39+ Strategic Plan Templates in PDF
In any kind of undertaking, it’s hard to deal with it without a plan. A plan is important regardless of the type of work you are doing. It gives you direction and guides you throughout the process. But in order for a plan to effectively cater its purpose, you must have the right people and resources to execute it. This is where the magic of a strategic plan comes in.
For some, drafting a strategic plan can be time consuming and stressful. To guide you through the process, we have here 39+ strategic planning templates and samples that you can use for your company or in your personal capacity. Feel free to check out our free strategic planning templates for your references.
Company Strategic Plan
Company Accounting Strategic Plan
Company Marketing Strategic Plan
Hospital Strategic Plan
Hospital Service
Children’s Hospital Strategic Plan
5 Year Hospital Strategic Plan
University Strategic Plan
University Academic
IT University Strategic Plan
Corporate Strategic Plan
Corporate Strategic Business Plan
Corporate Strategic Plan
Corporate Development Strategic Plan
What Is Strategic Planning?
When we deal with the term planning in general, it is about organizing for an activity that you’ll be doing in the future and how you are going to deal with it. In contrast to this, strategic planning is specific in nature. Here are some of its characteristics:
- As a managerial process. Strategic planning deals with allocating the resources of an organization or company to coincide with its business opportunities over the long the run. It allows you to manage your resources in a manner that will bring about more benefits in the future. It contributes to the stirring of the wheels of success.
- It is holistic in character. Research studies provide that strategic planning projects a bigger picture. It is not aimed at achieving short-term goals. It is for the long run. In line with this, every aspect of the company or industry must be taken into account such as its core values, mission, standards, resources, and the people working behind it.
- Can result to substantial changes. Because it takes into account the macro, the results will also be substantial. Changes can include adjustments and amendments of the company’s capital structure, forging of strategic coalitions and groups, and other processes that lead to benefits.
- Systematic. It would not be a strategic plan if its unsystematic. Systematic means outlining specific goals and objectives. There is also a defined sequence and methodologies to follow to attain such goals.
These are some of the emphasis and heart of strategic planning. It is a method that helps build a sustainable and successful company, if effectively executed.
What Is a Strategic Plan?
According to research, a strategic plan refers to a document whether paper-based or electronic that contains and reinforces the organization’s goals, objectives, methodologies, and any other components that can help realize long-term goals and mission. In terms of definition, how one describes a strategic plan would depend on the field where it is applied. As what you can see, we have strategic plans for marketing, hospitals, schools, corporations, and other recreational activities such as golf clubs.
Purpose of a Strategic Plan
The overarching purpose of a strategic plan is to conduct an assessment of the current conditions in order to forecast future dynamics and come up with holistic and comprehensive ways to deal with it. In the world of business, it makes your business competitive in the light of a very tight competitive market. Here are some other purpose of a strategic plan:
- Helps you develop a management framework. By coming up with a strategic plan, you can delineate responsibilities and tasks clearly. You can be more productive and prepared.
- Helps you anticipate problems. A strategic plan can help you in projecting the future. However, we all know that there is still no technology that can predict the future but one can anticipate some aspects of it. This will help minimize risks.
- Helps you define measurable terms and allocate resources efficiently. Without a strategic plan, you’ll have a hard time identifying realistic targets and goals. You will also waste your time and resources because the targets and indicators chosen were not realistic and feasible.
These are three main purposes of coming up with a strategic plan. To know more strategic planning, we also have strategic planning process templates and samples that you can check out and uses as references.
Strategic Marketing Plan
5 Year Strategic Marketing Plan
Hotel Strategic Marketing Plan
Strategic Marketing Communications Plan
Golf Club Strategic Marketing Plan
Strategic Business Plan
Final Strategic Business Plan
Strategic Business Plan Outline
Strategic Business Plan Report
Library Strategic Business Plan
Strategic Management Plan
High Commissioners Strategic Management Plan
OSHA Strategic Management Plan
Strategic Forest Management Plan
Strategic Property Management Plan
Strategic Sales Plans
Strategic Sales and Marketing Plan
University Strategic Sales Plan
Final Strategic Sales Plan Format
Fundraising Strategic Plan
Draft Fundraising Strategic Plan
Sample Fundraising Strategic Plan
What’s Included in a Strategic Plan?
There are different approaches for a strategic plan. Because of this, its contents can vary. There are also common components, however, that are mostly present in a strategic plan. Here are some basic elements of a strategic plan:
- Mission/vision. In here, the organization or company will highlight their plans for the future. In terms of writing them, always use the future tense will. It will emphasize what products and services will be sold and rendered respectively. It highlights the overall vision of the organization or company.
- Objectives. After outlining the overarching mission of the organization, the objectives will serve as the concrete breakdown of such mission. It will highlight the functional objectives that the company will need in order to reap more profits and opportunities for growth. If you’re interested with SWOT analysis templates, we also have samples for you to use as a stepping stone for your own objectives.
- Plans of actions. In here, you will enumerate your strategies with respect to a certain objective. Your plan of action will help you achieve your objectives in a timely manner. They will highlight and answer the how question in line with your mission and objectives.
- Evaluation and monitoring mechanisms. Because a strategic plan aims to accomplish long term goals, it is pertinent for you to outline monitoring mechanisms to regulate and track your daily, weekly, monthly, or annual success. On the other hand, evaluation is a form of a feedback mechanism that makes you understand and improve your planning strategies.
These are some common elements of a strategic plan. They can change from one line of business to another depending on the specifics per business.
A Variety of Strategic Planning Templates
As you can see from our list of templates, we’ve provided you with a variety of strategic plans that can be applied for a particular purpose. Let’s examine some of them:
- Corporate and business strategic planning templates. In here, we’ve provided you an example of how a corporate organization designs a strategic plan. As you can see from the plan itself, it is geared toward the development of small and medium enterprises. It also highlights their mission, purpose of the plan, the layout of the plan, a situation analysis, and a performance review.
- Children’s hospital strategic plan templates. As you can see, the design and structure of the strategic plan is very child friendly. The core values espoused by the hospital are also emphasized. They also emphasized what areas or aspects of the hospitals must be strengthened and prioritized.
- University strategic plan templates. What is distinct about this template is that it provides an overarching focus. The overarching focus was innovation with impact. The goals also are specifically laid down.
If you want to learn more about how a strategic plan is applied in a specific field of interest, download our templates and explore their dynamics.
Strategic Communication Plan
Strategic Communication Plan Outline
Non Profit Strategic Communication Plan
School Strategic Communication Plan
Strategic Action Plan
Resort Strategic Action Plan
Federal Strategic Action Plan
FDA Strategic Action Plan
HR Strategic Plan
University HR Strategic Plan
HR Management
HR Department
HR Corporate Strategic Plan
Non Profit Strategic Plan
Strategic Planning for Non Profit Organization
Non Profit Organization Strategic Plan Format
The Basic Steps in Strategic Planning
After knowing the basic elements of a strategic plan, you are now ready to make delve into the process of making one. Here are 7 key basic steps that you can use in the process of creating your own strategic plan:
- Provide your mission. This is a crucial step because the mission is the foundation of your strategic plan. In making them, think of the overall business commitment, purpose, and identify of your company or organization. The questions you’ll ask are usually rooted on the rationale behind why you engage in business in the first place.
- Evaluate the current trends and competition. In here, you need to feel and research about the present condition of the external environment. You need to know your competitors and their products and services. In addition to this, you also need to know what the mood of the current market is such as the trends followed by the public.
- Determine your gaps and challenges. After assessing the external environment, you have to assess your internal affairs with respect to the external condition. Identify your challenges and needs in order to appropriately fill in the gaps. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll know where to exert more effort.
- Come up with SMART objectives. According to pertinent planning studies, objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, and follows a specific timeline. Most business strategies follow this approach.
- Come up with strategies. Your strategies must be functional and in consonance to the kind of business you’re in. Also, take into account the current trends in the market. It is also advisable that you make alternative strategies. At the end of the day, it is inevitable that some strategies would fail. The alternative ones will do the trick.
- Implementation and evaluation phase. In this phase, you will now actually execute your strategies and experiment if they will really satisfy the objectives. After the implementation, evaluate and assess the impact of your work.
- Monitoring phase. Once you know which strategies work best, come up with monitoring mechanisms to seal the deal.
These are some basic steps in writing a strategic plan. In the process, you can modify and improvise the steps to suit your own preferences and interests. Speaking of plans, we also have action agenda planning templates and action plan templates that you can refer to.