Strategic Planning 101 A strategy is a detailed plan for achieving successthe bundle of decisions and activities that we select

to achieve our longterm goalsour path. Every organisation must figure out what it wants to achieve and how to make it happen by using its products, customers, and operations. Strategy is fluid, continuous, and iterative and can be broken down into logical steps or elements: 1. Goal Setting: The First Step We cannot begin to think about a strategy until we have objectives that are prioritised and are based on our business, our markets, and how value is created in our organisation. These objectives are aimed at maximising the value of the organisation to the shareholders, with the critical factor being time. Even though we create a vision of the organisation, say, twenty years out, the strategic plan considers only a three-year to five-year time horizon. A written declaration of an organisation's core purpose and focus, commonly referred to as the mission statement, serves as a consistent directional tool for the firm. In contrast, the strategic plan and its related practices fluctuate according to changing circumstances. 2. Strategy Development ProcessThe Road Map Strategy development is focused on three fundamental questions: Where are we now? Where should we go? How do we get there? The answers to these three questions frame the strategy process depicted in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Strategy Development Process 3. Customer AnalysisGetting the Truth Unmet customer needs are at the heart of business ideas and the development of a business strategy. While step 3 could be included in step 2, it is usually kept separate to underscore and facilitate the need to continuously analyse the customer as part of everyday management. Essentially, we need to know why our customers buy from us and why others buy from our competitors. This information is typically gathered at point of sale via customer surveys or focus groups. Good, regular, and valid information is essential to business strategy success. 4. Internal Business AnalysisHealth Check The internal audit explores the organisations operational and financial results, evaluates its talent pool, assesses its functions and processes, and explores the health of its key relationships. A good SWOT analysis not only identifies the component strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), but

also prioritises them and helps to limit analysis to a smaller set of the most important factors. 5. Strategic Choices Generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and niche player provide a good foundation for the strategic choices each business faces. A comprehensive strategy formulation contains both positioning and execution components. An effective strategy must align between positioning and execution. Positioning articulates clearly and concisely the organisations strategic approach to achieving its goals by setting out a direction and a choice of suitable products and services. Execution ensures that the organisation has the necessary resources, operational capabilities, and organisation to support the direction. To enhance our strategic choices, we ask the question how? and develop a strategy through approaches like integration, penetration, development, diversification, and divestiture. 6. Strategic ThinkingOptimising Assets Strategic thinking involves asking the right solution-oriented questions and conducting appropriate analyses to formulate plans and strategies. Asset optimisation questions have long been fertile ground for new ideasfor thinking about the best use for each significant asset that we currently own and control. Another strategy-generating approach is to use core-business thinking. Your core business is defined by the set of products, customer segments, processes, and technologies in which you

can build the greatest competitive advantage. Defining your core business can be difficult and may require a small team to answer the question. If we were forced to sell off all of our businesses except for one, which one would we keep? Once your core business has been identified, the key is to work the core to your best advantagefor example, taking advantage of operational excellence in the core business area. Another method uses best practices lists that can be found in publications. For example, Choi and Valikangas (strategy+business, vol. 23) distilled a list of nearly two hundred business strategies into a top ten list that includes generic approaches like consolidation, value migration, and bypassing. 7. Implementing Strategic DecisionsExecution Matters The principal causes of strategy failures are the attitudes, communication, and commitment of senior management. The best system for implementing strategies is by using the balanced scorecard. It provides a framework for considering strategy from four perspectivesfinancial, customer, business processes, and learning and growth. It was created by Kaplan and Norton in 1992 as a means of neutralising the limitations of managing only by financial measures. Implementing strategy is a team game, and even though senior management has the responsibility to formulate and articulate the business strategy, you, as a program or project management professional, play a lead role in the strategy implementation segment of the process. As a program manager, you are expected to understand the strategic drivers

of the program, the specific benefit levers, and the required level of governance to make change happen. As project manager, you are expected to fulfill a similar role at the project level, whether it is part of a formal program or a one-off highimpact strategic project. Conclusion Each successful strategy could be a catalyst for a strategic thinking direction and approach. As a program or project manager, take the time to identify the strategies in play in the next business case or feasibility study you review. If they are not clear in the financial analysis document, do not be afraid to ask for clarification from your sponsor. Partnership status may take months or years to establish. Regardless, you will not be able to link project management to corporate strategies and position project management as a solution to problems if you do not understand the driving business strategies. This article helps you startnow, its up to you to go deeper!