Strategic Planning, Simplified.

Table of Contents

Strategic Planning is the process of defining an organization's direction and making decisions on how to pursue it. A strategic plan helps organizations establish priorities, focus energy, and ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working together, with an eye on anticipated future outcomes and changes. While the task is essential, it often presents significant challenges. Aligning long-term goals with short-term operations, reporting on results, and adapting plans when necessary can quickly become hard to manage.

The process is a two-part exercise: Planning, which involves setting goals, determining their objectives and measures, and allocating resources toward them, and Execution, which involves taking action to reach those goals and tracking the progress.

ClearPoint Strategy was created to help with both. Designed by executives, for executives, ClearPoint was developed to make strategy and performance management go hand-in-hand. Imagine if strategic planning was not just a routine task, but instead, an exciting and rewarding part of your business operations. With comprehensive tools and frameworks, ClearPoint Strategy makes strategic planning simple, no matter the size or complexity of your organization.

And with over 50 years of experience working with strategy, we’ve developed the ClearPoint Strategy Success Framework. Below is a breakdown of how ClearPoint supports the first - and foundational - strategy success factor: Organizing Strategy.

ClearPoint Strategy strategic plan organization

Part 1: Developing the Strategic Plan

The journey begins with developing your strategic plan, which at its core involves defining where you want your organization to go. ClearPoint streamlines this process by helping you set strategic priorities within any strategy framework, such as:

  • The Balanced Scorecard
  • Porter’s Five Forces
  • SWOT Analysis
  • PEST Analysis
  • OKRs
  • VRIO
  • Blue Ocean
  • Baldrige Excellence
  • Quality Improvement
  • ...and more!

But ClearPoint takes it a step further with the integration of artificial intelligence. ClearPoint Strategy’s AI Assistants guide you through the planning process in an interactive interview format, offering suggestions, insights, and even automating aspects of the plan based on your inputs. No matter the framework (even your own!), ClearPoint’s AI Assistants adapt to your needs, making the process of crafting tailored plans smarter.

Test out our SWOT Analysis AI Assistant

ClearPoint's AI Assistants also assist in risk assessment, ensuring your plan is both well-structured and adaptable. By analyzing trends, providing real-time feedback, and helping to prioritize initiatives, strategists can easily make informed decisions while focusing on the creative aspects of strategy execution. ClearPoint’s innovative software solution streamlines the planning process, saving time and improving overall effectiveness.

From helping you identify key objectives to recommending the best metrics to track progress, the AI Assistants ensure that nothing is overlooked. As you roll out a strategic plan across your organization, ClearPoint continues to support you by centralizing strategy data, automating workflows, and helping your team stay aligned. No matter the scope of your strategy model, ClearPoint has the tools—and the intelligence—to make it manageable.

Part 2: Executing the Strategic Plan

As you transition from planning to execution, ClearPoint excels in helping organizations monitor progress and manage initiatives efficiently. Real-time tracking and automated reporting features keep everyone informed and focused. Strategy review meetings shift from speculative discussions to more decision-making sessions, driven by accurate, up-to-date data.

ClearPoint goes beyond basic tracking by offering a sophisticated suite of features to calculate and evaluate the performance of your strategic initiatives. Robust calculation capabilities allow users to seamlessly aggregate data across different departments or projects, providing a clear view of how each part of your strategy is contributing to your overall mission. These evaluations help you identify trends, measure progress, and make informed decisions on where to reallocate resources or adjust your approach.

Related: AI Assistants for Superior Strategy Reporting

ClearPoint’s data visualization capabilities allow you to see the results of these calculations in a digestible format, such as charts, graphs, and dashboards. The visual clarity gained from these elements let stakeholders at all levels quickly grasp the status of key initiatives, promoting transparency and alignment throughout the organization. By visualizing your results, you’re not just tracking progress; you’re gaining actionable insights that drive strategic decisions and keep your organization on the path to success.

ClearPoint strategy map

Organizing your strategy with ClearPoint means achieving your goals smarter, faster, and more efficiently. Key benefits include enhanced decision-making, effective resource allocation, and improved organizational alignment.

With high-quality data readily available, making informed decisions becomes the norm, not the exception. Access to reliable information empowers leaders to make choices that drive success. Furthermore, tying your resources directly to your strategic goals means that every dollar spent is an investment in your organization's future, aligning expenditures with long-term objectives. Moreover, keeping all team members on the same page fosters an environment where communication flows freely, improving processes and performance.

The stories of success echo a common theme: ClearPoint makes strategic planning less daunting and more dynamic. Customers report significant improvements in performance and stakeholder satisfaction, underscoring ClearPoint’s role in their success.

Ready to become part of the ClearPoint Community? Talk to a strategy expert and see how to make your strategic plan a blueprint for success.