We all want to be successful in 2020 – but, of course, ‘wanting to’ is not a strategy. An essential step to achieving organizational success in 2020 will be - developing and executing an effective strategy. Organizations that are consistently successful are those in which all employees:

• Understand the plan
• See the ‘line of sight’ from their roles to the plan
• Are engaged in achieving the plan

Whether you are leading an organization, division or department developing a plan significantly increases your chances of achieving your goals - much like making reservations for a particular table at a specific, busy time at your favorite restaurant. Planning:

• Gives us more control over our future
• Helps us address cultures of inertia, comfort or ‘the way we’ve always done it’

The extensiveness of your plan will depend on the size and complexity of your organization – in addition to the number, speed, strength and criticality of the forces of change you face. However, all plans in a fundamental way must address three core elements:

• Where are you now – your mission?
• Where do you want to go – your vision
• How will you get there – your all-important goals, action steps, accountabilities and deadlines

As basic as these three elements appear, frequently there is insufficient clarity - particularly regarding the third element leading to: ‘I didn’t know that that I was supposed to that’, ‘You wanted that done this quarter?’, etc. Far more strategic plans fail due to a lack of execution than due to poor planning. Strategic plans are of no value if not executed. And execution requires employees understanding and feeling accountable for their action plans.

Depending on the forces of change you are facing, potentially useful planning initiatives include:

• Assessing your macro and market environments and applying a situation analysis to your findings
• Establishing your critical success factors
• Segmenting your customer base and gaining an in-depth understanding of the needs of, at least, your primary customer segment
• Utilizing an I/P Matrix to structure your customer value proposition
• Driving employee execution through communication, engagement and recognition

Sometimes smaller organizations – rather than utilizing a Classical Strategic Planning process – can create an effective plan using an Action Planning process. This process identifies and focuses only on an organization’s most critical business issues in a way that is very practical and action-oriented while generating maximum buy-in from the planning team members.

If we don’t know where we’re going in 2020, any road will get us there. Generate a successful 2020 for yourself and your organization by creating and having everyone on your team engaged in executing an appropriate plan.

Contact Buddy McGehee at the Georgia Employers' Association for more information about the training and management