Monitoring the strategic plan

The one thing you should never do with a strategic plan is to put it away in a bottom draw and forget about it until the next time it needs to be revamped. There is a real risk of this considering that strategic plans are set for a period of 3-5 years.

A strategic plan should be reviewed by management on regular basis so that:

It serves as a guide to the decision-making process of management
Strategies can be evaluated for their effectiveness; and
The impact of significant changes to the business environment can be considered

Strategic plans should NOT be considered as unchangeable for their stated period. There is every probability that the strategic plan will need amending from time to time for reasons such as:

It becomes evident that a particular strategy is already unsuccessful
New and better opportunities become evident
The organisation's financial circumstances change
Significant people either arrive or leave the organisation
Factors in the external environment change

The organisation's management should therefore review the strategic plan on a quarterly basis by measuring the extent to which key performance indicators have been achieved. A short report (perhaps one page) that tables progress made, can be presented to the management committee or board to faciltate the process.

If the existing plan becomes unworkable in any significant way, a new plan should be formulated. It may not be necessary to go through all the steps taken to prepare the existing plan, simply that goals, objectives and strategies need to be amended or removed.