2.8. Monitoring Implementation, Evaluating Implementation

Too many strategic plans end up collecting dust on a shelf. Monitoring and evaluating the planning activities and status of implementation of the plan is - for many organizations - as important as identifying strategic issues and goals. One advantage of monitoring and evaluation is to ensure that the organization is following the direction established during strategic planning. That advantage is obvious. However, another major advantage is that the management can learn a great deal about the organization and how to manage it by continuing to monitor and evaluate the planning activities and the status of the implementation of the plan. Note that plans are guidelines. They aren't rules. 

Important points to know and remember:

1. Changing the plan as necessary during implementation

It's OK to deviate from a plan. But planners should understand the reason for the deviations and update the plan to reflect the new direction. 

2. Guidelines to manage organizational change while implementing the plan

As you are implementing your Plan, you will likely be making significant changes within your organization, whether changes to strategy, structure or policies. These should be done carefully. The following links are to resources to help you accomplish successful change.

3. Handy tool to guarantee plans are implemented

It's one thing to develop a plan. It's another to actually implement the plan. Far too many plans sit untouched on shelves. A low-cost, straightforward approach to share ongoing support and accountabilities to implement a plan is to use peer coaching groups. 

Conclusion

Simply put, strategic planning is clarifying the overall purpose and desired results of an organization, and how those results will be achieved.

There are different ways to do that planning, depending on the purpose(s) of the planning, the life cycle or stage of development of the organization, the culture of people in the organization, types of issues the organization is currently facing, and the rate of change in the external environment of the organization.

There are many different perspectives on how to best do strategic planning — and many different practitioners and facilitators have very strong feelings about how strategic planning should be done. And writing completing this project helped me to understand clearly the difficulties and benefits of conducting small business in the reality of Russian economy.

References:

1. Bowman К.Fundamentals of Strategic Management: translated from English – М: Unity, 2001. – 106 p.

2. Claymore G. The mechanisms of strategic decision-making and strategic planning in the workplace. // Problems of Economics. – 1998. – №9

3. Lyasko V.I. Strategic planning of development of enterprise: M:Examen, 2005. -286p.

4. Krikorian Y. H. The Concept of Organization // The Journal of Philosophy Vol. 32, No. 5 (Feb. 28, 1935)

5. Marquis BL, Huston CJ. - Leadership and Management Functions in Nursing - Theory and application. 5th edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2006

6. Off the Shelf: How To Ensure That Your Strategic Plan Becomes a Valued Tool //Mike Burns

[сайт] http://arts.endow.gov/resources/Lessons/BURNS.HTML

7. Strategic Visioning Process // Grove Consultants International

[сайт] http://arts.endow.gov/resources/Lessons/GROVE.HTML

8. Strategic Planning for Small Businesses // Donald Rhodes

[сайт] http://www.georgiasbdc.org/pdfs/rhodes08.pdf

9. Free Management Library [сайт] http://managementhelp.org/

10. Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia // Strategic Planning

[сайт] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_planning

11. Federal Law of July 24, 2007 № 209-Federal Law "About the development of small and medium enterprises in the Russian Federation" [сайт] http://www.rg.ru/2007/07/31/biznes-doc.html

1 Free Encyclopedia Wikipedia // Strategic Planning [сайт] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_planning

2 Lyasko V.I. Strategic planning of development of enterprise: M:Examen, 2005. -286p. p.15

3 Bowman К.Fundamentals of Strategic Management: translated from English – М: Unity, 2001. – 106 p.

4 Информационный бюллетень ТПП РФ по вопросам малого предпринимательства в Российской Федерации за сентябрь 2010 года [сайт]. 

URL:http://smb.gov.ru/content/download/attached,987/download.php

5 В России господдержку получают только 2% малых предприятий [сайт].URL: http://www.admin.irbp.ru/page/111/1139/ 

6 Federal Law of July 24, 2007 № 209-Federal Law "About the development of small and medium enterprises in the Russian Federation" http://www.rg.ru/2007/07/31/biznes-doc.html

7 Strategic Planning for Small Businesses // Donald Rhodes [сайт] http://www.georgiasbdc.org/pdfs/rhodes08.pdf

8 Krikorian Y. H. The Concept of Organization // The Journal of Philosophy Vol. 32, No. 5 (Feb. 28, 1935), p.119

9 Marquis BL, Huston CJ. - Leadership and Management Functions in Nursing - Theory and application. 5th edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2006, p.154

10 Claymore G. The mechanisms of strategic decision-making and strategic planning in the workplace. / / Problems of Economics. – 1998. – №9. – P. 46 – 47.