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Strategic planning is how you choose a direction, set priorities and decide what you’ll do next. It helps you align people, time and budget around the outcomes that matter most.

If you want your strategy to be usable (not just inspiring), you’ll usually pair strategic planning with clear goals. That’s where SMART goals come in.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s go step by step to find a clear action plan that we can apply straight away.

What is strategic planning?

Here’s a clean strategic planning definition: Strategic planning is a structured process for setting long-term direction and turning it into priorities, goals and actions you can measure over time.

It connects:

a) Your current reality

b) Your future direction

c) The choices that get you there

What is a strategic plan?

If you’re asking what is a strategic plan, think of it as the output of the process.

A strategic plan is the document (or shared playbook) that captures your direction, priorities and goals. It also shows how you’ll execute and measure progress.

Most strategic plans include:

– Mission, vision and values

– Current-state analysis (often a SWOT)

– Strategic priorities and strategic objectives

– SMART goals

– Initiatives and owners

– KPIs and a review cadence

Strategic planning vs a strategic business plan

People mix these up, so keep it simple:

1. Strategic planning is the process you run to set direction and priorities.

2. A strategic plan is the plan you publish after that process.

3. A strategic business plan often goes deeper on operations and finance, like budgets, forecasts, go-to-market decisions and resourcing assumptions.

What are SMART goals and why do they matter in strategic planning?

Strategic planning sets direction. SMART goals make direction measurable.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

Use SMART goals to remove ambiguity. People should know what “done” looks like, how you’ll measure it and when you’ll check it. A simple SMART goal format could look like this:

Improve [metric] from [baseline] to [target] by [date], for [scope], measured by [source].

Examples of SMART goals:

– Increase demo-to-proposal conversion from 22% to 28% by June 30, measured in CRM

– Reduce average onboarding time from 14 days to 10 days by May 31, measured in workflow data

– Grow renewals from 84% to 90% by Q4, measured in finance reporting

How do you do strategic planning step by step?

When you’re planning strategic planning sessions, the most helpful thing you can do is keep the steps consistent. Here’s a practical sequence you can run with.

Step 1: Set scope, timeline and cadence

– Decide the scope (team, business unit, whole organization)

– Choose a planning horizon (often 3–5 years)

– Agree on review moments (weekly, monthly and quarterly depending on how fast things move)

Step 2: Clarify mission, vision and values

– Mission: why you exist

– Vision: what you’re working toward

– Values: how you make decisions along the way

Step 3: Analyze the current situation

Start with a SWOT analysis:

– Strengths

– Weaknesses

– Opportunities

– Threats

You can add other inputs if they help:

– Customer insights

– Competitor moves

– Market shifts

– Regulatory changes

Step 4: Choose your strategic priorities

Keep the list short so it can guide real decisions, using good examples of strategic priorities:

– Improve retention in a core segment

– Expand in a specific market or region

– Reduce delivery time for a core product

– Build capability in a key function

Step 5: Define strategic objectives

Turn priorities into objectives that describe success, such as:

– Improve time-to-value for new customers

– Increase retention in your highest-value segment

– Grow market expansion revenue in mid-market accounts

Step 6: Convert objectives into SMART goals

Make your plan trackable with a SMART goals checklist:

– Do you have a baseline?

– Can you meet a target?

– Do you have a deadline?

– Do you know who owns it?

– Can you measure it consistently?

Step 7: Build initiatives and action plans

For each SMART goal, define:

– Key initiatives

– Owner and contributors

– Timeline and milestones

– Budget and capacity assumptions

– Risks and dependencies

Step 8: Pick KPIs and set your monitoring rhythm

Define what you’ll track and how often. That means having a practical rhythm, including:

– Weekly or biweekly check-ins for execution

– Monthly performance reviews

– Quarterly strategic planning reviews to refresh goals and priorities

This is where you can combine planning and strategic work into a thorough management process. As such, you review, learn and adjust without losing the bigger direction.

Strategic plan example you can model

Here’s a simple strategic plan example for a growing services business. Bear in mind that this is a useful pattern if someone asks what is a strategic plan in practice: priority → objective → SMART goal → initiatives → KPIs.

Strategic priority

Grow revenue while maintaining service quality.

Strategic objective

Improve sales conversion and delivery capacity.

SMART goal

Increase qualified lead-to-client conversion from 10% to 14% by September 30, measured in CRM.

Initiatives

– Tighten qualification criteria and lead scoring

– Update sales messaging for the best-performing segment

– Standardize handoff between sales and delivery

– Add capacity in the highest-demand service line

KPIs

– Lead-to-meeting rate

– Meeting-to-proposal rate

– Proposal win rate

– Delivery utilization rate

Which tools support strategic planning?

You can keep tools lightweight and still get strong results. Common options include:

– SWOT analysis

– Balanced Scorecard

– Strategy maps

– OKRs

These tools can support your strategic plan, especially when you want tighter links between long-term priorities, shorter-term goals and measurement.

A quick recap to conclude

What is a strategic plan in one sentence?

A strategic plan is a clear roadmap that shows your direction, priorities, goals and how you’ll measure progress.

What is the difference between strategic planning and a strategic business plan?

Strategic planning is the process of setting direction and priorities. A strategic business plan often adds more operational detail, including financial assumptions and go-to-market choices.

Can you do strategic planning without SMART goals?

Yes, but it’s harder to execute and measure. SMART goals make progress visible and responsibility clearer.

How often should you update a strategic plan?

Keep the long-term direction steady and review goals and initiatives regularly. Many teams review progress monthly and refresh priorities quarterly or annually.