Strategic planning should build cohesion and focus and not just for those who participate in the session but for the rest of the organization as well. Achieving that level of effectiveness requires important work before the retreat itself. First, let’s outline what we at Practical Insight consider to be effective strategic planning.
Effective Strategic Planning means:
- Broad engagement from the appropriate people – before, during, and after the session
- Resistance, questions, and hesitations are aired during the session, not afterwards
- Clarity of outcomes – everyone knows what success looks like
- Accountability for each goal is established and transparent so everyone knows who is responsible to make sure resources (including time and effort) are allocated and coordinated to achieve the goal
- A plan is in-place to measure progress, provide updates, and revise as needed
The foundation for an effective strategic planning process is preparation that includes reflection, data, the right people, and setting expectations.
Engage in Reflection
Looking back helps us learn, recall our successes, and note what was unexpected. While reports on financial results and what goals were achieved are often shared at a strategic planning session, we encourage this work to be done beforehand and that it includes everyone in the company. The people closest to the work often have the most insight into why things did and did not go as planned. Since their daily activities will impact future results, they should be part of the conversation.
We suggest having teams/departments debrief using these prompts:
- What were our successes and challenges?
- What were our goals for 2024? How did we do?
- What did we learn?
The team’s leader(s) can then bring this information to the planning session to ensure future plans are made with all the relevant information from those engaged in the day-to-day work that drives the overall goals.
Gather Data
Financial results or data is something of a given at strategic planning sessions. What about other relevant data points that help the leadership team understand the state of the company, the priorities for the coming year, and what can be realistically achieved? Some metrics our clients often refer to are:
People – open positions, employee turnover, preventable turnover, average number of days off taken, usage of employee resources, internal promotions, and satisfaction survey results
Impact – volunteer hours, carbon footprint and offsets, waste diverted from the landfill, and other sustainability initiatives
Customers – retention, referral sources, and satisfaction
Operations – errors/defects, returns, popular products or services
It can also be helpful to briefly summarize the major initiatives and investments the company made in the last year whether they be an element of your tech stack, a marketing strategy, new feature or service, or employee benefits.
Involve the Right People
As you move to planning for the session itself, take a look at your invite list and think beyond the leadership team. Whose input or perspective might be needed? Who will need to be available to provide additional data to inform planning during the session?
A one or two day long planning session requires a team effort. Who will serve in these necessary roles to ensure things flow smoothly?
Facilitation – someone to keep the group on task, call out elephants in the room, and ensure clarity (Note: This should not be the Visionary or big ideas person. Their strengths are not aligned with this role.)
Notes – goals will be set, decisions will be made, tasks will be assigned and all of that needs to be captured (Pro tip: Capture the reasoning or calculus that went into determining the goal to refer back to later)
Food and drink – finding a vendor, ordering, and ensuring utensils, etc are available (Bonus Points: Challenge the patriarchy and assign this to a man)
Set Expectations
Nothing will take a strategic planning retreat off the rails faster than confusion about what will be accomplished. Gather input on the priority outcomes for your time together and then determine what can be reasonably accomplished in the time you have.
Even if your team has met for strategic planning before, share details around expectations to ensure everyone is on the same page. We suggest communicating:
- Time commitment for each day including breaks so people can plan when to handle urgent work items and see to personal needs
- Dress code or cameras on or off if remote
- Laptop and cell phone usage during in-person sessions
Investing the time and effort to engage in reflection, gather data, involve the right people, and set expectations can make a real difference in the effectiveness of your strategic planning session. Curious about how to keep the momentum going toward your goals all year long? Check out our article on setting your strategic planning cadence or reach out, we’re always up for a conversation about how to support greater clarity, cohesion, and traction toward your mission.