Strategic Management 101

Effectively running and growing a company requires leaders to stay vigilant on all aspects of a business. You can't effectively expand your market offerings if you don't have a clear sense of what's already working and what isn't. That gets a lot easier if you consolidate your operations into fewer programs.

With the right tool, you can manage everything from scheduling to compliance to accounting in the same place. Having a platform that offers at-a-glance dashboards and transparent executive reporting is vital for helping you effectively monitor your operations. Integrating all your disparate programs into one platform will help you take a broad view and set you up for strategically managing your business.

And strategic management is the way to take your company from just surviving to actively thriving! In this brief introduction, we'll offer an overview of a management model that thousands of companies use for strategic planning (including VeilSun). 

What is Strategic Management?

Search CIO defines strategic management as "the continuous planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment of all that is necessary for an organization to meet its goals and objectives." It is a top-down approach whereby an organization first defines its high level goals and then thinks through strategies to achieve those goals. The next step is to establish tactics (i.e. actions) in line with your goals and strategies and to monitor against clear objectives (results you want) to make sure your organization is executing properly. Let's dig into it a little deeper.

The GSOT Model

The GSOT model is an effective way for your business to organize and execute your strategies. It goes a little something like this:

• Goals:  Your company goals are your high-level "dreams" for your organization. They define who you want to be and what you want to achieve. They should directly result from your company's business and marketing plan and mission, vision, and values. Most importantly, they should inspire your management and employees.
• Strategies: If Goals are the "what", your strategies are the "how". They outline your approach for achieving your company goals. While your goals should stay relatively static, your strategies should be fluid - reviewed and updated quarterly or yearly in response to your industry.
• Objectives: Objectives is the "proof" that you are executing your strategy effectively. A good objective should be (1) specific, (2) measurable, and (3) include a timeframe
• Tactics:  Tactics are specific actions your organization will take to meet your objectives. A tactic is essentially an "action".
  
  

An Example