Top trends for better strategy development

As a CEO, strategy development is a critical component of managing your organization, and for good reason. The stakes are high, and the world is constantly evolving, with new challenges and opportunities every day. You don’t need a strategy that sits in a folder- you need one that inspires, motivates and guides your people to achieve ambitious goals. Traditional strategic planning processes can be frustrating, time-consuming, feel disconnected from your everyday work and finances, and may not always align with the needs of your business.

In this blog post, we will explore some of the most important trends in strategic planning that you should know.

Continuous Planning

One of the most significant trends in strategic planning is the move toward continuous planning. Rather than creating a plan at the beginning of the year and only revisiting it annually, continuous planning involves regularly revising and updating it to stay aligned with changes in your industry and customers' needs. This approach does not have to feel “extra” or imposed; technology provides easy ways to get the metrics of your plan built into your operational and reporting metrics. By implementing this approach, you can ensure that your organization remains agile, flexible, and proactive. One technology client adopted this continuous planning approach in a time of major shifts in their industry, and it allowed them to pivot their products and services to better meet the evolving needs of their customers.

Equity and Inclusion

Another key trend is the focus on equity and inclusion in decision-making. By incorporating diverse perspectives into the strategic planning process, you can ensure that you consider the varied needs and experiences of all members of your organization and the community. This approach also enables you to build relationships with underrepresented groups, harnessing their potential as key partners to your organization. One public sector client that focussed on equity and inclusion as part of their planning process found that it improved their engagement and boosted their recruitment and retention, supporting both their short-term achievements and long-term value to the taxpayer.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Incorporating data into strategic planning is essential for making informed decisions. The use of metrics and data helps you track progress toward your goals and objectives, allowing you to adjust your plans in real-time and increase your chances of achieving success. Shifting to data-driven decision-making during strategy development allowed one public-sector client to bring their executive team together on a strategy that made services more effective and efficient. A data-driven approach can also aid in predicting things that might be needed in future, or anticipate where weaknesses need attention. With the right technology tools and the use of AI, organizations can access and analyze vast stores of data quickly and easily, streamlining research processes. These tools also provide opportunities for more comprehensive collaboration and data sharing, enabling better-informed decision-making.

Collaboration and Partnerships

The use of technology to facilitate strategic planning research and collaboration has become the norm in today's digital world. Collaboration and partnerships can be powerful tools for achieving strategic goals. By cultivating relationships with stakeholders both inside and outside the organization, you can leverage resources and expertise beyond what is available in-house. You can use collaboration tools like Mural and Miro to create virtual spaces where you can invite and share ideas. Currently, I am providing a strategic planning process that is mostly virtual, and collaboration tools are making it possible to host highly interactive sessions with internal and external groups. You can use the same approach to consider the potential of partnerships to create a supportive network of allies. Additionally, by working with other organizations aligned with your mission, you can expand the reach and impact of your initiatives.

Emphasis on Sustainability

Finally, the emphasis on sustainability in strategic planning is a trend that is gaining considerable traction globally. As organizations increasingly view sustainability as key to long-term success, they prioritize it in decision-making and action plans. Prioritizing sustainability ensures that critical natural resources are protected from depletion and destruction, both today and for future generations. This is a commitment that job-seekers will look for, and in particular, talented younger workers will be interested when their values align with the company’s commitment to sustainability.

Integration with Company Culture

CEOs have learned how essential it is to foster a company culture that aligns to strategy- and many have learned through experience the disaster that awaits if you ignore the way culture can influence behaviour, innovation and productivity. Having a vision for your culture and tactics to help you talk about, develop and change your culture have become essential parts of every executive’s leadership toolkit.

To stay ahead of the curve, make sure that your strategy development considers these trends in strategic planning. By embracing these practices and integrating them into your strategies, you can ensure that your organization remains agile, resilient, and able to navigate any challenge. From continuous planning to data-driven decision-making and partnerships with diverse organizations and communities, these trends are the key to unlocking long-term success. As a CEO, embracing these trends will advance your organization toward a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Looking for value

Developing a business strategy provides significant ROI by increasing revenue, improving efficiency, gaining a competitive advantage, enabling better decision-making, and establishing long-term sustainability. Overall, a well-executed strategy can help your business achieve its goals, overcome challenges, and grow over time. You can build metrics that allow you to measure the ROI of the various tactics in your plan and track the overall value of your strategy as you put it into action. These metrics are not only informative to you and your leadership team to continuously learn, track progress and make any shifts required but also will help represent milestones that are meaningful for your internal team and external investors and supporters.

Ready to try a different approach?

After decades of leading strategy development in the tech, not-for-profit and public sectors, I developed a new approach that fits the ways CEOs and their teams work today. GrowthPoints strategy coaching and facilitation combines clear, engaging planning processes with coaching and collaborative tools based on human-centred design principles. We ensure that your business strategy is integrated with the right work culture as “dual engines” that drive your business success.

So why wait? Contact me today and experience a new, better way to design your business strategy.