Outline strategic goals, identify key metrics, and track progress

Strategic planning refers to the process organizations use to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, and ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals. It involves defining the organization's direction and making decisions on allocating resources to pursue this direction.

This process helps organizations assess their current situation, define their vision for the future, and establish measurable goals and objectives to guide them. Strategic planning is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions shaping and guiding what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, all with a focus on the future.

Strategic planning involves a series of structured activities that help an organization define its strategy or direction and make decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy.

The process typically starts with setting the vision and mission of the organization, which clarify the long-term desired position and the fundamental purpose of the organization, respectively.

Following this, environmental scanning is conducted to gather information about the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats. This analysis often involves tools like SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. The next step is to establish long-term goals and objectives that align with the vision and mission. These goals are usually specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Strategy formulation then follows, where the organization decides on the best courses of action to achieve these objectives. This includes planning for different scenarios and deciding on the necessary resource allocation. Once strategies are developed, they're implemented through detailed action plans that specify what is to be done, by whom, and when. This phase often requires effective communication and change management strategies to ensure buy-in from all stakeholders.

Finally, the strategic planning process includes ongoing monitoring and evaluation to assess progress towards the objectives, allowing for adjustments and refinements to strategies as necessary. This guarantees that the strategic plan remains relevant and effective in guiding the organization’s actions.

Platforms that facilitate strategic planning combine brainstorming and ideation, organization and feedback, as well as diagramming and mapping tools that create a visual representation of a planning framework. 

Effective strategy planner software should include a comprehensive set of features that facilitate thorough and efficient strategic planning. Key features should encompass goal-setting tools that help define clear, measurable objectives (like Mural's templates and guides that help teams get aligned faster); collaboration capabilities that allow team members to work together in real-time, regardless of location; and tracking tools that provide insights into performance metrics and progress.

Visual mapping tools, such as charts and graphs, are also essential for illustrating relationships and timelines, making complex data easier to understand and act upon. Lastly, a user-friendly interface and robust security measures are crucial to ensure ease of use and data protection.

Glad you asked! Mural is an excellent tool to make your strategic plan visual. Our versatile platform supports a wide array of visual elements such as mind maps, flowcharts, and diagrams, which can be used to outline and connect various components of a strategy. Users can easily drag and drop these elements to represent different priorities, processes, and relationships, making complex plans more understandable and actionable.

Also, Mural's collaborative features allow team members to contribute simultaneously from anywhere in the world, helping make sure that all perspectives are integrated into the strategic plan. This real-time interaction not only enhances team alignment but also encourages continuous refinement and improvement of the strategy, making Mural a dynamic tool for effective strategic planning.