PHASE 5: PLANNING
Strategic Planning enables leadership to make strategic decisions. Strategic Planning dictates the development of the Corporate Strategy and focuses the direction of the company.
Planning typically falls into two cadences:
First, the traditional annual planning cadence focuses on time-bound initiatives such as semester- or year-end. This type of planning drives initiatives such as Comp & Quota Design and Territory Design.
Second, agile planning is a continuous process to update and revise the Corporate Strategy. It employs motions such as Market Listening to identify market opportunities and threats at any point in the year. In turn, it drives opportunities to apply the Corporate Strategy to the selected opportunities through offerings such as Talent Assessments and Marketing Campaigns.
RAPID DIAGNOSTIC
1. You consistently follow a strategic planning agenda and process.
2. You hold an annual planning session once a year with your executive leadership team.
3. You hold quarterly business reviews with your executive leadership team.
4. You have identified a list of initiatives that need to be accomplished on an ongoing basis.
5. There is an agreed upon shortlist of “decisions to be made” prior to every strategic planning session.
6. The team arrives prepared with research, feasibility studies and/or business models that enable the executive leadership team to make data-driven decisions.
7. Most of your annual strategic priorities are new each year, and not simply a rehash from previous years.
8. One of your strategic outcomes is a focus on a new customer or market segment.
9. The financial plan is completed through a separate process, before the annual planning exercise.
10. You routinely identify and act upon strategic opportunities throughout the year.
DELIVERABLES
• Strategic Planning Process & Schedule
• List of “Decisions to be Made”
• Annual Planning Session (Agenda and Process)
• Quarterly Business Review (QBR) (Agenda and Process)
• Documented Corporate Strategy & Objectives
• Strategic Action Plan
• Agile Planning Process and Cadence