Power Principles

Verna C. Mayers-Fakunle Contributing Writer

Strategic Planning has since its inception been viewed as a tool to achieve desired outcomes or results. The strategies that result from this process of planning become the guiding principles by which many businesses operate and the thread that holds a business together. Into this strategic plan are knitted the goals and objectives that become the core of a company’s operational culture. Companies who have embraced strategic planning as an integral part of their business processes have been successful at using historical data to produce results driven outcomes.

However, the world we currently live in has changed significantly. For the business world, the future is no longer as predictable as it once was. There are so many variables that must be considered when developing strategic frameworks and the practice of front-end planning which only focuses on results and outcomes may not prove to be as effective as it was in the past. The challenge with traditional strategic planning rests in the practice of top-down approaches to sharing organizational goals and outcomes. Oftentimes, the person(s) developing the strategic framework for the company, lack the organizational skills and knowledge to create a viable “action” plan to achieve the desired outcomes. As a result, there is a disconnect between those who create the plan and those who are tasked with developing the operational frameworks by how they will be realized. The days of being able to develop strategy in an upper management silo and then directing everyone down the chain to adopt it, embrace it, and make it work, are becoming obsolete. As integral as the strategic framework is to a business, it is even more important to include viable operational frameworks to support it and include guidance from those who are charged with implementing it.

To do this, businesses must adopt a collaborative and mutually beneficial method for developing, implementing, and assessing strategies. This practice should include input from those who are doing the front-end work daily and who have a keen sense of what it takes to make things happen. I recommend businesses introduce the “POWER” framework into their strategy process.

POWER is an acronym that outlines a way to provide actionable steps toward achieving desired results: Plan, Organize, Work, Evaluate, and Reap. These steps are defined as follows: Collaborative work with all vested stakeholders to identify desired outcomes. Plan Develop an operational framework to achieve goals Organize A clear roadmap with detailed steps and realistic timelines for those steps to be achieved Work Periodic check-ins to assess progress as well as identify need for revisions Evaluate Acknowledgement of goal achievement and rewarding the team for their hard work

Reap.

Strategic planning must become a practice that engages the entire team in setting expectations and developing a plan of action to achieve them. The old adage that, “teamwork makes the dream work” could not be more appropriately applied than when considering the viability and success of today’s businesses. Developing “powerful” strategies will provide tangible processes by which your business can compete and thrive.

Business: Inspired Strategies, LLC (Business and Educational Consulting) Website: www.vernamayersfakunle.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VernaInspires Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vernainspires/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vernainspires LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verna-mayers-fakunle-6070898/