Cindy R Constable | Strategic Communications

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Unveiling the Power of a Strategic Planning Facilitator for Your Business

Have you ever considered how valuable a strategic planning facilitator can be for steering your business toward lasting success? Strategic planning is essential for companies of all sizes, but the complexity intensifies as your organization grows. Leading a team through a strategic planning session is a herculean task, requiring organization, diplomacy, and the ability to draw out the best from every participant. This is where a strategic planning facilitator steps in — an expert who guides the entire process, fostering collaboration, innovation, and actionable plans that bring tangible results.

While internal strategic planning is undoubtedly possible, enlisting a strategic planning facilitator offers distinct advantages. A facilitator brings a wealth of experience and proven methodologies to streamline the process, keeping your team focused and productive. They provide a neutral perspective, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard, and disagreements are constructively addressed. Having a strategic planning facilitator liberates key personnel to actively engage in planning discussions without the burden of managing logistics or mediating conflict. Let’s explore the critical role of a strategic planning facilitator and the significant value they bring to any strategic planning endeavor.

Table Of Contents:

The Ins and Outs of Strategic Planning Facilitation

A strategic planning facilitator isn’t just someone who takes notes and keeps the coffee coming during meetings. They are a pivotal guide, orchestrating a cohesive journey toward a shared vision. Think of them as a conductor leading an orchestra, using their expertise to create harmony among different instruments — or, in this case, different perspectives and ideas. Strategic planning processes benefit greatly from this guidance.

Key Responsibilities of a Strategic Planning Facilitator

  • Crafting the Process: A strategic planning facilitator works closely with your leadership to tailor the planning process to your specific industry, business objectives, and company culture. This includes selecting relevant frameworks like SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, scenario planning, or the Balanced Scorecard.
  • Championing Engagement: A facilitator possesses exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. They create an open, safe environment that encourages participants to share their ideas freely. They act as a sounding board, helping team members crystallize their thoughts, navigate differing opinions, and arrive at practical solutions.
  • Guiding Toward Outcomes: Maintaining focus is critical. Strategic planning facilitators are masters of managing time, keeping discussions on track, and diplomatically steering the team back on course if conversations stray. They document key takeaways, ensuring that discussions culminate in tangible action items and agreed-upon timelines.
  • Promoting Accountability: After the meeting adjourns, the strategic planning facilitator’s role extends to overseeing the implementation phase. They might collaborate on progress tracking, facilitating regular check-ins to ensure accountability, and identifying roadblocks hindering success.

When Is a Strategic Planning Facilitator a Must-Have?

Adding a strategic planning facilitator can enhance the process. However, it may not always be essential, especially for small teams with well-established communication dynamics. Recognizing when your business would benefit most from a facilitator is crucial. A facilitator hired at the right time can make a significant impact.

Signs Your Business Is Ripe for a Facilitator

  • Addressing Tough Issues: Bringing a neutral third party into the conversation helps foster a more objective and constructive environment, which is crucial for sensitive topics. Whether facing internal challenges, contemplating strategic pivots, or tackling sensitive cultural shifts, an experienced facilitator can make a huge difference in navigating emotional landmines and finding a way forward together. As stated by The ALS Group, strategic planning helps companies address risks and plan and strategize ways to limit liability.
  • Facilitating a Large Team: Aligning a large group is challenging, particularly when various opinions and potential conflicts arise. With multiple stakeholders vying for airtime, crucial voices might be overlooked. A seasoned facilitator skillfully navigates the dynamics of large groups, guaranteeing each participant contributes meaningfully, fostering consensus building, and steering everyone toward achieving unified objectives. The insights gained from these planning meetings can be invaluable.
  • Bridging Communication Gaps: A neutral facilitator bridges gaps in companies grappling with internal communication breakdowns. They create a structured space for productive dialogue, enabling team members to express concerns, brainstorm solutions, and align on strategies. Facilitating successful communication in this way is paramount to success.
  • Seeking a Fresh Perspective: If your strategic plans seem stuck in a rut or lack innovation, bringing in an outside facilitator can make a world of difference. Experienced facilitators with a bird’s eye view of the process inject fresh insights, challenge outdated assumptions, and unlock previously unexplored opportunities. These professional facilitators often specialize in areas like goal setting and team alignment.

strategic planning facilitator

Tangible Benefits a Strategic Planning Facilitator Offers Your Business

Clarity around a strategic plan is fundamental for organizational success. But the true power lies in execution—how well those strategic objectives translate into action. A facilitator can be thought of as a strategy consulting expert.

Reaping the Rewards of Strategic Planning Facilitation

  • Strategic Alignment & Accountability: A powerful synergy emerges when all departments understand the overarching goals and how their work contributes to them. As a case in point, Fabian Narvaez explains how his commitment to teamwork and shared responsibility at his ship management company fuels successful project completion. This dedication to team alignment is vital in today’s business world.
  • Enhanced Communication: Regular, facilitated meetings foster an atmosphere of transparency. As noted by HR Future, having these meetings frequently throughout the year is a valuable method to assess progress and is a cornerstone of effective strategic planning.
  • Boosted Productivity and Reduced Costs: Imagine a well-oiled machine, each part working perfectly in sync with the rest—that’s a business fueled by a clear and well-communicated strategic plan. Facilitators hone in on your most critical initiatives and weed out inefficiencies, resulting in more effective strategy execution.
  • Mitigated Risks: Strategic planning isn’t merely about pursuing wins; it’s equally about anticipating potential roadblocks, assessing risk tolerance, and implementing robust contingency plans. Strong leadership strategies should always consider and address potential risks.

Qualities to Prioritize in a Strategic Planning Facilitator

Choosing the right strategic planning facilitator is paramount. Look beyond generic facilitation skills; you need an individual who possesses a nuanced understanding of business strategy and can effectively guide a strategic conversation. Look for experience with planning retreats, a deep understanding of the drivers model, and a track record of facilitating successful strategic planning sessions.

Finding the Perfect Strategic Planning Facilitator

  • Industry Knowledge & Experience: Look for someone who’s guided strategic planning for organizations of a similar size and in your industry or similar ones. A strong understanding of your industry can lead to more valuable insights.
  • Strong Communication & Active Listening Skills: Seek out a facilitator who excels at building rapport. They must put people at ease, ask insightful questions, and skillfully steer conversations without imposing their views. They are experts at active listening, absorbing not just what’s being said but also deciphering the nuances of nonverbal cues and understanding the emotions driving the words. They know how to pay close attention to these details.
  • Process & Results Orientation: Look for a facilitator who champions a clearly defined and time-tested planning process. Someone who leverages visual aids and collaborative tools like digital whiteboards, mind mapping software, or online survey tools to achieve goals effectively.
  • Adaptability: Choose a strategic planning facilitator who exhibits adaptability and composure in managing unexpected shifts in direction. Flexibility and the ability to improvise are key to a smooth strategic planning process. The facilitator should have experience with various planning playbooks and plan templates.

Frequently Asked Questions About Strategic Planning Facilitators

What does a strategic planning facilitator do?

A strategic planning facilitator guides organizations through the process of defining their vision, mission, goals, and objectives. They facilitate discussions, encourage collaboration, and ensure the strategic planning process aligns with the organization’s overall goals.

Why is a strategic planning facilitator important?

A strategic planning facilitator brings structure, objectivity, and expertise to the strategic planning process, which can help organizations develop more effective strategies, improve communication and collaboration, and achieve better outcomes.

How much does a strategic planning facilitator cost?

The cost of a strategic planning facilitator can vary depending on their experience, the project’s scope, and the engagement’s length.

Conclusion

The quest for a strategic planning facilitator signifies your commitment to unlocking your business’s full potential. The insights and structure provided by an external expert are a powerful catalyst, transforming your planning sessions from routine gatherings into energized collaborations that produce game-changing outcomes. By understanding the intricacies of this role and the advantages it offers, you equip your organization to make informed decisions regarding its strategic planning process. Remember that a strategic planning facilitator acts as a force multiplier for your vision, empowering your business to adapt, evolve, and thrive in our dynamic world.

Strategic Planning Facilitator: A Wise Addition To The Process

You want your business to thrive, and to ensure it’s reaching new heights each quarter you must implement regular strategic planning into your routine.  

Strategic planning is “… an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. “ according to the Balanced Scorecard Institute.

For more resources on strategic planning, you can view my previous blog posts

Why Your Business Should Be Strategic Planning

The 5 Benefits of Strategic Planning For Your Business

While strategic planning can be completed solely by those within the company, some businesses are finding that bringing in a strategic planning facilitator helps them to yield better results from the overall process.

This blog post will outline the duties of a strategic planning facilitator and why it might be a good idea to add one to your company’s process.

What is a Strategic Planning Facilitator

A strategic planning facilitator is a consultant hired by a company to guide a business through their strategic planning meeting.

If you don’t hire an outside facilitator, you or whoever is leading the meeting takes on the role of facilitator.

There are many benefits associated with hiring an outside strategic planning facilitator which will be highlighted below.

The responsibilities associated with being a strategic planning facilitator might include

  • Assisting in explaining the planning process to the teams
  • Advising the CEO on the selection and organization of the planning teams
  • Briefing the strategic planning team on methods and tools
  • Leading the team through the planning process
  • Organizing and conducting the most important events
  • Encouraging the team to achieve tasks and meet agreed upon milestones.

Save Time In Advance

Preparing for a strategic planning meeting can be extremely time-consuming.  Hiring a facilitator can take most of the logistical preparation duties off your plate. This is always a welcome benefit for those typically tasked with that duty.

Provide Outside Perspective

When those within a company are having conversations about the business, they are very close to the situation.  Sometimes it’s difficult to fully see a case for what it is when you are in it. That’s why bringing in a strategic planning facilitator allows you to hear an outside perspective on the strategy and issues at hand.

While an outside perspective isn’t exactly necessary, it can be beneficial to hear what a neutral party thinks about a decision.

Stay on Track

It’s simple to get off track when having a meeting, especially if that’s the culture of your company.  Having a strategic planning facilitator allows you to stay on track throughout the process, so you are only addressing relevant topics that will help you achieve the goal of the planning session.

Facilitators are used to dealing with many people with various personality types so he or she can help to keep the meeting moving in a positive direction despite any disagreements or tough conversations that might take place.

Allows Everyone to Fully Participate

When one person from the company is facilitating the meeting, they’re unable to also fully participate.  Hiring a strategic planning facilitator ensures that every person who is a part of the planning committee can be present and participate as much as possible.

It’s common for more outgoing personalities to dominate the conversation.  Having experienced strategic planning facilitator helps to keep those present engaged, so everyone has a voice.

Provide a Proven Process

Strategic planning facilitators bring their skill set to the stage throughout the process.  Instead of trying to figure it out as you go, using a proven method allows you to ensure you are following a framework for strategic planning success.  

Having a proven process also reduces the risk that those in attendance will waste time.  Clearing the schedule to hold a strategic planning meeting means that every minute counts and the time spent planning should be used effectively.

How to Know Your Business Needs a Facilitator

Now, despite knowing what a strategic planning facilitator does and the benefits associated with bringing one to the table, you might be questioning whether your business is ready for that commitment.  Here are a few telltale signs that it’s time to hire a facilitator for your strategic planning meetings.

You must address tough issues

When you know in advance that tough topics or concerns must be addressed during the meeting, it might be best to bring in a facilitator.  This is especially true if there is a history of communication breakdowns when discussing tough issues as a company.

You Struggle to Stay on Task

If your meetings lead to conversations about everything under the sun beyond the purpose of the meeting, you will surely benefit from having a strategic planning facilitator.  Consider the opportunity cost associated with having this meeting. There’s no time to waste.

You Don’t Communicate Well

If your team has difficulty communicating with each other well, especially regarding tough issues, save yourself the headache of facilitating the conversation by hiring an outside specialist.  They’re from outside the company, so they can bring out the best conversation amongst those involved to help reach the ultimate goal.

Moving Forward

Deciding to hire a strategic planning facilitator is an important one.  You must ensure you hire the right person with the best experience and personality to work with your company.

The benefit of bringing in a facilitator will undoubtedly improve the process and developing a top-notch strategic plan will hopefully lead to increased business success and employee satisfaction.  Happy employees are engaged employees and engagement leads to success, so it’s always important to keep that correlation in mind.

To learn more about increasing employee engagement, download my free book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement.