Strategic Planning is an annual process organizations conduct to plan their near-, mid-, and long-term strategies. A robust Strategic Planning process arms the organization with clearly defined strategic objectives across all time horizons and prepares the organization for successful Strategy Development and Execution.

Per Wikipedia, we can define Strategic Planning as:

Strategic Planning is a crucial process, but often poorly executed, leading to poor translation from Strategy to Execution. In most organizations, executives complain that their Strategic Planning is overly bureaucratic, insufficiently insightful, and doesn’t accommodate today's rapidly changing, digital markets.

To combat these issues, we can follow these 3 steps of Strategic Planning:

1. Explore Strategy across 3 time horizons.
2. Encourage productive and stimulating Strategic Dialogue.
3. Engage a broad, decentralized group of stakeholders.

For effective implementation, take a look at these Strategic Planning best practices:

• Business Board (Business Planning Tool) (Excel workbook)
• Critical Baselines for Effective Strategic Planning (29-slide PowerPoint deck)
• Breakout Strategic Planning Process (52-slide PowerPoint deck)
• Strategic Plan 101 (22-slide PowerPoint deck)
• Closing the Strategy-to-Performance Gap (20-slide PowerPoint deck)

Related Flevy Management Insights

• Revamping Strategic Planning Process for a Financial Service Provider
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• Strategic Planning Revitalization for Boutique Hospitality Firm
• Strategic Planning Revamp for Renewable Energy Firm
• Growth Strategy
• Pricing Strategy
• Product Strategy
• Core Competencies
• Competitive Advantage
• Strategic Analysis
• Product Launch Strategy
• Strategy Development
• Mission, Vision, Values
• Customer Value Proposition
• Strategy Frameworks
• Competitive Analysis