Why Strategic Planning Training Is Necessary for Organizational Leaders

In the current economic environment, organizations are slashing payrolls left and right to cut costs. It is therefore imperative that organizations find a way to to maximize the productivity of their employees to make up for the reduction in staff. One effective way of doing this is by providing organizational leaders with strategic planning training, so that they are more equipped to set and achieve long-term organizational objectives. Since change is the only constant in a business environment, an organization will benefit from having individuals on staff that can quickly notice and adapt to changes.

Strategic planning training will generally focus on teaching employees to answer three questions about the company:

• What do we do?


• For whom do we do it?


• How do we excel?

Another resource that helps companies answer these questions is facilitator training for organizational leaders. Since many organizations hold meetings or planning sessions that focus on strategic direction, it is beneficial to have someone on staff that can serve as a facilitator role. The facilitator is the individual who will oversee a discussion and work to have all employees contribute ideas, so that the organization is able to meet its objectives. While some companies prefer to outsource the task to a trained specialist, other companies find that providing facilitator training for organizational leaders is a great way to expand their skill set to achieve the company's goals. This type of instruction, combined with strategic planning training, helps set true leaders apart from their peers.

A leader who can develop organizational business strategies, put those strategies into action, and spontaneously change strategies, can mean the difference between a successful business and a stagnant one. Typical strategic planning training will begin with the basics of strategy formulation, and then focus on real-world examples.

When a business decides that it wishes to acquire this type of instruction, it will have a variety of methods to do so. Courses offered by colleges and universities can help bring employees up to speed. Online courses are also beneficial because they can be administered to employees on-site. However, many businesses opt to have a specialized leadership training organization appear on-site and provide several days of planning sessions.

These specialized organizations combine the benefits of facilitator training to create a strategic planning training alternative that uses facilitation strategies to leverage the knowledge that executives have about the company. As opposed to a consultant who comes in, makes suggestions, and then leaves, these facilitators will use specialized techniques to help organizational leaders arrive at an optimal solution. Most of these organizations will then include a check-in after a certain period, usually mid-year, to ensure that proposed changes have been implemented.

For lasting change that will make it easier for companies to identify a strategic direction for the immediate and long-term, and to empower organizational leaders to develop a sense of direction for the organization, reach out to a leadership training company that combines strategic planning training and facilitator training.