Earlier this week a rare phenomenon occurred, and I’m not talking about the partial lunar eclipse that took place during the Harvest supermoon, although that was beautiful.
No, I’m talking about the occurrence of two boards on which I serve, holding strategic planning sessions on the same day.
Having served on boards and in leadership roles in my career for more than a decade, I’ve been part of a number of strategic planning sessions. I knew it was possible that attending two in the same day may fry my brain, but I also knew it was important for me to be present at both.
In the end, my mind was certainly buzzing, but overall, the experience left me energized. It also solidified to me the importance of strategic planning.
Typically done every three to five years, Harvard Business School defines strategic planning as “the ongoing organizational process of using available knowledge to document a business’s intended direction. This process is used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align shareholders and employees on the organization’s goals, and ensure those goals are backed by data and sound reasoning.”
The strategic planning sessions I’ve been part of have taken at least a half day if not more. So, yes, strategic planning is a large time investment. If your business or nonprofit hires a consultant, rents an off-site location to hold the session or serves food and drinks (which, I highly recommend) it’s also a monetary investment. That said, it’s important to be strategic about your strategic planning. Here are some tips to do just that.
Prep work: The person leading a strategic planning session will have a lot of prep work to do. That’s an entire column in itself for another time. Part of the leader’s prep work is to decide if the participants will have prep work. One example is to ask each person to complete a series of worksheets prior to meeting. It doesn’t necessarily mean everyone reads his or her answers word for word at the session, but it is a good way to get everyone thinking on some big picture concepts, even for just 30 minutes prior to meeting face-to-face. I find it’s a good way to get my mind set for the day ahead. Of course, there can also be a benefit to getting “first instinct” participant responses. I’ve been to sessions that ask each attendee to share their goal for the day upon arrival, which is a great way to create a set of guideposts for the conversations and activities that follow.
Team participation: The best sessions I have been a part of have equal participation from each person. I realize not everyone likes to talk as much as I do, which again is where the leader comes into play. Some leaders start the day with an icebreaker to loosen things up. I know not everyone loves an ice breaker, but the one I participated in last week was actually fun. Even if you hate them, icebreakers are a great way to get everyone comfortable with the sound of his or her own voice in a low-stakes way.
Create and assign action items: The best part of strategic planning is that it allows a group to dream big. To achieve those big things, however, a final plan must include action items with each item assigned to committees or individuals with a deadline. This might not happen in a session, but instead when a plan is published. Which leads me to the next tip.
Publish the plan: Strategic planning sessions result in a lot of notes and writing on white boards, and it’s imperative that all that work gets put into a plan that’s published and put into the hands of each participant. In my experience, the person leading the session handles this task.
Use the plan: Once a plan is published, it’s important that the business or nonprofit uses the plan. I find reviewing it at least once a quarter helpful. It allows the group to check off completed tasks and see in black and white the progress being made. A lot can happen over a three-to-five-year period. It can be easy to get off track or lose focus of the bigger picture when tending to the work that needs to be done each day. Or a major change can happen inside or outside of an organization that requires a shift in direction for the strategic plan. It’s better to address that immediately, not three to five years later when it’s time to update the plan.
What are your best practices when it comes to strategic planning? Email them to me at ecaswell@mihomepaper.com.

Emily Caswell is the Brand Manager for VIEW Group, the branding division of View Newspaper Group.