If your Strategic Plan isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.

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Does your company or organization have a clear, crisp and documented Strategic Plan? Or are you one of the many that claim to have it “in your head”?

When I speak to business owners and CEO’s I hear that answer so often that I’ve come to expect it. According to the National Business Association, more than 50 percent of small to mid-size businesses don’t have written business plans. And when written plans do exist, most are on a shelf or in a file drawer, gathering dust.

Does your organization have a written plan with clearly defined goals?

• Does that plan articulate your vision and direction clearly and succinctly?
• Does everyone in the organization understand the plan and refer to it often?
• Are departmental goals and individual compensation tied to plan achievement?
• Can it be easily communicated?
• Does it provide a benchmark for evaluating your business?
• Does it give you the flexibility to alter your course rapidly in response to changing circumstances?
• Do you have a dashboard with key metrics to gauge progress against plan?
• Are those metrics visible to all employees?
• Are the people affected by the plan fully engaged and committed to accomplishing it?

If you answered “no” to two or more of these questions, there’s a good chance you don’t know where your organization is going or how it’s going to get there.

What a lot of companies call business plans are nothing more than “blue sky” gazes into the future. Their vision statements – which are actually more like “wish lists” – are vague and their goals are not specific. A poorly developed plan is worse than no plan at all.

The National Business Association estimates that 78 percent of businesses that fail don’t have well-developed business plans. Where does your company stand?

An undocumented plan is a daydream.

I’ve worked with a lot of executives who think that the plan in their head is well thought out and that everyone in their company is in agreement with it. But when they attempt to put it in black and white for others to see and discuss, they’re invariably surprised to see how much confusion and controversy erupts.

The documentation process forces you to set priorities and think through difficult questions. It provides a mechanism for discussing goals and building consensus. You’re less likely to gloss over key issues when you put things in writing.

A written plan gives you several significant benefits:

1. It provides a fixed point of reference to guide your decision making, so you won’t be pulled off course by tempting diversions.
2. It serves as a foundation for communicating direction, promoting teamwork, and instilling motivation.
3. It promotes action instead of reaction.
4. It provides a means of measuring your progress.
5. It helps you invest resources wisely.
6. It provides a common framework for aligning people and processes.
7. It focuses your entire organization on common objectives.

Committing to the planning process is the first step in inventing your company’s future.

When you finish your plan, communicate it broadly. Refer to it constantly to guide your decision-making and gauge your progress. Use it to evaluate all major projects, processes, expenditures, and opportunities to make sure they are aligned with your organization’s vision and goals. Departmental goals and compensation plans should be aligned to plan achievement.

It takes courage to document and communicate your vision. Revealing your desires and your goals puts you out on a limb, where your success or failure is visible to all. You’re putting your reputation at risk.

But if you don’t commit to a vision, you’re putting your whole company and all of itsemployees at risk.