Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Defining Business Goals, Targets, and Deliverables

Introduction:

A successful organization's future largely depends on effective strategic planning. Many strategic plans fall short by relying on simplistic extrapolations of past performance, which can be myopic and risky in a rapidly evolving world. True strategic planning involves setting specific goals that foster competitiveness and drive development for an organization poised for the future.

This course, Strategic Planning and Goal-Setting, equips participants with essential management techniques to steer organizations toward future success. Participants will learn to create a strategic workforce, understand how strategic plans impact business productivity, and set effective organizational objectives.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design forward-looking strategies
• Translate strategy documents into actionable steps
• Utilize organizational and individual assessment models
• Learn from past successes and failures to avoid common pitfalls
• Understand the organizational life cycle
• Conduct effective strategic workforce planning
• Apply visionary, analytical, and creative thinking
• Adapt to the global business environment of the 21st century
• Make strategic decisions on resource allocation
• Improve preparedness for potential contingencies
• Set ambitious, realistic, and achievable goals
• Measure performance and manage progress efficiently

Training Methodology:

• Case studies
• Interactive workshops
• Scenario-based learning
• Strategic simulations
• Group discussions
• Expert presentations
• Goal-setting exercises
• SWOT analysis
• Action planning sessions
• Peer feedback sessions

Course Outline:

Unit 1: The Strategic Planning Process - Part 1

• Understanding strategy: meaning and importance
• Competitive positioning vs. blue sky approaches
• Achieving competitive advantage through flexibility and agility
• The interplay between strategy, structure, and business processes
• Information sources for SWOT analysis
• Mini-case & group discussion: “Cost vs. Differentiation”

Unit 2: The Strategic Planning Process - Part 2

• Crafting vision and mission statements: Preparing for the future
• Business analysis and contingency planning
• Strategic choice making
• Transforming SWOT analysis into a strategy matrix
• Strategy formulation: programs, projects, and policies
• Strategy implementation: organization transformation and change management

Unit 3: Assessing The Current State of The Organization

• Leadership and management related to strategy
• Customer and market focus
• Human resources and knowledge management
• Building a strategic planning team
• Effective process management for business results
• Monitoring and measuring business performance

Unit 4: Avoiding The Pitfalls of Strategic Planning

• Understanding the strategy life-cycle and strategic drift issues
• Integrating innovation thinking within the organization
• Mitigating the negative impacts of success
• Avoiding paralysis by analysis
• Overcoming resistance to new ideas, truth denial, and constrained thinking
• Emphasizing the criticality of team building and teamwork

Unit 5: Personal Strategic Planning

• Using strategic tools in individual goal-setting processes
• Creating personal strategic plans
• Implementing change as a strategic manager
• Navigating core competencies and skills for the 21st century
• Breaking down and executing strategy
• Developing inspiration while gathering support
• Overcoming adversity through success building
• Embracing personal roles in strategic planning and goal-setting processes