The Strategy Lifecycle

Home
[ Login/Subscribe ] 
Features Departments PPM Tools Executive Report Resources About Us

Home  >  Executive Report  >  Features
The Strategy Lifecycle
James Picard   (July 17, 2006)




There is no perfect strategic plan, and the odds are low of getting it right the first, second, or even third time. The key is to get started, keep it simple in the beginning and improve it with each iteration by leveraging lessons learned.

A simple definition of strategic planning is “a process to determine where an orga­nization is going over a defined period of time and specify how it intends to get there.” Despite the simplicity of that defi­nition, effective strategic planning remains for most organizations a difficult and at times frustratingly elu­sive process, producing noticeably mixed results. While most strategic planning efforts invariably result in a strategic plan, the vast majority of those documents will fail to be properly communicated, imple­mented, or even referenced after they are published.
 
From an organizational standpoint, stra­tegic planning is an evolutionary pro­cess and should be part of a continuous management lifecycle. It is important to understand that the real benefit and value of a strategic planning process is in the process, not the final documented plan.
Why and When
Exactly why and when an organization engages in a strategic planning process should be driven by the needs of the orga­nization and its immediate operational environment.



Please login/register to read the entire article.





Sponsored Announcements and Special Offers
Join us July 29th for a live 1-hour webinar: The Power of Virtual Collaboration in Project Management and learn how stakeholders and team members dispersed across the globe keep everyone informed, involved and on track. Hear Terrence Gargiulo, President of MAKINGSTORIES.net, share real-life stories of how companies use virtual collaboration technology to address these challenges and effectively manage projects.

2009 Resource Planning Summit, June 29-30, Chicago
Resource Planning is essential to product development where "time to market" and innovation are crucial. Hear testimonials from Medtronic, Motorola, Wyeth and IDEXX. Learn why you are not getting the juice out of your Resource Planning and earn PMI PDUs! CLICK HERE FOR MORE

On-campus Summer courses still available. Whether preparing for the PMP or needing PDUs to stay up to date, UC Berkeley provides top-notch instructors and valuable information you can use right away.

Free White Paper, Learn how a new approach to IT Governance speeds implementation. Click here to download.

The Stanford Advanced PM Certificate Program provides professionals with advanced tools and techniques to strategically execute projects, programs, and portfolios. Learn more about 2.0 in action.




Citrix GoToMeeting
IAG Consulting
IBM
Innotas
Management Concepts
Microsoft
PM War Stories
PMI-CPM Conference
PMI Risk Management
RMC Project Mgmt
Stanford University
UC Berkeley Extension

VIEW NEW WHITE PAPERS

July 2009:

Four questions about project resources, collaboration and communication.



Copyright © 2009 projects@work  All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy    Contact Us    User Agreement