SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis.Strategic planning tools are techniques and models that business leaders use to determine where their business is at present, where they want it to be in the future, and which key metrics and initiatives they should track and pursue to achieve that target state.Ī few common examples of strategic planning tools include: Let’s take a look at four different approaches that you can use so you’re ready the next time the market takes an unexpected turn.īut first… What are strategic planning tools? While it’s unfair to suggest that any business should’ve been ready for COVID-19, there are strategic planning tools and models that would have been more adaptable when the market was turned on its head. “Strategic assumptions are often sound when they are first formed, but in today’s environment (they) are more vulnerable to becoming outdated or obsolete due to a rapid increase in the pace of change,” says Matt Shinkman, vice president with Gartner’s Risk and Audit Practice.

Gartner research has found that executives believe more than half of their time spent in strategic planning is wasted, and the quality of those plans fail to meet expectations. Last March, we surveyed more than 300 small business leaders and found that nearly 75% would be altering their strategic plan due to COVID-19, with nearly 20% anticipating “significant” changes (methodology below).Įven in a relatively stable year, the traditional approach to strategic planning-reviewing last year’s results, making incremental adjustments, setting targets, then budgeting, communicating, and executing the new plan-is woefully ill-suited for rapidly evolving markets. Then, on March 11, the World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a global pandemic, much of the world shuts down, and your strategic planning for the year loses all meaning. Through the first month, everything is going according to plan. You increase sales goals, plan to invest in new vacuums and vehicles, and hire 20 new employees throughout the year. Your house cleaning business revenue has been steadily growing for three years and the forecasting tool in your financial software tells you that you should expect your best year yet.

Let’s take a hypothetical trip back in time to January of 2020.

Business modelling tools examples