How Strategic Planning Improves Business Operations

Operating a business requires a mix of creativity, passion, skills, experience, and planning. Entrepreneurs have personality traits they bring to the table, such as how to approach business. Some wing it, some plan a lot, but each is unique in their own way. There is a time for action and time for planning. This is part of the ever evolving and adaptive nature of sustainable business practices.

The benefit of using a strategy applies to all companies. The approach will look different depending on who is spearheading it, but the fundamental practices of using strategy will help your business succeed and be sustainable. It makes your company smart, resilient, prepared and agile.

What is Strategy?

Strategy is critical in business. It brings form to the vision, mission and goals of your company. The strategy informs the action to ensure the vision is met successfully. Strategic planning is bigger and at a higher level than simply having a to-do list or an idea in your mind. It integrates all aspects of your business from the ground up and the top down. It will inform the goals derived from the vision and mission statements. This leads to actionable steps and tasks to build success.

What Does Strategy Look Like in a Company?

Large Organizations

In a larger organization, a board of directors develops, monitors and directs the corporate strategy. The board reviews company reports, asks questions, and works together to advise and ensure the longevity of the company. 

Having a diverse group of advisors focused on overseeing the strategy, who are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, allows for objective viewpoints, insight and asking critical questions. There is two-way communication between the board and executives. The executives liaise with the directors and management teams. Managers liaise with front line and back office staff. 

Small Businesses 

In a small business, it can look different, especially if you are a solopreneur or only have a small staff of 1-5 people. Resources tend to be limited and must be applied strategically because there is not the equity and reach of a large organization with easier access to staffing, equipment, wholesale pricing and market presence. You may have a board of directors, or if a solopreneur, be a leader with advisors and consultants assisting with guiding the business.

Needless to say, someone needs to be in charge of monitoring and decision making for risk management, market trends and changing customer demands and expectations. We are in business to solve problems for people who need what we offer, therefore, for small businesses to survive, strategy will ensure the bigger picture is addressed on an ongoing basis. It is easy to get caught in the day to day operations and lose sight of the bigger picture. Both are important.

What Informs Strategy?

The vision and mission statements are the first level of informing strategy - it is where you want to go in the future, and builds your culture and brand. Next, using data to look at the success and challenges of your established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)will give you data. Marketing efforts produce online analytics, and employee and customer satisfaction provide more information. Financials, industry trends and technology will also supply your data metrics. All of these metrics (when using a well-organized data management system) will tell your strategy what is working, what isn’t and how the strategy needs to adapt to meet the requirements of the vision and mission.

Strategy, when implemented, monitored and evaluated intentionally, will create a holistic structure to carry your company forward into the future. You will be aware of risks and be in the driver's seat for making informed decisions. 

6 Ways Strategy Makes Business Operations Easier and More Effective

Now that you understand the basics about strategy, let’s look at how strategic planning improves productivity in business operations workflows.

1. Streamlines Processes

Paired with SOPs, strategy provides direction for task workflow and automation. Unnecessary steps will be eliminated, which saves time, and opens the flow of productivity. The SOPs will give you the roadmap for how work is to be completed and what those systems and processes look like. They will, in turn, inform the strategy as to what is working well and what isn’t, and processes can be updated accordingly.

2. Best Use of Resource Allocation

When you know where you’re going and what you’re doing, you know what to prioritize spending on. During strategic planning, you make decisions based on data, intuition, experience and knowledge. Money, staffing, time, equipment, and outsourcing needs are examples of resources you invest in. 

There are not enough resources and time to do everything. You choose what will bring the most value based on your vision, mission, goals, internal and external assessments of your business operations.

3. Better and Quicker Decision Making

Employees know who to go to for what and when. The strategy of the decision making hierarchy will allow for employee empowerment and supervisor consultation, back up plans if a decision maker isn’t present. No one is left wondering and waiting, delaying tasks and raising frustration. Ultimately decisions get made more quickly and efficiently.

4. Teams are Aligned with Business Goals

Each person knows their role and responsibilities in the organization, everyone is assigned a task. Taking accountable action on goal-related tasks ensures projects are getting done to specifications and delivered to the client. The business goals direct the action and the tasks.

5. Use Technology and Automation for Efficiency

Strategy will dictate what technology is chosen and invested in. Technology changes quickly and requires investment to be maintained. It also automates, makes tasks quicker and easier, especially for repetitive tasks. Analytics are considerably easier to obtain through technology (recall analytics inform strategy). An example of this is in preparing invoices. Having a program such as QuickBooks or Wave provides templates, memory, invoicing and payment scheduling options, rather than starting from scratch or editing a homemade template.

6. Continuous Improvement and Adaptability

Key performance indicators will establish the criteria for how work needs to be completed. They will show if goals and action steps are being completed and at what quality. This provides feedback on how the workflow, projects, and tasks are being performed and as a result, if changes or improvements need to be made. Data-driven insights inform and improve strategy. 

Conclusion

This article has given you a greater understanding of where strategic planning fits into business operations. Operational strategy in small businesses can often become an afterthought. We hear about mission, values and goals, but unless your company actively integrates strategy into planning and day-to-day practice, you are missing out on the glue that holds operations together. Strategic plans create structure, efficiency and adaptable operations and workflows. You can use it to streamline the use of resources, systems, and processes, as well as improve decision-making. This leads to greater productivity and growing revenues. 

How do you use strategy in your operations?

Make a list and see what you come up with. If it turns out it is a very short list, reach out for a FREE 30min Consultation, and we will get you started looking at implementing strategy to help your business become more efficient and effective.

Book Your FREE Consult HERE