7 Steps to Produce a Strategy-on-a-Page (SoaP)

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Strategic Planning: Process, Key Frameworks, and Tools (79-slide PowerPoint presentation). This document provides a holistic approach for undertaking strategic planning. While covering the traditional strategic planning approach, the document touches on adaptations that may be used in an unpredictable environment. Contents: 1. Strategic Planning Overview - Key questions and [read more]

Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy's Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.

* * * *

Every year you are asked to assess the previous year’s business performance and update your strategies to meet the needs of a changing environment, including new opportunities and emerging opposition to your business’ efforts.

You have to schedule a brainstorming session with your business leaders, review your company’s vision and mission statements, measure current state operations, perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, create future objectives, and communicate the strategies throughout the organization.

Well, producing a Strategy-on-a-Page (SoaP) in PowerPoint combines all of the strategy elements, aligning business strategies with functional goals and tactical measurements, providing a means for translating a vision statement into more actionable terms.

7 Steps to Producing a SoaP

1. Create a vision statement.

A vision is a clear view of the future in behavioral terms. It is what success looks like.

For example, the vision statement of eBay is to provide consumers with an intercontinental marketplace through the world wide web, allowing almost anyone to trade a host of items easily, with this mechanism allowing for a host of financial opportunities across the globe.

2. Agree on key business strategies.

After the creation of a vision statement, decide on strategies, which are the “Pillars” or the key elements of success. It is the company’s approach to how they will get there.

For example, using the aforementioned vision statement from eBay, a strategy would be “Enable Total Payment Volume and Revenue.”

3. Develop goals for each strategy.

After agreement on business strategies, develop measurable and actionable business objectives.

For example, a goal for the strategy, “Enable Total Payment Volume and Revenue” would be “Attain Revenue of $200M.”

4. Establish key measurements and performance indicators (KPIs) for each strategy.

After the development of strategic goals, either obtain from the company’s scorecard and dashboard or identify process metrics to evaluate and ensure progress and measure accountability.

For example, a KPI for the goal, “Attain Revenue of $200M” would be “Incremental Revenue.” Incremental Revenue is defined as incremental income from sales of goods or services. It is helpful to look at revenue on a per product, geography, or customer basis. The calculation would be the sum of sales.

5. Determine tactics to achieve goals.

After the establishment of KPIs, list the individual activities or projects led by individuals to execute the strategy. These can be cross-functional initiatives, as you collaborate with other business functions within your company.

For example, an activity to generate “Incremental Revenue” would be to convert new merchant leads from an external source.

6. Distribute throughout the organization and use the framework to have leaders, functional areas, business units and project teams align their goals, measurements and tactics with those of the business.

7. Communicate throughout the organization.

In this document (available for download for free from Flevy here), I provided the 7 Steps to Produce a SoaP that is an outcome of Strategy and Planning Management. Strategy and Planning Management provides the ability to deliver long-term strategic and financial goals; provides next-step guidance to meet strategic initiatives; enables trade-off decisions subsequent to planning processes; and, supports multi-dimensional views for risk management. With a completed SoaP, you now have a plan that aligns business strategies with functional goals and tactical measurements on one page.

Want to Achieve Excellence in Strategy Development?

Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Strategy Development. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.

"Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu

For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to "Tactical" Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.

These frameworks include Porter's Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner's Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.

Learn about our Strategy Development Best Practice Frameworks here.