What should a strategy document contain

Key tasks and outcomes should be associated with each area. The plan ends with how the company will resource the plan via a budget and a timeline. World View. More From Reference. Also, do not ignore negative information you may learn. Overcoming adversity is one way for companies to grow.

Be wary of cutting and pasting either from plans from past years or from other similar organizations. Every company is unique. And while this may sound obvious, do not ignore what your planning process tells you. Your research might show you should not go in a direction you might want to.

The strategic planning process will differ based on your organization, but the basic concepts will stay the same. Whether you are a nonprofit, a school, or a for-profit entity, strategic plans will look at where you are and how you will get to where you want to go. In addition to a SWOT analysis and other sections that go into any strategic plan, a nonprofit needs to keep an eye on changing factors, such as funding.

Some funding sources have finite beginnings and endings. Strategic planning is often continuous for nonprofits. A nonprofit has to make the community care about its cause. For a nonprofit, however, conveying that message needs to be part of the strategic plan. Coming up with an evaluation method and KPIs can sometimes be difficult for a nonprofit, since they are often focused on goals other than financial gain.

Excel Smartsheet. Writing a strategic plan for a school can be difficult because of the variety of stakeholders involved, including students, teachers, other staff, and parents. Strategic planning in a school is different from others because there are no markets to explore, products to produce, clients to woo, or adjustable timelines. Schools often have set boundaries, missions, and budgets.

Even with the differences, the same planning process and structure should be in place for schools as it is for other types of organizations. There is no set time period for a strategic plan, but five years can be a sweet spot. In some cases, yearly planning might keep you continually stuck in the planning process, while 10 years might be too far out. In addition to the basic sections that go into any strategic plan, when forecasting five years into the future, put one- and three-year checkpoints into the plan so you can track progress intermittently.

While five years is often the strategic planning sweet spot, some organizations choose to create three-year plans. Looking too far ahead can be daunting, especially for a new or changing company. In a three-year plan, the goals and objectives have a shorter timeframe and you need to monitor them more frequently. Build those checkpoints into the plan.

You want to make sure the plans align. The steps in creating a plan for a department are the same as for an overall strategic plan, but the mission statement, vision, SWOT analysis, goals, objectives, and so on are specific to only the people in your department. Look at each person separately and consider their core competencies, strengths, capabilities, and weaknesses.

Assign people who will be responsible for certain tasks and tactics necessary to achieve your goals. If you have access to a plan from a previous year, see how your department did in meeting its goals. Adjust the new plan accordingly. Expect to make changes. A strategic plan is for the big picture, not for a particular project for an organization. Instead of a strategic plan, this area would fall under project management. If you have a failing project and need to turn it around, this article might help.

You can also create a strategic plan to help guide both your professional and personal life. The key is to include what is important to you. This process takes time and reflection. Be prepared for what you discover about yourself. Because you will be looking at your strengths and weaknesses, you might see things you do not like.

It is important to be honest with yourself. A SWOT analysis on yourself will give you some honest feedback if you let it. Begin with looking at your life as it is now. Are you satisfied? What do you want to do more or less? What do you value most in your life? Go deeper than saying family, happiness, and health. This exercise will help you clarify your values.

Once you know what is important to you, come up with a personal mission statement that reflects the values you cherish. As it does within a business, this statement will help guide you in making future decisions. Using the information you discovered during your SWOT and mission statement process, come up with goals that align with your values.

As for the evaluation portion, identify how you will keep yourself accountable and on track. You might involve a person to remind you about your plan, calendar reminders, small rewards when you achieve a goal, or another method that works for you.

There are things you can control and things you cannot. Keep your focus on what you can act on. Look at the positive instead of what you will give up. For example, instead of focusing on losing weight, concentrate on being healthier. Do not overcommit, and do not ignore the little details that help you reach your goals. Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change.

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

Try Smartsheet for free, today. In This Article. The Basics of Writing a Strategic Plan The strategic planning process takes time, but the payoff is huge. See how Smartsheet can help you be more effective. He explains that he often begins planning projects with three questions: What do you want to do?

How are we going to do it? What would happen if you did what you want to do? The answers to these questions make up the meat of the planning document. Question 1: Where Are We Now? Question 2: Where Are We Going? These aspects of the plan outline a strategy for achieving success and can include the following: Vision statement about what the company will look like in the future What is happening both internally and externally and what needs to change The factors necessary for success.

You should include the following sections: Specific and measurable goals Objectives An execution plan that identifies who manages and monitors the plan An evaluation plan that shows how you plan to measure the successes and setbacks that come with implementation. What to Include in a Strategic Plan Strategic planning terminology is not standardized throughout the industry, and this can lead to confusion.

The following sections walk you through how to write common sections of a strategic plan. How to Write an Executive Summary The key to writing a strong executive summary is being clear and concise. How to Write a Company Description Also called an elevator pitch , the company description is a brief outline of your organization and what it does. The company description should include the history of your company, the major products and services you provide, and any highlights and accomplishments, and it should accomplish the following: Define what you are as a company.

Feb 5, , pm EST. Jan 14, , am EST. Dec 10, , pm EST. Nov 10, , am EST. Nov 3, , am EST. Sep 9, , pm EDT. Jun 30, , pm EDT. Edit Story. Oct 18, , pm EDT. Subscribe Now: Forbes Entrepreneurs Newsletter All the trials and triumphs of building a business — delivered to your inbox. View gallery. Dave Lavinsky. Since , I have… Read More.

Read Less. This conception of strategy also helps define the length of your strategic plan. The five questions can easily be answered on one page and if they take more than five pages i.

This definition of strategy can be disconcerting to those who have spent a lifetime generating traditional strategic plans.

By the end of the day in part thanks to a goodly amount of pre-work by the head of strategy , we got to a nice set of integrated choices. I congratulated the group on its great thinking and working and affirmed what I judged to be an excellent strategy.

My enthusiasm notwithstanding, the CEO was troubled. I asked him why. I reassured him that he had given strategy anything but short shrift. And that day strategy prevailed over planning.