Strategic Planning Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

How Does A Strategic Plan Get Implemented?

If we make the distinction between the strategic plan and the operational plan, part of the answer is straight-forward, at least with respect to goals and objectives.

During strategic planning, a set of longer term goals and objectives will be part of the work product. Ultimately, these goals and objectives need to be transfered and translated in such a way that they guide the action of the workunits and the employees in those work units.

So, part of the implementation involves using the strategic planning goals and objectives (and values) as a basis for creating operational plans for the entire organization, and its workunits. It's a logical process. The larger and broader strategic planning goals are divided, or sub-divided and assigned to the work units, during yearly operational planning. It is then the responsibility of the managers of the sub-units to ensure that their "bits" of the overall operational plan for the organization get done.

Once the workunits have their yearly operational goals, they, in turn, are broken down into more actionable tasks, and assigned to employees and teams, often during the performance planning process (as part of performance management).

So, the strategic plan ---> the operational plan

The whole organization's operational plan ---> work unit's plans

The workunit's operational plan ---> individual employee assignments, goals and objectives

This cascading is what provides better goal alignment in the organization. Note also that in larger hierarchical organizations, there may be more steps (i.e. division goals, department goals). The principle is the same.