It seems a lot of conversations I have been in lately have centered on strategy. How to do this. And, how to do that.
So much has changed in the past few years. For so many reasons. In recent history, so much uncertainty exists. It surrounds each and every one of us every day on so many levels.
While strategy is important for organizations to let your team know how to operate and execute the mission; by itself it’s not enough. Strategy alone is essentially a plan to make things happen. It merely establishes a way forward. Like randomly shining a flashlight into the middle of a forest. Is that really the way to go? Or, does it appear to be the only way through because that’s all you can see with the flashlight? What are you not seeing?
Being in numerous conversations throughout the community across multiple industries, here are some glaring questions that typically aren’t being considered – Are these the most important things you should be focusing on right now? Is this where your time, resources and talent should be directed? How do you know what’s most important for you?
In order to focus your team on the truly pressing things that will move your organization forward, you should to lean into both strategic visioning and strategic planning. They sound the same. Yet, they are vastly different when it comes to moving the needle and guiding the future direction of your company. Your teams’ success, and ultimately your financial success, depend on both.
So, what’s the difference between them?
Let’s start by breaking it down with a story. Partly from a real-world client example and partly enhanced to illustrate the point.
Company XPRN had celebrated recent success. They scaled quickly in the volume of services they were providing, expansion of their client list, and the addition of a few new team members. With that, the owner decided to step out and sell her share to her partner in the business.
These were all huge moments in both of their lives. They accomplished great things other local agencies in the community had not been able to achieve.
Not too much time had passed after the transition when the new owner realized that while she had many conversations with the previous owner, there were no foundational organizational documents being transitioned to her. She wanted to keep moving forward yet there was no roadmap to do so. Long story short, she woke up and realized that while they had created a successful business together, there was no strategic vision or strategic plan. The success of the company, up until that moment, had been guided by feel, instinct, intuition and huge leaps of faith.
Most companies will not last long without these guiding documents. She knew it.
That day, she began the journey of collaborating with her team and a consultant to co-create their strategic vision and strategic plan. She knew from previous experiences that in order to build her new business for lasting success and impact, she had the opportunity to lead differently. Because of her drive to dig in and commit, her company is thriving today and highly recognized as one of the most successful local businesses in her industry.
Let’s focus now on operational definitions.
Strategic visioning is a collaborative process involving as many stakeholder groups as possible. Typically, there are multiple facilitated brainstorming sessions where broad, global questions are asked of the group. Why do you do what you do? Who do you serve? What do you want to accomplish or what do you want to become? When do you want to make this happen and/or when do you want to celebrate that it did happen? How will you know that it happened?
Through consensus, overarching ideals for the organization are identified and agreed upon. It becomes your ‘true north.’
Facilitated visioning sessions are moments when mission, vision and core values are defined and/or redefined. Long-term direction is established; typically 3-5 years into the future. Collaborative conversations surround aspirational and inspirational organizations that compel you to do what you do. Who do you want to emulate? Who do you want to be like? Who do you want to not benchmark?
Identifying ways to engage and motivate your team unfold during strategic visioning, as well. How do you create a compelling vision that others will want to join (or stay)? What about your mission, vision, and core values will inspire others to become part of your team?
Strategic planning is much more structured. It relies heavily on past and current data. It is also a collaborative process as your team needs to have a voice in this, equally as much as they did in the strategic visioning. Early buy-in to establish the plan and accomplish the vision is critical. So, keep your team highly engaged in this aspect, too.
This is a very focused, detail-oriented process that provides all of the details that explain how your team will accomplish the strategic vision. It becomes your ‘roadmap.’
Facilitated planning sessions guide how implementation of the strategic vision will unfold. Who is responsible for what? When will it be accomplished? What is the target date? Which resources will be allocated to ensure successful outcomes? What are the goals and outcomes? How will you know when you achieved them? What does success like look? How do you redirect if an alternative approach needs to be implemented? What is your Plan B?
Being very clear with who does what when, with what resources, for how long, and when/why do you redirect, are the core fundamentals of a strategic plan. All of the details need to identified and at least considered so your team knows how to move forward and attain success.
While strategic visioning feels like the creative, fluffy, nebulous, right-brained side of success strategic planning feels like the analytical, firm, straight-forward, detail-oriented, left-brained side of success. To have significant impact in your industry and achieve unparalleled success, you need both.
Going back to the story above, it was a highly celebrated moment when Company XPRN recognized that she had successfully mapped out their strategic vision and implemented their strategic plan. They continue to celebrate to this day.
If you have any questions about strategic visioning and strategic planning sessions for your company, let’s connect soon.
