There are many reasons to bring in a professional Facilitator to help navigate your Strategic Planning process. Everyone can participate - the business leader cannot lead and facilitate a conversation at the same time. The facilitator frees up the leadership to put in the effort to ensure the best conversation possible. It is a specialized process - it involves the need for experience, best practice as well as the tools of management science. A facilitator can ask the right questions, to get to the heart of the matter The Facilitator is neutral to decisions - having no "iron in the fire", nor any vested interest in decisions, ensures the conversations remain based on objective criteria. The Facilitator sets the tone - bringing in a professional sends a clear message to the organisation that the business is clearly investing seriously, and displays sincerity of intent. Control of time and direction of conversation - the Facilitator ensures everyone is heard, and the discussion remains relevant and on-point. If the direction mires or drifts, it can be quickly brought back to relevancy and avoid power dynamics that would censure openness. Its a people management skill - it requires the skills of someone used to the EQ and personality types to syncronise everyone skillfully The power of using an external professional to get the ball rolling - its often the first step that is the hardest. While the execution of the Strategy ultimately lies with the leadership, the Facilitator brings everyone together and forces thinking and ownership.

It is imperative that the Strategic Planning process is seen as having Senior Leadership championing, in order for the entire organisation to buy-in not only to the exercise, but the also outcome and the agreed road-map of growth goals. Hence, not only the CEO / Managing Director should be a driving force, but other key Leaders such as the CFO, HR, Sales, Operations, etc. For the workshop, all the Senior team should attend in person, as well as select key contributors. For the report-out of the final version, key Stakeholders (such as the Chairman, Board members, Advisors, etc. ) should participate to get their endorsement, and ultimately the CEO should bring everyone together for a communications session, to let everyone know what the strategic choices and direction the business is taking.

For most organisations, we can have a holistic and detailed Strategic Planning process completed within 10 to 12 weeks. A sample timeline Pre-work- 4 weeks ( working with the key Management and STRAP leadership) Strategic planning in person takes 2 to 3 days, virtually takes 5 weeks + post work as needed. Plan competition and roll out and communication of the STRAP: 4 to 5 weeks. This does not include the time needed to begin the implementation

Tangibly, the end result will be a living document that captures the entire effort, linking where the business sits today, where it wants to be in 3 to 5 years, the steps to take it there, the financial impact, what resources are needed, the HR Organisational Development changes that may have to happen, and what Operations needs to do to deliver on that growth. It is the collective pooling of industry knowledge, the capture of "tribal knowledge" of the business, the SWOT analysis of the internal and external forces that act upon the organization. In many ways, it is the codification of the action plan required for the business to grow and prosper. Furthermore, it means that all activities of the business can be measured, based on objective criteria, and bring all members back to what was strategically agreed to, to ensure commonality of purpose. And finally, its iterative. Naturally business circumstances change, so by committing to this cycle annually, it allows the business to adjust and tweak its direction, while staying true to the core principles codified in the STRAP.

Paul Hussey has over 20 years of leading Strategic Planning processes, and brings a wealth of experience in understanding how to tailor it to a particular businesses needs. He was the Vice President of Strategic Planning for Honeywell International, and then as CEO led the annual effort for the businesses he ran, in order to set the short, medium and longer term goals and objectives for the Board's approval. A major global investment bank hired Paul to facilitate their Strategic Planning cycle over a two year period.

A; Hiring Hussey & Associates on a project basis is highly efficient and very cost-effective for the results; it is a discrete piece of work that is owned by the business. Please contact us to discuss the parameters of your needs and we can prepare a quote for the services