Assessing Your Company’s Strategic Planning Process

In the 4th book of the Guident series, Gary Vaughan likens taking a trip without a road map, any plans regarding where you’re going, or even any hotel reservations, to trying to run a business without any plan or road map for the future. Of course, nobody would choose to do either one. Organizations that use strategic planning have a clear focus and direction for achieving their goals, thereby giving them an advantage over their competitors. In the book, Gary walks the reader through the various steps involved in strategic planning. He takes you from establishing a formal process through analyzing the results of the plan once it’s implemented. As with any planning process, before you begin you have to assess where you are. Often, organizations run in a fire fighting mode; solving problems as they come up without determining why they occurred, and haven’t taken the time to address the root causes of the problems. Once the root causes are identified, the organization can move into strategic planning mode After reading this book you will understand how having a strategic plan will not only give you the ability to quickly adjust to any economic changes; it will have a positive impact on your bottom line.