It’s no secret that strategic planning is important. It’s the process through which you establish your long-term plans for growth and achievement and outline realistic steps for achieving your goals.
Organizations that lack a well-written or updated strategic plan may find themselves unnecessarily wasting opportunities, time, and resources. Without clear direction, your organization runs the risk of becoming stagnant or even falling behind others in your industry.
What’s the key to successful strategic planning and implementation?
To put it simply…it’s a team effort.
Effective strategic planning requires the effort and cooperation of a team. The best teams are ones in which the members have a personal passion and investment in the process and a unique perspective to contribute.
As the leader of your strategic planning team, it is your responsibility to create an environment amongst your team members that fosters collaboration and encourages investment.
So…how can this be done?
Here are 5 tips for building effective collaboration for strategic planning:
- Choose Your Team Carefully
Members will naturally be more invested in work that has a direct connection to their role and supports their day to day work. When selecting your strategic planning members, ensure to choose individuals for whom the strategic planning initiative will directly impact their work. This will do wonders in helping it feel “important” to each person. Some of your team members will be an obvious choice with clear contributions to make. However, take care not to overlook the quieter or unexpected members of your organization. Sometimes the greatest contributions are made by the most unlikely candidates. - Involve Your Team In Establishing Group Norms
This is a critical part of making sure each voice is heard, valued, and understood and it can go a long way in encouraging each member to take ownership of the process. Work together to establish the normative standards for how you will conduct yourselves as a group.DISCUSS: How will decisions be made? What system of accountability will you implement? How will meetings be structured?
- Model From The Front
It is your responsibility as a leader to adhere to the norms you established as a group and to be an example of active listening and effective collaboration. Ask thoughtful questions and affirm the ideas of different team members. Model the kind of collaborative behaviors you want to see from your team, and others will likely follow suit. - Give Members Something To Prepare In Advance
Before each meeting, give your team something to come prepared to share. Offer some preliminary reflection questions that encourage your members to begin thinking before the meetings begin. This will allow for a thoughtful discussion and greater participation right from the start. - Create Clear Roles
Each person on the team should have a clear role and purpose for being there. Take time at the beginning of the strategic planning process to go over individual roles and to ensure that each person has a clear understanding of the expectations and requirements of their role. This will go a long way in helping each person to feel a sense of ownership over their part in the strategic planning process.
BONUS TIP: Assign Team Partners
The “buddy system” isn’t just for elementary school. Truthfully, many people perform better with the accountability of a partner and have greater enjoyment and satisfaction in their work when they build closer relationships with team members. Breaking the larger strategic planning into partner groups will go a long way in building team relationships and accountability.
Strategic planning is an important process that relies on the effective collaboration of your team. Taking time to be thoughtful about building a positive culture and solid relationships amongst your team members will pay dividends in the overall effectiveness of your strategic planning process.
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Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
