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How to set strategic goals (with 73 examples you can steal)

Georgina Guthrie

Georgina Guthrie

March 23, 2022

As a project manager, setting strategic goals for your team is an absolute must. By establishing objectives, you can ensure everyone (including yourself) is productive and moving in the right direction. It also means you can track progress and make real-time adjustments — which is incredibly difficult to do without clear metrics . In fact, without measurable goals, it’s near impossible to determine whether initiatives are working or not.

But what should these goals be?

What are strategic goals?

A strategic goal is a broad, long-term objective that a company strives to achieve. It can be something as general as becoming the top player in your industry or as specific as increasing market share by 20%.

There are different types of strategic goals (which we’ll explore in a little more detail later on), and each goal will involve metrics — the  criteria you’ll use to measure progress.

Why are performance metrics important?

Metrics are important because they provide concrete evidence of whether a goal is being achieved. Without metrics, it can be difficult to determine whether things are working and how well. Metrics also help to identify areas of improvement and allow for targeted action.

Here are some common strategic goals metrics:

  • Revenue growth :  this metric measures how much revenue the company generates over some time. You can break it down by product, market, or other factors.
  • Gross margin : this measures how much profit the company earns on each dollar of revenue. Gross margins are useful for tracking product profitability or comparing performance against competitors.
  • Customer churn : churn refers to how many customers leave the company over a given period. It can identify areas of improvement and indicate which aspects of a service or product are driving away customers.
  • Employee turnover : the opposite of retention, turnover measures how many employees leave the company over a given period. A high turnover rate often indicates that the company needs to improve its employee retention strategy or benefits package.
  • Social media followers : this metric measures how many people follow your company on various social media platforms. Follower numbers help you determine the strength of the company’s brand awareness or engagement levels.
  • Website visits : this metric shows how many people visit your company website over time. You can use this data to track the company’s online visibility or marketing efforts.
  • Product launch success : this metric measures the success of a product release. You can use factors such as sales, customer feedback, and market share to understand product launch success clearly.

Strategic goals vs. strategic management: what’s the difference?

While both strategic goals and strategic management are important, they’re not the same thing.

  • Strategic goals are the objectives a company aims to achieve.
  • Strategic management is the process of setting and accomplishing those goals.

Think of strategic goals as the long-term outcome you envision — the things you want to achieve in three to five years. To achieve your goals, you need a well-defined process for developing and monitoring them. That’s where strategic management comes in.

Strategic goals vs. OKRs: what’s the difference?

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a popular framework for setting strategic goals. But there are some key differences between OKRs and strategic goals.

Firstly, OKRs are typically shorter-term compared to strategic goals. Secondly, OKRs are more specific and quantitative, while strategic goals are broader and qualitative. Thirdly, OKRs are often used in performance-driven organizations, while strategic goals can be used in any organization.

Strategic goals vs. KPIs: what’s the difference?

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are a popular framework for measuring performance. Here’s where they differ from strategic goals.

KPIs are usually more narrow in scope than strategic goals. And while KPIs are highly specific and quantitative, strategic goals are more broad and qualitative. Also, KPIs are best suited for measuring operational performance , while strategic goals are better for measuring business performance overall.

Strategic goals vs. business goals:

There are some key similarities between strategic goals and business goals. Both are important for driving organizational success and must be measurable and achievable to offer the most value. But here’s where they differ:

  • Strategic goals focus on long-term growth or performance, while business goals are more immediate targets you must hit to achieve bigger objectives.
  • Business goals tend to be specific and quantitative, while strategic goals have a broader and more aspirational focus.
  • Strategic goals encourage you to take a comprehensive approach to achieve organizational success. Business goals are more modular and focus on improving performance in individual business units or departments.

Which framework is right for your company?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The right goal-setting framework depends on your company’s size, culture, and industry. If unsure which model is right, speak with a business advisor or consultant for guidance. They can help you understand which operational factors impact your organization and choose a framework to drive progress.

How to set strategic goals

Now that we’ve covered some differences between strategic goals and other popular frameworks, let’s take a closer look at how to set effective strategic goals.

1. Start with the big picture

Start by thinking about the overall vision and mission of your company. What are you trying to achieve? Where do you want to be in three to five years? Once you have a general idea of where you want to go, you can start thinking about specific goals to help you get there.

2. Make them SMART

All goals should be SMART : that’s Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Your goals must be specific enough to be quantified and measured, achievable (not too easy or too difficult), and relevant to the company’s overall vision and mission. They should also have a specific timeframe for completion.

3. Communicate your goals to all employees

Make sure to communicate your goals to all employees, not just management. Employees need to understand what the company’s trying to accomplish and their role in achieving those objectives.

4. Hold everyone accountable

Holding employees accountable for meeting their goals is important to success. Use a system of rewards and penalties to motivate employees to stay on track.

5. Evaluate progress, and make changes as needed

Regularly evaluating progress is essential for managing the pace and success of your goals. If necessary, make changes based on what you learn from one milestone to the next.

Now, let’s get to some real-world examples.

73 strategic goal examples

We’ve split this list by goal type to make it easier to follow. Please note: the examples do not reflect Nulab’s goals; they’re here for educational purposes.

Strategic goals for finance

1) Increase revenue by 20% in the next three years 2) Reduce costs by 15% in the next 12 months 3) Invest in new technology that will improve our overall efficiency 4) Increase our market share by 5% in the next two years 5) Create a new product that will generate $1 million in revenue in the next 12 months 6) Diversify our revenue streams into two new markets 7) Become financially sustainable by 2023 8) Grow shareholder value by 20% in the next two years 9) Reduce marketing costs by 10% over the next year

Strategic goals for marketing

10) Increase website traffic by 25% in the next three months 11) Generate 1,000 leads through our website in the next six months 12) Double our social media following in the next six months 13) Increase customer satisfaction by five points in the next year 14) Increase brand awareness by 25% in the next year 15) Launch a new marketing campaign that generates a 10% ROI 16) Reach 10,000 people through our email list in the next six months 17) Secure two major partnerships in the next 12 months 18) Attend three industry tradeshows in the next year

Strategic goals for R&D

19) Develop a new product that will be in the market in 12 months 20) Patent our new technology by the end of the year 21) Increase our R&D budget by 15% in the next year 22) Hire two new senior scientists in the next six months 23) Double our current market share in the next three years 24) Develop a product that is fives times more efficient than our current products 25) Reduce the time to market for new products by 50% in the next year 26) Increase our customer base by 20% in the next year 27) Collaborate with two other companies in the next year

Strategic goals for employee productivity

28) Increase average billable hours per employee by 20% in the next three months 29) Streamline our billing process so that it takes employees less time to bill clients 30) Reduce customer support inquiries by 20% in the next month 31) Improve team productivity by 10% in the next three months 32) Implement a new CRM system that will make it easier for employees to find customer information 33) Create a training program for new employees that will shorten the learning curve 34) Hire two new customer service representatives in the next month 35) Allow employees to work from home one day a week 36) Give employees a 5% raise in the next three months

Strategic goals for innovation

37) Develop a new product that will be in the market in 12 months 38) Patent our new technology by the end of the year 39) Increase our R&D budget by 15% in the next year 40) Hire two new senior product designers in the next six months 41) Double our current market share in the next three years 42) Develop a product that is five times more efficient than our current products 43) Reduce the time to market for new products by 50% in the next year 44) Increase our customer base by 20% in the next year 45) Collaborate with two other companies in the next year

Customer-focused strategic goals

46) Increase customer satisfaction by five points in the next year 47) Decrease website bounce rate by 25% in the next three months 48) Generate 1,000 customer product reviews in the next six months 49) Secure a rating of 75% five-star reviews on Tripadvisor by the end of the quarter 50) Reduce refund time by one week by the end of next quarter 51) Host two focus groups in December to get feedback about the new product 52) Reduce customer call time wait by an average of three minutes in the next two months 53) Secure two major influencer partnerships in the next 12 months 54) Increase newsletter subscriptions by 20% by the end of 2022

Strategic goals for internal improvement

55) Increase average billable hours per employee by 20% in the next three months 56) Develop and implement new company core values by December 2023 57) Reduce staff turnover by 25% in the next six months 58) Increase employee satisfaction by 10% in the next six months 59) Implement a new training program for new employees 60) Give employees a raise of 5% in the next three months 61) Hire two new customer service representatives in the next month 62) Allow employees to work from home one day a week 63) Reduce the time it takes to process invoices by 50% in the next month 64) Implement new software that will improve team communication

Strategic goals to promote growth

65) Secure a new office space that is twice the size of our current one 66) Implement a new sales strategy that generates a 20% increase in sales in the next six months 67) Increase our customer base by 20% in the next year 68) Double our market share in the next three years 69) Collaborate with two other companies in the next year 70) Launch a new marketing campaign that generates a 10% ROI 71) Reach 10,000 people through our email list in the next six months 72) Secure two major partnerships in the next 12 months 73) Invest in a new advertising campaign

Final thoughts

Developing effective strategic goals is essential for any business, regardless of size or industry. By setting measurable, achievable objectives, you can ensure your company is moving fully ahead in the right direction and achieving its long-term goals.

As your organization or team grows and changes, choose tools that make collaborating and tracking your goal metrics as convenient as possible. By doing so, you’ll be able to work together as a team toward the success you and your business deserve.

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How to Set Strategic Planning Goals

Team setting strategic planning goals

  • 29 Oct 2020

In an ever-changing business world, it’s imperative to have strategic goals and a plan to guide organizational efforts. Yet, crafting strategic goals can be a daunting task. How do you decide which goals are vital to your company? Which ones are actionable and measurable? Which goals to prioritize?

To help you answer these questions, here’s a breakdown of what strategic planning is, what characterizes strategic goals, and how to select organizational goals to pursue.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the ongoing organizational process of using available knowledge to document a business's intended direction. This process is used to prioritize efforts, effectively allocate resources, align shareholders and employees, and ensure organizational goals are backed by data and sound reasoning.

Research in the Harvard Business Review cautions against getting locked into your strategic plan and forgetting that strategy involves inherent risk and discomfort. A good strategic plan evolves and shifts as opportunities and threats arise.

“Most people think of strategy as an event, but that’s not the way the world works,” says Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen in the online course Disruptive Strategy . “When we run into unanticipated opportunities and threats, we have to respond. Sometimes we respond successfully; sometimes we don’t. But most strategies develop through this process. More often than not, the strategy that leads to success emerges through a process that’s at work 24/7 in almost every industry."

Related: 5 Tips for Formulating a Successful Strategy

4 Characteristics of Strategic Goals

To craft a strategic plan for your organization, you first need to determine the goals you’re trying to reach. Strategic goals are an organization’s measurable objectives that are indicative of its long-term vision.

Here are four characteristics of strategic goals to keep in mind when setting them for your organization.

4 Characteristics of Strategic Goals

1. Purpose-Driven

The starting point for crafting strategic goals is asking yourself what your company’s purpose and values are . What are you striving for, and why is it important to set these objectives? Let the answers to these questions guide the development of your organization’s strategic goals.

“You don’t have to leave your values at the door when you come to work,” says HBS Professor Rebecca Henderson in the online course Sustainable Business Strategy .

Henderson, whose work focuses on reimagining capitalism for a just and sustainable world, also explains that leading with purpose can drive business performance.

“Adopting a purpose will not hurt your performance if you do it authentically and well,” Henderson says in a lecture streamed via Facebook Live . “If you’re able to link your purpose to the strategic vision of the company in a way that really gets people aligned and facing in the right direction, then you have the possibility of outperforming your competitors.”

Related: 5 Examples of Successful Sustainability Initiatives

2. Long-Term and Forward-Focused

While strategic goals are the long-term objectives of your organization, operational goals are the daily milestones that need to be reached to achieve them. When setting strategic goals, think of your company’s values and long-term vision, and ensure you’re not confusing strategic and operational goals.

For instance, your organization’s goal could be to create a new marketing strategy; however, this is an operational goal in service of a long-term vision. The strategic goal, in this case, could be breaking into a new market segment, to which the creation of a new marketing strategy would contribute.

Keep a forward-focused vision to ensure you’re setting challenging objectives that can have a lasting impact on your organization.

3. Actionable

Strong strategic goals are not only long-term and forward-focused—they’re actionable. If there aren’t operational goals that your team can complete to reach the strategic goal, your organization is better off spending time and resources elsewhere.

When formulating strategic goals, think about the operational goals that fall under them. Do they make up an action plan your team can take to achieve your organization’s objective? If so, the goal could be a worthwhile endeavor for your business.

4. Measurable

When crafting strategic goals, it’s important to define how progress and success will be measured.

According to the online course Strategy Execution , an effective tool you can use to create measurable goals is a balanced scorecard —a tool to help you track and measure non-financial variables.

“The balanced scorecard combines the traditional financial perspective with additional perspectives that focus on customers, internal business processes, and learning and development,” says HBS Professor Robert Simons in the online course Strategy Execution . “These additional perspectives help businesses measure all the activities essential to creating value.”

The four perspectives are:

  • Internal business processes
  • Learning and growth

Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard

The most important element of a balanced scorecard is its alignment with your business strategy.

“Ask yourself,” Simons says, “‘If I picked up a scorecard and examined the measures on it, could I infer what the business's strategy was? If you've designed measures well, the answer should be yes.”

Related: A Manager’s Guide to Successful Strategy Implementation

Strategic Goal Examples

Whatever your business goals and objectives , they must have all four of the characteristics listed above.

For instance, the goal “become a household name” is valid but vague. Consider the intended timeframe to reach this goal and how you’ll operationally define “a household name.” The method of obtaining data must also be taken into account.

An appropriate revision to the original goal could be: “Increase brand recognition by 80 percent among surveyed Americans by 2030.” By setting a more specific goal, you can better equip your organization to reach it and ensure that employees and shareholders have a clear definition of success and how it will be measured.

If your organization is focused on becoming more sustainable and eco-conscious, you may need to assess your strategic goals. For example, you may have a goal of becoming a carbon neutral company, but without defining a realistic timeline and baseline for this initiative, the probability of failure is much higher.

A stronger goal might be: “Implement a comprehensive carbon neutrality strategy by 2030.” From there, you can determine the operational goals that will make this strategic goal possible.

No matter what goal you choose to pursue, it’s important to avoid those that lack clarity, detail, specific targets or timeframes, or clear parameters for success. Without these specific elements in place, you’ll have a difficult time making your goals actionable and measurable.

Prioritizing Strategic Goals

Once you’ve identified several strategic goals, determine which are worth pursuing. This can be a lengthy process, especially if other decision-makers have differing priorities and opinions.

To set the stage, ensure everyone is aware of the purpose behind each strategic goal. This calls back to Henderson’s point that employees’ alignment on purpose can set your organization up to outperform its competitors.

Calculate Anticipated ROI

Next, calculate the estimated return on investment (ROI) of the operational goals tied to each strategic objective. For example, if the strategic goal is “reach carbon-neutral status by 2030,” you need to break that down into actionable sub-tasks—such as “determine how much CO2 our company produces each year” and “craft a marketing and public relations strategy”—and calculate the expected cost and return for each.

Return on Investment equation: net profit divided by cost of investment multiplied by 100

The ROI formula is typically written as:

ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100

In project management, the formula uses slightly different terms:

ROI = [(Financial Value - Project Cost) / Project Cost] x 100

An estimate can be a valuable piece of information when deciding which goals to pursue. Although not all strategic goals need to yield a high return on investment, it’s in your best interest to calculate each objective's anticipated ROI so you can compare them.

Consider Current Events

Finally, when deciding which strategic goal to prioritize, the importance of the present moment can’t be overlooked. What’s happening in the world that could impact the timeliness of each goal?

For example, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the ever-intensifying climate change crisis have impacted many organizations’ strategic goals in 2020. Often, the goals that are timely and pressing are those that earn priority.

Which HBS Online Strategy Course is Right for You? | Download Your Free Flowchart

Learn to Plan Strategic Goals

As you set and prioritize strategic goals, remember that your strategy should always be evolving. As circumstances and challenges shift, so must your organizational strategy.

If you lead with purpose, a measurable and actionable vision, and an awareness of current events, you can set strategic goals worth striving for.

Do you want to learn more about strategic planning? Explore our online strategy courses and download our free flowchart to determine which is right for you and your goals.

This post was updated on November 16, 2023. It was originally published on October 29, 2020.

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Examples of strategic objectives, what are strategic objectives.

Strategic objectives are often one of the most challenging components of a strategic plan. They create the bridge between your big, bold vision and the annual goals needed to achieve it.

Strategic objectives establish the boundaries for what your organization’s effort must focus on. They create the top layer of your organizational strategy and strategic plan’s framework, articulating what you’ll focus on to achieve your vision of success.

Download the Free Guide Here

We’ve put this guide together to show you how to develop your strategic plan’s objectives!

Tip The best strategic objectives are built from your SWOT Analysis and Vision Statement. Check out our guides if you need to complete those planning elements first.

Defining Strategic Objectives

Strategic Objectives Defined

Video Transcript – Strategic Objectives Defined

Hi, everyone, its Erica from OnStrategy.

Welcome to today’s whiteboard session on defining strategic objectives. From my point of view, strategic objectives are the hardest part of strategic planning. And why is that? That’s because they’re really in between a big vision and translating that big vision into annual goals or actions. And they make the bridge between the big idea and what’s actually getting done this year, this quarter this week. So strategic objectives serve such an important purpose. And they can take a little bit to get right. This is a two part series, check out this one first.

So we’re going to go through what they are. And the other one, we’re going to talk about how to build them. So let’s define strategic objectives. First of all, you can call them anything you want. We’ve heard them called strategic priorities, strategic goals, pillars, planks, kumquats, oranges, it doesn’t really matter. Today, we’re going to call them strategic objectives. And we are defining them as broad statements of direction. And again, they’re little mini vision statements that translate your vision into a bridge to build an annual plan.

Okay, so broad statements. That’s the that’s the idea. Let’s look at the anatomy of so here’s an example of a really good strategic objective. We like to start with a label. So what is it market growth, let’s just say that, followed by a colon, a strong verb, and a statement of impact, in this case, strengthen our competitive position. Super simple, this is a little bit generic, you could continue the sentence if you want to, to make it a little more relevant to your organization. But you know, quick talking points, one of the strategic objectives for the organization is market growth. And what we’re trying to get done is strengthening our competitive position. Great.

Then underneath that, and I don’t have it fully built out here. But we like to actually build out an intent, couple of sentences, maybe even a paragraph, and this is really the the sense of where are you trying to go with this strategic objective, it really starts to bring it to life. And we like to have three sections in that intent statement. Where are you now, in the context of this, this strategic objectives in this case, your competitive position, you know, strategic plans have a lifespan.

And so it’s nice to know at the time in which you wrote it, where are you now a couple of sentences? What are the shifts that are needed in order to actually realize strengthening your competitive position? In this case, this will help you build great goals and initiatives? And then what’s the approach? What’s your method for strengthening competitive your competitive position. And by that, I mean, organic acquisitive, those types of things. So you could envision your intent statement, having, you know, a couple of sentences here, a couple of sentences here, and a couple of sentences here. Okay.

How do you use your strategic objectives? There are two really great ways to use them. Number one is you’re going to roadmap your strategic objectives by year and what we mean by that is this starts to become your framework for how do you actually build a plan that has a horizon. Now, in agile planning, it’s hard to have a really long horizon, but you do have a direction. So when this starts to build out your swim lanes, your strategic objectives, start to build out your swim lanes for your plan.

The second thing that you use your strategic objectives for are is building out your annual plan. So of course, for each strategic objective, you’ll have a handful of annual statements. In this case, I’m calling them goals, what are you actually going to achieve in the you know, the year that you’re in in order to move this objective forward? And then so on and so forth. So it starts your cascade? So a really nice thing to think about is strategic objectives answer the question where, and then following under that is the what, and then following under that is the how doesn’t matter what you call them? But absolutely, those are the components that make a strat plan go from a big idea to actually something that’s producing results.

And that’s all we have for you today. Check out part two for an example of how to build a framework with your strategic objectives. Don’t forget, subscribe to our social channels. Happy strategizing.

Strategic goals, priorities, pillars, planks, and strategic objectives— they’re all the same thing! Whatever you call them, they’re a critical component of your plan. For this whitepaper, we’re going to call them strategic objectives.

Strategic objectives are broad statements of direction that create a bridge from your vision to the annual plan or goals. We like to refer to strategic goals or strategic objectives as “mini vision statements” because they should support your overall vision of success but break it down into manageable and actionable focus areas.

Get the Free Guide to Build Your Strategic Objectives (with Examples!)

Ideally, strategic objectives should be broad, 3-year(ish) statements that address the core functional areas of your organization. We’re fans of Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard.® which guides strategic objectives to address various factors such as the people of your organization and their skills and growth, operations and internal processes, customer service, and financial areas of your organization. Having an SO in each of the Balanced Scorecard perspectives ensures your plan is focusing on the core aspects of your business (people, process, customers and financial).

Answer These Questions to Create Intent for Your Strategic Objectives

One of the things we like to complete as we build our new strategic objectives is a statement of intent. We include the answer to the following questions as a short paragraph with each strategic objective to clarify intent:

  • Where are we now & where do we need to be in X years?
  • What strategic shifts are needed to get there?
  • What is our approach to achieve success?

Answering these core questions will help you create your new strategic objectives with clarity about what you’re seeking to achieve and what the cascading goals or OKRs need to focus on.

The Anatomy of a Strategic Objective

Anatomy of a Strategic Objective

Strategic objectives or goals should start with a label. The label should clearly identify what it is you’re seeking to achieve. In this example, we’re seeking to achieve Customer Retention.

Begin your SO’s descriptive statement with a ‘power’ verb: a strong, action-oriented verb. Think “Create” or “Increase,” not passive verbs like, “Confirm” or “Facilitate.”

Statement of Impact

A short description of what you will achieve and how it will impact the organization. This should answer the intent questions from the previous section.

Building a Strategic Framework

Building Your Strategic Framework

With an understanding of the anatomy of a strategic objective, you can build the framework of your strategic management plan. As we’ve mentioned, strategic objectives are the bridge between your big, bold vision and your annual execution of goals and initiatives.

They Are Multi-Year in Nature

Tip Annual goals are cascaded from the Strategic Objectives. Check out our guide on SMART goals if you need help writing your goals.

Your Framework Has 6 or Fewer Strategic Objectives

Tip Unsure how to prioritize your opportunities as you create your Strategic Objectives? Check out this exercise on prioritizing strategic objectives to help.

It Provides Company-wide Direction

It is not a mish-mash of department goals, example: balanced scorecard framework.

This is a traditional balanced scorecard framework. We like this framework because it covers all aspects of an organization and creates a balanced plan:

Tip It is essential to not use words that you found in someone else’s strategic plan! Use the words that are relevant to your organization and its culture and the message you want to send to your team about the investment the plan is making in them and the organization’s future.

Example: Themed Framework

A different way to think about creating a framework is theming your strategic objectives. Here’s what that might look like:

Strategic Objectives Examples:

We prefer to organize these types of strategic objectives into these four buckets and have provided some examples of each:

Financial Strategic Objectives

  • Financial Growth: To exceed $10 million in the next 10 years.
  • Financial Growth: To increase revenue by 10% annually.
  • Financial Efficiency: To decrease expenses by 5%.
  • Financial Efficiency: To increase net profit by 10% annually.

Customer/Constituent Strategic Objectives

  • Current Customers: Expand sales to existing customers.
  • Current Customers: Increase customer retention.
  • Current Customers: Achieve and maintain outstanding customer service.
  • Current Customers: Develop and use a customer database.
  • New Customers: Introduce existing products into a new market.
  • New Customers: Introduce new products to new and existing markets.
  • New Customers: To expand sales to the global marketplace.
  • Customer Services: Improve our service approach for new and existing customers.

Internal/Operational Strategic Objectives

  • Product/Service/Program Management: To have all product meet standard of excellence guidelines. (Some businesses prefer to list their individual products or services as separate objectives.)
  • Operations Management: Capitalize on physical facilities (location, capacity, etc.).
  • Operations Management: Increase community outreach.
  • Technology Management: Increase efficiencies through use of wireless or virtual technology.
  • Communication Management: Improve internal communications.
  • Customer Management: To execute and maintain a CRM process that is producing results.
  • Marketing Management: Develop and implement a promotional plan to drive increased business.
  • Alliance Management: Establish one new strategic alliance annually.
  • Channel Management: Improve distributor and/or supplier relationships.

People/Learning Strategic Objectives

  • People: Employ professionals who create success for customers.
  • Training: To develop the leadership abilities and potential of our team.
  • Culture: To align incentives and staff rewards with performance.
  • Knowledge: To continually learn and adopt current best practices.

Remember, these are just examples of strategic objectives. Sometimes seeing an example makes understanding the process easier.

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35 Comments

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Hey there!!

found it very good and informative. it educates me to set something strategically for the benefit of my organisation and to grow it.

further more i would like to know every organisation having different departments to fulfill particular requirements. say purchase/procurement, finance/accounts, personnel management/HR. I request you to guide on departmental stratagic ideas too.

Thanks a ton..

Regards Amit

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very useful information for strategic planning. the information has assisted me greatly to review ma companys’ strategic plan

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This is great stuff!!!

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Thanks! Very concise and helpful!

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Thanks for positing. Its really very useful info.

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Don’t objectives need to be SMART?

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yes, they need to be. Are they not?

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A well thought out document. Found interesting and useful

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very informative. thank you very much. 🙂

I find this very helpful and just in time for my strategic assignment. Thank you and continue providing such information.

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This is very helpful to me especially now that im doing an assessment on marketing plan

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It was very nice common strategic objectives to start with. Also can add Improve Market Share Increase, Share Holder Value, Brand Image, Customer Satisfaction, Return on Investment (ROI), Decrease Production Time, Increase Quality of the product, Safety Measures like Decrease Accidents, Environmental Measures etc. This will help for new companies.

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Thank you so much! I found this article very much helpful to complete my strategy-management assignment.

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thanksyouve helpd me through to answermy appraisal form atwork

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Splendid. Really needed this to improve services for my starting business. Sincerely grateful. Keep it up!

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This was very insightful and helpful. Thanks

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This was very helpful . Sincere thanks

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Really a great stuff as it has helped me as a fresh entrepreneur. Thanks a lot.

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i am glad to see that kind of techniques. these are helpful for a entrepreneur.

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very useful for my strategic analysis of a Ghanaian insurance company. thanks

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very insightful read, thank you

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Can a strategic plan like for instance Operational Excellence tie into objectives and tactics? If so, how?

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Spectacular work <3 very helpful for my studies. Thoroughly enjoyed

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Amazing! Thanks, Everything Strategy, for this helpful blog. I am now knowledgeable about the strategic objectives. I am motivated to pursue my success in the future. Thank you so much!

' src=

Hi, The article is well written and worth reading. Thank you for sharing the valuable information. Please keep sharing more about Financial Goals For A Business!

Comments Cancel

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examples of strategic planning goals and objectives

examples of strategic planning goals and objectives

Objectives And Goals Of Strategic Planning

In an overly competitive business world, it’s highly crucial for organizations to consistently ace up their game to stay relevant….

Strategic Planning Objectives

In an overly competitive business world, it’s highly crucial for organizations to consistently ace up their game to stay relevant. A part of it comes from effective strategic planning that involves crafting long-term strategic goals , and formulating a strategic plan that outlines the organization’s process to achieve these goals. Strategic Planning not only builds a competitive advantage for an organization, but also removes uncertainty and confusion. Let’s dive deep into the topic and build a deeper understanding of it.

What Is Strategic Planning?

How is strategic planning different from business planning, purpose of strategic planning and importance, the strategic planning process, effective strategic goals, what is strategic planning .

Strategic planning is the systematic process of defining an organization’s long-term goals and proposing strategies to achieve them. This is essential to elucidating the organization’s long-term vision and its process of making that vision a reality. The strategic planning process is used to effectively allocate resources, prioritize work, and ensure that organizational goals are backed by statistical data and sound reasoning.

In a nutshell, the process of strategic planning includes answering questions like:

  • Where are we now?
  • Where are we going?
  • What is going to get in our way?
  • What do we need to do to get to where we want to go?

Strategic planning differs greatly from business planning. Strategic planning requires you to withhold your general day-to-day activities and enunciate where your organization is heading. It also requires crafting strategic goals and objectives for the future and setting up milestones and steps required to achieve those goals. A business plan , on the other hand, is more concerned with creating and working on short- or mid-term goals. It focuses on goals that are not more than a year long and serves a specific purpose, such as directing operations, launching a product and acquiring funding.

The main purpose of strategic planning is to set clearly defined goals for the growth and success of your organization and achieve them with the help of an effective strategic plan. It establishes a connection between your organization’s mission, its long-term vision and the established plan. 

It’s important because of a variety of factors:

  • It’s crucial to determine the direction and focus of an organization. 
  • It ensures organizational alignment, allowing everyone to work towards shared goals. 
  • It helps an organization understand its weaknesses and analyze potential risks.
  • It boosts productivity and builds a positive work environment. 

Following are the steps involved in the development and execution of a strategic plan:

  • Understanding your organization’s mission and defining its ultimate purpose.
  • Describing your organization’s vision.
  • Crafting long-term goals and objectives that are clearly aligned with the organization’s vision.
  • Formulating a strategic plan that outlines how the organization will achieve its goals in the next 3–5 years.

Big Picture thinking is a critical aspect of the strategic planning process. Furthermore, the strategic planning process might look a bit simple at first, but the challenges start creeping in over time. It’s important for your organization to persistently stick to its plan, and leverage short term implementation to reach its goals.

Objectives of strategic planning are detailed statements of direction that indicate what all is necessary and important in an organizational strategy. Specifically, these are clear goals that the organization strives to achieve in the near future. Ideally, these are statements for the next 3-5 years that address the core competency and functional areas of an organization. These objectives help you draft strategies that include effective measures and initiatives. 

The following are some characteristics of effective strategic goals: 

Purpose-driven

Focused on the long term.

Some of the key aspects that you should focus on while drafting the right goals and objectives of strategic planning for your organization, include understanding your industry, and what your organization is seeking to achieve.

Objectives of Strategic Planning differ greatly based on the industry your organization is operating in. For instance, if you’re in IT, construction or technical services, which are fast-paced industries, you should focus on creating objectives that work for your organization’s growth goals. Launching a new range of products or investing in marketing and customer acquisition can be a few appropriate strategies. Organizations operating in slow-growing industries, such as coal power production and steel manufacturing, should bank on objectives that focus on stability, by managing expenses and protecting assets.

For creating goals of strategic planning , always begin with a label. The label must clearly define your organization’s long-term goals. For example, if customer retention is what your organization is eyeing, the objectives should focus on offering more value-for-money products and better customer services. But if your organization is seeking to improve employee retention rate, crafting objectives such as enhancing the recruitment process, streamlining the onboarding process and creating a better culture would help.

It’s essential to understand that while some organizations may require a comprehensive strategic plan for the future, others might just want to update their existing strategic plan, or specifically revise some elements of the plan. A lot of organizations focus on crafting a plan that tackles a particular strategic issue such as an unexpected competitive initiative, the latest technological trends or a possible M&A transaction. 

Let’s look at a few examples of strategic goals to understand them better.

Financial Objectives

  • Increase revenue
  • Maintain profitability
  • Grow shareholder value
  • Ensure favorable bond ratings
  • Ensure financial stability

Internal Objectives

  • Grow sales percentage for new products.
  • Decrease employee turnover rate.
  • Improve customer service and relationships.
  • Invest in total quality management.
  • Reduce a certain amount of cost annually.
  • Streamline core business processes.

Customer Objectives

  • Offer the best value for money.
  • Cross-sell more products.
  • Provide the best service.
  • Increase market share.
  • Expand product offerings.

Learning And Growth Objectives

  • Enhance technical and analytical knowledge.
  • Improve staff productivity.
  • Build a performance-focused culture.
  • Invest in productivity tools.
  • Maintain alignment across the organization.

Strategic planning is important, and one can readily assume that with a good plan, any business will prosper. Harappa’s Making Decisions course that includes effective strategies, frameworks and mental models that will help you avoid uncertainty and make smarter strategic goals. Check it out now!

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Examples of Strategic Plan

Examples of a Strategic Plan to Achieve Long-Term Growth

Team Ninety, Author at Work From Anywhere

This is a comprehensive guide on strategic planning for small to midsize companies.

If you want to:

  • Move your organization in the direction you intend for long-term success,
  • Implement your plan smoothly for greater growth,
  • Use a better platform for developing a truly effective strategic plan,

… then you’ll love this guide. Let’s get started.

What’s Covered in This Guide

Click on each to jump to that section.

What is Strategic Planning?

What does strategic planning mean, what is the goal of strategic planning.

  • What is Strategic Leadership?

4 Strategic Planning Strategies

The strategic planning process [11 steps], what does strategic planning involve.

  • How to Implement Your Strategic Plan

Examples of Strategic Plans

Get your strategic planning done on ninety.

Strategic planning is the process you use to:

  • Establish and document a clear direction for your organization.
  • Identify business goals and set priorities that create growth for your company.
  • Formulate a long-term plan of action designed to achieve these objectives.
  • Determine an internal system tracking and evaluating performance.

When organizations want to, they use a strategic plan to:

  • Strengthen their operation.
  • Focus on collective energy and resources.
  • Enable leaders, teams, and other stakeholders to work toward common goals.
  • Make agreements around desired results.
  • Refresh direction and prevail over a changing or challenging environment.

Thinking strategically helps companies take the right action for more success and better outcomes. Some even call it an art.

Strategic planning is one of three essential ways to pursue important objectives for your company. When tackling challenges and determining action plans, you can think strategically, tactically, or operationally. These three thought processes often work in concert to help you create a framework that achieves your desired objectives.

  • Strategic plans are designed for multilevel involvement throughout the entire organization. Leaders will look ahead to where they want to be in three, five, and ten years and develop a mission.
  • Tactical plans support strategic plans. They outline the specific responsibilities and functionalities at the department level so employees know how to do their part to make the strategic plan successful.
  • Operational plans focus on the highly detailed procedures, processes, and routine tasks that frontline employees must accomplish to achieve desired outcomes.

The goal of your strategic plan is to determine:

  • Where your company stands in relation to the current business environment. Understand how your business operates, how you create value, and how you differentiate from your competitors.
  • Where you want to take the business based on long-term objectives such as your company’s vision, mission, culture, values, and goals. Envision how you see the company five or ten years from now.
  • What you need to do to get there. You come away from your planning sessions with a roadmap that helps deliver on your strategic objectives. Determine better ways to enable and implement change, schedule deadlines, and structure goals, so they’re achievable.

The main purpose of your strategic plan is to create clearly defined goals for achieving the growth and success of your organization. These goals are connected to your organization’s mission and long-term vision.

What is Strategic Leadership? 

Strategic leadership is how you create, implement, and sustain your strategic plan, so your organization moves in the direction you intend for long-term success. This usually involves establishing ongoing practices and benchmarks, allocating resources, and providing leadership that supports your strategic mission and vision statement.

Strategic leadership, also known as strategy execution, can employ two different approaches:

  • A prescriptive approach is analytical and focuses on how strategies are created to account for risks and opportunities.
  • A descriptive approach is principle-driven and focuses on how strategies are implemented to account for risks and opportunities.

Most people agree that a strategic plan is only as good as the company’s ability to research, create, implement, evaluate, and adjust when needed. The benefits can be great when:

  • Your entire organization supports the plan.
  • Your business is set up to succeed.
  • Your employees are more likely to stay on track without being distracted or derailed.
  • You make better decisions based on metrics that facilitate course correction.
  • Everyone in your company is involved and invested in better outcomes.
  • Departments and teams are aligned across your company.
  • People are committed to learning and training.
  • Productivity increases, and performance improves.
  • Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

What are the four main points of strategic planning? You engage in strategic thinking so you can create effective company goals that are:

Purpose-driven

Align your strategic plan with the company’s purpose and values as you understand them.

Actionable strategic goals are worth spending your time and resources on to reach organizational objectives.

It’s critical for you to track your strategy's progress and success, enabling your teams to take action and meet the goals more effectively.

Focused Long-term

A long-term focus distinguishes a strategic plan from operational goals, which involve daily activities and milestones required for success. When planning strategically, you’re looking ahead to the company’s future.

A strategic plan isn’t written in a day. Critical thinking evolves over several months. Those involved in the strategic planning are usually a team of leaders and employees from your company and possibly other stakeholders.

When should strategic planning be done?

You should plan strategically for start-ups and newer organizations from the start. But even if your company is more established, it’s not too late to start working on strategy.

Flexible timing that’s tailored to the needs of your organization is smart. Although the frequency of strategy sessions is up to you, many leaders use these milestones as a guide:

  • When the economy, your market, and industry trends change, or a global event occurs (like the onset of a pandemic).
  • Following a change in senior leadership.
  • Before a product launch or when a new division is added to your business.
  • After your company merges with another organization.
  • During a convenient time frame such as a quarterly and annual review.

Many organizations opt to schedule regular strategic reviews such as quarterly or annually. Especially when crafting a plan, your strategic planning team should meet regularly. They will often follow predetermined steps in the development of your long-term plan.

What are the 11 steps of strategic planning?

Identify your company’s strategic position in the marketplace. .

Gather market data and research information from both internal and external sources. You may want to conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis to determine your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats against success. Your strengths and weaknesses are directly related to your current competitive advantage within your industry. They are what you use to balance challenges to your success. They also influence the likelihood of increased market share in the future.

Define your unique vision and mission. 

What would success look like for you in three years? Five years? Ten years? Articulate that in a vision statement. How do you intend to realize your vision? That’s articulated in your mission statement. Formulating purpose-driven strategic goals articulates why your company does what it does. Your organizational values inform your mission and vision and connect them to specific objectives.

Determine your company’s value.

Many companies use financial forecasting for this purpose. A forecast can assign anticipated measurable results, return on investment (ROI), or profits and cost of investment.

Set your organizational direction.

Defining the impact you want to have and the time frame for achieving helps focus a too-broad or over-ambitious first draft. This way, your plan will have objectives that will have the most impact. 

Create specific strategic objectives.

Your strategic objectives identify the conditions for your success. For instance, they may cover:

  • Value: Increasing revenue and shareholder value, budgeting cost, allocating resources aligned with the strategic plan, forecasting profitability, and ensuring financial stability. 
  • Customer Experience: Identifying target audiences, solution-based products and services, value for the cost, better service, and increased market share.
  • Operational Efficiency: Streamlining internal processes, investing in research and development, total quality and performance priorities, reducing cost, and improving workplace safety.
  • Learning and Growth: Training leaders and teams to address change and sustain growth, improving employee productivity and retention, and building high-performing teams.

Set specific strategic initiatives.

Strategic initiatives are your company's actions to reach your strategic objectives, such as raising brand awareness, a commitment to product development, purpose-driven employee training, and more.

Develop cascading goals.

Cascading goals are like cascading messages : They filter your strategy throughout the company from top to bottom. The highest-level goals align with mid-level goals to individual goals employees must accomplish to achieve overall outcomes. This helps everyone see how their performance will influence overall success, which improves engagement and productivity.

Create alignment across the entire company.

The success of your strategy is directly impacted by your commitment to inform and engage your entire workforce in strategy implementation. This involves ensuring everyone is connected and working together to achieve your goals. Overall decision-making becomes easier and more aligned.

Consider strategy mapping.

A strategy map is an easy-to-understand diagram, graphic, or illustration that shows the logical, cause-and-effect relationship among various strategic objectives. They are used to quickly communicate how your organization creates value. It will help you communicate the details of your strategic plan better to people by tapping into their visual learning abilities.

Use metrics to measure performance.

When your strategy informs the creation of SMART organizational goals , benchmarks can be established and metrics can be assigned to evaluate performance within time frames. Key performance indicators (KPIs) align performance and productivity with long-term strategic objectives. 

Evaluate the performance of your plan regularly.

You write a strategic plan to improve your company’s overall performance. Evaluating your progress at regular intervals will tell you whether you’re on your way to achieving your objectives or whether your plan needs an adjustment.

Effective strategic planning involves creating a company culture of good communication and accountability. It involves creating and embracing the opportunity for positive change.

Consider these statistics:

  • In many companies, only 42% of leaders and 27% of employees have access to a strategic plan.
  • Even if they have access, 95% of employees do not understand their organization's strategy.
  • 5.2% of a strategy’s potential is lost to poor communication.
  • What leaders care about makes up at least 80% of the content of their communications. But those messages do not tap into around 80% of their employees’ primary motivators for putting extra energy into a change program.
  • 28% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic initiatives succeed is the ability to attract skilled personnel; 25% say it’s good communication; 25% say it’s the ability to manage organizational change.

Here’s what you can do to embrace a culture of good communication and accountability:

Make your strategic plan visible. Talk about what's working and what isn't. People want to know where and how they fit into the organization and why their contribution is valuable. Even if they don't understand every element of the plan.

Build accountability. If you've agreed on a plan with clear objectives and priorities, your leaders have to take responsibility for what's in it. They must own the objectives and activities in your plan.

Create an environment for change. It’s much more difficult to implement a strategy if you think there will be no support or collaboration from your coworkers. Addressing their concerns will help build a culture that understands how to champion change.

Implementing Your Strategic Plan

  • 98% of leaders think strategy implementation takes more time than strategy formulation.
  • 61% of leaders acknowledge that their organizations often struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and its day-to-day implementation.
  • 45% of leaders say ensuring employees take different actions or demonstrate different behaviors is the toughest implementation challenge; 37% of leaders say it’s gaining support across the whole organization.
  • 39% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic plans succeed is skilled implementation.

The reality for so many is that it’s harder to implement a strategic plan than to craft one. Great strategic ideas and a clear direction are key to success, no matter what. But so is:

  • Turning strategic ideas into an easy-to-implement framework that enables meaningful managing, tracking, and adapting.  
  • Getting everyone in the organization on the same strategic page, from creation to execution.

When your plan is structured to support implementation, you're more likely to get it done.

What are examples of good strategic planning? There are lots of templates out there to help you create a plan document with pen and paper.

But Ninety has a better way.

The Vision planner is essentially a strategic planning template on Ninety’s cloud-based platform that allows you to:

  • Set goals, establish how you will meet them, and share them with those who need to know.
  • Gain visibility around your company values.
  • Create core values, a niche, and long-term goals that are accessible to everyone in your company.
  • Create a vision of the future that lets you know what needs to happen now.
  • Streamline and organize your processes.
  • Easily update and track changes.
  • Bring alignment to your entire organization.

And you can do all this with only two digitized pages.

In your Vision tool inside Ninety, you can easily access all the things that make strategic plans effective:

  • Executive Summary
  • Elevator Pitch
  • Mission Statement
  • Vision Statement
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Industry Analysis
  • Marketing Plan
  • Operations Plan
  • Financial Projections

Vision + Goals is also completely integrated with all other features on Ninety, such as Scorecards, 90-Day Goals, To-Dos, Issues, Roles & Responsibilities Chart, Meetings, One-on-Ones, and more:

  • Create a clear vision for each team.
  • Determine one- and three-year goals.
  • Reference past versions in a Vision archive.
  • Share your Vision with all teams, or keep it private.

Now that you’ve learned how to grow your company using strategic planning, it’s time to put your knowledge into practice:

Build your strategic plan on Ninety now.

Do you want more step-by-step guides on strategy, strategic planning, and creating actionable strategic plans?  Subscribe to our blog!

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Strategic Goal Examples for Use in Your Strategic Plan and Balanced Scorecard

By Anthony Taylor - June 17, 2016

Strategic goals are essential for any organization looking to achieve success. They provide direction and purpose, ensuring that everyone is working towards the same vision. However, it can be challenging to know where to start when it comes to setting strategic goals and identifying key performance indicators (KPIs). This article provides practical examples of strategic goals and KPIs to help businesses create a successful strategy.

What you need to know BEFORE you start setting strategic goals

A non-exhaustive list of strategic goal examples and KPI examples

Examples of strategic goals for finance

Examples of strategic goals for learning and growth

Examples of strategic goals for customers

Examples of potential areas to develop strategic goals for business processes

SMART Goals with Measurements and KPIs

As it has been famously said by management guru Peter Drucker: "What gets measured gets managed" . Some important questions for you to consider include: 

  • How do you figure out what you need to measure and manage?
  • How do you decide which KPIs you want to track?

To ensure the success of your organization's strategic planning process , it is crucial to go conduct stakeholder engagement sessions before selecting your strategic goals. Without the support of those who will carry out operational tasks, the implementation of your strategy may not be successful. Therefore, completing the strategic planning process in its entirety is vital. After completing your offsite facilitation , it is important to have a clear understanding of your organization's desired direction in order to determine what should be tracked during the strategic planning process. It is crucial to align strategic goals with your organization's strategic priorities . Developing endless examples of strategic goals is not beneficial unless they significantly contribute to your mission or vision. Therefore, it is essential to focus on the goals that will have a substantial impact on your organization's mission or vision.

A non-exhaustive list of strategic goal examples and KPI examples:

If you use the Balanced Score Card  in your organization (you should), then below you'll find sample "objectives" or strategic priorities.  For each objective or strategic goal, you must have an accompanying measurement.

A rule of thumb for measurement is going from X (current state) to Y (desired future state) by date - Set a deadline for achieving your specified strategic goal. 

For example, if one of your strategic priorities is to "Enter new markets", t hen you can use these different sample strategic goals to measure your progress:

  • Enter X, Y, Z markets by date.
  • 20 total regional markets by date.
  • 20% market share in each new market by date.

They all technically fall under "Enter new markets", but they all have different measurements that will affect how you chose to implement your strategy.

Strategic Priorities:

You can sort the priorities themselves under whichever category makes sense to you. What matters is that you measure the progress and set targets.

Examples of strategic goals for finance:

  • Create and launch a new product(s)
  • Increase customer conversion
  • Become market leader
  • Sales: Company’s sales growth/Market sales Growth -> must be >1
  • Customer satisfaction  
  • Gain market position
  • Explore new customer segments
  • Increase revenues
  • Attract investment
  • Return on Assets
  • Shareholders dividend
  • Diversified revenue streams

Number of products in portfolio (BCG matrix)

Related Content: The Cost of Developing a Strategic Plan (3 Tiers) Strategic Problems and How to address them Achieving Your Strategic Goals: A Management Training Framework for Advancing Your Organization (Video)

Examples of strategic goals for learning and growth:

  • Read: The 16 best internal communication tools
  • Number of Online and in-person team updates
  • Number of Reporting tools
  • Number of internal newsletters a week
  • Communication skills training programs
  • Surveying your teams (monthly survey?)
  • Build on momentum
  • Implement performance review and reward system
  • Build cultur e and team alignment across the organization
  • Open new locations
  • Number of locations per city/region/country
  • Going international
  • Percentage of sales abroad/local
  • Number of exported products
  • Create and implement a training program
  • Decrease employee turnover
  • Improve employee satisfaction (Employee Engagement)
  • Employee Net Promoter Score : eNPS = (promoters-detractors)/total respondents
  • Balance employee utilization rate
  • Improve training programs

Examples of strategic goals for customers:

  • Improve customer satisfaction
  • Decrease the number of product returns 
  • Increase net promoter score
  • % of defaults on products
  • Response time to complaints
  • Number of followers/likes on social media
  • Number of returning customers
  • Improve our service approach for new and existing customers.
  • Strategic partnerships
  • Create impact measurement
  • Customer Delivery time
  • Increase in new customers

Assess how aligned your team is towards your strategic goals with our free one destination scorecard (Download now)

Examples of potential areas to develop strategic goals for business processes:

  • Increase web traffic
  • Number of publications
  • Number of backlinks
  • Vendor performance
  • Restructure organization
  • Implement software project
  • Grow through acquisition
  • Increase the value of projects and manage growth
  • Lower production costs
  • Build capacity for the future
  • Decrease defects
  • Improve supplier relationships
  • Increase team size
  • Find new volunteers
  • Launch and complete special projects
  • Per unit costs
  • Per unit yield
  • R&D development time
  • Improve resource allocation
  • Reduce financial waste  

SMART Goals with Measurements and KPIs:

  • Increase revenue per transaction:  from X to Y by DATE
  • Increase total revenue per customer:  from X to Y by DATE
  • Increase frequency of transactions:  from X to Y by DATE
  • Improve daily production from X to Y by DATE
  • Enter X, Y, Z markets by Date
  • 20% market share in each new market.
  • Acquire 2 companies with at least 5 million dollars in revenue by date.
  • Reduce accounts receivable from 60 to 45 days within 6 months.
  • Reduce customer wait times from 10 minutes to 5 minutes within 12 months.
  • Increase the number of prospects in the pipeline from 100 to 200 in 6 weeks.

And so on...

Those are just a few strategic goal examples that you can use when outlining your strategic priorities and building your strategic plan.

Need a strategic planning facilitato r to walk your team through the goal-setting process and Balanced Scorecard? Check out our service options

View facilitation options

Learn how to set strategic goal examples on your own through our video course

Enroll in our strategic planning course

SME Strategy is a  strategy consulting firm that specializes in assisting organizations in aligning their teams and operations around a shared vision, mission, values, goals, and action plans . Our strategic planning services   offer guidance on how a  strategic planning facilitator   can provide support in constructing an effective strategic plan that ensures your strategic goals are clear, measurable, and managed across your entire organization.

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smart goals for strategic planning

13 SMART Goals Examples for Strategic Planning

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, organizations must have a clear vision and direction to achieve their goals. This is where strategic planning comes into play.

Strategic planning can be defined as defining an organization’s direction, making decisions on allocating resources to pursue this strategy, and guiding the implementation of the chosen plan.

It’s a structured approach that helps organizations set priorities , focus resources, strengthen operations, and ensure employees work towards common goals.

Below, we’ll cover examples of SMART goals to help organizations effectively utilize strategic planning for their success. Let’s dive into it.

Table of Contents

What is a SMART Goal?

The SMART template is a powerful tool that can help you establish goals for strategic success. If you’re unfamiliar, SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

Let’s better understand each element of the SMART approach:

Rather than setting broad and ambiguous objectives like improving strategic skills or climbing the corporate ladder, it’s crucial to specify what you want to devise a roadmap.

Whether increasing revenue by X% or seeking professional growth opportunities, be sure to have a well-defined strategic plan to fuel your journey.

Quantifiable goals enable you to monitor progress and pinpoint areas that need enhancement. For instance, if your goal is to boost profits by 35%, then routinely tracking the financial metrics can help you ascertain whether this is being realized.

While it might be alluring to aim for the stars, keep your feet grounded in reality. Setting unrealistic goals can often cause frustration, adversely affecting your performance. Therefore, evaluate what’s achievable given your current capabilities.

Formulating goals that align with your core values is the secret to enduring tough times. Doing so can ignite an inner passion that resonates with us profoundly. Otherwise, it’s easy to lose steam and abandon our goals when confronted with hurdles.

Incorporating a timeline can ensure consistent progress and keep your aims in view. Understand that success isn’t an overnight phenomenon; it’s the cumulative result of persistent resilience over time.

1. Improve Employee Retention

“Our company will boost employee retention for three years by providing more opportunities for professional growth, implementing a fair and transparent promotion process, and creating a positive work environment.”

Specific: The actions taken are providing professional opportunities, implementing a fair promotion process, and fostering a positive workplace.

Measurable: Reduction in employee turnover rate can be determined. Employee satisfaction can also be tracked through surveys.

Attainable: As long as the company is willing to implement these changes, they are possible.

Relevant: This goal ties into promoting a positive work environment and improving employee retention .

Time-based: The actions should be implemented over three years.

2. Expand Market Share

“By the end of two years, I want to increase our market share by 30% through targeted marketing campaigns and expanding into new territories. I’ll evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts every 6 months to ensure we are on track.”

Specific: The goal is to increase market share by 30% within two years.

Measurable: Progress will be evaluated every 6 months to track the growth in market share.

Attainable: Although ambitious, this is doable through the listed action items (targeted marketing and expanding into new territories).

Relevant: This statement pertains to strategic planning as it focuses on the organization’s long-term growth.

Time-based: The goal has a time frame of two years for accomplishment.

3. Minimize Carbon Footprint

“The company will reduce its carbon emissions by 20% within three years by implementing energy-efficient practices, utilizing renewable energy sources, and promoting remote work options for employees.”

Specific: The goal is explicit in stating that the company will reduce carbon emissions by 20%.

Measurable: The company can track its progress through regular energy consumption reports and employee surveys about remote work options.

Attainable: Assuming the organization has the resources to implement energy-efficient practices and renewable energy sources, this goal is feasible.

Relevant: Reducing carbon emissions is essential for environmental sustainability and can also decrease energy costs for the company.

Time-based: There is a three-year window for strategic success.

4. Strengthen Brand Awareness

“We want to increase our social media presence by 20% for the next year through consistent posting and engaging with followers. That way, we can increase brand recognition and reach a larger audience.”

Specific: This goal specifies the desired result (20% increase in social media presence) and how to reach it (consistent posting and engaging with followers).

Measurable: Monitor the number of followers, likes, shares, and comments on social media platforms.

Attainable: Increasing social media presence is feasible with a consistent and strategic approach.

Relevant: Strategic planning must include marketing and promoting the organization’s brand.

Time-based: The goal is set for one year, providing a timeline for completion.

5. Develop New Products or Services

“Our company will develop three new products or services to expand our customer base. We plan to conduct market research to identify potential ideas and then allocate resources to create these products/services within the next 18 months.”

Specific: This specifies the number of new products or services to be developed and a timeline of 18 months.

Measurable: The outcome of conducting market research and allocating resources can be measured by successfully creating three new products or services.

Attainable: While it may require significant resources, launching new services or products is a matter of careful planning and execution.

Relevant: If the market research is conducted effectively, the new products/services will appeal to a larger customer base and contribute to the organization’s growth.

Time-based: Success is anticipated over the following 18 months.

6. Enhance Customer Satisfaction

“The goal is to improve customer satisfaction by enhancing the quality of our products and services. Over the two years ahead, we aim to increase our customer satisfaction score from 85% to 95%.”

Specific: The goal is clearly defined as improving customer satisfaction.

Measurable: Gauge progress by the customer satisfaction score, increasing from 85% to 95%.

Attainable: Any company can strive to improve customer satisfaction by enhancing the quality of their services and products.

Relevant: High customer satisfaction is crucial for strategic planning as it can lead to positive word of mouth.

Time-based: The SMART statement will be met after two whole years.

7. Streamline Business Processes

“Our organization aims to streamline business processes by automating repetitive tasks within 10 months. This will involve thoroughly analyzing current processes and selecting appropriate software solutions.”

Specific: The goal is clearly defined as streamlining business processes using technology and automation.

Measurable: This can be evaluated based on the number of tasks successfully automated within the given time frame.

Attainable: With proper resources and planning, automating repetitive tasks is a feasible goal for a company to achieve in 10 months.

Relevant: Streamlining business processes through automation is an excellent strategic goal for organizations looking to improve efficiency.

Time-based: Your company has an end date of 10 months for optimal success.

8. Increase Revenue

“For this fiscal year, we will increase revenue by 20% by implementing a new marketing strategy and expanding into international markets.”

Specific: This goal states the desired outcome—increasing revenue and the methods to achieve it.

Measurable: The 20% increase in business revenue is a quantifiable target.

Attainable: Implementing a new marketing strategy and expanding into international markets are feasible actions that can lead to increased revenue.

Relevant: This strategic goal relates to the organization’s overall objective of growth and expansion.

Time-based: The deadline for this statement is within the fiscal year.

9. Foster Innovation and Creativity

“I’ll help foster a culture of innovation and creativity within my department by creating a dedicated team and providing resources for brainstorming. Within 15 months, I aim to increase the number of original ideas generated by 50%.”

Specific: The SMART goal clearly outlines steps towards fostering innovation and creativity.

Measurable: You can track the number of new ideas the team generates over time.

Attainable: A well-defined plan is in place to encourage innovation within the department.

Relevant: It aligns with the organization’s strategic plan of promoting innovation and staying ahead of the competition.

Time-based: Goal achievement is expected over the following 15 months.

10. Build Stronger Partnerships

“We will develop a partnership with two local businesses to support our community initiatives for four years. That should allow us to expand our reach and increase our impact in the local area.”

Specific: You’ll help build partnerships with two specific local businesses.

Measurable: Assess if the partnerships are formed and how strong they are.

Attainable: As part of your strategic planning, forming partnerships with local businesses for community support is feasible.

Relevant: This goal aligns with your organization’s mission and values to positively impact the local area.

Time-based: Four years are allotted for the partnership to grow and expand.

11. Review and Update Company Policies

“Within two years, I’ll review and update all company policies to ensure they align with current laws and regulations. This includes conducting a thorough analysis of any changes needed and seeking legal counsel where necessary.”

Specific: The SMART goal is evident as it outlines the steps involved in reviewing and updating company policies.

Measurable: Keep a record of policies that have been reviewed and updated within the two-year time frame.

Attainable: Commencing the review process and seeking legal counsel are not extremely difficult tasks.

Relevant: Adhering to updated company policies is relevant to the organization’s strategic success.

Time-based: There is a two-year end date for goal attainment.

12. Improve Work-Life Balance

“I’ll limit my work hours to 40 per week for three months and use my weekends to disconnect from work and spend quality time with my family. I must balance work and personal life, so this is my first step.”

Specific: This explains what you’ll do ( limit work hours ) and how long you will do it for (three months).

Measurable: Counting the hours worked per week can determine if the goal has been met.

Attainable: Limiting work hours is reasonable with proper time management and prioritization.

Relevant: Your strategic plan might be less effective if you constantly feel overworked and lack quality time with loved ones.

Time-based: The SMART statement will be achieved in three months.

13. Reduce Production Costs

“By implementing more efficient processes and sourcing materials at lower costs, I aim to reduce the overall production costs of my company by 20% within the next two years.”

Specific: The goal states what will be done (implementing efficient processes and sourcing materials) and how much production costs should be reduced (20%).

Measurable: Many tools and metrics can track production costs, like cost per unit or total production expenses.

Attainable: The goal is feasible by implementing practical process changes and materials sourcing.

Relevant: Cost reduction is an important aspect of maintaining a successful business.

Time-based: The deadline for this SMART goal is two whole years.

Final Thoughts

Strategic planning is a vital process that helps organizations succeed. Using the SMART method , you can ensure that your organization’s strategic goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

This framework boosts the likelihood of success and provides a roadmap for accomplishing goals. Remember to review your goals to align them with your company’s vision and objectives.

Keep striving towards these goals to stay ahead of the competition and drive organizational success. With proper planning and execution, strategic goals can pave the way for a prosperous future.

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21 Strategic Goals Examples To Drive Your Company Forward

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  • OKR - Objectives & Key Results

What Are Key Strategic Goals and Objectives?

21 examples of strategic goals, 5 steps for writing strategic goals for a company, start setting strategic business goals today.

As a leader, setting business goals and tracking them are essential parts of your job. You may be used to setting goals for the year or the quarter, but you also need to think bigger than that if you want to produce real change at your company.

This is where strategic goals come into play.  

When they’re accompanied by good execution and implementation, strategic goals have the potential to drive success in a major way. This is especially true when they’re written down and reviewed during weekly check-in meetings. One study even showed that these two steps can increase your chances of achieving your goals by 76%.

Read on for an in-depth explanation of what strategic goals are and how goals differ from objectives . You’ll also find some practical strategic goals examples to inspire your team, as well as some goal-setting tools to start using today.

A strategic goal is a long-term goal — complete with a set of specific Objectives and Key Results — that a business strives to achieve over a period of time.

These goals are typically projected several years into the future — in most cases, between 3 and 5 years.

Goals vs Objectives

A lot of people use the terms “goals” and “objectives” interchangeably. However, there are some important differences between the two:

  • Goals : Goals are long-term, broad, and achievable.
  • Objectives : Objectives are specific and measurable — each team or employee uses them to achieve their overall goals.

Goals vs. Objectives

Imagine a business that wants to become an industry leader in its field. The desire to become an industry leader would be the long-term goal. However, the company and its various teams would also set more specific, short-term objectives (such as quarterly or yearly objectives) to achieve that larger goal.

Strategic goals will ideally be simple, easy-to-measure, easy-to-track, specific, and have a clear deadline. Below are some strategic goals and objectives examples to inspire you and your team:

Examples of Strategic Goals in Management

  • Add 30 new employees within the next 5 years
  • Write and distribute new company values by the end of 2025
  • Create and implement a new employee referral program by the end of 2025.

Financial Strategic Goals Examples

  • Increase revenue by 50% by the end of 2026
  • Diversify company revenue streams by the end of 2025
  • Triple the number of products in the company portfolio in the next 5 years.

Strategic Operational Goals Examples

  • Cut the number of product returns in half in the next 3 years
  • Decrease customer delivery time by 3 days by the end of 2025
  • Decrease the number of customer complaints by 30% by the end of 2026.

HR Strategic Goals Examples

  • Create and implement a communication skills training program by the end of 2027
  • Decrease employee turnover by 5% by the end of 2025
  • Increase employee satisfaction rating by 10% by the end of 2026.

Strategic Marketing Goals Examples

  • Increase website traffic by 100% by the end of 2026
  • Complete a total website redesign by the end of 2027
  • Create and implement a social media influencer marketing program in the next 3 years. 

Strategic Sales Goals Examples

  • Increase customer conversion rate by 3% in the next 3 years
  • Increase sales revenue by 15% in the next 5 years
  • Increase customer retention by 5% each year for the next 3 years.

IT Strategic Goals Examples

  • Reduce cost per ticket by 15% by the end of 2026
  • Reduce IT costs to 2% of company revenue by the end of 2025
  • Reduce IT spending by 20% by the end of 2026.
Consider also using individual employee goals. They increase job satisfaction and confidence amongst employees. Read more

Set Strategic Goals as OKRs

Using software to set, track and measure strategic goals is a great choice. Try the OKR methodology in Weekdone for real company results.

Approximately 77% of small business owners are confident in their ability to execute their strategies, but 95% of them fall short each year.

To avoid being part of this group, remember the examples of strategic goals discussed above, and follow these 4 steps to write strategic goals:

1. Evaluate Your Current State

If you look at most examples of smart goals for strategic planning, you’ll see that they start with an evaluation of the business’s current state — how the company’s doing, the milestones you’ve met recently, challenges you’re facing, etc.  

2. Consider Your Desired Future State

This step involves answering questions like “What kind of value do you want to provide to your customers/clients in the future?”, “Where I want my company to be in terms of customers, sales, revenue, and profit after five years from today?”, “What type of changes would I like to see outside my company in the next five years? Is it possible, and how much?”.

3. Write Specific Strategic Goals

Next, you’ll write more specific, long-term goals that help you identify where you want your company to be in the future. Whether you’re working on a Shopify email marketing campaign or are launching a new app feature, consider using the strategic, tactical, and operational goals examples listed above to provide more information and guide you through this step.

4. Draft an Action Plan

Next, you’ll create an action plan with specific OKRs to measure progress and make goals more manageable. 

If you need help creating an action plan for your team, use this strategic business goals template to get started. Simply download the template, fill it in, and distribute it to your team to keep everyone in the loop.

You can also use a strategic goal setting software instead of spreadsheets – making it easier for you and your teams to set and track goals.

Advantages of strategic goal-setting software Everyone gets updated automatically whenever changes are made; Easier alignment between team goals and company-wide goals; Visual dashboards make it easier to follow along and measure progress.

Strategic business goals help to drive your company forward and achieve desired results over a longer time period (3-5 years). Benefits of strategic goals include easier prioritization, easier resource allocation, better budgeting, and more alignment among team members.

It’s important to understand strategic planning goals and objectives examples because they provide valuable insights for your team:

  • An understanding of examples of strategic objectives and goals is beneficial to all kinds of teams, including managers, finance teams, HR teams, marketing teams, and IT teams;
  • The process of writing strategic goals includes evaluating your company’s current state, considering where you want to be in the future, writing specific goals related to where you want to be in the future, and identifying specific key results to help measure progress;
  • Goal-setting software can help you write effective strategic goals for your team and monitor progress more easily. 

Weekdone OKR software for Strategic Goal Setting

If you need more examples of strategic planning, these goal-setting and OKR resources can provide more insights:

  • An in-depth guide to Objectives and Key Results
  • How to write great Objectives and Key Results
  • When to use annual OKRs vs quarterly OKRs
  • The best goal-setting tools for OKRs 

If you’re ready to change your approach to writing strategic goals, Weekdone can help.

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25 Best Strategic Objectives Examples

Download our free Strategic Planning Template Download this template

What are Strategic Objectives Examples?

We've written extensively about how to go about creating good strategic objectives ( see this post ) - but sometimes, instead of a long blog article, all you need are a few examples of good strategic objectives to get your own creative juices flowing.

If you need broader help on writing a strategic plan, check out our complete guide . We've put together the following list - based on hundreds of successfully executed strategic plans from our very own cloud system Cascade .

Free Download Download our Strategic Planning Template Download this template

We've grouped our examples of good strategic objectives into a series of broad categories (which we call Focus Areas ).

So without further ado, here's our list of strategic objective examples!

Strategic Objectives Examples

Focus area: financial growth.

  • Grow gross revenue to $2m by 31st Dec 2022
  • Increase net margin by 15% by 31st Jul 2023
  • Reduce net costs by $900k by 1st Nov 2022
  • Deliver 3 consecutive periods of monthly recurring revenue (MRR) of $50k by 1st Jul 2023
  • Build $1m of reserve working capital by 31st Dec 2022

And here's an example of what not to write when creating good strategic objectives:

- Significantly increase profit in all business lines by 1st Nov 2022

The term 'significantly' is highly subjective - avoid where possible anything that can't be measured - there's really no excuse when it comes to financial goals!

Focus Area: Customer Satisfaction

  • Deliver a customer survey overall satisfaction score of 90% by 1st Jul 2023
  • Increase average customer product holding to 1.5 products per customer by 1st Jan 2023
  • Lose fewer than 2 major accounts per year until 1st Dec 2022
  • Win at least 1 industry award for customer service by 1st Jan 2023
  • Attract 3 major customers in Asia Pacific by 30th Sept 2022

- Work with the customer service team to improve satisfaction by 1st Jan 2023

Apart from having no defined target as to what 'improve' means - strategic objectives need to be actual goals, rather than statements of intent!

Focus Area: Innovation/Product Growth

  • Launch 3 new products by 31st Dec 2022
  • Launch/transition to a cloud service model by 1st Jan 2023
  • Establish 4 new major distribution partnerships by 1st Feb 2023
  • Ensure that 30% of our approved projects are classed as 'Horizon 3: Blue Sky Thinking' by 1st Jan 2023
  • Launch an innovation lab by 31st Dec 2022

And here's an example of what not to write when creating good strategic objectives:

- Become more competitive than our competitors by 1st Nov 2022

Strategic objectives need clearly defined start and end points - define your starting position, set a target increase (in percentage or absolute terms) then state that number as part of your goal.

Focus Area: People/Culture

  • Reduce staff attrition to less than 10% per annum by 1st Jan 2023
  • Launch a staff engagement/survey program by 1st Mar 2023
  • Win a major employer award by 1st Jan 2023
  • Implement a flexible working program by 1st Jul 2023
  • Hire 3 additional product managers by 1st Feb 2023

- Improve our workplace culture by 1st Nov 2023

This is far too broad for an example of a good strategic objective and should instead by either part of your Vision or your Focus Areas. Break this down into several actionable goals!

Focus Area: Processes/Operations

  • Reduce product return rate to less than 3% by 1st Jan 2023
  • Implement a rigorous process of auditing our warehouses by 1st Nov 2023
  • Increase sales efficiency to a 20% conversion rate through the use of a CRM by 1st Dec 2023
  • Host a quarterly supplier forum with our top 20 suppliers by volume by 1st Jan 2023
  • Implement a cloud-based strategy management platform by 15th Nov 2022

- Be more compliant as a business by 1st Mar 2023

Don't leave room for interpretation in your strategic objectives (unless you actively want to encourage discussion as part of the planning phase) - be specific about what you mean rather than using general words like 'compliance'.

What are your best strategic objective examples?

Hopefully, the above examples of good strategic objectives will help your own thinking in terms of what objectives to create for your next strategic plan.

So long as you keep your strategic objectives clear, concise, specific, and measurable - you won't go too far wrong!

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How to Write Powerful, Precise Strategic Objectives and Goals 

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Most strategic and operational plans ignore the definition of strategic objectives. Objectives are often merely an assortment of task lists submitted by various executives and managers. Someone compiles these lists, puts them into a three-ring binder and attempts to update them on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Generally, the task lists originate from a well-orchestrated and energetic planning retreat. During this retreat, the management team reviewed the business’s mission statement and agreed on its major initiatives and goals. This process leads us into the trap of believing that these lists have real benefits.

They don’t. Because current processes lack strong strategic factors, almost 67% of strategic objectives fail , causing leaders in decision-making positions to view the system of strategic objectives and planning as something that doesn’t work. What most organizations don’t realize, however, is that these strategic business objectives are vital to the success of a strategic plan.

So how do we write objectives that truly support strategy execution best practices?

In This Article

  • Understand What a Strategic Objective Is
  • Choose Your Methodology for Setting Strategic Objectives 

Percentages

Numerical counts, satisfaction, set better strategic objectives with achieveit, 1. understand what a strategic objective is.

Strategic objectives are statements that identify what is critical or important in a company’s strategy.

On the most basic level, companies need to phrase strategic objectives in a way that answers two simple questions — “how much” and “by when.”

When learning how to incorporate strategic objectives into your business models, you should also understand how they differ from general strategic goals. Strategic objectives are broader goals that companies can use to direct business growth, connecting the company’s values in their vision statement to actionable steps and plans. These types of goals help companies break down their general goals into realistic, manageable, and achievable areas. 

Understand What a Strategic Objective Is

The key to creating successful strategic objectives is to make them essential within your strategic plan. Your business will use a baseline, target, and time to bind its goal to an objective that’s powerful, precise, and — most importantly — actionable. The baseline and target should help you answer “how much,” and time will help you determine when you can achieve your strategy. 

Some of the best strategic objectives are a sentence long, begin with a verb, and include an object, a measurable unit, and a timeline. Here are some examples:

  • Increase our advertising sales by 2% in the next 4 months
  • Improve user engagement from 70% to 80% in a year
  • Decrease client turnover by 10% in 6 months
  • Hire and onboard 20 new employees by the end of this fiscal year
  • Grow our marketing team by 3 before the next quarter
  • Complete 20 items on our goals list by the end of this year

You will need to know the level of improvement required and how much time you both need and have to achieve the established targets. Both of these elements are essential for an actionable, executable strategy.

As you learn what strategic objectives are, you can also explore the different types. There are many categories that they could fall under depending on what you are trying to accomplish and what your focus area is. Examples of strategic objective categories include: 

  • Financial: These strategic objectives specifically target areas of financial growth and change, allowing companies to find areas of improvement in their current financial processes and strategies. Financial strategic goals can take many forms, including cutting costs, establishing more effective budgets, and increasing revenue. 
  • Growth: Growth strategic objectives aim to help businesses increase their public influence or streamline internal processes to create a stronger and more resilient business. For example, companies may want to improve their brand recognition or work to make internal operations more efficient. 
  • Learning: Objectives in this category are about investing in your employees. Learning objectives seek to provide your employees with increased or specified skills that will allow them to serve your company better. Many companies use learning strategic objectives to increase overall performance. 
  • Customer: Companies can also choose to focus their strategic objectives on their interactions with their customers. This type of strategic example is very flexible. It can focus on many aspects of the customer experience, from decreasing product or service price to improving your customer service skills. 

Understanding what strategic objectives are, what sets them apart from other goals and the types of strategic objectives you can use will help you to create stronger, more practical goals for your business. 

2. Choose Your Methodology for Setting Strategic Objectives 

Establishing baselines, targets, and timelines helps establish your goals, setting them apart from general business strategies and tactics. Baselines and targets help provide a current performance benchmark and define the future performance you’re seeking, while time provides an idea of how aggressive the strategy needs to be. 

Implementing strategies and tactics is a key part of strategic management. However, successfully carrying out those strategic plans requires knowing how to measure their success. 

You can distinguish your strategic goals from general strategies by measuring an outcome rather than the process designed to achieve that outcome. When you create a strategic objective, you should carry out actions that will result in quantifiable, measurable outcomes by a specific time.

Methodology and goal-setting strategies can help you develop clear and strong strategic planning that lets you transform your goals into results. 

Many businesses favor SMART goals because of their depth and level of specificity, letting you incorporate all the information your business should consider to reach your goals successfully. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Each element in the acronym brings crucial information to your strategic planning and represents different focus areas you need as you move forward from the planning to action stages: 

  • Specific ensures you’re targeting precise goals rather than general improvement.
  • Measurable requires you to think about how you will capture your results and determine progress.
  • Achievable asks you to be realistic and ensure you have the resources necessary to reach your goal.
  • Relevant directs you to think about how this pertains to your business and its needs.
  • Time-bound causes you to consider your timeline and when you want to achieve your goal. 

These aspects will help you work toward a well-rounded plan as you develop your strategic objectives and set goals. Your methodology will be thorough, letting you better plan for implementation and acting on your goal setting.

Following are some examples of strategic objectives, but if your initiatives already check these boxes you might be ready to  start tracking your plan’s execution.

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3. Build Measurable Strategic Objectives 

Build Measurable Strategic Objectives

While all SMART goal elements have individual and unique importance, measurability is especially vital. You have to be able to track your business’s progress toward its goals to understand how well your strategies are working. When creating measurability, consider where your quantifiable data is, how you will collect it, and how you will analyze it. 

If you want your objective to produce quantifiable data, you’ll need a variable that reflects an amount of something. As you complete this stage, consider the factors you’ll need to measure to quantify your progress toward your goals. You could use length in inches or feet, mass in pounds, volume in gallons or liters, temperature in degrees, area in square feet, heat in BTU, and pressure in pounds per square inch. Each of these can quantify and measure an objective.

Strategic and operational planning most often uses safety, time, dollars, percentages, numerical counts, quality, satisfaction, people, and finance to measure strategic goals. By making business objectives that are quantifiable, measurable, and focused, you’ll immediately increase the chance of accomplishing your strategic plan.

You can observe and measure safety standards as you work toward your goals. 

For example, if you manufacture products, you may want to implement new safety strategies and techniques like training, signs, and restricted areas to increase safety at your factories and warehouses. Companies can measure safety by tracking their numbers of workplace accidents and injuries. Comparing numbers before and after implementing a new strategy will let you measure its effectiveness. 

As many companies do, you may find you want to increase your efficiency in producing a product or providing a service. 

For example, a mortgage company might want to reduce the time required to process a loan. A residential construction company might want to reduce the time required to frame a house. A hospital might want to reduce the time an E.R. patient spends waiting to see a physician. This is the most common metric used to meet the definition of strategic objectives.

Measuring how long it takes to complete tasks and analyzing which steps in the process are taking the longest will help you streamline and improve those specific areas. 

Time

Another way to measure your progress is through costs. Many businesses aim to either decrease the cost of producing a product or service or increase the revenue they generate by delivering it.

For example, a mortgage company might want to decrease its loan processing costs. A construction company might want to increase the average margin on new home construction. A hospital might want to decrease average supply costs per E.R. patient.

If your company wants to decrease or increase the rate of a process, activity, or desired outcome, you can use percentages to measure your progress.

Using our previous examples, the mortgage company might want to increase its market share percentage for total loans closed. The construction company may want to decrease the percentage of lumber rejected for failing to meet its internal specification requirements. The hospital might want to increase the percentage of E.R. patients who pay their deductibles at the point of service.

You can also use numerical counts when your business wants to decrease or increase the physical count of something.

The mortgage company might want to increase the number of loans processed. The construction company might want to decrease the number of homes that don’t pass the first inspection. The hospital might want to increase the number of E.R. patients.

You can use quality as a metric to assess your progress toward improving your products or services. You can create your own quality assessment systems or use established customer or third-party standards.

For example, if you manufacture products you can measure quality by adding a testing stage. Testing the products before they’re packaged and shipped to your warehouses or vendors will give you data on how many items pass inspections as well as common quality issues. Using this information to target areas for improvement will help you measure your progress toward producing higher-quality items. 

Quality

Increasing customer satisfaction is a great way to apply a customer strategic objective to your company’s goals and growth. You can use customer satisfaction as a way to measure how new customer-focused initiatives are working through surveys and site reviews. 

An electronics company may try to help customers in real-time by launching a chatbox on their site. They can set the program to invite customers to fill out a short survey about their experience or rate how helpful it was after they finish using the feature. Collecting this feedback can help the company determine how satisfied customers are and if they need to make any changes.

People are a great way to measure objective success for both internal and customer goals. As with satisfaction, people can provide qualitative insight about their experiences, giving leadership teams essential feedback to continue progressing toward their goals. Focus groups, surveys, and forms are great ways for companies to receive feedback from people in a way they can measure and apply. 

For example, a company that wants to train their employees in new office habits can ask employees to submit a form afterward outlining what they thought was effective and where the training could improve. 

Many companies focus on financial growth and use their finances as a way to measure their progress. You can calculate costs, revenue, or other financial aspects your business deals with. 

A company may set a goal to reduce its shipping and handling costs. After they implement new systems, comparing new and old reports on shipping and handling costs can help them judge how effective their new techniques were and whether they need to try a new approach. 

Finance

Strategic objectives are essential for streamlining effective growth and change across your business’s departments and applications. The many types of strategic purposes let you target specific areas of your business for improvements, such as your customers or finances. The more specific details you include in your strategic objective, the more likely you are to consider all the information you need to succeed. 

Your business’s success relies on using effective processes for creating and implementing strategic objectives. Processes that don’t incorporate the information they need to work toward success can cause many companies to give up on their goals. Tools like SMART goals and solid measurement techniques are pivotal for your business to achieve its objectives and implement successful tactics. 

At AchieveIt, we dedicate ourselves to helping businesses like yours reach their goals and successfully execute new and effective strategies . Our platform automatically collects and displays data on your dashboard, saving you time from manually entering data and letting you focus more of your time on carrying out plans and strategies. You can also choose the scope of your data with AchieveIt, from individual teams and employees to the company as a whole, allowing you to assess progress and improvement. 

Request a demo from AchieveIt today and begin working toward your strategic objectives. 

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What is Strategic Planning? Definition, Importance, Model, Process and Examples

By Paul VanZandt

Published on: February 2, 2023

strategic planning

Table of Contents

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is defined as a pivotal organizational endeavor, meticulously charting the mission, goals, and objectives over a strategic timeframe, typically spanning 2-5 years. This comprehensive roadmap takes into meticulous consideration the current organizational landscape, navigating through the intricacies of prevailing legislation, the dynamic business environment, product portfolios, departmental dynamics, and the judicious allocation of budget resources. By weaving together these critical elements, a strategic plan becomes a guiding compass, steering the organization towards its vision with adaptability and foresight.

Strategic planning first entered business environments in the post-war period of the 1950s, and has been so effective that it is still widely used and applied across organizational spectrums, including non-profits.

While a strategic plan is the final outcome of the strategic planning process, here are the key factors and components that feed into creating this plan:

  • Profitability and balance sheet management

For any business, profitability and the adjacent balance sheet management is and always should be a key factor to be taken into consideration during strategic planning, depending on the size of the business. Both these factors are in fact co-dependent. For example, one of the key outcomes of a strategic plan is to set the revenue growth percentage to be achieved each year for, say, 3 years. This in turn will require an evaluation of the balance sheet, including any debt payments, dividend payout, shareholder expectations, etc.

Even if the business is a startup and is rich with investor cash to spend in acquiring customers in the short to medium term, it is still aspiring to be profitable and must lay out a larger strategic path to profitability.

  • SWOT analysis outcomes

Strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats – these are the outcomes and full terms of the abbreviated term, SWOT analysis. Strength refers to the business factors that indicate key factors that are contributing to the achievement of business outcomes. These may be factors related to sales, employee and talent retention, software stack, business efficiency, etc. Similarly, weakness refers to factors that are holding back the growth and achievement of business outcomes, such as poor margins, lack of company data management, employee attrition, etc.

Opportunity refers to areas in the business environment that the business can potentially explore. For example, one of the opportunities identified could be sales in a new market, implementing a better human resources management model, branching into new products and/ or services, etc.

  • Operations management

Operations management pertains to the cohesive movement of all moving and communicating parts to produce the company’s products or services. While creating a strategic business plan, management needs to take into account how each department and team will need to interact with each other to produce the results desired as outcomes in the strategic plan. This includes ensuring the right technology stack needed for each team including communication and collaboration technology needed for remote and on-premise task execution.

  • Human resource management

Strategic planning involves taking into account all aspects of HR and employee-related spending and policies. One of the key aspects of a strategic plan must be to ensure a harmonious work experience for employees such that it increases employee retention and helps build an environment that enhances employee productivity and workplace satisfaction.

Importance and Benefits of Strategic Planning

A strategic plan is more than just a business tool, it also plays a key role in defining operational, cultural, and workplace ethics. Here are some of the key aspects of the importance of strategic planning:

1. Provides a unified goal

A strategic plan is like a unified action plan for the whole company in order to achieve common outcomes. For example, a strategic plan to achieve a certain revenue growth each year requires sales, account management, product development, and marketing teams to work together to ensure a seamless lead pipeline, customer upsells and account retention, meet customer expectations, etc.

2. Adds to management transparency

Strategic planning is more than just for direct business growth, it also helps shine clarity to employees and shareholders as to what their mid-to-long-term objectives are and how their actions are derived from these larger goals. Such a plan must always be referenced for citation and justification for key business moves and decisions to make it apparently justified and based on logic and reason. This also encourages team leads and employees to in turn be more transparent with their team members and peers with their plans and goals.

One of the issues most dreaded by investors and employees alike is management that seems to make random decisions without any clear guidance on how they help meet requirements for the final business objectives or tackle the challenges of the day. A strategic plan helps build investor and employee confidence in the management and adds to building a culture of transparency in day-to-day business operations.

3. Identifies hidden strengths and weaknesses

Many strengths and weaknesses in a company may be contributing, yet hidden factors in the path to meeting or hindering the meeting of business goals. A strategic plan’s primary input is a SWOT analysis of the company, which is conducted by auditing the firm to recognize and list strengths and weaknesses within the company. These may be a competitive product, a better monetization model, a weak employee incentive policy, etc.

The important step here is the actual deep analysis and listing down of these strengths and weaknesses and how they can be leveraged or minimized.

4. Leads to better financial health

A company with a clear strategic plan is able to better plan expenses and set the right expectations on return on investment (ROI). It takes into account balance sheets, profitability, accounting and expense management, all of which contribute to better bookkeeping and financial health of the company.

5. Improves management-employee relations

Employees and teams work in silos when the management works in silos. But when a company shares a strategic plan with employees and lays out exactly how each team will be working towards contributing to this larger plan, it gives each team and its members a sense of belonging and importance within the larger company, In today’s environment of hybrid or remote work cultures, it is a key step to ensuring that the company remains cohesive and collaborative in getting work done and meeting final objectives.

Learn more: What is Tactical Planning?

Strategic Planning Models

Strategic planning inputs may require one of many of the following business analysis models:

  • SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is the process and visual template for identifying and listing a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These are cornerstone considerations for any leadership team and play a key role in the strategic planning process.

  • Business model canvas

A business model canvas is a process used to identify and represent existing business models of an enterprise and develop new models to better meet company goals and objectives. Like SWOT analysis, the business model canvas is also a standard business template.

  • PESTEL analysis

PESTEL is an abbreviation for political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal, and PESTEL analysis aims to identify the impact of these external factors on a business.

  • Cost-benefit analysis

A cost-benefit analysis is a method of evaluating an investment in the business based on the benefits it would bring to the table. This is a good method for ensuring a healthy financial balance sheet where spending and budgeting are carefully analyzed to ensure only those investments bring back reasonable ROI.

Most companies have 2 or more product/service streams or even 2 or more businesses. A BCG matrix is a visual process of managing an enterprise’s portfolio by prioritizing profitable companies with good market share and growth.

Strategic Planning Process: 6 Key Steps

An effective strategic planning process requires the following key steps:

1. Identify core business objectives

Strategic planning begins with first identifying your business objectives- what does it produce? What does it do better than the competition? What is the quality-profitability balance? These are examples of the questions that need to be asked to identify core business objectives. The strategic planning tools can be applied at any stage of the planning process to help answer these questions.

2. Identify the objectives of each department

Once the core business objective is ready, it needs to trickle down to an execution plan that involves each department. This in turn will result in breaking down of the core objectives into smaller objectives for the teams. This needs to be laid out with clarity and precision since the team leaders will further use this team goal to assign individual targets for members.

3. Identify potential roadblocks

Before formulating the final strategy, it is important to discuss it with relevant leaders in the company to ensure an error-free process that is achievable with minimal roadblocks. Of course, as the execution work begins, the management should be flexible enough to absorb unforeseen and small issues that are inevitable. The goal here is to avoid any big boulders which may cripple the strategy at a later stage, such as data security, pricing estimations, hiring new employees or expansion to new departments/ teams, investment in new product development, mergers and acquisition plans, etc.

4. Formulate the final strategy

Once the objectives and goals have been scanned for potential roadblocks and alterations/ safeguards have been accommodated, this is the first draft of the final strategic plan for the company. This strategy may be applicable for the foreseeable future or have a specific deadline, it should however be pulled up for revision annually. Small companies or startups who have much to learn on the way, need to keep an active eye on the larger strategy based on changing business realities.

5. Re-evaluate based on feedback

Before you iron out the processes and policies that will enable the execution of the new strategic plan of the company, it is important to hear back from your employees. This doesn’t have to be every single employee, especially if you have a large team, but to the extent possible. You may at first discuss the strategy with team leaders, who if needed, may take it further down the chain to their own team members and absorb their feedback. Complete agreement may not be possible, but it is important that both sides remain flexible while discussions are on but must be prepared to execute once the discussions are over.

6. Set or revise adjacent policies and processes

Now that the strategic plan for the business is complete and sealed, the leadership team needs to start the execution with necessary changes to the processes and policies as the need may be. This may need to include data management process changes, technology stack updates, issue escalation matrix, etc. In some cases, it may not require any change, and the right processes may already be in place with just a new direction based on the strategic plan.

Learn more: What is SWOT Analysis Framework?

What Makes an Effective Strategic Plan Example?

Crafting a good example of a strategic plan involves several key elements. Here’s a breakdown of what makes a strategic plan exemplary:

  • Clear Mission Statement: A strong strategic plan starts with a clear and concise mission statement that defines the organization’s purpose and the value it aims to provide.
  • SMART Objectives: The plan should include specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives. This ensures that goals are well-defined and actionable.
  • Environmental Analysis: A good strategic plan conducts a thorough analysis of the internal and external environment, taking into account strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). This provides a foundation for strategic decision-making.
  • Alignment with Vision: The plan should clearly articulate how each objective contributes to the overall vision of the organization. There should be a cohesive alignment between the strategic goals and the long-term vision.
  • Resource Allocation: Effective resource allocation is crucial. The plan should outline how financial, human, and other resources will be distributed to support the strategic goals.
  • Actionable Steps: Each objective should be broken down into actionable steps or initiatives. This helps in practical implementation and provides a roadmap for achieving the goals.
  • Monitoring and Evaluation: A good strategic plan includes mechanisms for ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be defined, and regular assessments should be conducted to track progress.
  • Flexibility and Adaptability: The plan should acknowledge the dynamic nature of business environments. Flexibility and adaptability are essential to adjust strategies in response to changes in the internal or external landscape.
  • Communication Strategy: A strategic plan should include a communication strategy to ensure that stakeholders are well-informed about the goals, progress, and any adjustments made to the plan.
  • Inclusivity: Involving key stakeholders in the strategic planning process fosters a sense of ownership and commitment. A good plan considers input from various departments, employees, and external partners.
  • Risk Management: Anticipating and addressing potential risks is a vital aspect of a strategic plan. Contingency plans should be in place to mitigate unforeseen challenges.
  • Continuous Improvement: A strategic plan should not be static. There should be a commitment to continuous improvement, with regular reviews and updates to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.

By incorporating these elements into your example of a strategic plan, you can demonstrate a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to organizational planning, which may resonate well with both practitioners and those seeking to understand the principles of strategic planning.

Strategic Planning Example

A strategic plan is a detailed document that outlines an organization’s goals, objectives, and the actions required to achieve them. While the specific details of a strategic plan will vary depending on the organization, its industry, and its unique circumstances, here’s an example of a strategic plan for a fictional company:

Company: Visionary Tech Solutions (VTS)

Mission Statement: “To empower businesses through innovative technology solutions, fostering growth and sustainability in an ever-evolving digital landscape.”

Strategic Goals: Presented below are ten strategic goals that serve as excellent examples to enhance the functionality of a company.

1. Market Leadership in Tech Solutions:

Objective: Capture a 20% increase in market share within the next three years.

Action Steps:

  • Launch two new cutting-edge products catering to emerging market demands.
  • Strengthen strategic partnerships with key industry players.
  • Implement aggressive marketing campaigns highlighting VTS’s technological prowess.

2. Operational Efficiency:

Objective: Improve operational efficiency by 15% over the next two years.

  • Streamline internal processes through the implementation of advanced project management tools.
  • Invest in employee training programs to enhance skills and productivity.
  • Conduct regular process audits for continuous improvement.

3. Customer-Centric Innovation:

Objective: Introduce at least three customer-centric innovations annually.

  • Establish a dedicated R&D team focused on anticipating and addressing customer needs.
  • Implement customer feedback loops to gather insights for product enhancements.
  • Launch a customer loyalty program to foster long-term relationships.

4. Global Expansion:

Objective: Expand operations to two new international markets within the next four years.

  • Conduct thorough market research to identify viable expansion opportunities.
  • Establish local partnerships to navigate regulatory and cultural nuances.
  • Develop customized marketing strategies tailored to each target market.

5. Resource Allocation:

Budget allocation:

  • 30% for research and development.
  • 25% for marketing and promotional activities.
  • 20% for employee training and development.
  • 15% for operational improvements.
  • 10% for international expansion initiatives.

6. Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Quarterly performance reviews with key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked against predefined targets.
  • Annual comprehensive evaluation of the strategic plan’s effectiveness and adjustments as needed.

7. Communication Strategy:

  • Regular updates through internal newsletters, town hall meetings, and an interactive company intranet.
  • External communication through press releases, social media updates, and a dedicated section on the company website.

8. Risk Management:

  • Identification of potential risks such as technological disruptions, market fluctuations, and geopolitical challenges.
  • Development of contingency plans and regular risk assessments.

9. Inclusivity:

  • Cross-functional teams involved in the strategic planning process, ensuring diverse perspectives and expertise.

10. Continuous Improvement:

  • Commitment to regular reviews and updates to the strategic plan based on industry trends, technological advancements, and feedback from stakeholders.

This example of a strategic plan for Visionary Tech Solutions outlines a roadmap that integrates the company’s mission, strategic goals, resource allocation, monitoring mechanisms, and a commitment to adaptability and continuous improvement. Adjustments should be made as needed based on ongoing evaluations and changes in the business environment.

Learn more: What is Enterprise Planning?

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  • 7 strategic planning models, plus 8 fra ...

7 strategic planning models, plus 8 frameworks to help you get started

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Strategic planning is vital in defining where your business is going in the next three to five years. With the right strategic planning models and frameworks, you can uncover opportunities, identify risks, and create a strategic plan to fuel your organization’s success. We list the most popular models and frameworks and explain how you can combine them to create a strategic plan that fits your business.

A strategic plan is a great tool to help you hit your business goals . But sometimes, this tool needs to be updated to reflect new business priorities or changing market conditions. If you decide to use a model that already exists, you can benefit from a roadmap that’s already created. The model you choose can improve your knowledge of what works best in your organization, uncover unknown strengths and weaknesses, or help you find out how you can outpace your competitors.

In this article, we cover the most common strategic planning models and frameworks and explain when to use which one. Plus, get tips on how to apply them and which models and frameworks work well together. 

Strategic planning models vs. frameworks

First off: This is not a one-or-nothing scenario. You can use as many or as few strategic planning models and frameworks as you like. 

When your organization undergoes a strategic planning phase, you should first pick a model or two that you want to apply. This will provide you with a basic outline of the steps to take during the strategic planning process.

[Inline illustration] Strategic planning models vs. frameworks (Infographic)

During that process, think of strategic planning frameworks as the tools in your toolbox. Many models suggest starting with a SWOT analysis or defining your vision and mission statements first. Depending on your goals, though, you may want to apply several different frameworks throughout the strategic planning process.

For example, if you’re applying a scenario-based strategic plan, you could start with a SWOT and PEST(LE) analysis to get a better overview of your current standing. If one of the weaknesses you identify has to do with your manufacturing process, you could apply the theory of constraints to improve bottlenecks and mitigate risks. 

Now that you know the difference between the two, learn more about the seven strategic planning models, as well as the eight most commonly used frameworks that go along with them.

[Inline illustration] The seven strategic planning models (Infographic)

1. Basic model

The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company’s vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

If it’s your first strategic planning session, the basic model is the way to go. Later on, you can embellish it with other models to adjust or rewrite your business strategy as needed. Let’s take a look at what kinds of businesses can benefit from this strategic planning model and how to apply it.

Small businesses or organizations

Companies with little to no strategic planning experience

Organizations with few resources 

Write your mission statement. Gather your planning team and have a brainstorming session. The more ideas you can collect early in this step, the more fun and rewarding the analysis phase will feel.

Identify your organization’s goals . Setting clear business goals will increase your team’s performance and positively impact their motivation.

Outline strategies that will help you reach your goals. Ask yourself what steps you have to take in order to reach these goals and break them down into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals .

Create action plans to implement each of the strategies above. Action plans will keep teams motivated and your organization on target.

Monitor and revise the plan as you go . As with any strategic plan, it’s important to closely monitor if your company is implementing it successfully and how you can adjust it for a better outcome.

2. Issue-based model

Also called goal-based planning model, this is essentially an extension of the basic strategic planning model. It’s a bit more dynamic and very popular for companies that want to create a more comprehensive plan.

Organizations with basic strategic planning experience

Businesses that are looking for a more comprehensive plan

Conduct a SWOT analysis . Assess your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a SWOT analysis to get a better overview of what your strategic plan should focus on. We’ll give into how to conduct a SWOT analysis when we get into the strategic planning frameworks below.

Identify and prioritize major issues and/or goals. Based on your SWOT analysis, identify and prioritize what your strategic plan should focus on this time around.

Develop your main strategies that address these issues and/or goals. Aim to develop one overarching strategy that addresses your highest-priority goal and/or issue to keep this process as simple as possible.

Update or create a mission and vision statement . Make sure that your business’s statements align with your new or updated strategy. If you haven’t already, this is also a chance for you to define your organization’s values.

Create action plans. These will help you address your organization’s goals, resource needs, roles, and responsibilities. 

Develop a yearly operational plan document. This model works best if your business repeats the strategic plan implementation process on an annual basis, so use a yearly operational plan to capture your goals, progress, and opportunities for next time.

Allocate resources for your year-one operational plan. Whether you need funding or dedicated team members to implement your first strategic plan, now is the time to allocate all the resources you’ll need.

Monitor and revise the strategic plan. Record your lessons learned in the operational plan so you can revisit and improve it for the next strategic planning phase.

The issue-based plan can repeat on an annual basis (or less often once you resolve the issues). It’s important to update the plan every time it’s in action to ensure it’s still doing the best it can for your organization.

You don’t have to repeat the full process every year—rather, focus on what’s a priority during this run.

3. Alignment model

This model is also called strategic alignment model (SAM) and is one of the most popular strategic planning models. It helps you align your business and IT strategies with your organization’s strategic goals. 

You’ll have to consider four equally important, yet different perspectives when applying the alignment strategic planning model:

Strategy execution: The business strategy driving the model

Technology potential: The IT strategy supporting the business strategy

Competitive potential: Emerging IT capabilities that can create new products and services

Service level: Team members dedicated to creating the best IT system in the organization

Ideally, your strategy will check off all the criteria above—however, it’s more likely you’ll have to find a compromise. 

Here’s how to create a strategic plan using the alignment model and what kinds of companies can benefit from it.

Organizations that need to fine-tune their strategies

Businesses that want to uncover issues that prevent them from aligning with their mission

Companies that want to reassess objectives or correct problem areas that prevent them from growing

Outline your organization’s mission, programs, resources, and where support is needed. Before you can improve your statements and approaches, you need to define what exactly they are.

Identify what internal processes are working and which ones aren’t. Pinpoint which processes are causing problems, creating bottlenecks , or could otherwise use improving. Then prioritize which internal processes will have the biggest positive impact on your business.

Identify solutions. Work with the respective teams when you’re creating a new strategy to benefit from their experience and perspective on the current situation.

Update your strategic plan with the solutions. Update your strategic plan and monitor if implementing it is setting your business up for improvement or growth. If not, you may have to return to the drawing board and update your strategic plan with new solutions.

4. Scenario model

The scenario model works great if you combine it with other models like the basic or issue-based model. This model is particularly helpful if you need to consider external factors as well. These can be government regulations, technical, or demographic changes that may impact your business.

Organizations trying to identify strategic issues and goals caused by external factors

Identify external factors that influence your organization. For example, you should consider demographic, regulation, or environmental factors.

Review the worst case scenario the above factors could have on your organization. If you know what the worst case scenario for your business looks like, it’ll be much easier to prepare for it. Besides, it’ll take some of the pressure and surprise out of the mix, should a scenario similar to the one you create actually occur.

Identify and discuss two additional hypothetical organizational scenarios. On top of your worst case scenario, you’ll also want to define the best case and average case scenarios. Keep in mind that the worst case scenario from the previous step can often provoke strong motivation to change your organization for the better. However, discussing the other two will allow you to focus on the positive—the opportunities your business may have ahead.

Identify and suggest potential strategies or solutions. Everyone on the team should now brainstorm different ways your business could potentially respond to each of the three scenarios. Discuss the proposed strategies as a team afterward.

Uncover common considerations or strategies for your organization. There’s a good chance that your teammates come up with similar solutions. Decide which ones you like best as a team or create a new one together.

Identify the most likely scenario and the most reasonable strategy. Finally, examine which of the three scenarios is most likely to occur in the next three to five years and how your business should respond to potential changes.

5. Self-organizing model

Also called the organic planning model, the self-organizing model is a bit different from the linear approaches of the other models. You’ll have to be very patient with this method. 

This strategic planning model is all about focusing on the learning and growing process rather than achieving a specific goal. Since the organic model concentrates on continuous improvement , the process is never really over.

Large organizations that can afford to take their time

Businesses that prefer a more naturalistic, organic planning approach that revolves around common values, communication, and shared reflection

Companies that have a clear understanding of their vision

Define and communicate your organization’s cultural values . Your team can only think clearly and with solutions in mind when they have a clear understanding of your organization's values.

Communicate the planning group’s vision for the organization. Define and communicate the vision with everyone involved in the strategic planning process. This will align everyone’s ideas with your company’s vision.

Discuss what processes will help realize the organization’s vision on a regular basis. Meet every quarter to discuss strategies or tactics that will move your organization closer to realizing your vision.

6. Real-time model

This fluid model can help organizations that deal with rapid changes to their work environment. There are three levels of success in the real-time model: 

Organizational: At the organizational level, you’re forming strategies in response to opportunities or trends.

Programmatic: At the programmatic level, you have to decide how to respond to specific outcomes or environmental changes.

Operational: On the operational level, you will study internal systems, policies, and people to develop a strategy for your company.

Figuring out your competitive advantage can be difficult, but this is absolutely crucial to ensure success. Whether it’s a unique asset or strength your organization has or an outstanding execution of services or programs—it’s important that you can set yourself apart from others in the industry to succeed.

Companies that need to react quickly to changing environments

Businesses that are seeking new tools to help them align with their organizational strategy

Define your mission and vision statement. If you ever feel stuck formulating your company’s mission or vision statement, take a look at those of others. Maybe Asana’s vision statement sparks some inspiration.

Research, understand, and learn from competitor strategy and market trends. Pick a handful of competitors in your industry and find out how they’ve created success for themselves. How did they handle setbacks or challenges? What kinds of challenges did they even encounter? Are these common scenarios in the market? Learn from your competitors by finding out as much as you can about them.

Study external environments. At this point, you can combine the real-time model with the scenario model to find solutions to threats and opportunities outside of your control.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your internal processes, systems, and resources. Besides the external factors your team has to consider, it’s also important to look at your company’s internal environment and how well you’re prepared for different scenarios.

Develop a strategy. Discuss the results of your SWOT analysis to develop a business strategy that builds toward organizational, programmatic, and operational success.

Rinse and repeat. Monitor how well the new strategy is working for your organization and repeat the planning process as needed to ensure you’re on top or, perhaps, ahead of the game. 

7. Inspirational model

This last strategic planning model is perfect to inspire and energize your team as they work toward your organization’s goals. It’s also a great way to introduce or reconnect your employees to your business strategy after a merger or acquisition.

Businesses with a dynamic and inspired start-up culture

Organizations looking for inspiration to reinvigorate the creative process

Companies looking for quick solutions and strategy shifts

Gather your team to discuss an inspirational vision for your organization. The more people you can gather for this process, the more input you will receive.

Brainstorm big, hairy audacious goals and ideas. Encouraging your team not to hold back with ideas that may seem ridiculous will do two things: for one, it will mitigate the fear of contributing bad ideas. But more importantly, it may lead to a genius idea or suggestion that your team wouldn’t have thought of if they felt like they had to think inside of the box.

Assess your organization’s resources. Find out if your company has the resources to implement your new ideas. If they don’t, you’ll have to either adjust your strategy or allocate more resources.

Develop a strategy balancing your resources and brainstorming ideas. Far-fetched ideas can grow into amazing opportunities but they can also bear great risk. Make sure to balance ideas with your strategic direction. 

Now, let’s dive into the most commonly used strategic frameworks.

8. SWOT analysis framework

One of the most popular strategic planning frameworks is the SWOT analysis . A SWOT analysis is a great first step in identifying areas of opportunity and risk—which can help you create a strategic plan that accounts for growth and prepares for threats.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Here’s an example:

[Inline illustration] SWOT analysis (Example)

9. OKRs framework

A big part of strategic planning is setting goals for your company. That’s where OKRs come into play. 

OKRs stand for objective and key results—this goal-setting framework helps your organization set and achieve goals. It provides a somewhat holistic approach that you can use to connect your team’s work to your organization’s big-picture goals.  When team members understand how their individual work contributes to the organization’s success, they tend to be more motivated and produce better results

10. Balanced scorecard (BSC) framework

The balanced scorecard is a popular strategic framework for businesses that want to take a more holistic approach rather than just focus on their financial performance. It was designed by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in the 1990s, it’s used by companies around the globe to: 

Communicate goals

Align their team’s daily work with their company’s strategy

Prioritize products, services, and projects

Monitor their progress toward their strategic goals

Your balanced scorecard will outline four main business perspectives:

Customers or clients , meaning their value, satisfaction, and/or retention

Financial , meaning your effectiveness in using resources and your financial performance

Internal process , meaning your business’s quality and efficiency

Organizational capacity , meaning your organizational culture, infrastructure and technology, and human resources

With the help of a strategy map, you can visualize and communicate how your company is creating value. A strategy map is a simple graphic that shows cause-and-effect connections between strategic objectives. 

The balanced scorecard framework is an amazing tool to use from outlining your mission, vision, and values all the way to implementing your strategic plan .

You can use an integration like Lucidchart to create strategy maps for your business in Asana.

11. Porter’s Five Forces framework

If you’re using the real-time strategic planning model, Porter’s Five Forces are a great framework to apply. You can use it to find out what your product’s or service’s competitive advantage is before entering the market.

Developed by Michael E. Porter , the framework outlines five forces you have to be aware of and monitor:

[Inline illustration] Porter’s Five Forces framework (Infographic)

Threat of new industry entrants: Any new entry into the market results in increased pressure on prices and costs. 

Competition in the industry: The more competitors that exist, the more difficult it will be for you to create value in the market with your product or service.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers can wield more power if there are less alternatives for buyers or it’s expensive, time consuming, or difficult to switch to a different supplier.

Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers can wield more power if the same product or service is available elsewhere with little to no difference in quality.

Threat of substitutes: If another company already covers the market’s needs, you’ll have to create a better product or service or make it available for a lower price at the same quality in order to compete.

Remember, industry structures aren’t static. The more dynamic your strategic plan is, the better you’ll be able to compete in a market.

12. VRIO framework

The VRIO framework is another strategic planning tool designed to help you evaluate your competitive advantage. VRIO stands for value, rarity, imitability, and organization.

It’s a resource-based theory developed by Jay Barney. With this framework, you can study your firmed resources and find out whether or not your company can transform them into sustained competitive advantages. 

Firmed resources can be tangible (e.g., cash, tools, inventory, etc.) or intangible (e.g., copyrights, trademarks, organizational culture, etc.). Whether these resources will actually help your business once you enter the market depends on four qualities:

Valuable : Will this resource either increase your revenue or decrease your costs and thereby create value for your business?

Rare : Are the resources you’re using rare or can others use your resources as well and therefore easily provide the same product or service?

Inimitable : Are your resources either inimitable or non-substitutable? In other words, how unique and complex are your resources?

Organizational: Are you organized enough to use your resources in a way that captures their value, rarity, and inimitability?

It’s important that your resources check all the boxes above so you can ensure that you have sustained competitive advantage over others in the industry.

13. Theory of Constraints (TOC) framework

If the reason you’re currently in a strategic planning process is because you’re trying to mitigate risks or uncover issues that could hurt your business—this framework should be in your toolkit.

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a problem-solving framework that can help you identify limiting factors or bottlenecks preventing your organization from hitting OKRs or KPIs . 

Whether it’s a policy, market, or recourse constraint—you can apply the theory of constraints to solve potential problems, respond to issues, and empower your team to improve their work with the resources they have.

14. PEST/PESTLE analysis framework

The idea of the PEST analysis is similar to that of the SWOT analysis except that you’re focusing on external factors and solutions. It’s a great framework to combine with the scenario-based strategic planning model as it helps you define external factors connected to your business’s success.

PEST stands for political, economic, sociological, and technological factors. Depending on your business model, you may want to expand this framework to include legal and environmental factors as well (PESTLE). These are the most common factors you can include in a PESTLE analysis:

Political: Taxes, trade tariffs, conflicts

Economic: Interest and inflation rate, economic growth patterns, unemployment rate

Social: Demographics, education, media, health

Technological: Communication, information technology, research and development, patents

Legal: Regulatory bodies, environmental regulations, consumer protection

Environmental: Climate, geographical location, environmental offsets

15. Hoshin Kanri framework

Hoshin Kanri is a great tool to communicate and implement strategic goals. It’s a planning system that involves the entire organization in the strategic planning process. The term is Japanese and stands for “compass management” and is also known as policy management. 

This strategic planning framework is a top-down approach that starts with your leadership team defining long-term goals which are then aligned and communicated with every team member in the company. 

You should hold regular meetings to monitor progress and update the timeline to ensure that every teammate’s contributions are aligned with the overarching company goals.

Stick to your strategic goals

Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a nonprofit organization with decades of experience, strategic planning is a crucial step in your journey to success. 

If you’re looking for a tool that can help you and your team define, organize, and implement your strategic goals, Asana is here to help. Our goal-setting software allows you to connect all of your team members in one place, visualize progress, and stay on target.

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The Crucial Role of Strategic Planning

examples of strategic planning goals and objectives

Businesses and organisations are faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. In this era of constant change, strategic planning has become more crucial than ever before. This blog post aims to delve into the significance of strategic planning in 2024, exploring how it can guide entities through uncertainty and pave the way for sustained success.

Understanding Strategic Planning:

Strategic planning is a comprehensive process that involves defining an organisation’s direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this direction. It serves as a roadmap, guiding the organisation towards its goals and objectives. This process is not limited to businesses alone; governments, non-profits, and individuals can also benefit from strategic planning.

The Importance of Strategic Planning in 2024:

  • Navigating Uncertainty: The business landscape in 2024 is marked by rapid technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, and unforeseen global events. Strategic planning provides a structured approach to navigate uncertainty by anticipating potential challenges and devising contingency plans.As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, unforeseen events on one side of the globe can reverberate globally. The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark example of how quickly and profoundly unexpected events can impact businesses and societies worldwide. A well-crafted strategic plan enables organisations to anticipate potential disruptions and formulate response strategies, ensuring continuity even in the face of the unknown.
  • Adaptability in a Changing World: With the pace of change accelerating, organizations must be agile and adaptable. A well-crafted strategic plan allows businesses to identify emerging trends, adapt their operations, and seize new opportunities, ensuring they stay ahead of the curve.Technological advancements, shifts in consumer behaviour, and changes in regulatory landscapes are just a few examples of the forces driving change. Strategic planning equips organizations with the tools to assess and respond to these changes effectively. By incorporating flexibility into their plans, businesses can adjust their strategies in real-time, ensuring they are always in sync with the evolving business environment.
  • Resource Optimisation: In an era where resources are finite, strategic planning helps organizations allocate their resources efficiently. By identifying key priorities and aligning resources accordingly, entities can avoid wastage and focus on initiatives that will have the most significant impact on their success.Budget constraints, limited manpower, and environmental concerns all underscore the importance of resource optimisation. A strategic plan provides a roadmap for resource allocation, enabling organisations to invest in projects and initiatives that align with their long-term goals. This not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances the overall sustainability of the organisation.
  • Competitive Edge: Strategic planning provides a competitive edge by fostering innovation and differentiation. Organisations that consistently invest time in planning are more likely to identify unique value propositions and stay ahead of competitors in the rapidly changing market.In a globalised and hyper-competitive market, standing out from the crowd is imperative. A strategic plan that incorporates market analysis, consumer insights, and a focus on innovation positions an organisation to develop products or services that meet evolving customer needs. This proactive approach not only attracts new customers but also retains existing ones, contributing to sustainable growth and market leadership.
  • Enhanced Decision-Making: In the face of complex challenges, strategic planning equips decision-makers with a clear framework. It provides a holistic view of the organisation, enabling informed decision-making that aligns with long-term goals rather than short-term fixes.Decisions made in isolation or without a clear understanding of their long-term implications can lead to unintended consequences. Strategic planning provides decision-makers with a comprehensive understanding of the organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This insight ensures that decisions are aligned with the overall strategic direction, fostering a cohesive and purposeful approach to organisational governance.
  • Building a Resilient Culture: A strategic plan creates a shared vision and mission among team members. This shared understanding fosters a resilient organisational culture, where employees are aligned with the company’s goals, motivated to overcome challenges, and committed to achieving success.Employee engagement and satisfaction are integral to an organisation’s success. A well-communicated strategic plan ensures that every team member understands their role in achieving the organisation’s objectives. This clarity not only enhances teamwork and collaboration but also instills a sense of purpose and resilience. In times of adversity, a resilient culture becomes a powerful asset, enabling organisations to weather storms and emerge stronger on the other side.

Conclusion:

As we navigate the uncertainties of 2024, strategic planning stands out as a beacon of guidance for organisations across various sectors. Its role in providing a roadmap, enhancing adaptability, optimising resources, gaining a competitive edge, and fostering a resilient culture cannot be overstated. In a world where change is the only constant, strategic planning remains a vital tool for those seeking sustained success and growth.

Embracing strategic planning in 2024 is not just a choice; it’s a necessity for those aspiring to thrive in the face of unprecedented challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. By recognising the importance of strategic planning in navigating uncertainty, adapting to change, optimising resources, gaining a competitive edge, making informed decisions, and building a resilient culture, organizations can position themselves for success in the dynamic landscape of 2024 and beyond.

For More Relevant Posts:

  • Redefining HR Decision Making: HR Dashboards. 
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Matthew Dedes

examples of strategic planning goals and objectives

Status.net

Responsibilities of a Supervisor (7 Key Tasks and Examples)

By Status.net Editorial Team on February 7, 2024 — 10 minutes to read

As a supervisor, your primary responsibilities include overseeing and coordinating the daily operations of your team. You’re the go-to point for guidance, support, and sometimes even conflict resolution. Your role means ensuring that the team works efficiently and meets the set targets and standards.

  • Leadership : You set the tone for your team’s work environment. By giving clear directions and setting an example, you inspire others to follow suit. For instance, if punctuality is a priority, you’re always on time.
  • Communication : Acting as a bridge between upper management and your team, you relay information effectively. You might, for example, convey new company policies and gather feedback from your team to share with higher-ups.
  • Performance Management : You track your team’s productivity and quality of work. Suppose a team member is underperforming; you provide constructive criticism and potentially formulate a performance improvement plan.
  • Training and Development : You identify skill gaps and recommend training programs. You could mentor a junior team member, enhancing their knowledge for better progress.
  • Resource Management : You’re entrusted with managing the tools and materials your team needs. You would allocate these resources wisely to prevent bottlenecks in the workflow.
  • Problem-Solving : When issues arise, it’s your job to identify solutions. If there’s a conflict between team members, you would mediate and help find a middle ground.

In essence, your role as a supervisor entails being an approachable leader, an effective communicator, a sharp evaluator of performance, a guide for growth, a judicious resource allocator, and an adept problem-solver.

Key Responsibilities of a Supervisor

In your role as a supervisor, you’ll handle a range of duties tailored to support your team’s success and the smooth running of daily operations. Here’s what that will look like across various aspects.

Setting Goals and Objectives

You’ll need to set clear, achievable goals and objectives for your team, aligning them with the company’s broader mission. For example, you might establish monthly sales targets or project completion benchmarks that help guide your team’s efforts.

Overseeing Daily Operations

Your day-to-day will revolve around monitoring the workflow and ensuring all tasks are completed efficiently. If you’re running a retail space, this can mean coordinating staff schedules and managing inventory.

Managing Staff Performance

You’re accountable for evaluating how well your team members are doing, offering constructive feedback, and addressing any issues that arise. In a customer service setting, you might review call handling times and customer feedback to assess staff performance.

Ensuring Workplace Safety

Your team’s safety is in your hands, which means upholding health and safety regulations. In a warehouse, for instance, this could entail conducting regular site inspections or safety training sessions.

Providing Training and Development

It’s important that you identify training needs and provide opportunities for growth within the team. Say you’re supervising a marketing team; you might set up a workshop on the latest digital marketing trends to keep your team sharp and up-to-date.

Enhancing Team Productivity

You should implement strategies to boost productivity, like optimizing workflows or introducing time-saving tools. As a call center supervisor, you might introduce a new management software to track calls more effectively.

Fostering a Positive Work Environment

You have the chance to create a work atmosphere that promotes collaboration, respect, and well-being. This could be as simple as recognizing employee achievements or arranging team-building activities to strengthen camaraderie.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

As a supervisor, you play a pivotal role in shaping the dynamics of your team. Your ability to communicate effectively and manage relationships is key to both individual and collective success.

Conducting Effective Meetings

When you organize meetings, ensure they have clear objectives and stick to a pre-defined agenda. Start by stating the purpose and outline the topics to cover. For example, if you’re leading a project kickoff meeting, you might set goals for the project, assign tasks, and discuss timelines.

Resolving Conflicts

Part of your job is to address disputes promptly and fairly. Say two team members have differing views on a project approach, you should listen to both sides, understand their perspectives, and guide them toward a solution that aligns with the team’s goals.

Offering Constructive Feedback

Feedback is an opportunity for growth, so make it specific and actionable. If a team member is struggling with time management, you could suggest they break tasks into smaller, manageable steps and recommend tools to track their progress.

Promoting Team Collaboration

Encourage your team to work together by highlighting individual strengths and creating opportunities for joint problem-solving. If someone excels at data analysis, pair them with someone with strong presentation skills to tackle a project that requires both.

Administrative Duties

Supervisors play a vital role in managing the day-to-day administrative tasks that keep a business running smoothly. Your ability to complete these responsibilities effectively has a direct impact on your team and organization.

Maintaining Employee Records

You are in charge of keeping up-to-date records for each member of your team. This typically includes contact information, employment history, job performance, and any disciplinary actions. For example, you might use a digital system to track an employee’s attendance or update their training certifications.

Budgeting and Resource Allocation

You’ll manage your department’s budget and make decisions on where to allocate resources. This could mean determining how to divide funds across projects or deciding if additional staff can be hired based on financial reports.

Adhering to Company Policies

You’re expected to understand and adhere to all company policies. This includes implementing health and safety protocols and ensuring that team members are aware of and follow these guidelines. When a new policy is introduced, it’s your job to update your team and integrate this policy into daily operations.

Reporting to Management

As a supervisor, you regularly compile reports and updates to keep management informed about your team’s progress. This might involve reporting on sales figures, project status, or employee productivity, giving higher-ups critical insights into department performance.

Strategic Planning and Implementation

When you step into a supervisory role, one of your key duties is to engage in strategic planning and implementation. This process means you’re responsible for setting goals, developing strategies to meet those objectives, and guiding your team to execute these plans effectively.

  • First, you’ll need to identify the long-term goals for your team or department. For example, increasing the team’s sales by 20% within the next fiscal year. Once you have clear objectives, you can start crafting a strategic plan which includes specific, measurable steps.
  • Now, let’s talk about implementation. You take the strategies from your plan and translate them into actionable tasks for your team. You’re the driving force behind turning those abstract strategies into concrete results. For instance, you might roll out a new training program to improve product knowledge among your sales staff, aiming to increase customer satisfaction and sales numbers.
  • You also have to monitor the progress of these strategies. For example, keep track of monthly sales figures to see if your team is on pace to hit the 20% increase mark. If things aren’t going as planned, be ready to make adjustments. This might involve shifting resources, altering tactics, or providing additional support to your team.

Effective strategic planning and implementation are about clear communication, adapting to changes, and leading by example. Your team will look to you for direction and motivation, so keep your plans realistic, stay flexible, and always show your commitment to achieving those goals together.

Performance Evaluation and Improvement

Supervisors have a pivotal role in shaping their team’s productivity and career growth through effective performance evaluation and improvement.

Developing Performance Metrics

First, you need to establish clear performance metrics that align with your company’s goals. These should be quantifiable and easily understandable by your team. For example, if you are supervising a sales team, a performance metric could be the number of successful client acquisitions per quarter.

Implementing Improvement Strategies

Once metrics are set, you should identify and implement strategies to help your team meet or exceed these benchmarks. This might entail providing additional training sessions for customer service representatives to enhance their interaction skills or updating the software tools used by your data analysis team to increase efficiency.

Conducting Regular Performance Reviews

Regular performance reviews allow you to track progress and provide feedback for ongoing improvement. During these sessions, if a team member has excelled in client communication, highlight this success, and discuss how these skills can be shared with the team. Conversely, if an employee’s performance is lagging, work together to establish a clear and actionable plan for development.

Quality Control and Assurance

As a supervisor, you play a pivotal role in maintaining the standards of the products or services your team provides. You ensure that deliverables meet the established quality criteria before they reach the customer. A significant part of your job is to implement and monitor quality control procedures, identifying any issues that could affect the final outcome.

  • For instance, you should regularly review your team’s work through audits or performance reviews. Let’s say you’re overseeing a manufacturing process; you would perform spot checks on the production line, test samples for defects, and then document any issues. You’d need to provide feedback and guidance to your team to prevent future occurrences.
  • Another component of your responsibility is assurance. This typically means setting up training programs to help your team understand quality standards and why they matter. If you’re in a service-oriented industry, you might conduct role-playing exercises to help employees handle different scenarios with clients.
  • Communication is key. Keep your team informed about any updates in quality expectations or new methodologies. For practical application, imagine introducing a new software that tracks quality metrics; you’d explain how the tool improves the team’s ability to maintain high-quality work.
  • Lastly, you address customer complaints related to quality. You need to investigate these issues, find the root causes, and take corrective actions. By doing this, you not only resolve the immediate problem but also demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement.

Crisis Management and Problem Solving

When you’re a supervisor, managing crises and solving problems is part of your job. You must act quickly to identify the issues and implement solutions to minimize the impact. Your role in this includes assessing the situation, making decisions, and guiding your team through the resolution process.

First, assess the situation:

  • Gather information: Quickly collect all relevant details about the crisis.
  • Analyze the impact: Determine how the crisis affects your team and operations.

Next, make decisions:

  • Identify options: List possible actions that could resolve the problem.
  • Evaluate outcomes: Consider the potential consequences of each action.

Lastly, guide your team:

  • Communicate clearly: Keep your team informed about the crisis and your plan.
  • Delegate tasks: Assign roles and responsibilities to team members to tackle the issue.
  • Follow up: Ensure that solutions are implemented effectively and learn from the experience.

Example : Imagine a safety incident occurs on the production floor. You must quickly understand what happened, ensure everyone is safe, and stop the problem from escalating. You might decide to temporarily halt production, which, although impacting schedules, ensures safety. Then, communicate with your team, delegate tasks to address the immediate risks, and plan to resume operations safely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you outline the key duties a supervisor has to perform daily.

Your daily duties as a supervisor include delegating tasks, monitoring staff performance, and providing feedback. You also need to ensure that the day’s objectives are clearly understood by your team.

Could you give an example of the core roles a supervisor plays in a team setting?

As a supervisor, you act not just as a manager but as a leader. For instance, you might mediate conflicts within the team and work to create a collaborative environment where everyone’s ideas are valued and considered.

What are the top priorities a supervisor should focus on to maintain team efficiency?

To keep your team running smoothly, you should prioritize setting clear goals, managing resources effectively, and keeping communication lines open to quickly address any issues that arise.

How does a supervisor effectively support and develop their staff?

You can support and develop your staff by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and providing opportunities for training and professional development. Regular one-on-one meetings can help you guide their growth.

What are the essential supervisory skills necessary for effective leadership?

Important supervisory skills include effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and time management. These help you lead your team confidently and handle challenges as they come.

In what ways can a supervisor ensure the successful implementation of company policies?

As a supervisor, you can ensure company policies are followed by clearly explaining their importance to your team and overseeing their application in daily operations. Regular training sessions can also reinforce policy awareness and adherence.

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IMAGES

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  3. The Strategic Planning Process in 4 Steps

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  4. Tips For Creating A Business With Strategic Planning Process

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  5. Strategic Objectives: Defintion, Examples, and Types

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  6. 6 Steps to Create a Strategic HR Plan [With Templates]

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COMMENTS

  1. How to set strategic goals (with 73 examples you can steal)

    March 23, 2022 As a project manager, setting strategic goals for your team is an absolute must. By establishing objectives, you can ensure everyone (including yourself) is productive and moving in the right direction. It also means you can track progress and make real-time adjustments — which is incredibly difficult to do without clear metrics.

  2. 65 strategic goals for your company (with examples)

    65 strategic goals for your company (with examples) Julia Martins January 7th, 2023 5 min read Jump to section What is a strategic goal? How strategic goals compare to other business processes 65 example strategic metrics and goals Achieve your goals with goal tracking technology View Templates Summary

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    There are many different types of examples for strategic planning goals and objectives that can be useful. Which goals you choose to work toward depends on what will be a greater benefit to you and your company.

  4. 56 Strategic Objective Examples For Your Company To Copy

    56 Strategic Objective Examples For Your Company To Copy Strategic objectives indicate what is important in your organizational strategy. Ted Jackson January 16, 2024 Strategic Planning Strategic objectives are statements that indicate what is critical or important in your organizational strategy.

  5. How to Set Strategic Planning Goals

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  7. Objectives And Goals Of Strategic Planning

    What is going to get in our way? What do we need to do to get to where we want to go? How is Strategic Planning Different from Business Planning? Strategic planning differs greatly from business planning. Strategic planning requires you to withhold your general day-to-day activities and enunciate where your organization is heading.

  8. What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

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  9. How To Create & Write Out Your Strategic Objectives

    Ted Jackson March 2, 2023 Strategic Planning Your organization's "strategic objectives" (sometimes referred to as "goals") are statements of what you're trying to achieve. They make up the key components of your strategy at the highest level, and are vital in the strategic planning process.

  10. What Are Strategic Objectives? How To Write Them + Examples

    9 min read What Are Strategic Objectives? How To Write Them + Examples Article by Tom Wright — Published March 27, 2023 Writing strategic objectives is part of the strategic planning process. It's also the most fun and exciting part of it. It follows the creation of your strategy's focus areas and breathes life into your vision and strategy.

  11. Examples of a Strategic Plan to Achieve Long-Term Growth

    Identify business goals and set priorities that create growth for your company. Formulate a long-term plan of action designed to achieve these objectives. Determine an internal system tracking and evaluating performance. When organizations want to, they use a strategic plan to: Strengthen their operation.

  12. How To Set Strategic Goals & Objectives With SMART Goals

    Here are a few key SMART goal example rules to keep in mind: Be specific: SMART goals are specific, and specificity gives us focus. This leads to people truly getting strategic things done. Note we never want to confuse being busy with being strategic.

  13. Strategic Goal Examples for Use in Your Strategic Plan and Balanced

    A non-exhaustive list of strategic goal examples and KPI examples: If you use the Balanced Score Card in your organization (you should), then below you'll find sample "objectives" or strategic priorities. For each objective or strategic goal, you must have an accompanying measurement.

  14. PDF How to write a strategic plan

    Goals, Priorities and Strategies. Outlines the goals, priorities, and strategies to meet the mission. 3 -4 overarching goals aligned with mission. Priorities, activities, objectives, strategies are in more depth, have more specificity - each goal could have a few different objectives / strategies associated with it.

  15. What Are Strategic Objectives? (With Steps and Examples)

    Part-time jobs Full-time jobs Remote jobs View more jobs on Indeed What is a strategic objective? Strategic objectives are purpose statements that help create an overall vision and set goals and measurable steps for an organization to help achieve the desired outcome.

  16. Strategic Planning Tools: What, Why, How, Template

    Strategy and strategic plans: How they are different and why it matters. Strategy creates a common understanding of what an organization wants to achieve and what it needs to do to meet its goals. Strategic plans bridge the gap from overall direction to specific projects and day-to-day actions that ultimately execute the strategy. Job No. 1 is ...

  17. 13 SMART Goals Examples for Strategic Planning

    1. Improve Employee Retention "Our company will boost employee retention for three years by providing more opportunities for professional growth, implementing a fair and transparent promotion process, and creating a positive work environment."

  18. 21 Proven Strategic Goals Examples

    Below are some strategic goals and objectives examples to inspire you and your team: Examples of Strategic Goals in Management Add 30 new employees within the next 5 years Write and distribute new company values by the end of 2025 Create and implement a new employee referral program by the end of 2025. Financial Strategic Goals Examples

  19. A Really Helpful Strategic Planning Example

    Upward Airlines Strategic Plan Example. Let's imagine Upward Airlines has a 2017-2022 strategic plan that's coming to a close. Now's the time to create a new strategy for 2023-2028. The airline's strategic plan needs to include goals and the general plan of action on how to achieve them. Think of a strategic plan like a flight plan.

  20. 25 Best Strategic Objectives Examples

    We've grouped our examples of good strategic objectives into a series of broad categories (which we call Focus Areas). So without further ado, here's our list of strategic objective examples! Strategic Objectives Examples Focus Area: Financial Growth. Grow gross revenue to $2m by 31st Dec 2022; Increase net margin by 15% by 31st Jul 2023

  21. How to Write Powerful, Precise Strategic Objectives & Goals

    Some of the best strategic objectives are a sentence long, begin with a verb, and include an object, a measurable unit, and a timeline. Here are some examples: Increase our advertising sales by 2% in the next 4 months. Improve user engagement from 70% to 80% in a year. Decrease client turnover by 10% in 6 months.

  22. What is Strategic Planning? Definition, Importance, Model, Process and

    Strategic planning is defined as a pivotal organizational endeavor, meticulously charting the mission, goals, and objectives over a strategic timeframe, typically spanning 2-5 years. Learn more about strategic planning importance, model, process, and examples.

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    1. Basic model. The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company's vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

  24. Components and examples of strategic communication

    Therefore, it covers strategic planning, corporate objectives, audience analysis, tactical execution and incorporation of feedback for all communication campaigns. The ultimate goal is the actualisation of organisational objectives through effective communication. Related: The importance of communication objectives (with examples)

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  26. Responsibilities of a Supervisor (7 Key Tasks and Examples)

    First, you'll need to identify the long-term goals for your team or department. For example, increasing the team's sales by 20% within the next fiscal year. Once you have clear objectives, you can start crafting a strategic plan which includes specific, measurable steps. Now, let's talk about implementation.

  27. PDF Annual Monitoring of the 2019-2024 LaGuardia Strategic Plan Goals and

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