By Carol Hurst, LVT, CVPM, CVJ
When I was first introduced to the concept of Strategic Planning, it was many years after I had settled in my role as a practice manager. Little did I know what a game changer it would be. As most of the business management concepts I’ve learned over the years, I learned about strategic planning at a conference. Even though the method was modified, it followed a book that I quickly purchased and read. Traction by Gino Wickman proved a quick, easy read that filled in all of the gaps.
What Is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is a way to outline, set and establish concrete goals for your business. This is a concept that we are seriously lacking in veterinary medicine. Along with that “4-letter word” – budgeting, it seems that we haven’t acquired the skills to plan long-term, rather preferring to live in the day to day. When you strategically plan, it goes so much further than sitting down and outlining goals. What are goals without a plan? The additional steps to strategically planning are putting actionable items with SMART goals (remember S – Specific M – Measurable A – Attainable R – Relevant T – Timely) in place to help with overall leadership team accountability.
The Process of Strategic Planning
Sitting down and forcing myself to think through things like a 3 and 5 year target (both financial goals like revenue and profit percent and also business planning in the form of what the business would look like at this stage) made a lot of sense. How can you start to take steps in the right direction if you’ve never sat down and mapped out what that actually looks like. The fun didn’t stop there. The real work began when you outlined your one year plan. A one year plan is easier to affect because you can break down the goals set into quarterly and then 30 day timelines.
For someone who loves structure and tangible results, this was a perfect exercise. Likewise, I felt that it focused my leadership team on a target. Previously, our leadership meetings, while planned out, lacked an overall global direction. This gave us something to show tangible progress on each time we sat down.
Now, I’m simplifying the concepts in the book. Not simplifying in the sense that the information is difficult to understand but that it goes into much more depth. There are certain steps that should be taken prior to the goal setting in order to maximize success and the book walks you through those steps. There is also a human resources component, explaining how to make sure you have the right people on your team. Overall, it is a comprehensive outline that I felt was easy to implement.
Are you intrigued? You should be! It is so easy for us to get lost in the day to day grind of to-do lists and putting out fires. Actually help further your practice goals along in a controlled and proven manner. This book is high on my reading list for managers looking for the next level. If you aren’t in the mindset to implement the process yourself, please reach out! We are currently working with practices to help them strategically plan and we would love to help you as well. 😊