Looking Ahead: Strategic Planning

[00:00:19] Hello everybody coming to you from Canada today. I am one of your hosts, Scott.

[00:00:25] And I'm Andy coming to you from the United Kingdom again.

[00:00:28] Welcome back everybody or welcome to if this is your first episode, the Tea and Timbits podcast, Global Perspectives on International... Oh my God, I screwed that up.

[00:00:41] You could have kept going and nobody would have noticed it would have been fine if you've now you've highlighted it. We're going to talk about it for a little bit longer.

[00:00:49] Global Perspectives on International What God?

[00:00:52] Global Perspectives on what kind of coffee I should have been drinking?

[00:00:58] Middle of November and you're already in holiday mode.

[00:01:03] Global Perspectives on Business Development to help you prosper.

[00:01:07] Our theme for this month is strategic planning, looking ahead business planning.

[00:01:13] We kicked off the month thinking about sort of future, the future, future planning, future business,

[00:01:19] evolution, what you have to be doing. We talked a bit sort of generally about perspectives,

[00:01:26] mindset and our three sided coin. We're going to get a little bit more into tactics as we move

[00:01:33] through the month. We're going to talk about strategic planning specifically. It's related to the topic.

[00:01:38] Obviously, all these things will be, but we're hoping to shed a bit more light on it.

[00:01:41] We'll come back to that in a second, Andy. I want to stop talking. Can you tell the story?

[00:01:45] I certainly can. It's a story that I chose because it relates somewhat to the topic this week.

[00:01:54] Essentially, I was working with this smaller company, so a smaller team. What their challenge was, is that

[00:02:04] they had a very clear sort of customer base, very clear product, very clear solution.

[00:02:11] But they were working in such a way that they were very much sort of bouncing from one thing to another.

[00:02:19] So they weren't driven in that. Well, they were they were driven towards doing things, but those things were inconsistent.

[00:02:26] So one day would be about growth and then the next day they'd be talking about doing a branding overhaul.

[00:02:31] And then the next day they'd be talking about, you know, their social media strategy and the next.

[00:02:35] And it was carrying on like that. So they were all over the place and everybody was sort of a bit disjointed.

[00:02:40] And ultimately, what we decided to do was sit down and build a plan and a structure and a strategy.

[00:02:50] So defining what success looked like for them. And that was not just in vague terms, but in sort of using real metrics and timelines and priorities and so on.

[00:03:03] And what we did is that we then got them to essentially focus on those things, build a plan and a strategy to that and then work on those one thing at a time, one thing at a time, one thing at a time.

[00:03:14] Get to those goals and then move on to the next thing. And it doesn't mean that they they didn't have things running concurrently, but they had dedicated people focusing on those specific things and specific goals and timelines.

[00:03:26] And obviously, now we're a couple of months down the line. It's it's not without its challenges, I'll be honest, but but the whole company essentially, you know, have rallied around the plan and they are a lot more focused.

[00:03:41] They you know, they are still dipping in and out on occasion on things and they do need a little bit of redirection, which is good because it keeps me involved.

[00:03:49] But ultimately, they needed someone to hold the reins and keep them keep them on the straight path and and their leadership and now doing that and making sure the whole team are doing the right thing.

[00:03:59] And essentially, it's important as a morale of the moral of the story is, you know, just remain focused on what you're doing and do one thing at a time and do that thing well rather than trying lots of different things.

[00:04:14] And I wrote this story down because I'm I'm as guilty of this as the you know, that company are, you know, I take I take on lots of different things and I get torn in lots of different perspectives.

[00:04:25] So it is good when you can actually put that plan in place, put it down on paper and focus on it and and also have someone there who's keeping you accountable to delivering on those things.

[00:04:37] We fall victim to this on the regular.

[00:04:40] OK, yeah.

[00:04:41] And and and and I immediately I'm thinking of, you know, different clients that are more challenged with this than than others.

[00:04:49] And I internally have actually built into the.

[00:05:00] Weekly routine, a plan to have unstructured time.

[00:05:06] OK, cool.

[00:05:08] So it's like a free for all, a free mind moment.

[00:05:10] I like it.

[00:05:11] I've realized that with certain people, if I don't do that, they'll show up in the structured time wanting to dance all over the place and and just go wherever the pulse is taking them.

[00:05:26] And so if you don't give space for them to be sort of the more natural representation of themselves and get some of the, you know, stream of consciousness just out.

[00:05:39] And then the pressure builds and makes those.

[00:05:45] Yeah.

[00:05:46] Structured times less productive.

[00:05:48] Yeah.

[00:05:49] So that's one extreme.

[00:05:51] I think, you know, there are certain people who are wired differently, approach things differently, think differently, plan differently and feel absolutely at home and and comfortable in that sort of unstructured space.

[00:06:11] I don't think there is it is nearly as productive.

[00:06:15] And I absolutely agree with you that you have to impose structure, order, plan, direction, priority to get things done efficiently and effectively.

[00:06:26] But if you don't also pair that with some unstructured time in some cases, that it will not actually be as effective as you need to be to have that plan.

[00:06:42] No, I think that's a valid point because the people who, you know, we're working with, they are commercial people, creative people and so on.

[00:06:51] And so they're not they're not in that factory worker mindset where they just come in and do the same same task over and over and over again.

[00:06:59] So unless there's clear things that they're working towards as clear goals and and there is, you know, an opportunity for them to share and develop their creative juices as well, then it's going to be very challenging and they're going to feel unhappy and dissatisfied and they're going to start doing it anyway.

[00:07:17] So, as you say, it's much better to allow them the freedom and opportunity to do that, but within part of the structure of doing the actual work as well.

[00:07:26] So, yeah, I guess very good.

[00:07:28] Good approach.

[00:07:29] Well, that was almost a whole episode right there, but I think it was a good conversation.

[00:07:33] Coming back to strategic planning.

[00:07:36] So we talked about sort of this approaching the end of the year, looking ahead to next year.

[00:07:43] What what do you hope that people can take away from a conversation about strategic planning?

[00:07:50] Well, first of all, that that it is something that is not only considered, but actually implemented.

[00:07:57] That there is a strategic plan for the future for 2025 put in place.

[00:08:03] That there is time set aside to actually going through that process with the team.

[00:08:10] And that it is, you know, an effective strategy that can be implemented.

[00:08:14] It's not just words and visions and goals and KPIs and stuff that it's actually things that can be delivered and can be effective and will be followed and implemented in the new year.

[00:08:25] How many is it?

[00:08:28] Like what percentage do you think?

[00:08:32] Don't have a strategic plan.

[00:08:33] And then the follow up question is don't revise it.

[00:08:38] I think very few businesses have a written and defined strategic plan.

[00:08:46] And certainly most sales teams have KPIs.

[00:08:50] They have goals, but they don't have that overarching strategic plan that is there.

[00:08:56] It is usually a financial target that needs to be achieved in the following year.

[00:09:00] It is maybe a number of customers.

[00:09:02] It is maybe, you know, we've got to deliver it on this particular vision for the shareholders.

[00:09:07] But it is very rarely accompanied with a defined strategic and implementable plan.

[00:09:14] And that is what is missing.

[00:09:16] And that is what we are encouraging people do here.

[00:09:18] And how if somebody does build that, how often do you think people revisit it?

[00:09:27] Yeah, well, I don't think, you know, if they do have it, then the optimal situation is that it is reviewed on a almost monthly.

[00:09:36] But I would say weekly basis, because I think that having the strategic plan should be the definition of what you're doing and how you're doing it and why you're doing it.

[00:09:50] And you need to review regularly if you are, if everything that you're doing is working towards that.

[00:09:57] And if it isn't, then stop doing it and get back onto the plan.

[00:10:01] Because I think the problem is if you wait a whole month or a quarter or half a year to realize that you've been spending a month or a quarter or half a year in the wrong direction,

[00:10:10] then that is a bad thing because it's going to cost you time, money and efficiencies and success by having to retread that ground that you've lost.

[00:10:19] Interesting. So I when I asked the question, okay, so, okay, wow, so many thoughts are bumping around inside my head.

[00:10:26] First comment I'll make is, okay, if you're listening, and, you know, we're not trying to guilt anybody here, right?

[00:10:33] We're trying to, we're trying to underscore the fact that you're, regardless of whether you have it, don't have it, have reviewed it, have not reviewed it, you're in familiar territory.

[00:10:44] You're in, you're in a place that lots of people have, have been, are in, and there's opportunity for improvement, advancement, and, and, you know, there's no time like the present.

[00:10:57] Um, the second reaction to what you were saying is, um, when I asked the question, sort of like, how many people revisited and you got into sort of the frequency there.

[00:11:08] Um, I was thinking that this was sort of an annual event with maybe a quarterly business review.

[00:11:18] Um, and you know, when you said daily or weekly, I'm like, Oh, geez, you don't review your strategic plan daily or weekly.

[00:11:29] That's ridiculous.

[00:11:30] But then I thought, okay, hold on a minute.

[00:11:33] Like there's a, there's a different, um, review that you would do if you're doing it daily versus weekly versus monthly.

[00:11:43] Correct.

[00:11:43] Correct.

[00:11:44] Correct.

[00:11:44] Yeah.

[00:11:45] And, and then sort of, as you were talking, I came around to being like, you know what, actually, if you're writing a strategic plan, thinking when you're writing it, that this needs to be something that can be reviewed on a daily basis.

[00:12:01] It puts a really interesting constraint on your strategic plan that I think has more impact and value to the business.

[00:12:09] Absolutely.

[00:12:10] Absolutely.

[00:12:10] Absolutely.

[00:12:10] You cannot articulate a strategic plan that can be referenced on a daily basis.

[00:12:17] Exactly.

[00:12:19] Probably.

[00:12:19] And translated into daily actions.

[00:12:22] Yeah.

[00:12:23] So I like that.

[00:12:24] Now, having said that, I think strategic plans are multifaceted and, and, and, um, they, they can involve more departments and moving pieces and broader perspectives that are less relevant to the, to the day to day.

[00:12:39] Um, but if you, I think the, the, the same reflection remains, if you cannot distill it into something that helps you, that helps guide you daily.

[00:12:51] Um, I don't think it is nearly as effective as it could have been.

[00:12:54] And second episode in a row here, Andy, where I need to go and do some, I have some takeaways here to go and check my, my plan and see how I can, um, summarize that into something that's helpful on a daily basis.

[00:13:08] Wow.

[00:13:09] Clearly I'm kicking off the new year of the podcast on fire.

[00:13:14] Um, so what is a strategic plan?

[00:13:21] You mentioned what it isn't.

[00:13:24] So, which I liked, you know, it often gets confused for financial targets, um, KPIs of other variations, you know, um, uh, tactical activities that you're going to do.

[00:13:38] Um, customers you're going to target.

[00:13:41] Um, let's, let's, let's flip that coin over.

[00:13:45] What is a strategic plan in your, in your mind?

[00:13:48] Well, I believe it does actually include all of those elements.

[00:13:51] It does include the vision.

[00:13:53] It does include the goals.

[00:13:55] It does include the KPIs.

[00:13:57] Um, and it has like a, you know, a roadmap with a step by step, um, of how to actually implement that with clear objectives and key results.

[00:14:08] Yeah.

[00:14:09] Because if you have those measurable goals and you're able to track the progress of that, then you have not only a strategy that is governed by an overarching vision, goals, KPIs.

[00:14:28] What you have is something that is translatable into each department.

[00:14:35] So if you are doing, let's say at a corporate company level, you're the, you know, you're the CEO and you, you are then defining this strategic plan together with your various departments inputs and so on.

[00:14:44] But you're the defining this strategic plan for the year.

[00:14:48] You have to consider what are the financial goals?

[00:14:51] What are the, you know, what are the, all of the other things and so on.

[00:14:54] Um, and, but you need to be governing all of that with a clear vision, why you're doing what you're doing, where are you going towards?

[00:15:02] What is the purpose of what you're doing?

[00:15:04] Who are you doing it for?

[00:15:06] Um, and then what is it that you want to achieve?

[00:15:08] That's your goals.

[00:15:09] And then how are you going to measure those achievements?

[00:15:12] That's your KPIs.

[00:15:14] Um, but then you also need to have a roadmap for each of the departments.

[00:15:17] You know, this is the journey that I want you to be going on.

[00:15:20] And this is how we want to see that.

[00:15:23] But then it's down to the individual departments.

[00:15:25] So the finance department, the sales department, the customer service department, the operations department of how they're going to implement that.

[00:15:32] But they also need to be able to translate that into step by steps.

[00:15:36] Um, you know, breaking those down into quarterly goals and visions and KPIs, and then breaking those down into monthly and then weekly and then daily activities that can then be delivered.

[00:15:48] And if you've got that and you can, you know, you can almost break it down into hour by hour as well, if you really want to go into it.

[00:15:55] And it can work because if you've got that, those clear objectives with, you know, the key results defined, you can plan every single day around what you need to be doing in line with that overall, um, strategy.

[00:16:13] Okay.

[00:16:15] Okay.

[00:16:15] I like, I, I, I was with you and then I was like, no, not can't, can't, can't stay on that train quite as far as minute by minute.

[00:16:26] Yeah.

[00:16:27] Yeah.

[00:16:27] Yeah.

[00:16:28] I get the passion.

[00:16:29] I get it, but I disagree that a strategic plan gets to that level of detail.

[00:16:36] I think the strategic plan.

[00:16:38] No, no, no.

[00:16:39] Okay.

[00:16:39] Yeah.

[00:16:39] Sorry.

[00:16:39] That's very true.

[00:16:41] So it, no, that's that.

[00:16:43] Okay.

[00:16:43] That, that was then a misrepresented.

[00:16:45] So the strategic plan is the high level.

[00:16:47] Okay.

[00:16:47] Is that high level.

[00:16:48] And that's what I'm saying is that that then goes to the individual departments to then do their department strategic plan.

[00:16:55] And then those departments then put those down to the individuals to then do their strategic plan, which then translates into those daily and weekly activities.

[00:17:03] So I, I see it as kind of a, um, a layer and, and maybe above strategic plan is sort of vision mission purpose.

[00:17:12] Um, but then that gets, you know, that, that becomes the first cornerstone of your strategic plan.

[00:17:17] Strategic plan is what do we know to be true?

[00:17:21] What is our thesis, you know, on growth or the direction that we're going to need to, to, to take conceptually?

[00:17:29] How do we get there?

[00:17:30] What are the resources we're going to use to enable that?

[00:17:33] What information have we gathered that has gone into informing, um, these directives and these decisions?

[00:17:38] What are some of the boundaries and constraints that we need to be aware of that we need to respect?

[00:17:44] Yes.

[00:17:45] Who do we need to target?

[00:17:46] How do we need to target them?

[00:17:47] What do we need to say to them to influence the outcome that we're looking for?

[00:17:53] But stopping at the level of like the specific language.

[00:17:57] And then I think part of the strategic plan can be the identification of the roadmap and the, and the, the detailed work plan that needs to be produced in order to deliver the strategic plan.

[00:18:12] So the strategic plan, I think needs to be careful not to dip too, too much into tactics.

[00:18:19] Um, um, um, but instead, you know, be a very sort of robust, um, infrastructure foundation for, uh, how those other, um, activities take shape.

[00:18:35] Oh, I agree.

[00:18:37] Okay.

[00:18:37] I do agree.

[00:18:39] I do agree.

[00:18:39] So in order to be successful and as, as you can be business development wholesomely needs all of those other elements and collectively becomes sort of your, your, your, um, you know, your, your effective business operation.

[00:18:59] Um, but I would, I would, I'd be careful to say, you know, the strategic plan devoid of a strategic plan.

[00:19:08] All those other things that you described are not going to be reinforcing each other are not going to be as precise and aligned as they need to be, um, for, um, the right kind of success.

[00:19:22] We're talking about.

[00:19:22] Yeah.

[00:19:23] No, but I agree with your layered, uh, analysis and the, you know, the strategic, because of course I'm, I'm looking at this maybe from a larger business perspective and you're looking at it from a smaller business perspective.

[00:19:35] But, uh, I think we're on the same path and I think we agree with, um, you know, with the overall way of doing this, that, uh, that you need that top level before you can do anything else.

[00:19:48] Right.

[00:19:49] And, uh, and that's what we're talking about and that's what we agree on.

[00:19:52] And, uh, and I just, I just get, I just get very excited about taking this down into, you know, but genuinely to see people taking that and then actually being able to implement it and knowing that everything that every person in the organization is doing is contributing to that overarching strategic goal.

[00:20:08] It's just so fantastic.

[00:20:11] Well, here you go.

[00:20:11] If, if you're listening to this and not watching this, we said we were going to be on YouTube.

[00:20:16] We are so go and watch Andy deliver that, uh, and you can see the passion and excitement as he's delivering that message and, uh, empathize even more, uh, with how excited he gets about all these things.

[00:20:32] Um, good chat.

[00:20:34] Thank you, Andy.

[00:20:36] I think, uh, that was a good summary of how people can think about, uh, strategic planning and the value that it adds to the business.

[00:20:42] Um, we would like you to go to tntimbits.com and find out more and give us your thoughts on how detailed you think you need to be in a strategic plan.

[00:20:53] Uh, and, uh, I look forward to talking to you again on the next episode, Andy.

[00:20:57] Thank you very much, Scott.

[00:20:58] It's been a pleasure.

[00:20:59] All right.