Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Neglecting to Conduct Any Research Before the Meeting

Picture this: You pick a date or series of dates for your strategic planning meetings, and the next thing you know, it's the day before the meeting. You get so caught up in the day-to-day operations that you don't have time to think strategically about your business. And thinking strategically is necessary in order to set up your strategic planning meeting effectively.

If you neglect to conduct external and internal research before the meeting, you get into your session and realize you don't have the information you need in order to make sound strategic decisions. The only way to have a solid strategy is to incorporate information about your external environment and your internal operations. The chapters in Part III help you identify the types of data and information you need to research for your strategic planning effort.

Some research is better than none. So if you find yourself in a pinch the day before or the day of the meeting, do what you can to get data about your customers' needs, your competitors' actions, and your employees' opinions. You need the right information in order to feel confident in your strategic decision making.