Strategic Planning - Process Leadership Checklist

These are the things I think you need to have in place before you start your first strategic planning meeting. Keep in mind that the Simplified Strategic Planning process is structured to require a minimum of preparation, so you may need much more preparation if you are attempting another approach to strategic planning.

First, you must have commitment. There are 3 areas where this is crucial: number one, the CEO or president must be committed to support the process and the implementation of the resulting plan. Secondly, the management team also needs to commit to support the process and implementation, and third, both groups - especially the CEO - need to commit to participation in the meetings following a pre-set schedule.

After commitment, you need to prepare your team. Number one, you need to make sure you have the right people selected for your team. Number two, you must assure that the team is adequately trained to participate in strategic planning (although this may be less important if you are using an outside facilitator who is also able to train the team). Thirdly, you need to select a team leader. This person will have different roles, depending upon whether you use an outside facilitator to run your planning meetings.

Once your team is prepared, you need to arrange for your meetings. This includes setting dates and assuring that everyone on the team can attend on the dates you have chosen. Also, you will want to arrange for meeting space, which should be away from your offices and branches, to help separate the team's thinking from day-to-day tactical issues. Finally, you need to assure that the appropriate materials will be at the meeting site - flipcharts, projectors, books, worksheets, and anything else you feel you might need to conduct a good strategic planning meeting.

So here is the basic checklist, in outline form:

Get Commitment
-CEO commitment
-Team commitment
-Participation commitments
Prepare Team
-Select strategic planning team
-Train strategic planning team
-Select strategic planning team leader
Arrange meetings
-Set dates
-Arrange location
-Arrange for materials

-Robert