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Five Essentials for Operationalizing Strategic Plans

  • Writer: JD Solomon
    JD Solomon
  • Sep 5
  • 3 min read
Operationalizing Strategic Plans is less about catchy external communication and more about getting frontline staff involved. Great facilitation is the key.
Leaders who understand these five essentials will choose to operationalize their strategic plans rather than craft catchy messaging for external consumption.

A well-facilitated, well-written strategic plan is only the beginning. The real challenge lies in turning vision into action and sustaining results over time. Too often, plans sit on the shelf or lose momentum when real-world pressures set in. These are five essentials for making sure strategic plans work in practice.


There is something tougher and more rigid about a Strategic Plan than most organizations think.

Improving Strategic Plans (October 29, 2021)

 

1. Improve Facilitation by Reviewing Dashboards

Dashboards are more than just colorful charts. They reflect and shape how leaders and teams interpret progress. Reviewing the current dashboard design as part of strategic plan facilitation ensures that the team is focused on meaningful indicators. In many cases, poor or outdated dashboards are one of the best indicators of misalignment within an organization.

A good dashboard highlights both progress and problem areas. They provide decision-makers with the clarity they need to act. Dashboards become not just reporting tools and potentially guides for execution, but indicators of how an organization thinks and what it truly values.

 

 

2. Use the Power of Old-School Dashboards

Oftentimes, simpler is better. Old-school dashboards are built around clear, straightforward measures. They allow participants to grasp the story quickly without distraction.

Many of our modern visualizations introduce complexity and multimedia integrations that grab attention at the expense of real discussion. By eliminating unnecessary complexity, old-school dashboards help keep attention on priorities and build alignment around what matters most. For strategic plans, clarity always beats flash.

 

 

3. Collaborate Effectively with Stakeholders and Staff

No strategic plan succeeds in isolation. Whether it’s frontline staff, external partners, or community stakeholders, engagement is critical. Effective collaboration requires listening, adjusting, and fostering ownership across groups.

Most people are more committed to a strategic plan’s success when they hear their voices reflected in the plan. That’s especially true of frontline staff. Operationalizing a plan through collaboration with staff helps uncover implementation risks, constraints, and opportunities.

 

 

4. Prepare for Disruptions and Setbacks

As Mike Tyson famously put it, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Strategic planning is no different. Markets shift, technologies fail, and crises emerge. The key is building resilience into the process.

Organizations that anticipate disruption are better positioned to adapt when challenges arise — and challenges will occur throughout the life of the strategic plan. Operationalizing a strategic plan requires more than a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. It involves digging in deep with frontline staff to understand the real organizational context and how the work gets done.

 

 

5. Facilitate with FINESSE

At the heart of operationalizing strategic plans is effective facilitation. Facilitating with FINESSE emphasizes that strategic planning is less about writing a perfect document and more about guiding people through complex decisions. Facilitation ensures that collaboration is genuine, change is built into the process, and implementation actually occurs. By applying the FINESSE approach, leaders can turn lofty strategies into practical action.

 

 

Operationalizing Strategic Plans

Strategic plans succeed when they move from theory to daily practice. Strategic plans are more than external public relations documents. By definition, they are “a detailed formulation of a program of action which is of great importance within an integrated whole.”  Most importantly, skilled facilitation ties everything together. Leaders who understand these five essentials will choose to operationalize their strategic plans rather than craft catchy messaging for external consumption. That’s the difference between a plan that gathers dust and one that drives results.

 


 JD Solomon Inc. provides solutions for facilitation, asset management, and program development at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment.

Founded by JD Solomon, Communicating with FINESSE is a not-for-profit community of technical professionals dedicated to being highly effective communicators and facilitators. Learn more about our publications, webinars, and workshops.

 


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