Strategic Planning

Strategies drive organisations and projects 

• The organisation strategy is a high level view of how to attain the vision/targets of the organisation in the future.
• A goal is a high level direction aligned with the organisation’s vision and mission.
• The project goal is to provide value to the stakeholders (client, sponsor, users, etc…).
• The objectives are the measurable actions taken to achieve goals.
• To develop a project strategy is to define the sequence of objectives to reach project goal(s).

Planning steps

Authors in general agree that the steps for strategic planning in a company are:

1. evaluate the market context looking for trends in the Economy, Social and Environmental landscapes. Tip: do PESTEL analysis

2. look inside the organisation: do we have the capabilities to pursue market trends? what skills do we need? Tip: do TOWS/SWOT analysis

3. set SMART goals that can be tracked

4. identify potential clashes between the organisation culture and the defined goals, some cultural changes may be needed

5. detail the objectives that constitute the path to the goals, quantify them and locate them in time (set milestones). Tip: use OKR to detail objectives

6. define an action plan listing all tasks required to reach each of the objectives