Business Strategy Facilitator in Melbourne
The purpose of undertaking strategic planning is to create focus for the company and enable leaders to make decisions about prioritising opportunities and allocating resources to pursue future outcomes. But there’s more to it than that.
When managed in an open and inclusive manner, the strategic planning process and the initiatives it produces can also be motivating for team members as everyone can understand what is being done, why it’s important, and who will be involved in taking action.
There’s more to strategic planning than just facts and logic
In most business planning processes there is a heavy emphasis on rational decision-making and logical action plans. And that’s understandable. But for strategic planning, where the aim is to assess new directions and explore various options, there is an inherent mix of emotional factors as well as the required logic.
Previous plans, unmet expectations, pet projects, individual characters, and organisational relationships can each have an impact on defining the future direction. Identifying and recognising the potential influence of these factors is an important aspect of creating a successful strategic planning program.
That’s why we like to involve various stakeholders to obtain their perspectives and experiences, as well as applying proven decision-making structures throughout the program to develop solid outcomes.
And because the best results for the strategic planning process are achieved by starting well in advance of gathering people in a room for workshop sessions, we always include stakeholder engagement as part of the preparation phase.
This process enables us to set a clear path, clarify expectations, and involve participants early in the process, often by providing opportunity for individual input.
Joel Brewer
Finance and Operations Director, Tyman InternationalThe strategic planning process
While most people think of strategic planning as the workshop sessions, or generating lots of ideas, our approach is structured to take a broader perspective for a more effective outcome.
- Discussing your goals and the outcomes you want, not just for a plan, but for the whole team
- Assessing information in advance such as previous planning documents, annual report, financial reports, industry research, or management meeting reports
- Engaging a variety of participants as part of the preparation process. This usually includes senior management, Board members, key staff, and possibly customers or other stakeholders that have relevant input
- Conducting a scoping session with senior leaders to clarify high level direction on the company vision, important external and internal factors, and structure for the actual strategic planning workshops
- Creating an engaging and effective program for the group sessions to ensure the main focus remains the main focus
- Including opportunities for team interaction to energise participants, encourage a deeper understanding of each other, and keep everyone focused
- Creating psychological safety to encourage participation without individual personalities taking control
- Documenting the key strategies and operational goals to enable follow-through by management and the relevant team members
Translating strategic plans to operational impact
What can easily happen with the strategic planning process is what we call ‘strategic stagnation’. You know… everyone gets excited about the strategic ideas but then finds themselves bogged down by business-as-usual and the new strategies get put aside until there is time to do them (which rarely eventuates). Strategic stagnation.
So, how do you make a seamless transition from strategic initiatives to operational planning in a way that gets things done? Our RPA process (Reflect, Prioritise, Allocate) is very useful for this purpose.
Read our tips for successful strategic planning including our RPA process for effective follow-through and implementation.
Andrew Bell
CEO, Mountain Blue FarmsPost-workshop strategy sessions
A key step in the strategic planning process is to create Strategic Objectives. And the work on Strategic Objectives identifies many Operational Goals, with each Operational Goal requiring numerous specific Tasks to be undertaken.
This multiplier effect can create extra burden for team leaders or department heads as they may find it difficult to integrate the new operational requirements into their team.
In our experience, we’ve found that conducting a post-strategy operational planning session with team leaders or department heads is an effective way to devolve accountability while clarifying priorities, actions, time frames and resources.
This session, conducted a little time after the main strategy workshops, involves senior management accompanied by the facilitator, hearing from each department lead on how they will be implementing actions within their scope of responsibility. It’s also a great opportunity for senior leaders to ensure alignment between departments and oversee priorities and resource requirements.
Available across Melbourne CBD and suburbs
We’ve worked with clients across Melbourne suburbs like Boronia, Dandenong, Essendon, Richmond, as well as Melbourne CBD.
Strategic planning workshops can be held in rooms on your premises (if suitable) or in external meeting venues. We’re happy to coordinate with your choice of external venue or your company personnel to ensure room setup and facilities are conducive to our program.
About your strategic plan facilitator
Stuart Ayling MIMC holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing, University of Western Sydney) and a Graduate Certificate in Management (International Business, University of Queensland).
He is a full member of the Institute of Management Consultants and abides by the IMC Code of Ethics which specifies standards of professionalism, integrity and competence.
In addition to his 18+ years of business consulting and facilitation work Stuart has experience directly managing teams and facilities including:
- Managing a pharmaceutical distribution centre including staffing, logistics, financial reporting and revenue responsibilities.
- Holding multiple Marketing Manager positions, leading teams of marketing specialists with marketing budgets in excess of $1,700,000.
- Sales Manager for steel fabrication business.
- Recruiting and managing franchisees for mechanical and fast food outlets.
- Conducting regular financial performance reviews (Profit & Loss analysis) of franchisee operations in a multi-national franchise group.
- Managing many difficult staff issues including sexual harassment, trade union action and rectifying poor performance.
- University lecturer, teaching Marketing and Personal Selling courses at the prestigious University of Queensland Business School.
The next step to explore strategic planning options
If you’d like to discuss requirements for your strategic planning, or to explore options that would work for your team you’re welcome to get in touch to arrange a complimentary confidential consultation.