. But when it comes to strategic planning, a wide-breadth of employee insight can be incredibly helpful.

 

Senior management generally handles strategy, but they’re not the ones who witness the day-to-day problems or have ideas about how to innovate on the process level. These insights are invaluable to the big picture.

 

Another benefit to involving more people in your strategic planning is that these people will already have “buy-in” with the final plan. They’ll have ownership in the program and feel it belongs to them.

 

2 - Improved Communication

If you’re going to engage more people in the process, excellent communication is vital.

 

Start by explaining that the strategic planning process is beginning and you need everyone’s help. Invite employees to offer input. This can be done in several ways:

• Surveys
• Meetings
• Focus groups

Follow this initial communication with thorough coverage of the finalised strategic plan to get everyone on board.

 

3 - Risk-Taking

Carefully-crafted strategic planning offers businesses a low-risk way to try something new. Without proper planning, innovation can feel like a shot in the dark. That’s why so many companies play it safe. It feels more prudent to improve on what you’ve always done. However, this kind of strategic planning doesn’t lead to greatness.

 

To innovate on a vast scale, open up your planning to all kinds of ideas. You may unearth some intriguing but wild ideas in the surveys you receive from your employees. Take them seriously. Consider how they could be accomplished, even if they would require significant changes.

 

4 - Practiced Focus

It’s all too easy to let a strategic plan become unmanageable and overly complicated. Although complex strategic plans may look impressive on paper, they’re not likely to succeed.

 

Keep it simple by focusing on the things you’d like to change about your business. Create goals, and then be specific about the objectives necessary for reaching those goals.

 

Strive for specific goals supported by precise objectives. Your managers and employees can readily embrace these goals and give everyone satisfactory focus.

 

5 - Thorough Implementation

To be genuinely strategic, your business needs specific ways to accomplish meaningful goals. It’s best if your plan includes responsibilities, resources, and a timeline.

 

After you’ve revealed the new strategy, you’ll need to follow up with staff regularly. Some businesses discuss their implementation efforts at meetings throughout the year. Others have “dashboards” with crucial metrics so that everyone can monitor the effectiveness of the company’s efforts.

 

Engage your employees through excellent communication, take risks, stay focused, and implement your plan. With a successful strategic plan, your business will thrive.

 

To learn more about strategic planning, or for help with any of your business concerns, reach out to us at Altus. We’re here to help you succeed.