For a successful Strategic Planning Session, follow these 18 tips. Preparation Makes the Difference! Some years ago, we hired a fellow to paint the exterior of our house. To my surprise, he spent a full two and half days doing pre-painting preparation – water blasting, scraping, filling cracks and sanding. About noon on the third day, he finally began painting. His paint job turned out exquisite. But it wasn't exquisite because of his painting. Rather, it was exquisite because of his thorough, pre-painting preparation. Strategic planning is very much the same. Preparation makes all the difference. Here are 18 tips to use in preparing for your strategy sessions:
Tip #1	Include your line managers in the process.  In fact, your planning team should consist mainly of line managers. Your line managers are hands-on with your business, so they know your business far better than do your staff managers. It is they who will later implement your resultant strategies, so they should play the major role in developing these strategies.
Tip #2	Make sure your "strategic planning person" manages your process.  He, or she, should design the planning process, set meeting schedules and agendas, assist in gathering information, coordinate the assignment of your strategy consultant, and assure the development of action plans and the necessary link to your budget. The staff planner's role is process. Be sure that he, or she, partners with your line managers who (see Tip #1, above) are responsible for the content of your plan.
Tip #3	Use the team planning process.  Don't let a top manager or two go off by themselves to develop your strategy. A team of 7 to 10 managers working together to develop strategy delivers significant benefits. Specifically, you'll gain both variety and quality of input – so you'll produce more thoughtful strategy. And you'll gain the buy-in which comes from involvement – so you'll get a head start on implementing your strategies.
Tip #4	Select your strategy consultant carefully.  If you choose to work with an outside strategy consultant, remember that they'll need to fulfill three specific roles – as consultant, educator and also facilitator. In their consulting role, they'll help design the planning process specific to your organization’s needs, so they'll obviously require expertise in strategic planning. In their educational role, they'll bring understanding of the process to your managers. So they'll also need strong teaching skills. As the facilitator of your strategic planning process, they'll need both broad business experience and skill in working with people. (Note: see article "Selecting Your Strategy Consultant.")
Tip #5	Decide early what you wish to accomplish in developing your strategic plan.  This decision will be ever so helpful both to your planning team and to your strategy consultant. Your objectives for planning might include: establishing strategic focus, departing from a "me too" strategy, building teamwork, increasing innovation, or getting all your team members "on the same page" strategically.
Tip #6	Use two criteria in selecting your planning team members.  First, select planning team members based on their ability to develop viable strategy. They’ll thus need a combination of technical skills, applicable experience and the ability to think strategically. Second, select your planning team members based on their (formal or informal) position in the organization. So they can play an active role in driving the successful implementation of your resultant strategies.
Tip #7	Appoint 7 to 10 managers to your planning team.  But remember this – it's far more important to have the right people in the room than the right number of people in the room. If, by the two selection criteria (in Tip #6 above), you’d like to appoint 14 specific individuals to your planning team, then do it. Sure, you'll have a more difficult time facilitating your strategy sessions. But you'll build a better plan, and you'll build buy-in for your strategies' implementation.
Tip #8	Include outsiders on your planning team – maybe.  An outsider can add valuable information in their specific area of expertise. If your “internal team” is devoid of a required expertise – marketing, perhaps – the addition of an outsider can be a great help. You might find a marketing expert among your board of directors, managers of nearby (non-competitive) companies, your advertising agency, or marketing consultants.
Tip #9	If you use an outsider or two as members of your planning team, remember that they’re not to make decisions on strategy.  Deciding strategy is for you and your “insiders.” Outsiders are to provide information, perspective and advice. But if outsiders decide strategy, your managers will feel less ownership. They’ll lack the necessary commitment. You'll later have significant problems implementing your strategy.
Tip #10	Educate your planning team.  Make sure your team understands the planning process. A workshop which includes a case study is best for this purpose. So your planning team not only learns the process, but also gains experience building a "mini strategic plan." In doing so, they'll build enthusiasm for applying the process in their own organization.
Tip #11	Consult with the boss.  The organization's top manager plays the toughest role in the planning process. He, or she, must certainly participate in your strategy discussions. But he, or she, must also avoid "taking over." As you know, the boss’s voice is heard somewhat more loudly than others. If he, or she, "takes over the meeting," your other managers will lose commitment to the process and to the resultant strategies.
Tip #12	Use a pre-planning survey to gather initial thoughts.  Rather than begin your strategy sessions with a blank piece of paper, survey your planning team members to obtain their opinions about your organization's (1) internal strengths, (2) internal weaknesses, (3) external opportunities and (4) external threats. Then at your strategy session, while developing your situation analysis, you'll have your compiled preliminary SWOT to work from. You'll save lots of time.
Tip #13	Get informed.  Make sure you gather the information you'll need to make the necessary strategic decisions at your strategy sessions. About six weeks before your strategy sessions, have your planning team anticipate the issues you'll likely discuss. Then, for each anticipated discussion, decide on the information you'll need. Assign a team member responsibility for gathering each specific piece of information.
Tip #14	Share the information.  About a week before your strategy sessions, have each manager who gathered information share that information with the entire planning team. The purpose of this meeting isn't to debate and isn't to decide, but rather to learn. Presentation followed by question and answer for understanding is the order of the day.
Tip #15	Set your planning timeframe.  Determine how many years your plan will include. Considerations include the nature of the business -- smaller, service businesses typically have greater flexibility than do larger manufacturers. Naturally, smaller firms will plan for a shorter period of time. Often just three years. But even manufacturers are pressured to plan for shorter and shorter periods of time. That's because the business environment, including and especially technology and the global economy, are changing more and more quickly. If you're not sure how many years to plan for, go for the fewer number of years. You can fine-tune your process later.
Tip #16	Get out of the office.  Whether you conduct your strategy sessions at some far-away resort or just down the street, be sure to get away from the office. You'll want to avoid interruptions, certainly. Also, getting out of the office helps change the environment to stimulate creative thinking. For it removes the planners from their day-to-day, operational setting.
Tip #17	Conduct your strategy sessions on consecutive days – maybe. Do so if... •  It's easier on the schedules of your planning team members. •  The members of your planning team must travel from various locations. •  Keeping momentum is more important than reflective thinking. •  You'd like the added benefit of informal, after-hours discussions. •  You're interested in team building as a by-product of strategic planning.
Tip #18	Conduct your strategy sessions as a series of one-day meetings – maybe. Do so if... •  It's easier on the schedules of your planning team members. •  Your planning team members are geographically close. •  You'd like to save the expense of putting the team up in a hotel for a number of nights. •  Reflective thinking is more important than keeping momentum.
This article was originally published in the Business Strategies Newsletter.