Strategic plan facilitation in Sydney & Melbourne
- Is your business planning for an important strategic change?
- Have you been frustrated by previous planning efforts that didn’t get buy-in from your management team?
- Do you want to sharpen your business strategy and focus on worthwhile opportunities?
Through deep preparation, compilation of individual input, carefully facilitated discussions, and structured workshop sessions we provoke thoughtful consideration of relevant opportunities and implications.
We’ve seen how the strategic planning process can significantly vary from one business to another. Aside from the strategic planning process itself, clients often aim to gain consensus and buy-in from their management team as well as defining the direction of future efforts.
What does strategic planning cover?
Whilst we have a framework for managing the strategic process we know each organisation has different needs. The idea of strategic planning could encompass areas such as:
- Obtaining input from a variety of stakeholders such as Board members, senior leaders, staff and customers
- Clarifying the vision, or future destination, of the company
- Developing a new strategic plan
- Revising or updating an existing strategic plan to adapt to future requirements
- Defining the Values for the company
- Setting operational priorities and tasks to enable effective implementation
Importantly, transitioning the focus from strategic planning to operational implementation should be a consideration for every business. 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.
🔹Find out more about strategic plan facilitation in Sydney
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Stuart opened up everyone’s thought processes, encouraging innovative and strategic thinking. We are now equipped with a clear, actionable plan to achieve our long-term goals.
Joel Brewer, Finance & Operations Director
Tyman International ANZ, Sydney
Experience shows that strategic planning can be derailed, delayed or dysfunctional if there isn’t clear stewardship that canvasses a variety of inputs. Even worse is if the strategic planning process becomes a repetitive series of meetings that doesn’t engender support and is seen as being disconnected to what the business is really about.
In contrast, our clients enjoy an interactive experience that encourages whole-of-business thinking which covers all aspects of business operations to an appropriate level of detail for your business.
While strategic planning workshops are usually conducted in-person, we utilise a range of technologies to effectively plan and facilitate strategy days no matter the location. As well as in Sydney, we have successfully run workshops in Brisbane, Melbourne and NSW regional centres.
Your strategic planning facilitator
Stuart Ayling is an accomplished workshop leader, consultant and facilitator with over 20 years experience working with a diverse range of businesses and teams.
Stuart holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing, University of Western Sydney) and a Graduate Certificate in Management (International Business, University of Queensland). He is also a member of the Institute of Management Consultants (Australia) and adheres to the association’s Code of Ethics.
Stuart has experience working with leading companies in many industry sectors including:
- Business-to-business products and services
- Manufacturers of equipment, industrial goods and food products
- Distributors of industrial products and technical goods
- Commercial trades contractors such as electrical contractors
The process Stuart used to gather input from participants was extremely collaborative and well-managed. It effectively harnessed the knowledge, skills, and experience of both the board and senior management.
Camille Johnson, CEO
Golden West Apprenticeships, Roma
Beyond strategic goals into action
Clients have often mentioned their previous planning efforts haven’t been as effective as they would like often due to the outcomes of the strategic planning process being a few steps removed from how the business actually operates. The results looked like a good plan but it didn’t quite ‘fit’ well enough to be successfully implemented.
Our cascading strategic planning process moves deeper than the high-level business goals and involves your team to dig into what actually needs to happen to achieve strategic outcomes. If required we can guide your team beyond the strategic goals to identify the practical Key Success Factors, Operational Goals, Metrics and Key Tasks needed to move the organisation forward.
Our strategic planning hierarchy
The two-day strategic planning program ran very smoothly with Stuart at the helm. There was a good mix of planning, discussion and team building activities. Stuart was a clear communicator and kept the days on track.
Andrew Bell, CEO
Mountain Blue Farms, Lismore
Would you like to know more about strategic planning for your business?
Contact us to arrange a confidential discussion. We’ll discuss what you’d like to achieve from the strategic planning or review process.