34 Free Strategic Plan Templates | Guide to Perfect Planning

A strategic plan is a management tool that describes the goals of an organization and functions as a comprehensive guideline that details the necessary sequence of events or actions required to accomplish the specified objectives.

A strategic plan provides a clear path for an organization to follow in progressing from a current situation to a desired one over a specified timeline. A strategic plan is necessary to fully actualize an organization’s model by identifying what it hopes to achieve and how to achieve it. 

By the precise specification of objectives and goals, the level of progress towards the desired outcome is effectively measured and qualified by the attainment of set goals. The predefined pathway to a successful outcome specified in a strategic plan provides a strict course, which, if maintained, should result in the attainment of the predefined outcome or an approximation of it.

This article provides you with the steps to make a strategic plan work perfectly, along with free customizable templates. But first, let us get a basic concept of what a strategic plan is and how it can benefit us:

Benefits of a Strategic Plan

The strategic plan serves as an indication of the current success or failure of the organization at any point in time. A measurement of the variation in the strategic position of an organization at any time can be made against the set expectation then, thus indicating a positive or negative variation. This enables early course correction by implementing pre-emptive changes to prevent derailment from the set path.

A strategic plan is vital as a communication tool between the management of an organization, its stakeholders, and its employees. In a strategic plan, the purpose of the organization is clearly defined, and its expected future is stated. This is integral in decision-making processes, as only decisions, which bring the organization closer to its set goals, will be favored.

A strategic plan also shows the best resource management techniques to employ at any point in time. By recognizing the organization’s expectations, the necessary resources that are to be focused on each section of the organization become apparent.  Employees to be hired can be determined, and the commitment’s financial resources can be quantified.

A strategic plan is intended for the same purpose in any instance in which it is applied, that is, to serve as a roadmap for achieving set goals. While this is the intention of any organization in using a template of the strategic plan, the great variation in different organization types means that the strategic plan developed for each organization will vary significantly. This can be due to the differences in purpose, size, and complexity of the organizations.

A strategic plan template contains pre-defined sections for entering information, but due to the differences in the organizations which might use it, only a vague generalization is possible with a one-size-fits-all template. This necessitates the specialization of templates, with each one addressing a specific organization or a generalization of a specific group. Below are different types of template specializations.

A strategic plan is a carefully planned document, as its influence is intended to be very significant and usually far-reaching. A strategic plan works by providing an avenue to set goals, identify relevant information, and recognize how the information identified can be used to achieve the set goals. Thus, developing a strategic plan template requires a precisely structured, procedural means of reconciling these three crucial actions.

Step 1: Determine your strategic position

A key feature that defines the potential success of any organization is the strategic edge it possesses relative to its competitors. The strategic position of an organization is what sets it apart from other organizations that offer similar services to it.

A strategic position is influenced by factors that can either be positive or negative. Positive factors such as the uniqueness of the service offered, the influence of the organization in the market it serves, or the ownership of revolutionary technology boosts the survivability and potential for success of an organization.

Negative factors such as a poor public image, terrible sitting location, or product inferiority damage a company’s strategic position, but also indicate where changes can be made to improve the chances for success. A determination of this combination of factors indicates the current strategic position of an organization which will be integral in developing a strategic plan.

Identify key strategic issues

The organization’s current position with respect to its competitors, the state of the market in which it exists, and its current strategic advantages have to be identified. Clear identification of the current situation of an organization gives a concise starting point and indicates the variation from a new desired position.

Identify opportunities and threat

Opportunities and threats are factors external to an organization that is both competing influences on its potential success or failure. Opportunities to an organization are possible avenues for attaining success, while threats can stymie, retard, or halt the progress of an organization. Identifying opportunities and threats present a means of recognizing the influences that can affect the progression of an organization to its desired outcome.

Assess current and future demands

The changes in the market that an organization serves determine the strategic position of the organization at any point in time. By studying the behaviour of the market, an assessment of the current demand and potential changes in the future can be established. Thus, resources can be reallocated at certain times to cope with changes, or opportunities can be exploited as the market changes to ensure a good strategic position is continually maintained.

Synthesize data

Data relevant to the organization that can be used to alter its course at any point in time should be synthesized. This includes a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and a PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) analysis. These analysis methods are means of assessing the internal and external factors that can influence the position of the organization in the market in which it exists.

Step 2: Prioritize your objectives

A strategic plan specifies what an organization hopes to achieve. This is expressly stated as long-term goals and short-term objectives which contribute to achieving the overall goals. The specification of the organization’s goals provides a clear destination that is to be reached to qualify as a success. Objectives should be prioritized to determine which are to be accomplished at specific times and in what sequence. Objectives can be prioritized using one or more established objective-setting models.

Identify short SMART goals

Goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) should be stated in the strategic plan to give a clear definition of what is expected. By contrasting the set goals, prioritization of which is expected at certain times can be made.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Key performance indicators are used to track and measure the success or failure of an organization in achieving its set goals. KPIs are certain criteria integral to an organization’s success. This can include the total monthly sales or the number of clients engaged in a fiscal year. By the monitoring of these criteria, the progress of an organization towards its set goals can be quantified.

Department goals

 A multi-sectional organization may be made up of several departments, with each geared towards a particular function. The reconciliation of the function of each department determines the attainment of the set goals of the overall establishment. The goal for each department to reach to ensure a contribution to the overall organizational goals should be set in a strategic plan.

Team member goals

The efforts of each individual in the organization should be towards the achievement of its set goals. Specifying goals for each team member ensures an adequate designation of roles and responsibilities that, when considered in collaboration with others, serve the general purpose.

Long-term objectives

Long-term objectives are outcomes that are desired at the expiration of a long duration of time. Thus, long-term objectives provide a constant indicator of where the organization wishes to end up after a prolonged period.

Step 3: Develop a strategy

Events, occurrences, and actions that must be realized for the objectives of the organization to be attained must be established. This provides a key set of points of what must be done to produce the desired outcome. The typical sets of standards by which such achievements are established include the following:

The vision statement

The vision statement represents the core values of an organization and how those values translate to realizable achievements. The vision statement contains a statement or a number of statements that explain why the organization exists.

The mission statement

The mission statement of an organization specifies the short-term achievements necessary for obtaining the long-term achievements specified in the vision statement. In addition, the mission statement details the working strategy of approaching a favorable situation that brings the organization closer to its long-term goals.

A problem statement

The problem statement identifies what the organization seeks to solve or a role it seeks to fill.

Step 4: Build a plan

A plan is the means of executing a strategy. A plan states the actions or sequence of actions that should be implemented at certain periods to bring about the desired result. A plan gives the specifics about how a defined strategy will be employed to accomplish a set of objectives. The plan should include a comprehensive itemization of what is needed to implement a strategy.

An elevator pitch or company description

The elevator pitch is a short, concise description of an organization that quickly helps others identify and understand what an organization is about, does, and hopes to achieve.

Organizational structure

The organizational structure gives an overview of the various departments and units that make up the organization. In addition, the organizational structure highlights the function of each unit and its contribution to the overall organizational objectives.

Target customers

An organization provides a service to a select group of people, and identifying those groups of people, and how to reach them, is instrumental in any plan.

Competitive and advantage analysis

The competitive and advantage analysis reviews the organization’s stance in relation to others offering a competing service.

Marketing plan

The marketing plan covers the means of ensuring that the service or product provided by an organization reaches its target customers and enough profit is made in the process.

Team

The team section of the plan relates the utilization of human resources in the planning model. This section details the type of people needed in the organization to fulfill one or more roles.

Operations plan

The operations plan illustrates the means of executing individual set-pieces which contribute to the overall organizational goal. The operations plan outlines how each project should start, what is to be done, and when it should be completed.

Financial projections

The financial projections indicate the financial viability of a particular enterprise. This requires the use of predictive models to anticipate the financial returns that can be potentially gained from a particular pursuit.

Executive summary

The executive summary is a recap of all the other sections of a plan itemized above. This is a brief consideration of each aspect of the plan to provide an easily understandable conclusion of the entire plan model. This will be useful for providing a quick description of the intended plan for an organization to relevant parties such as stakeholders.

Step 5: Execute and manage the project

This final section of the strategic plan tracks the performance of the organization in relation to the specified standards in the developed strategic plan. Using strategic measures and metrics, criteria that describe the progress of the organization can be specified and monitored to satisfy congruency between the actual and expected results.

A strategic plan template is a ready-made outline for creating a strategic plan for any organization, thus increasing the accuracy of produced strategic plans, reducing the overhead time for creating a strategic plan, and improving productivity by limiting the number of resources needed to create a strategic plan.

Below is a selection of free customized strategic plan templates, each tailored to specific organizations to maximize function and clarity in creating strategic plan templates: