Speed up your strategic planning – part three: eliminate some exercises

Speed Up Your Planning

This article is the third in a series about simplifying strategic planning to make the process faster. The key idea is to focus only on the parts of the process that provide real value. While strategy itself is critical, not every part of the process is equally useful. Here are three quick ways to streamline your strategic planning:

1. 1. Limit your market segments.
   2. Limit the size of your team.
   3. Cut out low-impact exercises (at least temporarily).

The Risk of Cutting Exercises

Cutting out certain exercises from your strategic planning can save time, but it comes with risks. The danger is that we don’t always know which exercises will provide key insights and which ones can be skipped. Simplified Strategic Planning was designed to cover all important areas without wasting too much time on any single one. However, there are ways to trim the process without losing important insights.

Three Types of Exercises to Consider Cutting

1. Exercises That Rarely Add Value

Some exercises are included because people expect them, but they don’t always contribute much. One example is the Mission Statement (worksheet 6.1). While mission statements were popularized in the 1980s, what matters more is that everyone understands the mission. Many organizations waste time debating word choice and punctuation in a mission statement, or worse, end up with a bland statement that adds no value.

2. Exercises That Are Valuable in Some Cases, But Not Others

Certain exercises are important in specific situations but not universally. For example, the Supplier Market Assessment (worksheet 1.4) is critical in some industries but unnecessary in others where supplier markets aren’t a major concern. If supplier markets don’t affect your industry, this exercise can likely be skipped for the year.

3. Exercises That Don’t Need Revision

Some exercises, like the Goals worksheet (6.2), don’t change much year to year. If your goals remain consistent, you can skip this worksheet in future cycles.

A good rule of thumb is to ask, “Will skipping this exercise lead to a significantly different strategy?” If the answer is no, you can probably skip it.

Exercises You Should Never Skip

There are some exercises that you should always include in your planning process. These include:

1. Industry Scenario/Winners Profile (4.7/4.8)
2. Strategic Assessment (5.1)
3. Action Plans (7.X)
4. Personal Annual Schedule and Time Worksheet (9.1 and 9.2)

Skipping any of these can lead to poor strategies and weak implementation. These exercises often uncover insights that you won’t get from other parts of the process.

Conclusion: Tailoring Strategic Planning to Your Needs

If you’re looking to streamline your strategic planning, it’s worth consulting with us to ensure you’re making the right cuts. We regularly assist companies in this area and are happy to offer guidance.

For smaller companies, our monthly strategic planning process spreads the workload over 12 months, making it more manageable. This plan includes an extra one-day meeting to focus on your key strategic issues and costs as little as $1,000 per month, making it an affordable option for smaller organizations while still providing powerful results.

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