In the last post in this series we summarized the steps of a internet strategy plan. In the next series of posts, we’ll go into more detail. Thinking about methodology or what steps you are going to take to come up with your plan is an important step. While this may seem like planning to plan, good strategic planning involves all the major stakeholders in the company, which takes good planning to accomplish.
Stakeholders
Who are they and why are they important? Stakeholders are anyone who has a major stake in the strategic plan. Put differently, they are people who are affected or affect the plan. Obviously there could be herds of people affected, so strategy planning focuses on major stakeholders (usually high level managers). Once major stakeholders have been identified, you should also think about who is responsible for what in the strategic planning process and who is supervising the entire process.
Planning to Plan
Will the strategic planning process be handled internally or by consultants? Does the process need to completed by a certain date? Are there other strategy plans that this fits into (IT, finance, human resources, etc.)? Should the planning be split into phases? What are the roadblocks to the process (internal politics, resources, budget, etc.)? What are the factors for success? Are there any collaboration tools to help the process?
Strategizing
How do you identify quick opportunities for success? How will you identify opportunities for improvement? How will you come up with solutions? What time limits will you impose on the planning process (strategic plans that take too long can have situations change thereby changing solutions)? What are the realistic goals for the business? How will you market your strategies?
Monitoring
A key factor to the success of strategic planning is being able to monitor the solutions. Once you’ve come up with solutions you are going to implement, figure out what to monitor to make sure those solutions are working. If they aren’t working, how can you change them? Also important to consider is who will be responsible for monitoring solutions and making decisions about what needs to change (if anything).
Summary
You’ll notice that there are a lot of questions to ask (and try to answer). Strategic planning is thinking about the questions that need to be asked and then trying to answer them. Asking questions helps to develop an understanding of the challenges facing the organization. Once the challenges have been identified, it becomes easier to come up with solutions.
So far the Internet strategic plan is no different from an overall strategic plan. A good Internet strategic plan should involve a most of the organization and follows similar methodologies.
Next we’ll discuss how to analyze your current Internet situation.
(photo by The Jamoker)
Related Posts:
- How to Create an Internet Business Strategy – Introduction
- Internet Business Strategy – What is the Current Situation?
- Vision & Goals for your Internet Business Strategy
- What are the Requirements for your Internet Business Strategy to Succeed?
- Creating an Internet Business Strategy – Implementation
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One of the main services we provide to clients is creating an Internet Business Strategy. While I’d like to think there is a certain level of expertise to creating a formal Internet strategic plan, I do believe that every business owner can get into the mindset of thinking strategically. Even if you feel you’re not up to the task of creating your own Internet strategic plan, understanding what goes into creating one can help you think about ways to improve how you do business online.