Monday, December 12, 2016

Fostering Business Growth Through Strategic Planning

Having a clear vision and plans is necessary for any organization to grow and succeed. When communicated clearly to every team member, the vision can unify all organizational levels. Each employee can then understand his part and role, and focus on efficiently delivering his tasks.

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 Image source: blackboard.uic.edu

A common vision and set of goals can also prevent any perceived interdepartmental competition, and fosters solidarity across the entire company. Flow of information can also be increased, as well as the pooling of resources from the different silos in the organization; thus, coordination will be seamless.

The definition of the vision, direction, goals, and tactics can be specified through the regular conduct of strategic planning. The management initiates this activity, and in coordination with the entire organization, uses this to tackle fundamental decisions and actions that determine what should be done – and why – in the foreseeable future, as well as the adjustments needed to respond to the changes in the environment.

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 Image source: SocialVenturePartners.com

Strategic planning follows no single framework. However, it typically involves the following phases:

•   Assessment of the organization’s current situation, as well as the trends in the environment
•   Vision casting, and formulation of short- and long-term strategies in every level of the organization
•   Creation of action plan on how to execute strategies, and how to evaluate said strategies

Patrick Dwyer of Merrill Lynch understands that education is needed for entrepreneurs and managers to survive the harsh and often complicated world of business. For more of his insights, follow this Twitter page.

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