As a FocalPoint business coach based in Lake Forest, Illinois, I specialize in partnering with companies to craft strategic plans that provide a clear roadmap and direction focused on achieving their most important goals. While leaders understand the value of planning, the process remains a mystery to many.
Throughout my strategic planning coaching engagements with executives across the Chicago area, I’ve noticed consistent questions arise about how the process works and the benefits it provides organizations. Below I’ve outlined answers to some of the most common FAQs:
What Does Your Strategic Planning Process Look Like?
While the process is tailored to each client’s unique situation, the typical engagement follows these steps:
Current State Analysis: I thoroughly evaluate your internal operations, competitive landscape, market conditions, and value proposition to understand present realities.
Visioning: Next I define an aspirational 3-5 year vision for the organization based on your long-term goals. This expands perspectives on what is possible.
SWOT Analysis: I identify key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities in the market, and threats to analyze strategic priorities.
Goal Setting: I define measurable 3-5 year goals across all key performance areas from finance to products to culture. Goals create tangible targets.
Strategy Formation: For each goal, I detail specific objectives and initiatives over the next 1-2 years that will enable achieving the goal. Strategies and objectives form the core plan.
Implementation Planning: Finally I designate owners, resources, metrics, and timelines for each objective to ensure execution.
How Do You Keep the Strategic Plan Updated?
While the 3-5 year strategic plan provides direction, markets shift rapidly so strategy must evolve regularly. I advise quarterly strategy reviews to examine progress on objectives and make course corrections. Annually, I conduct refreshed analysis and planning to add new objectives and re-prioritize based on market conditions. Strategy is a continual process, not a one-time event.
What Are the Benefits of Strategic Planning with a Coach?
The main benefits clients realize are gaining an objective external perspective; creating leadership team alignment around priorities; providing structure, tools and accountability to think strategically; broadening perspectives on possibilities; breaking big goals down into defined roadmaps; anticipating future challenges and disruptions; and driving faster execution on strategic objectives. Essentially, the planning process expands what organizations can achieve.
How Do You Get Employees Excited About Implementing Strategy?
For many, strategy feels abstract and disconnected from day-to-day work. To build engagement, I look for opportunities to involve a cross-section of employees in the planning process to gain insights from different levels and functions. As coach, I also emphasize communicating how the objectives directly support the front-line goals employees care about. When strategy feels relevant, adoption increases company-wide.
How Does Strategy Benefit Our Customers?
When executed well, strategic plans allow organizations to deliver far greater value to customers by clarifying exactly how to expand capabilities around product innovation, customer service, brand experience, and ecosystem development. I always anchor strategy back to differentiation, value provision, and genuine customer insights to ensure it focuses on real needs versus internal priorities. The result is more customer delight.
Does the Strategic Plan Become Our Only Focus?
The strategic plan provides vital focus by isolating the 3-5 key long-term goals, but organizations must still execute broader company priorities. Effective leaders connect every project and initiative back to strategic goals so they gain relevance and urgency. However, strategy is not the sole focus – it steers the direction while teams row the boat of day-to-day operations.
As a FocalPoint business coach, I hope this overview helps provide clarity on my strategic planning process and value. If your Lake Forest organization lacks focus or needs a renewed roadmap for achieving your most important goals, let’s talk!
