Strategic plans are prepared at different levels using different approaches, but the ones mentioned below are 5 important elements of a good strategic plan.

1. All rights reserved. Copyright 2011@ Canopus Business Management Group
www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
5 Important Elements of a Good Strategic Plan
If you are new to Strategic Planning and want to familiarize yourself on what a strategic
plan is and how to go about preparing one, then this article will be useful.
Strategic plans are prepared at different levels using different approaches, but the ones
mentioned below are 5 important elements of a good strategic plan.
Traditionally strategic plans are considered to be complex and bulky reports that runs to
pages. But that isn’t necessary true. However, it is true that there is lot of work that goes
into creating an organization’s strategic plan. But a good strategic plan can just be a
one-document containing the following elements :
Business Goals
Business goals are the organizational level goals that are closely tied to the
organization’s vision and mission. It reflects the aspirations of the organization and their
commitment to their customers, shareholders and employees. Usually the
organizational goals are restricted to not more than 5 and preferably just 3. Each of
these goals are quantifiable measures with agreed targets for next 3 years. Not all goals
are equally important, so it would be a good idea to arrange them in the order of
importance.
If your organization feels that all the goals are equally important, then there is no need
to prioritize them.

2. All rights reserved. Copyright 2011@ Canopus Business Management Group
www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
Measures of Success
As mentioned earlier, it is important to quantify all goals. So there is a clear difference
between vision and goals. ‘To be market leader in next 3 years’ isn’t a goal. For some
goals, there may be more than one measure of success. It’s a good idea to include all of
them, but they can be carefully screened before inclusion.
Organizational Strategies
Organizational Strategy is the most misused management term. Goals and strategies
are interchangeability used and they are thoroughly confused. As Michel Porter puts it,
strategies represent the ‘How’ part of achieving the goal, not the ‘What’. Strategies are
arrived based on internal and external environments. Number of strategies to be no
more than 7 but preferably just 5. I’m not covering the details of the how organizational
strategies are arrived here, but you will find information regarding this in other articles.
Most times, a given strategy can be helpful in achieving more than one goal.
Like goals, strategies have to be prioritized as well. Some organizations consider
inorganic growth as a strategy and include it as the last strategy. But it isn’t mandatory
to include acquisition as a strategy by default.
Ownership for Goals
Goals without individual ownership will never be accomplished. Hence each of the goals
at the organizational level are owned by individual leaders. Just to reiterate, I used the
word ‘Owned’ not ‘Assigned’. Hence the individual leaders of the organization engage in
a discussion and agree to own goals rather than being assigned by the Chief Executive.
In achieving some of these goals, there will be inter-dependencies. That’s where joint
accountability comes into play.
Strategic Projects (Initiatives)
Strategic Initiatives are strategic thrust areas where the leadership believes the
organization has to do something different in order to achieve 1 or more goals. Few
synonyms for Strategic Projects are Strategic Initiatives, Critical Strategic Projects, etc.
There is no restriction on the number of strategic projects, but should be limited based

3. All rights reserved. Copyright 2011@ Canopus Business Management Group
www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
how much an organization can manage concurrently. Most organizations falter here.
Similar to goals and strategies, strategic projects are also prioritized. In order to ensure
a strategic project is successful, there needs to be a robust project plan, cross-
functional teams and rigor.
Once created, a strategic plan is a live document and needs to be reviewed and
updated every month.
Access free assessment tool on to evaluate Strategic Planning & Execution
Capability of your organization:
http://www.collaborat.com/resources/evaluation-survey-of-strategic-planning-execution-
capability/
About the Author:
Neil started Canopus Business Management Group in 2009.
He helps a range of large enterprises in services and manufacturing, with particular emphasis on
execution of business & functional strategies, customer experience & process transformation. He
has worked with banking, outsourcing, IT, discrete manufacturing & telecom business processes.
He draws on extensive experience (15 years) in Hoshin Kanri, Blue Ocean Strategy, Lean, Six
Sigma, Outsourcing, Change Management and Touch point Management to deliver composite solutions that put
client’s business in an Advantageous & Profitable position.
Client engagements aim at eliminating the barriers for seamless execution of strategies, carpet bombing customer
touch points, diagnostic interventions on customer churn & retention and implementation of transformational
projects.
He can be reached at neil@collaborat.com or +91 9176616766.