Workfast Blog

It's the time of year when leadership teams meet to do strategic planning. Coffee is hot, energy is high, and whiteboard markers are flying fast across whiteboards all over the world. Unfortunately, the outcome of many strategic planning sessions is a list of vague tasks that might have some semblance of prioritization. As the business landscape and markets shift, that list of tasks will get re-prioritized or even rewritten as the year takes off, resulting in negative downstream impacts to other teams who constantly scramble to keep up with the "strategic whiplash." Before you know it, employees are expending resources on the wrong activities, teams have lost alignment, and the company goals are missed. The biggest reason companies experience this whiplash isn't because of their ability to create strategic plans, it's that their strategic plans aren't grounded on a "strategic foundation." A strategic foundation is the result of deep thought, reflection, and assessment of the choices your organization needs to make to bring the highest level of value to your employees, clients, and market. In other words, what are the 3-4 major initiatives you could take on this year that would have the maximum level of positive impact for your teams and ultimately for your clients. With, and only with, that strategic foundation can you start to build a plan of execution that includes: Communication and understanding of your strategic foundation, its purpose, and its goals. Organization of people, activities, and resources that will be required to achieve your goals. The creation of visible programs to ensure cross-team collaboration and feedback as teams engage on activity. Clear measurement and visibility of your teams achievement towards your goals. The creation of feedback loops to generate new ideas, and to continually improve the way you get there.  If you're headed into 2023 without a strategic foundation, it's not too late. Let's get in touch to see how we can help.