A/E/C Strategic Planning: Executive Survey Report by PSMJ

A/E/C principals who think of “plan” as a noun tend to write a nice neat document, tuck it into a three-ring binder, and let it gather dust on a bookshelf while they make day-to-day decisions and react to events with little or no thought to a long-term direction.

Think of “plan” as a verb instead—something you do all the time, tending to it at regular intervals—a process that never ends—an ongoing part of your proactive approach to the marketplace and to running your business.

The best strategic plans share these attributes:

— Simplicity

— Clarity

— Measurability

A strategic plan is your carefully-considered written description of where your firm is going and how you will gain competitive advantage by capitalizing on its unique capabilities.

It accomplishes the following:

— Identifies what you bring to the marketplace to provide value for clients. — Presents a specific vision of what your firm will look like in the future — Establishes measurable firm wide and operational long-term and interim goals — Defines the strategies that will achieve your goals. — Assigns responsibility and accountability for making it happen.

A strategic plan is not:

— A budget

— An operational plan

— A list of tactics

— A one-time event

Underscoring that importance of “plan” as a verb rather than a noun, we wanted to better understand some of the latest breakthrough strategies and tactics that A/E/C firms are using to get results from their strategic planning. We wanted to find what works and what doesn’t.