In many cases the Vision or Goals in a Strategic Plan are frequently in the spotlight garnering much if not most of the attention. Advocates of Vision-centered planning (including Schilling Consulting Services), would say some of this is justified. However, if Vision or Goals gets the star billing in a Plan, the Tactics are the backbone, the workhorse.

The Tactical Planning Phase of Strategic Plan development is where Vision and Operations meet. It is where the plan becomes “hard wired” into the existing management structure and routine business processes, including budget cycles. Needless to say, this work must be done well. Each tactic needs to be assigned to a leader. Any required resources need to be identified, including estimates of cost. Many Tactics will result in specific deliverables (report, analysis, process, event), and they should be identified. Action Plans should be developed for each Tactic and reviewed and agreed to by the leader. And, each Tactic needs to be assigned to a specific timeframe in the overall life of the plan.

This last consideration, the timing of each Tactic, is where many planning teams inadvertently encounter pitfalls, including:

• Overloading: Scheduling too many tactics early in the plan, even though the impulse of most planning teams is to see everything as important and urgent and start it all soon.
• Overextending: Scheduling too many tactics that require expenditure in a single fiscal year, resulting in a financial challenge.
• Overwhelming: Assigning too many tactics to the same leader during the same time period, overwhelming them with an unrealistic combination of ongoing and temporary responsibility.
• Overlooking: Failing to recognize that some tactics are interdependent and must be schedule in tandem or sequentially.

There are other factors to consider as well, all helping to identify the optimal timing of each all tactics. There is a lot to consider. But Tactics are the means to accomplishing your Vision or Goals, and so a lot rides on how well they are planned and implemented. SCS can help with expertise and tools, including an interactive Excel-based application. This application makes it easy to plan and monitor progress on Tactics.