The Top Nine Strategic Business Planning Mistakes

In my previous blog, I shared with you some key principles for effective strategic business planning and implementation. Now I’d like to enhance that lesson by sharing with you the most common mistakes MSP owners like you (and me!) make during this critical process that ultimately defines our futures.

Why nine mistakes and not 10? The tenth mistake would be not reading my list and learning from one of your peers. So read on and avoid that killer tenth mistake.

Believing that leadership and management are the same

You want your brightest staffers on your strategic business planning team. However, that doesn’t mean those individuals are or need to be managers. This was a big lesson for me. I took key people – not managers ― but staff members who really understood our organization and had them contribute to our planning. They were employees in the trenches ― including Operations, Accounting, and Sales ― who created a great diverse pool of contributors and covered challenges from the entire company. With the participation of these employees, they can understand why we made some of the decisions we did. Also, though they’re not managers, everyone still recognizes their value-add to this vital company initiative.

Promoting an employee to manager just to be part of your team

This is a textbook example of the first mistake. You have a “Superman” technician and you want that individual to contribute to your strategic planning, but they’re not part of management. So to keep that person happy and add them to the planning team, you make them a manager. Many issues arise. The skillsets for tech and manager are completely different, you now have a hole in your IT division because you moved your best technician into management, and a poor manager can hurt the culture as their direct reports become dismayed in their jobs. Finally, when that technician struggles with managerial duties, they lose their desire for the tech role in which they were so exceptional. Yes, you want that strong technician or others to contribute positively to your strategic planning, so make them a part of that team ― but not part of your management team.

Setting goals that are too big or too many

You must have goals, but they must be attainable and manageable. Having goals that are too big for your organization to achieve will only end up hurting your company. Also, having too many goals – especially for small MSPs ― can be fatal. Failing to reach these goals will hurt your culture; people will start blaming others, morale will diminish, etc. Be conservative and realistic with your goal setting.

Setting the wrong goals

Just as goals may be too big or too many for your MSP, setting the wrong goals for your company can be just as harmful. Ask yourself and your team: “Is this the direction we really want to go?” “Is this truly attainable with our staff and budget?” Listen to your gut and your team. They will serve you well.

Having no follow-up to the plan

The planning phase can be fun, creative, and exciting. But the implementation phase is the tough one. So you need to confirm that the plan is being implemented, measure its progress, and identify when you need to alter it. Why? Because you don’t want to meet a year after your planning session only to learn that many of your goals haven’t been met. The solution? Design an action initiative plan (AIP) which will help drive the implementation of your plan. This involves key individuals in select divisions who hold regular meetings to track the progress and are accountable for the progress or lack thereof. The results of those meetings are reviewed in leadership meetings.

Lacking consequences regarding plan progress

There will always be reasons why a piece of your plan isn’t progressing. Lack of time. Lack of money. Whatever. There needs to be a top-down commitment to the plan and holding each other accountable. What is needed to accomplish the goals? Individuals must be held accountable for missing milestones. If others see no consequences, then they will grow lax in progressing the plan for their division. Don’t allow this to occur.

Not resolving leadership dysfunction before planning

If you have a partner in your business and you don’t see eye-to-eye on the future of the company, or if there is a lack of trust or lack of maturity among other leadership team members, then don’t start your strategic business planning. You must get all that dysfunctionality out of the way or it will hinder the planning process. If you don’t, then individuals will turn things said into something personal and there will be no progress. The relationships and the communication between the team members must be a strong foundation for successful strategic planning to move forward.

Acting like a dictator

If you are an owner with an attitude of “my way or no way”, don’t engage in strategic business planning. Your team members will only become frustrated. You must invite those participants with an open mind and wanting them to help you develop a successful future for your MSP. You’re not giving up ownership; you’re being a mature, effective leader by listening to others and knowing that your success as a business owner is their success as well.

The plan strategy keeps changing

Don’t keep changing the strategy after the strategy has been set. This will delay the plan’s progress and you may never accomplish anything. Remember: Continuity is king. Yes, there will be times when you need to pivot, but those changes must be logical and needed to keep progressing the vision that was initially set. Also, your team must need to see that those changes are necessary for them to stay all-in on the plan at hand – the one that they helped develop – or you will lose their dedication to it and to you