The 5-step strategic planning process is a widely used approach to creating a strategic plan. The five steps are:
1. Define your vision: Establish a shared vision for success, whether it’s for your business as a whole or a specific initiative. This step requires close collaboration to build a shared vision, strategy for implementation, and system for understanding performance .
2. Assess where you are: Conduct an assessment of where you stand, in terms of your own initiatives, as well as the greater marketplace. One of the most common ways to conduct a strategic assessment is SWOT analysis .
3. Determine your priorities and objectives: Based on the assessment, determine your priorities and objectives. This step requires close collaboration to build a shared vision, strategy for implementation, and system for understanding performance .
4. Define responsibilities: Define who is responsible for what in the implementation of the strategic plan .
5. Measure and evaluate results: Establish metrics for success and evaluate outcomes regularly to adjust the plan if necessary .