As a certified FocalPoint business coach working with companies across Portland, I get brought in when leadership realizes their strategic plans are no longer driving business growth. Often the issue lies less with the strategy itself than in how it gets developed and executed. Through my experience coaching organizations on strategic planning, I’ve seen certain mistakes arise that derail the process.
By understanding the most common pitfalls, Portland businesses can dodge them to create realistic, actionable strategic plans. Here are the top mistakes I regularly get called on to help companies diagnose and address:
Not Linking Strategy to Overall Vision
Strategic planning first requires defining a clear, inspirational vision for what an organization aspires to become. This vision then focuses strategic priorities and objectives. When business leaders jump right into strategic planning without aligning on vision, plans end up disjointed rather than part of a cohesive growth trajectory.
Lack of Forward-Looking Market Analysis
An underlying pillar of viable strategic planning involves analyzing future market conditions, trends and opportunities. Yet many businesses only look inwards when developing strategy, leaning on past performances rather than far-sighted assessments of where markets are headed. This causes strategic plans to be reactive not proactive, optimized for yesterday’s business environment.
Failing to Pressure Test Assumptions
Even the most rigorous strategic plans get built on a set of assumptions, whether around product demand, customer behaviors, cost structures. The mistake comes in not stress testing these assumptions before finalizing strategy. What if a major cost center sees prices spike? How would demand change if a new competitor entered our market? By pressure testing assumptions, weaknesses in strategic plans surface earlier when they can still be addressed.
Not Assigning Accountability with Timelines
Granular strategic plans comprise clear objectives, assigned actions with owners and timelines. Where execution goes awry is when accountability gets diffused across teams or diluted by unrealistic deadlines. I coach clients to break down strategy into bite-sized, tangible next steps with single owners and near-term due dates. This builds the foundation to then translate strategy into daily operations.
Disconnecting Planning from Execution
Arguably the biggest strategic planning pitfall lies in spending months carefully crafting the perfect plan only to have it collect dust. Real transformation comes from weaving strategy into the very fabric of operations via budgets, business processes, reporting cadences, even office layouts. My work as a Portland strategic planning coach zeroes in on tying strategy to execution through integrated operations.
Not Conducting Regular Reviews
The best strategic plans still need periodic scrutiny to ensure they remain on track as market conditions inevitably shift. But many businesses put all their planning energy into the initial development stages without building in ongoing review. This causes even strong plans to drift from relevance. I coach clients on weaving in quarterly strategy reviews to measure performance against targets and realign as required.
Poor Communication Downwards
For strategic plans to gain traction, leadership needs to overcommunicate details across the organization. Employees down the chain of command often get left in the dark, operating from outdated strategic priors. Dedicated internal branding around strategic priorities along with summaries translated into operating plans helps frontline teams embrace strategy. This top-down communication pipeline fuels alignment.
Want to safeguard your business’ next strategic plan from these pitfalls? As an experienced strategic planning coach and facilitator, I’ve run hundreds of Portland leadership teams through the process to generate realistic, actionable growth strategy tied to operational execution. Reach out for a free introductory consultation where we can discuss your organizational goals and vision to begin laying the proper strategic planning groundwork. The time for future-focused, flawlessly executed strategy is now.
