How long does a strategy last?

Your business strategy should be updated every 90 days. To some readers, that might seem quite common, and you'd be right.

How long does a strategy last?

Your business strategy should be updated every 90 days. To some readers, that might seem quite common, and you'd be right. But the thing to remember is that the quarterly rule has been developed for the modern world. Once upon a time, you might have been able to get away with changing your strategy less frequently, but the reality is that the here and now is full of changes.

Agility is the name of the game in modern business, and the company that is left behind is left behind. Strategic planning usually represents medium and long-term objectives with a useful life of three to five years, although it can last longer. This is different from business planning, which typically focuses on short-term tactical objectives, such as how a budget is divided. The time a business plan covers can range from several months to several years.

This concept became extraordinarily attractive to executives, because it seemed to suggest that the strategy consisted of identifying and developing “core competencies” or “strategic capacities”. There's no simple answer when it comes to determining how long it takes to create a strategic plan for your small business. A strategic plan is periodically reviewed and revised to adjust priorities and reevaluate objectives as business conditions change and new opportunities emerge. A descriptive approach focuses on how strategies should be implemented and is usually based on general guidelines or principles.

This is where stakeholders use the existing strategic plan, including the mission statement and long-term strategic objectives, to conduct evaluations of the business and its environment. You may be able to find a mentor who is a former business executive to help you develop your company's strategic plan. Check out these six free IT strategic planning templates that can help make IT a driving force in a company. These methodologies guide the committee through a series of steps that include an analysis or evaluation, the formulation of the strategy and the articulation and communication of the actions necessary for the organization to move towards its strategic vision.

There are countless different ways to approach strategic planning depending on the type of business and the granularity required. Great strategies are, among other things, very specific to the target customer, the value proposition and the leadership capabilities of a company. If your company has the resources, you might consider hiring a strategic planning consulting firm. In 1978, Henry Mintzberg published an influential article in Management Science that introduced emergent strategy, a concept that he later popularized among non-academic business audiences in his successful 1994 book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning.

Next, strategic planners establish objectives and initiatives that align with the company's mission and goals and that will drive the company toward achieving its objectives. Therefore, the concept of emerging strategy has simply become a useful excuse to avoid difficult strategic decisions, to reproduce as a “quick follower” the options that seem to be succeeding for others, and to deflect any criticism for not taking a bold direction. A company can avoid these pitfalls by focusing on customers, recognizing that strategy is about placing bets and articulating the logic behind strategic decisions. Remember that your strategic plan is a living document and will change as you manage and grow your business.

Rena Chinnery
Rena Chinnery

Lifelong social media buff. Total tv enthusiast. Incurable twitter guru. Incurable tv practitioner. Proud food advocate. Beer geek.