In my many years of strategic planning consulting, I\u2019ve seen some clear patterns emerge where A\/E\/C firms get bogged down, and I\u2019d like to share some of those experiences. My colleague, Cara Bobchek, and I are also presenting case studies on this topic at the ACEC national convention this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cTitle Bloc.\u201d<\/strong> Many firms can\u2019t draw a line regarding who should participate in strategic planning, basing participation on the default choice of \u201call of the principals\u201d or \u201cthe management committee\u201d and, in the process, excluding bright up-and-comers while including senior people\u2014some of whom may be excellent managers\u2014who don\u2019t have nearly enough vested interest in the long-term future of the firm. You should select your planning team from among current and future leaders who display strategic thinking, entrepreneurial energy and enthusiasm, and the courage to state hard truths.<\/p>\n Navel Gazers.<\/strong> Quite often, firms spend too much time looking internally, tweaking their own operations, squeezing nickels and dimes, and essentially \u201crearranging deck chairs,\u201d while their clients\u2019 world is buffeted by major forces. You should lift your collective heads and keep your clients\u2019 highest mission\u2014their definition of their success\u2014firmly in mind. Conduct an annual client survey in which you ask probing questions about trends in their world. Task a \u201ctrendspotting\u201d team with monitoring market conditions and trends. Consider adding scenario planning as an element in your own strategic planning.<\/p>\n Destination Unknown.<\/strong> The \u201cvision thing\u201d can seem soft and fluffy to many managers. Yet a plan with no \u201cdestination\u201d guarantees that decisions will be made on the fly\u2014often inconsistently over time\u2014in the absence of any long-term context. You should always make sure that the lead-off to your strategic plan is a five-year (or longer) vision that paints a vivid picture of what your firm aspires to be. This will get people excited about the future, set the bar, and drive a stake in the ground toward which everyone can strive.<\/p>\n The Nonperformer.<\/strong> Many firms seem to have one (or more) senior principals whose own performance\u2014and often their group\u2019s\u2014drags down the firm. Because they\u2019re universally nice people and even longtime business friends, firm leaders frequently have trouble confronting these individuals\u2014often the elephant in the room during strategic planning. You should never allow underperformers, especially at senior levels, to sidestep accountability. The more senior, the more their attitude will affect and infect those around them, leaving others confused and even resentful. As difficult as it is, reassign, demote, or even remove these people who are an anchor on you, your partners, your future leaders, and your firm.<\/p>\n No Action.<\/strong> Planning retreats almost always end on a high note, with everyone looking forward to the future. But too many firms create too many action items, then assign them to too few people who will never be able to complete them. You should pick and choose your action items carefully, prioritize them rigorously, and meet with your planning team regularly to ensure that everything is being completed according to schedule. Communicate that for senior managers, implementing the strategic plan really is part of their \u201cday job.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my many years of strategic planning consulting, I\u2019ve seen some clear patterns emerge where A\/E\/C firms get bogged down, and I\u2019d like to share some of those experiences. My colleague, Cara Bobchek, and I are also presenting case studies on this topic at the ACEC national convention this month. \u201cTitle Bloc.\u201d Many firms can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kogancompany.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}