Start your construction business strategic planning today for a successful year.
As we move into the recovery phase, the business world operates notably different than it did in 2007. Clients and their needs have changed, and they will face new challenges and opportunities. To effectively lead today, construction business owners need an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and the ability to innovate.
Critical Thinking
In a typical strategic planning meeting, firm leaders meet and often explore differing ideas according to their own priorities. To avoid this problem, business leaders should have ongoing critical thinking discussions.
Answer these questions to guide your critical thinking:
- How will you decide on a strategy? Will you follow a traditional strategic planning process or let the vision of one strong leader drive the strategy? How will you obtain buy-in?
- Do you have the right leadership for the next stage?
- Who will make the decisions and oversee them, and who will allocate investment funds?
- What positive attributes does the firm have that must be preserved at all costs?
- What aspects of the firm no longer serve a purpose?
- How can the firm’s vision, values and culture be expressed in the strategic plan and its implementation?
- How will you prepare for future possible scenarios?
- How does your firm define growth?
- How does your firm define success?
- How do you assess and manage business, professional and personal risks?
Once you have answered these questions, follow these steps to develop a strategy:
- Define problems from both society’s and the clients’ view
- Research innovations—within and outside the industry.
- Develop creative options that will address future issues.
- Test the strategies with employees, clients and others.
- Implement the strategies in a way that includes buy-in from staff, and learn from the implementation.
The process can be used to make incremental changes or scaled to fine-tune any strategies that currently work.
Construction Business Owner, December 2011
