Why Is Strategic Planning Important to an Organization?

Strategic planning is important to an organization because it provides a sense of direction and

outlines measurable goals. Strategic planning is a tool that is useful for guiding day-to-day
decisions and also for evaluating progress and changing approaches when moving forward. In
order to make the most of strategic planning, your company should give careful thought to the
strategic objectives it outlines, and then back up these goals with realistic, thoroughly researched,
quantifiable benchmarks for evaluating results.

1. The Mission
Strategic planning starts with defining a company mission. A mission is important to an
organization because it synthesizes and distills the overarching idea linking its practical
strategies, enabling management and employees to align the specifics of their actions and
decisions with a clearly defined vision and direction. Define your strategic mission in a way that
is broad enough to guide both management and employees, and narrow enough to focus their
efforts. "To help humanity," is too broad a mission, even for a nonprofit. "To feed the hungry by
connecting home gardeners with food banks," is a mission that is both general and actionable.

2. Setting Goals
The nuts and bolts of the strategic planning process are expressed in measurable goals.
Measurable goals set specific, concrete objectives expressed in terms of quantities and timelines.
Measurable goals are important to an organization because they enable managers and employees
to evaluate progress and pace developments. "To grow substantially during the next few years" is
not a measurable goal, but "To increase sales by 30 percent during the upcoming year" provides
a concrete objective to be achieved in a specific time frame.

3. Evaluating Progress
Strategic objectives are of necessity based on the best information you have at the time and your
most realistic assessments of what your company can achieve. Organizations also benefit from
building a stage into the strategic planning process that involves evaluating goals and progress
after an elapsed period of time in light of the company's success in achieving these goals and
developments that have arisen in the interim. For example, if you plan to grow your hardware
store business 20 percent during a specific year, but a formidable competitor opens a superstore
down the road, you'll probably redefine your objectives and evaluate progress in terms of
preserving market share.

4. The Strategic Planning Process

The process of strategic planning can be as important to an organization as the results. Strategic
planning can be an especially valuable process when it includes employees in all departments
and at all levels of responsibility thinking about how their activities and responsibilities fit into
the larger picture, and about their potential contributions.

Page 1|3
How do strategic plans assist Organization’s to achieve their
goals & objectives?
A strategic plan provides management the roadmap to align the organization's functional
activities to achieve set goals. It guides management discussions and decision making in
determining resource and budget requirements to accomplish set objectives — thus increasing
operational efficiency

1. It allows organizations to be proactive rather than reactive

A strategic plan allows organizations to foresee their future and to prepare accordingly. Through
strategic planning, companies can anticipate certain unfavorable scenarios before they happen
and take necessary precautions to avoid them. With a strong strategic plan, organizations can be
proactive rather than merely reacting to situations as they arise. Being proactive allows
organizations to keep up with the ever-changing trends in the market and always stay one step
ahead of the competition.

2. It sets up a sense of direction

A strategic plan helps to define the direction in which an organization must travel, and aids in
establishing realistic objectives and goals that are in line with the vision and mission charted out
for it. A strategic plan offers a much-needed foundation from which an organization can grow,
evaluate its success, compensate its employees and establish boundaries for efficient decision-
making.

3. It increases operational efficiency

A strategic plan provides management the roadmap to align the organization’s functional
activities to achieve set goals. It guides management discussions and decision making in
determining resource and budget requirements to accomplish set objectives — thus increasing
operational efficiency.

4. It helps to increase market share and profitability

Through a dedicated strategic plan, organizations can get valuable insights on market trends,
consumer segments, as well as product and service offerings which may affect their success. An
approach that is targeted and well-strategized to turn all sales and marketing efforts into the best
possible outcomes can help to increase profitability and market share.

5. It can make a business more durable

Business is a tumultuous concept. A business may be booming one year and in debt the next.
With constantly changing industries and world markets, organizations that lack a strong
foundation, focus and foresight will have trouble riding the next wave. According to reports, one
of every three companies that are leaders in their industry might not be there in the next five
years… but the odds are in favor of those that have a strong strategic plan!

Page 2|3
If you’re considering adopting a strategic plan at your organization, or are looking for a way to
align your staff and daily operations on your existing one, then Envision may just be the solution
you’ve been looking for. Envisions cloud-based strategic plan management software helps
organizations manage their strategic and operating plans, track performance, and report to
stakeholders.

Page 3|3