Strategic Plan Implementation: How to Keep Utilizing Your Strategic Plan Throughout the Year

This article is part three of a three-part series on strategic planning and goal setting in your business.

You’ve crafted your strategic plan, your team is on board, and you’ve implemented your strategic plan. Now what?!

Check back in and course correct!

As mentioned in the first part of this blog series, a strategic plan evolves.

We don’t operate in a vacuum. Businesses are susceptible to market fluctuations, supply chain shortages, and natural disasters. Hopefully none of these impact your business, but even benign things such as shifting consumer tastes can leave an impact.

When to Check In On Your Strategic Plan Implementation Progress

By scheduling quarterly or six month or check-in, you can assess progress and evolve your strategic plan. It’s natural, beneficial even, for businesses to update their strategic plans to reflect current variables. In real time, you can react to new competitors, emerging technologies, or a myriad of other variables that positively or negatively impact your business. Regular assessments help you stay nimble.

How to Evaluate Your Progress

When revisiting your strategic plan, assess the following:

What goals and metrics have you hit?
What goals and metrics have you been unable to hit? Why (be honest here)?
What is working? What is not working?
Have we implemented and executed to the best of our ability?
Do we need additional resources, time, or energy?

By honestly reflecting on the questions above, you can determine what updates need to be made to the plan, and how you will carry out the new updates.

Communicate Updates

Once the plan has been updated, make sure you’re communicating clearly with your team about the new updates, why you’re making updates, who owns the new updates, and when you will be re-assessing. Update the one page or poster, and make sure everyone knows the new targets.

Make Plans for Your Next Progress Report

Lastly, carry out the next reassessment date. Rinse and repeat. Just as a captain doesn’t steer a ship only once during a voyage, neither does a business create one static strategic plan. Strategic plans are dynamic and evolve.

By strategic planning, continuously reflecting upon the plan, and evolving the plan over time, your business will move forward intentionally, allowing for growth and adaptation.

Interested in hiring Open Eye to facilitate a Strategic Planning session for your business? Contact us here.