The Dos and Dont's of Strategic Planning

The MIT Sloan Management Review article titled, "The Real Value of Strategic Planning," by Sara Kaplan and Eric D. Beinhocker provided an overview of the dos and don'ts of strategic planning. While I haven't facilitated formal strategic planning meetings, I've attended them and witnessed the outcomes at Carnegie Mellon University's Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.

The authors cite management scholar Henry Mintzberg's thought on strategic planning being an oxymoron in the sense that strategy is conducted in hallway conversations, working groups and in quiet moments on plane flights, for example. Yet, it's rarely done in formal planning meetings.  Reflecting on my personal experience, I realize that many of my strategic thoughts on our marketing and communications efforts are realized when I am taking a shower or driving alone in the car.

However, the Scott Institute hosts quarterly meetings with our external- and internal-advisory council members, as well as our Energy Faculty Fellows. We generally facilitate our meetings as Kaplan and Beinhocker advise, "Real conversations take place in groups of three to 10 people; they simply do not happen in large groups for both logistical and political reasons" (72). However, the authors recommend not combining strategy reviews with talks of a budgets and financial targets. Per my recent discussion board post, a recent meeting with our energy fellows resulted in a discussion of the Institute's budget, which resulted in faculty members being fixated on short-term budgeting, such as grant awards, rather than a discussion on long-term strategy. This is our last year of a five-year Richard King Mellon Foundation award so focusing on the long-term budget strategy is important for the organization.

After reading this article, I realize my director has made other mistakes in leading our strategic planning meetings. For instance, the authors recommend sending out the agenda and information to be presented during the meeting to attendees at least one week before. My director is notorious for not communicating well and usually sends agendas and other items for meetings the day before, resulting in attendees not having enough time to review the materials and gather their feedback. I think this issue stems from him being overwhelmed with tasks and wanting to "own" the process of facilitating the meeting without the help of the administrative coordinator producing the materials for it.

When I graduate, my goal is to become a Director of Communications (and eventually becoming a Vice President of Communications) at a higher education institution, a government-run energy organization or nonprofit. Kaplan and Beinhocker provide a framework I can use when I'm leading strategic planning meetings when I am in these roles. I'll plan to ask these questions they provide (among others):

• What are our aspirations?
• What are the critical trends regarding our customers, competitors, technology and regulation?
• How is our business model performing, and how will it likely evolve?

Kaplan and Beinhocker's article provides many more insightful ways for running strategic planning meetings efficiently.