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PLANNING
Facilitate development of strategic plans, business plans and action plans.
Strategic Plan: Reasons
Business Plan: Thoughts
Operating Plan: Actions through People & Procedures
- Product/Service
- Promotion
- Paperwork
The balanced scorecard approach is used at each level of planning. The balanced scorecard is a management system (not only a measurement system) that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the balanced scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an enterprise.
The balanced scorecard views the organization from four perspectives:
- The Learning and Growth Perspective
- The Business Process Perspective
- The Customer Perspective
- The Financial Perspective
Goals and objectives are aligned with these four perspectives. Departmental business plans are aligned with these four perspectives. Analysis of the completeness of goals, objectives and action plans as aligned with the perspectives can be used to diagnose areas that need additional attention and to identify those actions that are not integral to achieving the mission and therefore could be considered for reduction or elimination. Return to Top
STRATEGIC PLAN
To many people, strategic planning is something meant only for big businesses, but it is equally applicable to small businesses. Strategic planning is matching the strengths of your business to available opportunities. To do this effectively, you need to collect, screen and analyze information about the business environment. You also need to have a clear understanding of your business -- its strengths and weaknesses -- and develop a clear mission, goals and objectives. Acquiring this understanding often involves more work than expected. You must realistically assess the business you are convinced you know well. Familiarity can breed contempt for thorough analysis; you cannot properly evaluate your firm's strengths or shortcomings.
A strategic plan defines the reason why an organization exists, describes its vision of what it needs to become, and defines the necessary strategies to achieve the vision, based on the perceived reality (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats). Strategic direction for the company flows DOWN the organization from senior management, so the highest level managers should create the strategic plan. Strategic ideas should flow UP the organization, from the lowest levels in the organization, so the concept shouldn’t be limited to senior management. Managers should spend time in their departments gathering input from their staffs. Organizational surveys should be used whenever available. Heard Management is available to facilitate the process at all levels. The agency provides an “internal coordinator” as the contact point for Ms. Heard.
Heard Management offers both “full process” strategic planning services and “update process” strategic planning services. The full process is used when an organization has not attempted to develop a plan in the past. Extensive time is spent developing a shared mission and vision statement. The update process (also referred to as a “roll-forward”) is used when a strategic plan has been developed and implemented previously, with minimum changes in the overall mission and vision of the organization. Return to Top
BUSINESS PLAN
The business plan is a succinct document that specifies the components of a strategy with regard to the business mission, external and internal environments and problems identified in earlier analyses. A business plan is not written each time a modification to a strategy is made. It should be written when you develop a new venture or launch a major new initiative. The business plan serves several important purposes:
- It helps determine the viability of the venture in a designated market.
- It provides guidance to the entrepreneur in organizing his or her planning activities.
- It serves as an important tool in helping to obtain financing
A well-written business plan also will provide broad parameters upon which progress toward goals can be assessed and control decisions made at a later time. Return to Top
OPERATING PLAN
The operating plan describes in detail those actions that support the business and strategic plan. Standard operating procedures document the who, what, when, where and how of the business. The operating plan describes daily/weekly activities that are specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and time-related. The operating plan contains your standard operating procedures for administration and production, your marketing plan, and your personnel manual. |