explain and discuss strategic planning process in the educational system

Ensure your strategic plan succeeds with your educational partners’ input

September 29, 2023

Sarah Mathias

Strategic planning in education – 3 keys to success.

Effective strategic planning is critical for creating positive change in your district. Among the many benefits, strategic plans align educational partners with a shared vision, mission, and values; promote productive decision-making; and help students reach their full potential.

While having a plan in place will usually improve results, strategic planning can present challenges—resulting in endless meetings, countless goal and tactic revisions, and plans that are never fully realized.

In this post, we explore strategic planning in education, touch on some K-12 planning tips, and share three best practices for making strategic planning successful in your school district. With your community’s insights and the right tools, you can win at strategic planning. Here’s how.

In this Article

• What is Strategic Planning in Education?

Strategic planning tips for K12

See thoughtexchange in action — watch the product tour, what is strategic planning in education.

Strategic planning is the process of setting goals, deciding on actions to achieve those goals, and mobilizing the resources needed to take those actions. A strategic plan describes how goals will be achieved using available resources.

While the concept initially stemmed from business practices due to people moving from the private sector into educational leadership positions, many strategic planning tools and paradigms have been adapted to focus on engagement and consensus.

This is because effective strategic planning requires community support at the school district level, both functionally and legislatively. School districts of all sizes use strategic planning to improve student outcomes and respond to changing demographics while staying within the given funding box.

In top-performing schools, leaders have proactively shifted their strategic planning process to include their educational partners. They know that their strategic plans are more likely to succeed with community support and the insights that come with community engagement.

Strategic planning is key to setting students up for success in K-12 and beyond. A solid strategic plan articulates a shared vision, mission, and values, increasing engagement while providing a framework to ensure students’ needs are met so they can reach their full potential.

Your strategic plan will benefit from your district’s input. Here are a few effective ways to engage your district in K-12 strategic planning.

Tap into your educational partners’ wisdom

Your educational partners have valuable insights. Consult teachers, staff, students , parents, and community members throughout the planning process, so your strategy aligns with their perspectives.

Whether you’re setting strategy at the district, school, or department level, consulting diverse participants will uncover unbiased insights, enhance trust and buy-in, and ensure greater success with new strategic directions.

Using ThoughtExchange , leaders can scale their engagement to efficiently and effectively include their community in their district strategic plans.

Use climate surveys

Completed by all students, parents/guardians, and staff, school climate surveys allow leaders to collect participants’ perceptions about issues like school safety, bullying, and mental health and well-being, as well as the general school environment.

ThoughtExchange Surveys get you both nuanced qualitative and robust quantitative data with instant in-depth analysis, ensuring your district understands all angles of school climate. Run surveys independently or combine them with Exchanges for faster, more accurate results.

• Collect benchmark comparisons while tracking and measuring improvements over time
• Gather quality quantitative data for reporting to state agencies or funders
• Identify outliers and trends across demographic groups

Put in some face time with town halls, meetings, or listening tours

In-person gatherings like town halls, meetings, and listening tours are effective ways to understand your educational partners’ wants and needs to ensure they line up with your strategic priorities.

When managed effectively, they give staff and other educational partners the chance to closely interact. In-person gatherings can build trust and morale, promote transparency, and help create a sense of purpose.

Leverage community engagement platforms

Community engagement software lets you streamline your community engagement initiatives. It allows education leaders to gather feedback and get tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people on the same page in just days. It also facilitates candid, collaborative community conversations that help districts realize their goals.

A comprehensive community engagement platform like ThoughtExchange allows you to integrate your strategy with your community and take decisive, supported action in less time. It provides planning, scheduling, and analysis tools to help you quickly set strategy and monitor execution.

3 keys to strategic planning success

1. get everyone on the same page.

Make sure your educational partners are on the same page by allowing them to contribute to and shape your strategy from the start. Lack of alignment about what strategy involves can hinder even the best plans. So the first step in creating a successful strategic plan is getting everyone involved to provide their insights and opinions.

Letting your people know you’re listening and that their insights affect decisions, builds trust and buy-in. Your community will be much more likely to support—not sabotage—a strategy or decision.

2. Be a collaborative leader

According to ThinkStrategic , creating a school strategic plan should always be a collaborative process. Avoiding a top-down approach and getting input from educational partners will help minimize blind spots and unlock collective intelligence. It will also ensure everyone is committed to the plan. Get all community members involved in how to make the most of the school’s possibilities.

Commit to becoming a collaborative leader and put a plan in place to ensure you can achieve that goal. That may include implementing technology that can support scaled, real-time discussion safely and inclusively for students, teachers, and other educational partners.

3. Get a holistic view of your district

Getting a holistic view of your educational partners’ wants and needs helps you build more inclusive, supported strategic plans.

Depend on a platform that meets all your engagement needs in one place—from surveys to Exchanges—and allows you to consult more people in an inclusive, anti-biased environment. You’ll reduce the time and resources spent on town halls and meetings, and reach your district’s goals more efficiently and effectively.

Engagement and survey software has been proven to contribute to more effective strategic planning in education. It empowers leaders to run and scale unbiased engagement initiatives where they can learn what the people who matter really think— explore ThoughtExchange success stories to learn more .

More from the Archives

Why you need mixed-method data for better engagement outcomes.

ThoughtExchange Vs. The Competition: Who Gets You Better Data?

3 Reasons to Use Advisor for Your Next Engagement

Gain clarity, not clutter. Turn insights into action today.

• Get in Touch
• Product Tour
• Deeper Engagement
• Integrated AI Analysis
• Instant Actions
• Responsible AI & Trust
• Events & Webinars
• Customer Stories
• Brand Guidelines
• Leadership Team
• Careers & Culture

Webinar: Bond & Levy Planning Essentials: Your Best Chance of YES

This site belongs to UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning

IIEP Learning Portal

Search form

• issue briefs
• Plan for learning

Education sector analysis, planning and monitoring

At the core of any effort to improve education quality and learning outcomes are three central processes: analysing the current education sector conditions, planning for improvement, and monitoring efforts to implement those plans.

The first step in planning for improved learning outcomes is sector analysis. This requires a review of the available data and research on the characteristics of the education system, its performance, and its context. The next step, sector planning, uses that analysis to strategically identify priority goals, and to determine the most effective strategies, programmes, and specific activities to achieve those goals – all in light of the available resources and capacity. Sector monitoring, in turn, involves keeping track of the plan’s implementation through indicators that measure contextual issues, inputs, processes, and outputs. Monitoring data then feed back into the analysis of the sector for another planning phase, and the cycle continues. In reality there is a great deal of movement back and forth, as new considerations re-shape previous decisions in a recursive way. 

Key characteristics of effective education sector planning

It is strategic, with the goal of learning at the core : The list of possible activities can be long. If the planning process is not strategically oriented towards achieving a specific vision for improvement, time and resources may be spent on disconnected issues, with little overall impact (UNESCO-IIEP, 2010; UNESCO-IIEP, GPE, 2015; UNESCO 2013; Abdul-Hamid, 2014). The primary objective of an education system is for students to learn. Education planning should be grounded in a discussion of the system’s specific learning goals, and should prioritize key actions most likely to improve the system’s ability to achieve these learning outcomes. To achieve this, the planning process needs to be informed by a legislative framework and a set of values that prioritizes every child’s right to learn (UNESCO-IIEP, 2010; Pigozzi, 2004). Finally, the planning process itself needs to reflect principles of adaptive learning, allowing for adaptation and refinement as planning and implementation illuminate new issues and lead to new understanding (UNESCO-IIEP, 2010).

It is grounded in quantitative and qualitative evidence : Effective education sector planning begins with a comprehensive sector analysis, including an analysis of what students are actually learning, what they are not learning and why not, and how learning can be improved, as well as other data on education sector efficiency (UNESCO-IBE, 2012; UNESCO-IIEP et al, World Bank, UNICEF, GPE, 2014).. The system’s existing Education Management Information System, and other past monitoring and evaluation, should provide some of the needed data – underscoring the ongoing need to build comprehensive and reliable data systems (Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010). Qualitative research evidence is also important, particularly for understanding the processes that affect student learning outcomes. Policy-makers may need assistance in locating good-quality local and international research and effectively interpreting it in relation to the national context (Auld and Morris, 2016; Batchelor, 2012; Coffield, 2012). The education sector analysis process needs to be open to considering evidence that contradicts established assumptions, and should allow space for dialogue and debate on difficult issues (Pigozzi, 2004; UNESCO, 2006). 

It is context-sensitive and realistic : Education plans need to respond to the specific context in a number of ways. One of these is conflict and crisis preparedness, addressing the country’s specific vulnerabilities in an integrated way throughout the plan’s strategies. (UNESCO-IIEP, 2011, 2015). The plan also needs to avoid the wholesale adoption of methods simply transported from elsewhere. ‘Best practices’ are rarely if ever universal, and education planners need to analyse current circumstances in order to understand the key next steps to improvement within their own country’s social, institutional, and economic reality (Auld and Morris, 2016; Coffield, 2012; Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010; OECD, 2010, 2014). Finally, the planning process needs to include attention to current and projected financial, technical, and political resources and constraints so the adopted strategies are feasible and realistic(UNESCO-IIEP, GPE, 2015).

It holistically integrates core issues : Planners need to be well-versed in issues such as non-discrimination, gender equity, conflict and crisis preparedness, and any ethical or cultural goals that are important to the education system, to bring these concerns into the planning processes (UNESCO-IIEP, 2011).  They also need to have a deep understanding of effective teaching and of the different issues and processes that affect teaching and learning (UNESCO-IBE, 2012).

It is inclusive of stakeholders : Education systems have a wide range of stakeholders, including local civil society, teacher unions, parent groups, student representatives, faith-based groups, employer associations, donors, and international organisations. –Engaging these stakeholders mobilises knowledge, capacity, and resources, which are important for effective planning, implementation, and monitoring of education policies (Coffield, 2012; USAID, 1999; UNESCO-IIEP, 2010; UNESCO, 2006). Public debate about what education quality means and how to achieve it can be taken as a positive sign, since it signals that education is an important public priority – a characteristic many of the world’s strongest education systems hold in common (OECD, 2010, 2014; UNESCO, 2006).) Yet it is also important that leadership and decision-making mechanisms are strong enough to achieve a negotiated outcome to these discussions and move forward with implementation in a coordinated way (Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010).

It provides coherent and sustained reform : Education planning needs to take into account all subsectors – such as early childhood, primary, secondary, higher, adult and non-formal education – in a coherent way to achieve significant change (UNESCO-IIEP, GPE, 2015). Deep system reform may be necessary, rather than just piecemeal improvements (OECD, 2010, 2014). Research on education systems that have achieved significant improvement suggests that willingness to learn from new ideas and change long-standing traditions when necessary can be a key factor, especially as part of a broader institutional culture that promotes collaboration and learning over time (USAID, 1999; OECD, 2010, 2014).  To achieve such significant levels of reform often needs sustained leadership, at least for long enough to see through more than one cycle of implementation and adaptation (Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010).

It uses regular monitoring and evaluation to improve strategic plans : The strength of an education sector analysis, and of the resulting strategic plan, is highly dependent on the quality of the data used. Thus, one key element of strategic planning is improving the monitoring and evaluation system that collects fundamental educational data, as well as increasing the capacity of education planners to understand and transform data into useful knowledge (Batchelor, 2012; Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010)

It supports the disadvantaged, both within and outside school : An education sector plan must identify sources of educational disparities and address the specific needs of disadvantaged groups (UNESCO-IIEP, GPE, 2015). Many education systems have made significant progress in their overall levels of learning achievement by providing additional support to disadvantaged learners and underperforming schools (Mourshed, Chijoke, and Barber, 2010; OECD, 2010, 2014). Additionally, a great deal of what influences students’ learning actually occurs outside of school – including factors such as parental background and parenting practices; physical health and nutrition; psycho-social health; and having adequate time to rest, study, and play. Education planners may therefore need to collaborate with agencies outside the sector in order to achieve real improvements in learning outcomes for the disadvantaged.

Plans and policies

• Ethiopia [ PDF ]
• Palestine [ PDF ]
• United Republic of Tanzania [ PDF ]
• Seychelles [ PDF ]
• IIEP-UNESCO; Global Partnership for Education. 2015. Guidelines for education sector plan preparation . Paris; New York: IIEP-UNESCO; GPE.
• IIEP-UNESCO; Global Partnership for Education. 2015. Guidelines for education sector plan appraisal . Paris; New York: IIEP-UNESCO; GPE.
• IIEP-UNESCO; World Bank; UNICEF; Global Partnership for Education. 2014. Education sector analysis methodological guidelines: Volume 1 . Dakar: IIEP Pôle de Dakar.
• IIEP-UNESCO; World Bank; UNICEF; Global Partnership for Education. 2014. Education sector analysis methodological guidelines: Volume 2 . Dakar: IIEP Pôle de Dakar.
• Global Campaign for Education. 2014. Planning matters: A handbook for civil society participation in national education sector plan activities and processes . Johannesburg: Global Campaign for Education.

Abdul-Hamid, H. 2014. What matters most for education management information systems: A framework paper. SABER Working Paper Series 7.

Auld, E; Morris, P. 2016. ‘PISA, policy and persuasion: Translating complex conditions into education “best practice”’. In: Comparative Education. 52, (2), 202-229.

Batchelor, S.J. 2012. Information ecosystems of policy actors: Reviewing the landscape . Institute of Development Studies Working Paper, 401.

Coffield, F. 2012. ‘Why the McKinsey reports will not improve school systems’. In: Journal of Education Polic y. 27 (1), 131-149.

Mourshed, M.; Chijioke, C.; Barber, M. 2010. How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better . London: McKinsey and Company.

Pigozzi, M. J. 2004. The 10 dimensions of quality in education .

OECD. 2010 Strong performers and successful reformers in education: Lessons from PISA for Mexico .

OECD. 2014. Lessons from PISA for Korea, strong performers and successful reformers in education .

UNESCO. 2006. National education sector development plan: A result-based planning handbook . Paris: UNESCO.

UNESCO. 2013. UNESCO Handbook on education policy analysis and programming: Education policy analysis Vol 1 . Bangkok: UNESCO.

UNESCO-IBE. 2012. General Education System Quality Analysis/Diagnosis Framework (GEQAF) .

UNESCO-IIEP. 2010a. Strategic planning: Concept and rationale, Working Paper 1. Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

––––. 2010b. Strategic planning: Organizational arrangements, Working Paper 2 . Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

––––. 2010c. Strategic planning: Techniques and methods Working Paper 3 . Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

UNESCO-IIEP. 2011. Integrating conflict and disaster risk reduction into education sector planning . Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

UNESCO-IIEP; GPE (Global Partnership for Education). 2015. Guidelines for education sector plan preparation . Paris: UNESCO-IIEP.

UNESCO-IIEP; the World Bank; UNICEF; GPE (Global Partnership for Education). 2014. Education sector analysis methodological guidelines: Volume 1 .

USAID (United States Agency for International Development). 1999. Educational Quality Framework. Improving Educational Quality (IEQ) Project . 

Related information

• Planipolis Portal of Education Plans and Policies
• Educational planning

• IIEP Buenos Aires

• A global institute
• Governing Board
• Expert directory
• 60th anniversary
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Latest news
• Upcoming events
• PlanED: The IIEP podcast
• Partnering with IIEP
• Career opportunities
• 11th Medium-Term Strategy
• Planning and management to improve learning
• Inclusion in education
• Using digital tools to promote transparency and accountability
• Ethics and corruption in education
• Digital technology to transform education
• Crisis-sensitive educational planning
• Rethinking national school calendars for climate-resilient learning
• Skills for the future
• Interactive map
• Foundations of education sector planning programmes
• Online specialized courses
• Customized, on-demand training
• Training in Buenos Aires
• Training in Dakar
• Preparation of strategic plans
• Sector diagnosis
• Costs and financing of education
• Tools for planning
• Crisis-sensitive education planning
• Supporting training centres
• Support for basic education quality management
• Gender at the Centre
• Teacher careers
• Geospatial data
• Cities and Education 2030
• Learning assessment data
• Governance and quality assurance
• School grants
• Early childhood education
• Flexible learning pathways in higher education
• Instructional leaders
• Planning for teachers in times of crisis and displacement
• Planning to fulfil the right to education
• Thematic resource portals
• Policy Fora
• Network of Education Policy Specialists in Latin America
• Publications
• Briefs, Papers, Tools
• Search the collection
• Visitors information
• Planipolis (Education plans and policies)
• IIEP Learning Portal
• Ethics and corruption ETICO Platform
• PEFOP (Vocational Training in Africa)
• SITEAL (Latin America)
• Policy toolbox
• Education for safety, resilience and social cohesion
• Health and Education Resource Centre
• Interactive Map
• Search deploy

IIEP Publications

Advanced search

• Library & resources
• IIEP Publishing

Strategic planning: concept and rationale

Online version

About the publication.

Publications Homepage

Related books

Designing policies for flexible learning pathways in higher education: self-assessment guidelines for policy makers and planners

Multi-criteria decision analysis for site classification: assessing natural hazard risks for planning the location of educational facilities

Institutionalizing education in emergencies data production and use for crisis-sensitive educational planning

Geographically Weighted Regressions for prioritizing educational planning, policies, and interventions

• Privacy Notice

Build plans, manage results, & achieve more

Learn about the AchieveIt Difference vs other similar tools

We're more than just a software, we're a true partner

• Strategic Planning
• Business Transformation
• Enterprise PMO
• Project + Program Management
• Operational Planning + Execution
• Integrated Plan Management
• Federal Government
• State + Local Government
• Banks + Credit Unions
• Manufacturing

Best practices on strategy, planning, & execution

Real-world examples of organizations that have trusted AchieveIt

Ready-to-use templates to take planning to the next level

Research-driven guides to help your strategy excel

Pre-recorded & upcoming webinars on everything strategy & planning

• *NEW!* Podcast 🎙️

The Importance of Strategic Planning in Education

RELATED TAGS:

Strategic planning is a method used in various industries to deliberately guide decision-making. In education, strategic planning provides leaders with guidance to keep the institution operating, carry out its missions and comply with regulations. Educational strategic planning focuses on the future of a college or university, providing an intentional way to reflect on performance and determine where to implement initiatives to make positive changes for the future.

To create effective university strategic plans, administrators and stakeholders must understand the ins and outs of how they work and how they can apply them.

In This Article

• Lack of Ownership
• Poor Strategic Alignment
• Poor Communication
• Slow Plan Adoption
• Improve Efficiency
• Engage Stakeholders and the Community
• Form a Focus
• Plan a Future
• Test Your Hypotheses
• Use Specific Language
• Make Implementation a Priority
• Hold Team Members Accountable

Transform Strategic Planning and Execution Within Your Education Institution With AchieveIt

The challenges of strategic planning in education.

Universities and colleges face several pressures and challenges that can complicate strategic planning in educational environments. Understanding some of these challenges can help you overcome them to create an impactful approach.

1. Lack of Ownership

While strategic plans involve feedback and participation from all of your institution’s departments and entities, you should limit ownership of the plan and documentation to one person. Without explicit ownership over the strategic plan, initiatives are more likely to be lost, forgotten or overlooked. With one person in charge, your school is more likely to achieve success.

2. Poor Strategic Alignment

Alignment and representation across your university are crucial to success. Universities and colleges often experience a lack of strategic alignment because the church and state divisions typically have different goals for schools. These clashing perspectives lead to poor strategic alignment and a stand-still in decision-making.

3. Poor Communication

Many educational institutions also struggle with strategic planning due to poor organizational communication. Effectively implementing a strategic plan requires institutional-wide teamwork. Poor communication significantly increases the difficulty of agreeing upon and executing effective solutions and setting attainable goals.

4. Slow Plan Adoption

With a significant focus on innovation and growth, universities may make numerous changes in a year. Constant changes often lead to low motivation to adopt new plans. The longer your teams take to implement a strategic plan, the more likely it is to become outdated. When this situation happens, the plan becomes irrelevant to your current processes.

Why Education Institutions Need Strategic Planning

Despite the inherent challenges, educational strategic planning is necessary for a successful institution operation. A strategic plan can help you improve several aspects of your educational institution through intentional goal-setting and initiative implementation. Strategic planning for colleges and universities helps students, staff and the community progress toward a better future.

Here are a few reasons you should use strategic planning in education:

1. Improve Efficiency

One of the biggest reasons to begin strategic planning is the opportunity for improved efficiency in numerous areas of your organization. The challenges of educational planning often lead to a lack of efficiency. Strategic planning for schools allows leaders to determine more effective ways to streamline processes.

For example, your decision-making teams may take significant time to agree on new policies or procedures. Strategic planning helps your institution use time more efficiently because it allows you to form decision-making strategies.

Improved efficiency also results in better cost-effectiveness. The less time is wasted, the more money you’ll save, especially over time.

2. Engage Stakeholders and the Community

Strategic planning involves more people than only the primary decision-makers — your planning should involve your community and stakeholders. Feedback from these entities can help you develop a more beneficial and strategically targeted plan based on what these entities want or need from you. Engaging the stakeholders and community also shows you value their input and want to create an environment where they want to be.

3. Form a Focus

Determining a focus for the school year ahead can be challenging without clear objectives. Without focus, your institution will struggle to grow and attract students and staff. For example, you may have vague expectations for the upcoming school year, which prevents decisions and progress from being made. A strategic plan allows you to determine your goals and focus for the upcoming year and beyond while also helping you track your progress.

4. Plan a Future

Strategic planning is ideal for planning a successful future for your institution. Developing a plan for your future helps ensure your school can grow and continue benefiting from its offerings. Rather than being unprepared for the next year and future school years, you can effectively strategize to make the most of your school year.

Strategic Planning Tips for Education Institutions

While every school’s strategic plan will look different depending on its goals and resources, the strategic planning process is often similar for colleges and universities. Explore a few tips for educational strategic planning to help you get started:

1. Test Your Hypotheses

You’re ultimately hypothesizing the outcome when you set initiatives in your strategic plan. These hypotheses are often based on assumptions, though it’s typically best to experiment to determine what would work and what may not. For example, if you ask your faculty to begin submitting weekly reports, conduct a quick test to ensure they can do so and have time to do so.

2. Use Specific Language

Using vague or wordy language increases the risk of confusion and the possibility of initiatives being misunderstood and ignored. Swapping out complicated words for simpler, more specific words can help ensure everyone understands your plan. It can help to have someone review the language you use to ensure nothing is confusing and everyone is on the same page.

3. Make Implementation a Priority

Because schools involve numerous departments and divisions, implementing a plan can be difficult without prioritization . Make your plan a priority to ensure it’s properly implemented. Doing so is often easiest when leaders promote and require implementation.

4. Hold Team Members Accountable

Another way to make university strategic plans stick is by holding team members accountable. School performance management software allows you to track reports and other strategy-related information to determine who’s completing their duties so you can keep them accountable.

Educational institutions require significant planning to ensure a successful school year. Strategic planning software for higher education can help you focus your strategy despite your institution’s challenges. Software like AchieveIt has features that help your team turn ideas into actions.

A few things you can do with our software include:

• Solve common implementation challenges: AchieveIt makes connecting members of your team and various initiatives easy. You can track projects, keep everyone on the same page and quickly send updates.
• Gain comprehensive visibility: Our platform lets you see every initiative in real time, providing comprehensive visibility over progress.
• Consult with our experts: Our strategic plan experts help you execute your plan effectively. Draw on our expertise for inspiration or customize one of our templates to create your plan.

Let’s actually do this. Request a demo of AchieveIt to see what we can do for you today.

Related Posts

How to Align Company Goals with OKRs: A Step-by-Step Approach

How to Build a Data-Driven Culture 

Agile Strategy Implementation: How Leaders Adapt to Change in Real-time

Hear directly from our awesome customers

See first-hand why the world's best leaders use AchieveIt

See AchieveIt in action 

Stay in the know. Join our community of subscribers.

Subscribe for plan execution content sent directly to your inbox.

• Scroll to top

•   / Sign Up
• HOW WE HELP CLIENTS
• schedule your conversation

Strategic Planning Process Definition, Steps and Examples

Published: 03 January, 2024

Social Share:

Digital Strategy

Table of Contents

Organizations use Strategic Planning to gather all their stakeholders to evaluate the collection of current circumstances and decide upon their ongoing goals and benchmarks. They decide upon long-term objectives and establish a vision for the company’s future.

The efforts behind an organization’s Strategic Planning Processes are vital to its success, and yet, while many organizations acknowledge they need to do this kind of planning, they often don’t understand how to make it a reality. In this article, we explain the reasons behind Strategic Planning and how to make your Strategic Planning Process as powerful as possible.

What is a Strategic Plan

Strategic planning is a systematic process wherein the leaders of an organization articulate their vision for the future and delineate the goals and objectives that will guide the trajectory of the organization.

What is the Strategic Planning Process

Strategic planning is a process of defining an organization’s direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this direction . It involves creating a long-term plan that outlines the organization’s vision, mission, values, and objectives, as well as the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve them.

Strategy is often misunderstood, which is surprising because fundamentally it’s a pretty basic concept. Strategy is a clearly expressed direction and a verified plan on how to get there. Your Strategic Planning Process formalizes the steps you’ll take to decide on your plan. The Strategic Planning Process facilitates using a Strategic Execution Framework that articulates where you’ll invest in innovation and where you can cut costs.

As far as business development planning is concerned, your Strategic Execution Framework is a vital tool for driving innovation, but first you must define the process you’ll undertake to determine how you and your team see the future of your organization. In this article, we discuss how to create your Strategic Plan and define its relationship to other concepts and documents that direct your business and its activities.

While it’s true that every business is different and must develop their own processes, we believe there are some process  of strategic planning stepsthat benefit all organizations.

Below are our recommendations for the steps to take when undergoing your Strategic Planning Process, along with the questions we suggest you answer during each specific step.

Step One: Analyze your Business Environment

• Who are your competitors?
• What relevant market data do you have, and what do you still need?
• What technology has emerged that impacts your business model?
• How have customer expectations changed since your last Strategic Plan?
• What advantages do you have over competitors?
• Where is your company weaker compared to competitors?
• What predictable complications are on the horizon?
• Which unpredictable complications seem most likely or most potentially impactful?

Step Two: Set your Strategic Direction

• What is your overall Business Purpose ?
• How have your operations reflected your Purpose and Goals recently?
• How should your operations reflect your Purpose and Goals?
• Where do you see your business going in the next year?
• In two years? In three years?
• What are the metrics you’ll use to measure success?
• What are your make-or-break necessities?

Step Three: Set and develop Strategic Goals and Strategic Objectives

• Have you considered short-, mid-, and long-term business goals , and what are they?
• How do your Strategic Goals reflect your Mission Statement?
• How do your Strategic Goals reflect your company values and vision?
• What daily operations must be completed to work toward your Strategic Objectives?
• How will you communicate your Strategic Goals and Strategic Objectives?
• Who is responsible for reporting on success?
• How will strategic data be collected?

Related: Strategic Goals: Examples, Importance, Definitions and How to Set Them

Step Four: Drill down to Department-Level Objectives

• What are specific department concerns?
• How will your budget influence and be influenced by your Strategic Goals and Objectives?
• Which departments have resources that could be shared to better advantage?
• What roles do individual departments play in your overall Strategic Goals?
• What ongoing projects become a priority because of your new Strategic Goals?
• Are Departmental Objectives complementing each other and the overall Business Model?

Step Five: Manage and Analyze Performance

• Who is on the Strategic Planning team?
• Are tasks and job descriptions properly aligned to ensure the right work is getting completed?
• What is the schedule for the meeting for Strategic Planning?
• What are your metrics for measuring performance and success?
• Have you clearly articulated and shared KPIs?
• Who is responsible for gathering data?
• How will data be collected?
• How will data be reported?
• What’s at stake for strategy success or failure?

Step Six: Review and develop your Strategic Plan

• How should your Strategic Plan look on paper?
• What is your Strategy Execution Framework —how will you guarantee the Strategic Plan Team’s decisions are respected and executed?
• What is the review process?
• How often do you evaluate your Strategic Plan?
• How will you communicate your final Strategic Plan?

Strategic Planning Process Examples

1) apple strategic plan process.

• Vision and Mission: Apple’s strategic planning begins with a clear vision and mission. Apple’s vision is to create innovative products that inspire and enrich people’s lives.
• Environmental Analysis: Apple conducts thorough environmental analyses, considering technological trends, market demands, and competitive landscapes. This includes staying at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies.
• SWOT Analysis: Apple evaluates its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. For example, one of Apple’s strengths is its strong brand image, while a weakness might be dependence on a limited product line.
• Setting business Goals and Objectives: Apple sets specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. This could include objectives like maintaining a certain market share, launching new products, or achieving specific financial targets.
• Strategies and Tactics: Apple develops strategies based on its goals. For instance, a strategic move might be expanding its ecosystem by integrating hardware, software, and services. Tactics could include aggressive marketing campaigns and product launches.
• Implementation and Execution: Apple’s strategic plans are meticulously executed. The launch of iconic products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac series demonstrates effective implementation of their strategies.
• Monitoring and Adjusting: Apple constantly monitors its performance metrics, customer feedback, and market dynamics. If necessary, adjustments are made to the strategic plan to stay responsive to changing conditions.

2) Tesla Strategic Plan Process

• Vision and Mission: Tesla’s strategic planning revolves around its mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. The vision includes producing electric vehicles and renewable energy solutions.
• Market Analysis: Tesla analyzes global markets for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and energy storage. This involves understanding regulatory environments, consumer behaviours, and technological advancements.
• Risk Assessment: Tesla conducts risk assessments related to manufacturing, supply chain, and market volatility. For instance, it considers risks associated with battery production and global economic conditions.
• Setting Bold Objectives: Tesla is known for setting ambitious objectives, such as achieving mass-market electric vehicle adoption and establishing a robust network of charging stations worldwide.
• Innovative Strategies: Tesla’s strategic planning involves innovation in technology and business models . For instance, the “Gigafactories” for mass production of batteries and the “Autopilot” feature in vehicles reflect innovative strategies.
• Agile Adaptation: Due to the rapidly changing automotive and energy sectors, Tesla maintains an agile approach. The company adapts its plans swiftly to capitalize on emerging opportunities, as seen in the expansion of its energy products.
• Continuous Improvement: Tesla places emphasis on continuous improvement. The iterative development of electric vehicle models, software updates, and advancements in battery technology showcase a commitment to refinement.

These examples demonstrate how strategic planning is a dynamic and integral part of the business processes of leading companies. They highlight the importance of a well-defined vision, rigorous analysis, adaptability, and innovation in the strategic planning process.

Tactical vs. Strategic Planning Process

An easy way to distinguish your company’s Tactical Planning from your Strategic Planning is to separate your wants from your HOWs.

In your Strategic Planning, you identify what you WANT for the company. These are big-picture dreams (achievable, but big ) that are your definition of success. In your Tactical Planning, you identify the HOW for reaching those dreams, including the smaller necessary steps.

Each kind of planning is vital for securing the organization’s future, but they require different sorts of attention and philosophy, and teams that are good at planning one way may not necessarily be good at the other kind of planning.

Strategic Planning vs. Your Business Purpose

Your Strategic Planning Process will of course be deeply connected to your Business Purpose .

We like to think of Business Purpose in broad terms, choosing especially to think of a business’s role in massive transformation. Embedded within a Business Purpose is the Business Plan that directs operations and how a company delivers value to its customers.

What is the relationship between your Strategic Planning and your Business Purpose? One feeds into the other. Your Business Purpose must point to a larger impact you’ll have on the people who purchase your goods and services, and your Strategic Planning takes into account how you’ll grow and expand that Purpose as you reach more customers more successfully.

Strategic Planning vs Business Planning

Strategic planning and business planning are two distinct processes that are often used interchangeably, but they have some key differences.

Strategic planning is a top-level process that focuses on determining the direction of an organization over the long term. It involves setting goals, determining the key resources and actions necessary to achieve those goals, and allocating those resources in a way that best serves the organization’s future. The outcome of strategic planning is typically a long-term strategic plan that outlines the organization’s vision, mission, values, and objectives.

Business planning , on the other hand, is a more tactical process that focuses on the implementation of specific initiatives and projects to support the organization’s long-term goals. Business plans typically outline the steps necessary to launch a new product, enter a new market, or achieve a specific objective. They may also include budgets, marketing plans, and other operational details.

In short, strategic planning is about setting the direction for an organization, while business planning is about implementing specific initiatives to support that direction. Both processes are important for the success of an organization and should be used in conjunction to ensure that resources are allocated effectively and that the organization is moving in the right direction.

Why is Strategic Planning Important?

Imagine this scenario: A warehouse full of goods sits, unsold and unmoved. A collection of brilliant people languishes at desks all day. Outside, the world spins and changes. It’s ready for what these people could do, can do, and yet nothing happens. Needs remain unmet. Progress is halted. Everyday life takes several backwards steps. This is what your business will look like without proper Strategic Planning.

Strategic Planning forces you to consider your Strategic Objectives and critically compare them to the resources you have available. As you continuously evaluate the circumstances of your business and your customers, your Strategic Plan evolves to match your goals and business capabilities.

The process involved pushes decision-makers to practice Strategic Thinking . It limits wasteful spending, especially when upper-level managers are willing to forgo pet projects in favor of operations with a broader use and appeal.

Strategic Planning is important because it directs your resources to efficiently meet your overall Business Goals. Without Strategic Planning, you are likely to waste resources, make conflicting decisions, or fail to grow your business to its greatest potential.

When Do You Create a Strategic Plan?

Most businesses find value in reviewing their Strategic Plan every three years. This allows enough time to pass that you can evaluate the success of previous plans, reflect on the achievement of your Strategic Goals, consider developments outside your organization that affect your business, and begin formulating new goals that will become the next version of your plans.

When businesses first begin, they often have too many fires burning at once. They remain focused on existing today rather than planning for tomorrow. Most entrepreneurs remember those stressful early days of starting their businesses and can understand why formalities like Strategic Plans can fall by the wayside. We believe if your business lasts longer than a year it’s important to develop a plan for the future. Think of Strategic Planning as a celebration of a first anniversary—a sign that you’re poised to continue moving forward for years to come.

However, Strategic Planning is not a one-off event that is over once the cookies are all gone and the room clears. Your Strategic Planning team should meet regularly to measure how effective the plans are at helping you reach your Strategic Goals. Ad hoc subcommittees can play a role in gathering evidence to ensure that your plans remain appropriate, especially if conditions change.

For example, we recommended a close review of Strategic Plans and Strategic Goals once the COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that business was going to be affected at least short- to mid-term. We continue to recommend teams regularly revisit their Strategic Plans with global circumstances in mind to recognize opportunities and prepare for challenges.

The Benefits of Strategic Planning

As we’ve mentioned, there are many benefits of Strategic Planning . Some of those benefits include:

• Shared sense of power and importance
• United direction
• Clear path and purpose for decision-making and operations
• Boosted operational effectiveness
• Responsible, efficient use of available resources
• Meaningful work done on a daily basis
• Tracking of progress
• Ability to adjust to changing circumstances

What is a business without Strategic Planning? In most cases, it’s not much, nor is it long for the world. While it’s possible to accidentally find success without much planning, most successful businesses are a result of careful thought mixed with the urge to pounce on the opportunity.

What prepares you to pounce?

Your Strategic Planning and the processes that make it possible.

The UNITE Business Model Framework: A Framework for Innovation Success

Examples and Types of Effective Functional Level Strategy for Business Support

A key objective of any business strategy is to improve operational efficiencies...

The Three Levels of Strategy: Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy, and Functional Strategy

Understanding the intricate levels of strategy is crucial for any organization aiming...

• FREE LIVE TRAINING

How To Overcome The 90% Failure Rate in Innovation

Learn the winning formula from over 80+ successful innovation projects

SAVE MY FREE SPOT NOW

Learn how to overcome the 90% failure rate in innovation from a master innovator & bestselling author!

Your e-mail address: * Your first name: *

One Last Step..

Help us better understand the UNITE community

Free guide to improve your innovation success rate*

Our 35-page comprehensive innovation guide covers the key areas why innovation fails. While it cannot cover all the solutions (that would take books to fill), it provides you with a convenient starting point for your analysis and provides further resources and links to the corresponding UNITE models, ultimately allowing you to work towards a doubling and tripling your chances of success.

Discover the largest library of innovation & transformation tools on the entire Internet!

LOG IN VIA E-MAIL

Forgot password?

New to Digital Leadership? Create your account

Get access to the UNITE Models now!

Discover the largest library of innovation & transformation tools on the internet!

First name *

Last name *

Professional E-mail *

Choose Your Password *

Confirm Your Password *

I want to be kept up-to-date and accept the privacy statement *

By signing up, you agree to receive news and accept the privacy statement (mandatory)

Already have an account? Log in

Verify your e-mail address now by entering the 6-digit code we’ve just sent to your inbox

Don't receive Code? Resend code

Country * Please Select Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin (Dahomey) Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Brunswick and Lüneburg Bhutan Bulgaria Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cayman Islands Central African Republic Central American Federation Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Free State Costa Rica Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Grand Duchy of Tuscany Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nassau Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Macedonia Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papal States Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Piedmont-Sardinia Poland Portugal Qatar Republic of Congo Republic of Korea (South Korea) Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Schaumburg-Lippe Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland State of Palestine Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United States United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Württemberg Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Industry * Please Select Automotive, mobilty & transport Financial Services Chemical & agriculture Construction & Real Estate Consulting Education Energy Banking, insurance & FS FMCG Food Gov / Public Industry Health & lifestyle Logistics, Aero & Shipping Media & Entertainment Natural resources & mining Pharma & Biotech Retail & trade Tech & E-Commerce Telco Tourism design Information technology & services Management consulting Retail Pharmaceuticals International trade & development Professional training & coaching luxury goods & jewelry Automotive Insurance Mechanical or industrial engineering Company Size * XS - 1-10 S - 10-100 M - 100-1000 L - 1000-5000 XL - > 5000

Seniority * Please Select Junior Consultant Senior Consultant Manager Senior Manager Director VP SVP Partner CXO Board Member

Areas of interest * Innovation Digital Transformation Culture & Organization IT Strategy & Bus. Alignment Customer Experience

Editable UNITE models (PowerPoint) included

Most of our models and canvases are designed to be applied! 


To help you personalize them to your exact business requirements, you can download fully editable versions of the UNITE models available (PowerPoint format)!

They are straightforward to work with, and you can directly incorporate them into your presentations as you need…thus saving countless hours of replication!

PS: did you know that you are also getting hi-res print-ready versions for your workshops?

Monthly live webinars

Each month we host our exclusive, invitation-only webinar series where one of our industry-leading experts updates our members on the latest news, progress and concepts around business strategy, innovation and digital transformation, as well as other related topics. 



You will receive the book in PDF and EPUB formats, ideal for your computer, Kindle, Tablet or other eReading device.

Bi-weekly live group Q&A sessions

These sessions are your opportunity to bring any questions or challenges you’re facing and receive expert guidance on the spot. 


Come and be a part of engaging discussions where your unique concerns are heard and addressed.

1x personal coaching session / month

If you are occasionally looking for a sparring partner or you need limited support, then this option will be ideal for you. Coaching sessions are 1-2 hours where we can discuss any challenge or opportunity you are currently facing.

If you need a few more hours outside of this provision, then these could be billed transparently.

Unlimited video call support! – it’s like always making the right decision!

We believe support shouldn’t be limited. Because we typically find that the occasional hour just doesn’t cut it – particularly if you and your team are in the midst of a large and complex project.

Your time with Stefan is therefore unlimited (fair usage applies) – in his function as coach and sparring partner. That does mean that you will still have to do the work – we cannot take that off you, unless you hire us as consultants. But you will get valuable strategic insight and direction to make sure you are always focusing your efforts where they will lead to the best results.

One personal coaching session / month 
+ unlimited support via e-mail & WhatsApp

We believe support shouldn’t be limited. If you generally know what you are doing but want a sparring partner to frequently raise questions to, this is the perfect choice!

In addition to your monthly 1-1 live coaching sessions with Stefan, you will also get unlimited support from him via email and WhatsApp messaging (fair usage applies). This not only allows you to get valuable strategic direction in your calls, but also gives you instant access to expert help as you work through your plans each month.



The fact that support is text-based means that we can speed up our responses to you while keeping the overall cost of support down.

Welcome gift of our book 
 “How to Create Innovation” 
 (digital + physical editions)*

As a welcome gift, you will receive the both the digital and physical version of our book “How to Create Innovation”, which covers numerous relevant resources and provides additional deep dives into our UNITE models and concepts.


The print version will be shipped out to you on sign-up. The digital version will be emailed to you, and comes in PDF and EPUB formats, ideal for your computer, Kindle, Tablet or other eReading device.

1x major workshop or 2x smaller workshops / month

1x major or 2x smaller workshops based on the UNITE models.

• Topics covered: almost any challenge under the header of #strategy, #innovation or #transformation, leveraging the UNITE models.
• Hands-On Learning: solve your challenges while learning the practical application of the UNITE models and walk away with concrete plans and tools to take your next steps.
• Industry thought leadership: facilitated by Stefan, the founder of Digital Leadership and the main author of the UNITE models, ensuring top-tier guidance and knowledge sharing.
• Collaborative approach: engage in interactive sessions that foster collaboration, idea exchange, and real-time problem-solving among peers and industry leaders.
• Continuous Improvement: Regular workshops ensure ongoing development in your organization staying ahead of industry trends and customer needs.

Access all of our UNITE models, 
 (incl. editable & print versions)

All of our Professional plans offer full access to the following:

• 6x UNITE model package downloads are included per month, if you need something in addition to these however, please let us know!
• Hi-res, print-ready versions you can use in your workshops
• Fully editable PowerPoint versions where applicable – personalize to your needs.
• Exclusive access to our vault of never-before-published strategic materials. We have much more to share – a lot of our concepts have never been published!

Exclusive access to our private UNITE community (upcoming)

We are currently in the process of launching our brand new community., we are designing our community to specifically help you:.

• Get answers to questions (“How do I …”)
• Share leading practices & knowledge
• Jointly develop new models
• Network amongst a highly qualified group of peers

Please, select the reason

Cancelling your plan will deactivate your plan after the current billing period ends. You will not be charged further, but also won’t be able to access [exclusive features/services].

• Cost-related issues
• Unsatisfied with the service
• Features I need are missing
• Switching to a different service
• Other (Please specify)

Book Your Initial Blueprint Session Now

Simply fill out the below form and book in a time for our initial session that works for you. This initial session is free, no strings attached, and is where we can discuss your Blueprint needs more in-depth before moving forward.

Stefan F. Dieffenbacher

Founder of digital leadership.

Adam D. Wisniewski

Partner for it strategy & business alignment.

Get in touch with Digital Leadership

Speak to our team today to find the best solution for your business to grow and scale.

We are here to support you across the entire lifecycle in all topics related to #digital, #innovation, #transformation and #marketing!

Stefan F. Dieffenbacher Founder of Digital Leadership

Contact Us!

Contact form, contact details, book a call.

Title, first name & last name * Email address * Phone number Please let us know how we can best support you! *

By clicking “Send”, I agree to Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Let’s have a conversation!

“Please be invited to reach out! We are happy to help and look forward to a first meeting!”

+41 (0) 44 562 42 24

[email protected]

Schedule Your Call With Our Team

Find a time on our calender that best suits you !

Founder and CEO of Digital Leadership

SCHEDULE YOUR INITIAL CALL

A Quick Survey!

What is the main challenge you're currently facing in your business?

You Want To Drive Change?

Let’s find the best solution for your business to grow and scale sustainably!

Let’s kick start it!

We will uncover your current business situation and goals and provide you with a bespoke solution that helps you drastically grow your business working with us.

Stefan F. Dieffenbacher, M.B.A.

Feedback about our consulting that we are proud of

Read the reviews and make sure that this is not a waste of time, but a super effective tool.

You want to drive change?

Schedule your free business assessment call with our founder.

On this call, we will uncover your current business situation and goals and talk about how to drive change and solve your need.

Choose the meeting type that applies to your needs and schedule a time to meet with someone from our team. We look forward to speaking with you soon!

Thanks, We’ve Received Your Updated Details

Schedule Your Free Business Assessment

Schedule Your Free Business Assessment Call With Adam D. Wisniewski

Welcome to our scheduling page.

Let’s Design your Customer Experience Blueprint !

In a uniquely designed 60 or 90 minute session* , we will …

• > identify where to start with near-certainty
• > define what approach it takes to create success in your organization

Based on the Blueprinting session, you will receive a tailored blueprint that aligns with your objectives, vision and goals, ensuring that your initiative is a success from start to finish.

In this session, you will be working together with Patrick Zimmermann, Associate Partner for Customer Experience

Let’s Design your Culture & Org-Change Blueprint !

In this session, you will be working together with Dr. Andreas Rein, Partner at Digital Leadership for Culture & Org Change

Let’s Design your Innovation Blueprint !

In this session, you will be working together with Sascha Martini, Partner at Digital Leadership for Innovation and Digital Transformation

Let’s Design your Transformation Blueprint !

In this session, you will be working together with Stefan F. Dieffenbacher, Founder of Digital Leadership Stefan is a global thought leader in the innovation space

Let’s Design your IT Strategy & Business Alignment Blueprint !

In this session, you will be working together with Adam D. Wisniewski, Partner for IT Strategy & Business Alignment

Patrick Zimmermann

Sascha Martini

Dr. Andreas Rein

Write a personalized review! Log in

Create Review