Speaking with a new client recently, he offered this observation about his decision to embark (for the first time) on structured strategic planning. He told me he realized that he spent more time planning his family’s vacation than he did planning for his business.

This is not to suggest he didn’t spend time thinking about his business. “I think about my business all the time, in fact, probably too often” he told me. But he thought about his business in a disjointed way, a kind of jumbled way, in mostly a worried way. “My view of my business ranged from excited and energized to troubled and terrified.” Clearly, the time was at hand to take hold of the business by creating and committing to a plan.

The process of strategic planning is a way, maybe the best way, to organize your thinking about your best business future. By crystalizing what you want for and from your business, you all but eliminate the complexity and confusion that hinder and cloud your thinking. Clarity and confidence increase as you lay out a specific way to organize your resources in the direction of stated and prioritized objectives and connect these with strategies and tactics designed to take you where you want to go.

Involving your leadership team in the process brings the experience to a new level. Ideas, observations, inputs and varied perspectives are considered in strategic session. These are captured and distilled into a comprehensive, easy to follow (and communicate) plan with specific targets, assigned responsibilities and milestones dates for review and adjustment (quarterly works best for this).

For more information and to get started, download your free copy of “Understanding and Implementing Strategy & Planning” or email me at joe@ajstrategy.com.