Not meeting regularly to review your progress against your strategic plan is another significant point of failure. During the course of any year, there are significant changes to your business. By meeting regularly you are affording your team the opportunity to discuss how changes in the industry or competition affect how your strategic plan should be implemented.
Due to the competitive landscape, do certain steps need to be escalated or raised in priority? Are the pricing changes you have been planning needed now versus when your plan initially called for it. Learning to be nimble in the execution phase requires leadership and communication. By meeting regularly with the execution team to evaluate progress, you will avoid several implementation mis-steps and further emphasize the value of planning. To keep these meeting fresh and engaging, consider the following approaches:
Make sure that regular meetings with your team are productive and focused on 1. Looking over the horizon, 2. Monitoring your competitive environment, 3. Following through on the execution of your strategic plan. 4. Reviewing your metrics to measure progress and adjust your plans. 5. Monitoring your scorecards to ensure that you are optimizing performance. 6. Adjusting your plans and priorities as you go.
By following the Eight Critical Elements of Strategic Planning, you can increase the probability of your success by over 1,000 percent. Following these steps requires focus and discipline. That is how most great companies became great. I wish you the best in develping and executing your strategic plan!