Most strategic plans make my head hurt. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Common (aka frustrating) gaps include:
- No balance between the critical dimensions of financial, customer, staff and quality/risk
- Lots of fluff without substance – i.e. no tangible (objective, normally numeric) targets
- Not considering BAU as a critical part of the strategy
It’s this last one that really frustrates me.
A good strategic plan is about ensuring the performance of the business for the long term. It’s not JUST about “big” changes.
Surely an important component of a long term plan is “keep delivering what we’re already doing well” – after all, that’s what’s bringing revenue in and paying the bills.
Alternatively, what we’re saying is that we can deliver the strategic plan, but leave BAU to rot away? I don’t think so.
Including BAU (and performance targets) as part of your Strategic Plan is one way to help solve the prioritisation problems I described in an earlier post.