Don’t do it all at once
One of the most effectual changes to Seaman’s original strategic planning process was the decision to separate the discussionof the long-term strategic plan and the short-term business plan.Many executives try to lump these two very different types ofplanning into the same meeting. The problem with trying to discuss these two subjects in the same time slot is that the short termwill always take precedence. If you set up a two-hour meeting totalk about the distant future and the immediate present, it is goingto be awfully tempting to spend the lion’s share of those two hourson the here and now.
“We used to do it all at the same time,” he says. “But what youfound when you did that was you were very focused on the tactical one-year plan and you ended up with very little quality time toreally step back and talk strategically. We found ourselves movingfrom what was a three- to five-year plan to several time-consuming days that were essentially focused on building next year’s budget.”
Seaman says the only sure way to make sure you’re spendingenough time on long-term strategic planning is to allot separatetime for it.
About eight years ago, Seaman divided the strategic planningprocess and the business planning process into the two halves ofthe year. The company starts its strategic planning process inSeptember, one month before the beginning of its fiscal year.Seaman shifts the focus to the business planning process in April,six months into the fiscal year.
It may be difficult to focus on the future when today’s challengesare staring you right in the face, but Seaman says if you spend all yourplanning time on tactical plans, you will stunt the long-term growth ofyour organization.
Not only has Seaman continued to reap the reward of double-digit revenue percentage growth, but the time Seaman and his staffhave spent strategizing has also allowed them to react more quickly to changing market conditions. When a new, unexpected opportunity suddenly surfaces or when the economic forecast takes aturn for the worse, like today’s uncertain times, Seaman’s management team can identify those shifts earlier and usually has a solidplan in place to deal with them.
“We essentially identify the changes that occur in the economic environment,” he says. “We’re going to pick those up earlier, and we’regoing to have better options and responses to them more quickly.Otherwise, what we’ve seen happen is if you’re not stepping back andthinking strategically about your business — when I say thinkingstrategically, I mean having a good pulse about what’s going on in theoverall economy and how it distills down and affects your industryand your economy — if you don’t have that strategic perspective onyour business, then you just go along for a time period either not recognizing that changes are occurring or thinking the changes that areoccurring will pass and won’t have a big impact on you.”
It is in situations like those that having a strategy becomes essential. If your team gets caught off guard, starts panicking and makesa hurried decision, you could cause irreparable harm to your organization.
“It becomes a little bit like the frog that’s in the pot of water —you start turning the heat up, but he doesn’t jump out until it’s toolate,” Seaman says.
Don’t be like that frog. You can keep your company prepared forthe future. If you do your research, you won’t be caught unprepared by something you could potentially have foreseen.
