Integrated Strategic Planning  

Almost everyone agrees that organization planning is preferable to ad hoc, intuitive, reactionary or shoot-from-the-hip decision-making. Most agree that decision-makers actually do have a strategy but they may not have described it  (1) for fear that it may take away some personal competitive advantage, (2) they just have not gotten around to it, (3) they suspect their strategy may not be aligned with business performance outcomes, (4) they don't want to get sucked into a long and convoluted process, or (5) they have seen too many planning efforts result in SPOTS (strategic plans on the shelf). The fact is...a clearly understood strategy aligned with business outcomes is imperative for business success. Successful organizations have a plan for making changes and prioritizing decisions required by a changing environment, and everyone knows what is most important in achieving the plan.  Successful leaders  realize that planning is both a process and a destination.  They want everyone working and thinking planfully. Don't you?

There are several approaches.  We offer the ones that start with the implementation and on-going measurement tools built in (no SPOTS).

We start by determining how we can achieve a strategic plan in the least amount of time with the greatest amount of organizational commitment utilizing the best available technology.

The easiest, and most simple is One Page Planning and Performance Systems. It is a breakthrough web-based planning tool that combines planning with on-line measurement. Every key manager has a plan, and the plans are on one page! The plans are easy to create and use ... no complicated terms. They integrate performance and progress reporting into the plan. The plan clearly indicates excellent and poor performance and allows for 360 degree accountability. Every objective and plan element is hot-linked into balanced scorecard measurement pages. Daily, weekly, month, quarterly and annual progress can be tracked. Most importantly, the whole system can be up and running in thirty days at a very low cost. We provide the training and workbooks for easy plan and measurement completion. It resides on our web server and is password protected.

If there is a plan in place or the organization just wants to elevate and measure key performance factors we start with building a diagnostic system that will provide regular performance data from the front lines and key stakeholders. Virtual CEO is an internet based performance management and tracking system that uncovers and summarizes to the dash board level how the organization is performing on leading and lagging critical success factors, what the culture is like, what are the capabilities of the organization, how effective are the systems and processes, and how well resources are aligned with strategic outcomes. Are the strategic goals of the organization clearly understood and is there shared ownership of the goals? Do functional units clearly understand their contribution to the fulfillment of organization goals? How effective is the organization utilizing human & structural capital? What is the effectiveness of human system processes (strategy, direction, leadership, communication, decision-making, reward systems and empowerment)? Your organization is compared with Best Practices found in comparable industries and organizations.

Conventional strategic planning begins with a readiness to plan session so all members are educated about the importance and process of planning. The actual planning process begins with the planning team clarifying the desirable future the organization wants to achieve...the values it wants to embody.  If the organization desires, we conduct comprehensive web-based values testing to uncover what employees and stakeholders believe are the current actual values, the espoused values of the organization and what they want to be the desired values.  They identify key success factors so they will know that they are achieving the desired state. They are clear about their purpose and mission, roles and responsibilities.

Future search conferences bring all the important stakeholders, including suppliers and clients, into the room at the same time. Through a series of a few intensely structured days the strategy and action plans are completed quickly.

We help (1) assess the current state of the organization, (2) develop core strategies, (3) develop key success factors and how to measure progress toward achieving them, (4) develop contingency plans, (5) identify where functional plans will be needed to support the strategic plan, and (6) set up ongoing  implementation and evaluation mechanisms.

Our unique contribution, skills and tools make strategic planning work for you:

• Norms Mapping capacity to uncover informal organization dynamics. 
• Appreciative Inquiry skills to emphasize positive futures.
• Team Building to solidify planning team commitment and high performance.
• Process mapping and evaluation skills.
• Web-based values surveying
• Visioning
• Training skills to maximize planning member and support staff performance.
• Open space meeting technology to include large numbers of stakeholders in key meetings.
• Groupware technology to electronically facilitate large group meetings.
• Future Search Conference capability to reduce strategic planning time.
• Hyper-linked strategic planning technology to track plan development and progress of key success factors, contributors to the key success factors and organization competencies.
• Hundreds of proven strategic planning tools to help the parties plan.
• Web based integrated strategy development and reporting.
• Continuous environmental testing of the political, economic, legislative, demographic, legal and other external environmental forces on the organization.
• Strategic People Planning - Human Resource strategic planning or the entire organization.
• E-surveys to employees and stakeholders

 We will customize the strategic planning approach to your organization's unique requirements, or build on or help you implement strategic planning work you have already done.

Contact Taylor-Nelson for an on-line demonstration.

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Taylor-Nelson

5042 Woodman Ave.

Riverside, Ca 92506

800-788-8471