I have mixed feelings about what many companies call strategic planning, but creating an overall direction for your company or work group is necessary for success. People need to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. At the same time, they need clear direction to know what "bigger thing" they are part of.

My mixed feelings result from the fact that strategic planning is rarely strategic and most frequently results in pages and pages of plans that sit unused in desk drawers. I have watched a number of clients fail at implementing their strategic plans over the years. I think many companies fail to implement their strategic plans for these reasons.

• In a fast moving, fast changing industry, you can create an overall compass for your direction. You can put together operational plans. You can set goals. But things can change fast, so you can't 'do strategy' once per year. Some form of strategic thinking and assessment should be part of the monthly agenda. Can you really wait until next year to have a management discussion of what higher interest rates, market volatility or a recession could mean to your business?

• I often have witnessed strategic planning meetings that felt a lot more like a prioritization of to-do lists. I met with participants a week later to find that their manager had agreed that the prioritization of objectives as was great. However, "all of the stuff" was important and had to get done. Thus, priorities were wiped out and each employee made baby steps on each of the too many objectives. And, when everything is a priority, nothing is really a priority.

• When strategic planning sessions are facilitated by consulting companies, the consultants frequently recommend and request pages of research about competitors, markets, and current company performance metrics. While such a systematic approach is to be lauded, companies rarely have all of this data collected nor do they have the ability to utilize it effectively. Sometimes less in more. What are the 2 or 3 key factors or issues that we simply must address? It should not take a lot of consultant hours to surface these issues.

• Many companies lack the ability to execute strategy. For whatever reason, they make great strategic plans and then fail to create the specific framework necessary for strategic planning follow-up. Without a follow-up framework and accountability system, execution of the strategic plan won't happen.

      From Susan M. Heathfield,
      Your Guide to Human Resources.