Action Plans: The Work of Successful Plans

The strategic planning document has been written, the vision established and the mission statement agreed upon; now it's time for the work to happen. It's easy to understand a vision, objectives and goals, but the real meaning of a strategic plan, the part that determines whether the plan is a success or not, is how it is implemented. And, this is where most plans fall apart.

Research shows that American businesses typically meet one-third of their objectives in a strategic plan. Adding in action plans to the strategic planning process increases that accomplishment rate to about 60 percent; however, if you closely follow the strategic planning process being outlined here and utilize the implementation process being layout out, you should achieve 80 to 90 percent of your quality, service, financial and strategic objectives.

The action plan should be no longer than two pages in length with fewer than 30 action steps. The heading of the plan should have the full description of the objective and date of last revision and list all parties involved in the action plan. This is mapping out the road to success for this objective. If you have six objectives, you will have six action plans. The worksheet of the action plan should be divided into columns like a spread sheet. Each column should be clearly labeled. For example: Action number, Priority, Action step description, Who is involved, Estimated time to complete this step, Money, Starting date, and Completion date.

Be sure action steps don't turn into ongoing activities. A step has a beginning and an end and moves the objective forward. Be concise. Instead of saying "monitoring on-hold wait time," write "establish on-hold wait time monitoring system."

Everyone has a full plate of work and adding a full set of action plans and a list of action steps can appear to be daunting. They frequently get shuffled down the priority list. Using an action plan system is the best way to incorporate this body of work seamlessly into daily activities, thus making it more likely items will stay on course and actually get done properly and on time.

Be Sure Your Strategies are Supported by Commitments

A company wants to take on an aggressive approach on target marketing toward the teachers in their area (a large market segment.) The marketing people work up a campaign, begin verbally designing ads for print and other media, and then they find the board has trimmed their marketing budget to unusable levels for any type of meaningful campaign.

The year hasn't even started and spirits are dampened and an opportunity is lost. Sound familiar? Strategies are not just good ideas and wishful thinking. They are components of a well-planning and established vision that needs the proper financial support and commitment.

Another commitment needed by all portions of a strategic plan is the commitment to make it happen. I've worked with companies that have a great planning document and it rarely gets looked at again until the next planning retreat approaches. This is a bad idea and a waste of time. The plan must have the commitment of those responsible for getting things done and executives actually taking on the action plans as a meaningful part of their daily work program.

College football teams like to start with a first game patsy, to get off on the right foot with a convincing win, build some confidence and gather momentum in necessary commitments for when the tough opponents come to play.

The same approach can be used when building commitments to your planning process. Start with the easy victories first. Demonstrate progress by accomplishing action plans and showing quick results. This gathers momentum for the staff to support and make commitments to the plan, the board seeing success, and progress becomes easier as long as they know good progress (winning) is happening.

What are the easy victories? Small projects and visible projects are the best early wins. One nonprofit client of mine wanted a new marquee that was programmable and had lots of active motion as an attention getter. The budget was approved, and it was quickly purchased and installed. As a "test" of the programming, the first couple of days ran a scroll of a thank you to the board for their foresight to approve the project. The marquee was a piece of a larger marketing initiative to be more visible. Did thanking the board the first day help? It didn't hurt at all!

Commitments from the board and executive team for the proper funding and the proper work output are critical to giving your strategic plan a fighting chance for victory.

What is Your Strategic Focus?

The key word here is focus. Ever work with an organization that seemed scattered, and each day felt like you were heading a new direction? This is not uncommon in the knee-jerk reaction times we see today in business. Sometimes we forget that it is possible to very good at one thing if you stay focused on it.

A friend of mine was a phys ed teacher in an elementary school. He put the entire class on one side of a tug of war rope, and he stood on the other side. He thought he’d have fun and play with the kids pulling against him before finally winning with a good pull. Much to his surprise the kids were very focused on winning and with each of them pulling with focus he couldn’t beat them! The same goes for companies -- when we focus and have a team that is focused, we can beat a much bigger opponent.

We win by gathering talent, focus and intensity to an issue critical to customers, and then doing it better than anyone else in the market. This is how to become a specialist in certain areas and escape from the commodity mentality.

Two important questions will guide your management team on where the company needs to be heading and focusing:

• What do you sell?
  
• Who are your targeted customers or prospective customers?

By taking the time to delve deeply into these questions, you will find the focus you need to be taking as you plan out your strategies.

Who is the Competition? How Do They Impact Us?

You are not alone. You have competition all around you. Some you readily recognize and some you may have forgotten about, or not even known about. A common mistake is to try and copy the competition and offer the same products and services they do -- just cheaper. You want customers and prospective customers to find a reason other than lower prices for choosing you.
You want to understand competitive strengths and weaknesses, and a solid knowledge of other factors affecting the business environment at a national, state and local level. Figuring out the competition is knowing where to avoid stepping toe to toe in their strengths and exploiting their weaknesses. It’s all in how you want to position your company. In some cases you will attract customers because they prefer you and where you’ve positioned yourself; on the other hand, you may also drive some customers away. Both results are ultimately good for everyone involved.
Right now the market is becoming even more volatile than ever before. The credit market is shifting, causing all kinds of ripples for executives to be in tuned to. As this situation continues to shake out and foreclosures and bankruptcies level off, everyone is going to be looking for the opportunities that have opened up in this shifting landscape. In some cases this will level the playing field and provide a short-term window of opportunity. Be ready! The more you understand your competition and the climate of the financial world, the less energy you will have to expend and the greater the opportunity to grow market share will be.

Information is power and that has never been more true than in the strategic planning process. You need good reliable information in order to win the battle for market share.