11 Steps to a Successful Strategic Planning Meeting

Strategic planning is critical to the success of your business. It is an opportunity for management and staff to brainstorm and discuss a wide variety of ideas that might not otherwise be suggested or considered as potential strategies. It also reinforces the company's core values and sharpens the focus of the whole team on the mission, the goals and the objectives.

Aim to hold a strategic planning meeting for all key personnel once a year, and encourage departments to hold followup sessions at 3- or 6-month intervals for executive managers and department heads.

Bring a copy of your current business plan to the meeting so it can be referred to when needed. Keep in mind the purpose of the meeting: to evaluate past projects and goals and to develop new strategies based on opportunities discovered through market research and analysis.

The 11-Step Checklist

Follow these 11 steps to help you set the stage for a more creative and productive strategic planning meeting:

1. Pick a venue that is outside of your business premises. Look for a casual and quiet setting with few distractions so that the participants will feel relaxed and can focus on the business at hand.

2. Arrange for beverages and snacks and, if the timing and duration of the meeting calls for it, bring in lunch or dinner.

3. Make it clear that each person will be treated as an equal, no matter what their position in the organization may be, and that everyone will have an equal voice in terms of suggestions and criticisms.

4. Promote a more comfortable atmosphere by inviting everyone to dress casually.

5. Encourage open discussion of the topics. This will not only stimulate more brainstorming as the meeting progresses, but it will also serve to fully define the subject and determine its merits.

6. Don’t let the meeting devolve into a "bitch session". Point out ideas that merit consideration and explain how certain suggestions may not fit into the overall scope of the company’s strategy. Celebrate strengths and look for solutions to weaknesses.

7. Don’t try to prioritize ideas brought forth in the meeting. This is mainly a brainstorming session where ideas are explored in relation to their strategic impact on the business, and they are best discussed and explored as they are suggested and not according to an imposed agenda.

8. Provide the means for people to advance ideas visually and immediately to the whole room - white board, flip chart, colored markers, etc.

9. Cover each topic thoroughly before progressing to the next. Keep in mind that you are exploring strategic solutions. When discussing each subject, come up with realistic timelines for specific actions to be taken after the meeting has been adjourned.

10. Within a week of the meeting, write a summary of all the ideas discussed at the meeting and circulate it to everyone who is part of the strategic planning team.

11. Follow up at regular intervals to ensure that progress is being made in implementing the ideas that were adopted.