With a huge thanks to our Communications Committee and engaged members like you, I’m pleased to present to you our latest issue of Capital Ideas! As usual, we have another outstanding compilation of practical ideas and actionable concepts in this month’s issue, which is focused on Strategic Plans and Budgeting.
As you begin thinking about 2015, it’s likely that many of you will soon be swept up in these timeless activities – if you aren’t already! While some of you may be engaging in strategic planning and budgeting for the first time, others may be grizzled veterans. No matter where your experience lies, here are six thoughts to keep in mind:
1. Why is strategic planning important? Good question. From my own personal experience, I have found that strategic planning enables us to understand, create, deliver, capture and sustain value – that’s value from both internal (i.e., partners) and external client perspectives. However, I also found (here) that strategic planning is important because, if done properly, it can help us:
- Understand how our firm’s culture and operations affect its performance,
- Recognize the impact of an evolving legal market on your firm and identify any internal changes needed to adapt,
- Pinpoint opportunities and potential threats within the market,
- Identify weaknesses and poor-performing areas and determine how to remedy them and build on strengths, and
- Establish a shared vision and long-term goals.
2. You should have goals, but goals alone are not enough. You need to develop goals that are S.M.A.R.T.! Forget the “30,000 foot-level” stuff - be Specific. You can’t manage what you can’t Measure. Be realistic by keeping your goals Achievable. Goals shouldn’t be random either. Instead they should be Relevant and tied to your vision, which should dictate your responsibilities. (Warning: if what you are working on is not related to your firm’s vision, then you aren’t being strategic!). Lastly, don’t forget to set deadlines and do your best to stick to that Timetable
3. Plan for your plan to fail. Okay, that may be harsh. But at a minimum, your planning should be dynamic! As we learn from our good friend, Doug Hoover in the Minnesota Chapter, Dynamic Planning should be a process, not an end-product. Have a plan that relies on a general strategic direction. Also remember that in order for your plan to work, you’ll need to know that some things will work and some things won’t; and that all things will need to change, but some of them will need to change more quickly than others. After all, change is constant.
4. It’s all in the implementation. Even the best laid plans can fail if there is a failure to execute. Many “strategic planners” claim success as soon as the plan is spellchecked and “complete.” Little do they know that this is only the beginning. In fact, some strategic management consultants say the “only key” to successful strategic planning is in the implementation. While there are many ways to execute, and to manage the overall execution for that matter, I prefer the balanced scorecard approach myself!
5. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! Some consider communication the “forgotten fundamental” of strategic planning. That resonates with me. After all, what good is it if you develop a plan and don’t share it with those it is intended to benefit? How will you get those people energized and excited about it if it is simply sitting on a shelf in your (or someone else’s) office? Here’s a great Harvard Business Review piece on communication approaches that will help any strategic planner reach their stakeholders and encourage the behaviors that advance their strategy (read “mission”). Here’s is another article by Forbes on getting your stakeholders informed, inspired and engaged which the author states is the “answer” to strategic planning.
6. Carpe Diem. See strategic planning and budgeting (i.e., requests for money) as an opportunity – but not just any ole’ opportunity. See it as a chance to define what success looks like and learn how your internal and external clients are defining value. Also, see it as a chance to shape what it is you will be working on in the year ahead. After all, if you don’t determine your own destiny, someone else will.
Remember folks, and Vince Lombardi said it best, “plan your work and work your plan.”
By Corey Garver, 2014 President of the Capital Chapter and Client Development Manager, Shulman Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker for the July/August 2014 Issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter