Building a plan is essential to business success. Whether you are addressing a specific opportunity or charting the direction for your entire business, an effective plan, and the process you follow to develop that plan, is fundamental to meeting your objectives.
Stratford Managers takes a structured approach that draws upon decades of senior executive planning experience in a wide range of businesses.
Following a Process
Stratford Managers follows a rigorous “PQRS” process that guides our business planning engagements:
- Preparation: Ensure participants understand the planning objectives and are ready to contribute.
- Quorum: Ensure that the right subject-matter-experts and stakeholders are involved in the process.
- Reporting: Ensure that clear actions with associated metrics are assigned and tracked.
- Structure: Ensure large issues and objectives are broken down into actionable initiatives.
Because the most important parts of the planning process often occur before and after the meetings, Stratford Managers stays engaged throughout the process to ensure that preparation and strategic thinking lead to concrete actions.
The Right Experience
Stratford Managers brings an external perspective to your most challenging business decisions. Our multi-discipline, multi-market and multi-industry experience means you’ll have a wealth of relevant expertise to draw upon. Whether you are a small, early stage start-up or a larger well-established organization, our planning approach is scaled to your situation. We bring skills in the planning process and serve as a valuable resource for effective strategies and tactics.
Building Consensus
Some battle-hardened executives maintain that “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.” While we believe that plans are essential, we do appreciate the sentiment. Performed correctly, the planning process yields not just a roadmap for the future but creates a team that is aligned towards a common objective. Planning is both about learning and learning how to operate as a team. That’s why at Stratford Managers we ensure that your planning process develops agreement, builds commitment and ensures clarity of action.
Planning for Success
Once the planning is over, the action begins. Our processes ensure that you’ve documented Critical Success Factors (CSF) that become the pillars of your plan. Supporting each CSF are specific actions, associated metrics, and a reporting discipline that monitors your progress. If required, Stratford is available to sustain the momentum developed during the planning process through executive advisory services that help you address obstacles along the way. We also help launch initiatives with our jumpstart services.
Make Stratford Managers the first step in your plan. Call (613) 719-9031. Email sales@stratfordmanagers.com.
