Making Sense of Strategic Planning - Part 3

In continuation of his four part series, Enda Larkin explores how to makes sense of the strategic planning process, particularly in the context of small and medium sized operations. Part 2 examined how to develop Vision and Mission statements for the business. Part 3 will explore how to translate these statements into goals, strategies and plans, so that they actually add real value to the business. View Part 1 here | View Part 2 here

Living your Vision and Mission

In Part 2, the focus was on capturing broad aspirations for the business through the development of the Vision and Mission. But how can these statements be lived in practice so that they add value? An obvious first step is to ensure that all primary stakeholders actually know about them by communicating your vision and mission widely and frequently. However, to actually become a true driving force these statements must first be translated into measurable goals.

To demonstrate how this process works, the examples of Vision and Mission identified for our fictitious hotel in London in Part 2 will again be used:

In reality, these statements are only words. Nice words, but still, only words. To be of any benefit, the management team would need to break these broad aspirations down into more tangible goals, such as:

These goals now provide focus and direction for the business; they are something to aim for and, if achieved, they will ensure that the ‘mission’ is lived and that the hotel is moving towards its vision.

How will we get there?

Having goals is great but still meaningless unless something is done to make them a reality. This is where strategy and plans come in.

In defining their strategies, the management team at our fictitious hotel would need to ask themselves certain questions based on their defined goals:

By answering these questions, the managers at the hotel would arrive at general strategies; which are essentially choices you make, or options you take by answering similar questions to the samples provided above. Of course, there are generic strategies that may be followed such as cost leadership or differentiation, but don’t get hung up on what your strategy is called but rather focus on what it does for the business. Does it make sense in relation to your SWOT and will it help you to realise your goals?

From Strategies to Annual Plans

Whatever goals and related strategies are devised, it is clear that it will take more than one year to realise them, so an annual plan is needed to help implement the strategy(ies).

Whereas operational planning is concerned with doing things right so that the hotel runs smoothly, annual planning is focused on doing the right things so that you are actually implementing your strategies, progressing towards your goals living your vision and mission and as a result heading for success. The annual plan defines the range of finance, marketing, human resources and operational actions necessary to implement your strategies in any given year. Sample activities in the annual plan for our example hotel related to implementing their strategies and achieving their goals are shown below:

This example shows how the planned actions for the coming year relate directly back to the goals. By linking from your vision and mission to goals to strategies to annual plans, you become results-driven and as those outcomes are based on your stakeholder needs, you plant the seeds for business success.

The final phase in creating your strategic map is to consider how you will measure progress and this will be our focus in Part 4 of the series.

About the Author | Enda Larkin has over 25 years experience in the hotel industry having held a number of senior management positions in Ireland, UK and the US.

In 1994 he founded HTC Consulting, a Geneva based firm, which specialises in working with enterprises in hospitality and tourism. Since that time, he has led numerous consulting projects for public and private sector clients throughout Europe and the Middle East.

He is author of Ready to Lead? (Pearson/Prentice Hall) and How to Run a Great Hotel (How to Books) which expands on the themes highlighted in this article. He may be contacted via www.htc-consult.com or at [email protected]

Enda Larkin
Director, HTC Consulting
+41 (0) 22 700 8675
HTC Consulting