Importance of Strategic Planning & Management in the Business Environment

What is Strategy?

Strategy cannot be defined definitively. Different strategy gurus have their understanding and mode of defining strategy. We can define strategy as:

 “Identifying the right scope or goal of an organization, planning the effective methods and efficient resources in achieving them in the short and long term.”

Why Strategy?

The human mind is comfortable to know where they are traveling—and if you have a map in hand, that will make your travel easier. Similarly, having a strategy on hand gives a sense of direction of which road to take and it will also have alternative methods to achieve the desired.

More Lights On!

A rigid strategy can never help a dynamic organization. Building a strategy before the start of a financial year is great, but at the same time, a planned strategy should be put to test at regular intervals by keeping regular tracker meetings and updating the strategic plan accordingly.

High growth-driven organizations are goal-driven—they are more focused on goals. Hence, such organizations not only understand the importance of having a strategy in place, but they make sure that they leave space for tweaking and adjusting as per business’s demands.

How Can I Set Strategy for My Organization?

The most successful organizations will have a strategy team—consisting of co-founders, directors, seniors and key people from different departments. Sometimes, they will have a senior business advisor or advisory board to help them in devising the right strategy. This keeps the organization on toes to give their best in achieving the goal.

How Do I Know My Strategy is Working?

Growth in any organization can be measured by the revenue generation and profit made every month. So the answer to the question is simple and straightforward—if your strategy is producing good revenue and profit, then it’s working. In addition to the revenue and profit, an organization should consider few more things like employee satisfaction through minimal attrition rate, their brand’s perception among customers through feedback and quality market research to ensure their organizational strategy is perfect and working.

Read more here to Understand the Business Strategy Right

Best Time To Revise The Strategy

It’s advisable to evaluate the outcome of a strategy at least every quarter if not monthly. This is ideal when the general economy is good. However, If there are any sluggish trends due to various external factors like credit crunch, Coronavirus outbreak, etc., it’s highly advised to spend time to revise the strategy. Strategy revision can be influenced due to a variety of factors—internal factors like revenue and profit; external factors like consumer acceptance and economy.

How to Execute My Strategy?

A well-built strategy is the first and initial step. To execute your strategy, read the following checklist:

1. The strategy should be subcategorized into action items
2. Each action point should have owners assigned
3. There should be well-defined metrics to track the progress
4. A proper line of control or organizational structure to track the progress should be available
5. Capable middle and upper management should be assigned to bring back any deviation from the desired outcome

A solid strategy backed by a capable team to execute the same—this is the secret to success for any organization. So, plan the perfect strategy, assign the right people to execute, track the same. Also have a contingency plan to manage deviation as you witness your organization grow.

Ourbusinessladder is a market research and business advisory company in India with its one-stop entrepreneur solution. It helps organizations to plan the perfect strategy. We guide businesses towards growth through additional services. Services are recruitment & HR services, Digital Marketing, Branding, Digital Transformation and Gamification among other services.