Strategic Thinking

If you’re in a senior role or as a business owner, you may be thinking that the days are never long enough and the to do list is never done. Demands from staff or your team may feel relentless, the interruptions never ending and if anyone mentions planning or strategy, you feel things area bit foggy at the best or a feeling of panic sets in at the worst.

Who has the luxury of time to do any strategic thinking or planning? There’s just too much to do.  And if you do manage to get a bit of time to think, then staring at a blank screen or piece of paper, you just don’t know where to start.

If any of this sounds familiar, be comforted by the fact that you’re not alone.    And be comforted by the fact that by taking a little time to think strategically and plan the future, you will quickly find your way of working, communicating and delegating changes (for the better) and you become clearer in your sense of where you want to take things.

What exactly is strategic thinking anyway?

It’s not a complicated science that you need to take years to master.  Being able to think and plan strategically does however require you to take some time out of your daily tasks and ask your self

• What do you want to achieve, short term, medium term and long term
• What sorts of customers / clients or markets do you want to go for? Are there new directions? 
• What do you want to happen to your service/ product? Do you want to diversify / create new offerings / hone current offerings?
• What do you want your team / company / business to look like in the future?

You may notice that all these questions start with WHAT.  There is no HOW to begin with.  That comes after.

Once you have a clear idea of where you’re going, then you can put a plan together of the HOW you’re going to do it.  And WHO you need on board to get you there.

Then things start to change

Once all this is decided, you can approach your to do list in a different way.  Everything you do (or as much as possible) needs to take you towards your strategic outcome.  Ask yourself “does this take us there?”.  If not, it’s worth asking why you’re doing it.

Delegating will become more straightforward.  You now take a more strategic overview and ensure the high level tasks happen, anything that doesn’t do this, you must delegate.

I get it’s not easy to do all this.  Habits aren’t always easy to change.  Telling yourself you’re not a strategic thinker or you don’t have time is not helping you or your company or business.

I’d love to know your experience on this.

Get in touch if you’d like to know how coaching can help with strategic thinking and future planning. 07785 996917 or catrinmac@gmail.com