Strategic Planning: have you done yours?

I want to share with you one of the greatest learningivei veins and, among other competencies, this enables me to be CEO. Having learned about Strategic Planning was undoubtedly one of my greatest experiences with Americans, who carry in DNA planning as an essential step for any business.

First of all, we need to end the thought that the year in Brazil begins after Carnival. For planning the following year, we need to plan in September or October each year. As we are almost in November, if you have not yet planned need to say that you are already late.

How to prepare good planning

A good planning requires understanding what was accomplished during the year, comparing with the indicators and studying what worked or wrong. With all this in hand, involve every management team, managing directors, strategic positions, and plan not to risk making an ugly mistake in the management of the company.

I’m going to tell you a story that made me stubborn about planning. Over 15 years, I’ve been working on Brazil’s second largest hotel administrator, Atlantica Hotels. It was founded by Americans to run hotels in Brazil of various flags, such as Marriot, Starwood, Carlson Rezidor, Choice Hotels International by Hilton Garden. During my stay in this important company, I was able to work with several executives from various areas, operations, sales, marketing, controllership, finance, food and beverage, etc.

The experience of developing strategic planning

Among these experiences ahead of several enterprises, I was able to learn and develop with countless professionals what is the experience of developing a strategic planning, which in this article I will try to explain in a macro the way my vision of this important theme, that is, as it is to prepare a POA (Annual Budget Planning) or PE (Strategic Planning). It is up to the record of thanks to this important company, among all that I have worked, because the learning on this theme is priceless.

1. Mission, vision, values and strategic objectives

First of all, in Brazil there is still a way of thinking that the year begins only after carnival. True or not? This perception or feeling, in my opinion, has to end. Planning is anticipation, it should be done now, not after carnival.

First of all: have your mission, strategic, tactical and operational objectives of the company at hand. In order for your planning to be consistent and do not lose meaning, you must immediately be defined mission, vision and its values. Sounds basic and obvious, doesn’t it? But it’s not always like that.

2. Definition of KPIs

Having mission, vision and values, let’s get to the point, let’s go to action. Cast here some goals or KPIs:

• Increase our guests’ satisfaction by 30
• Reduce costs and expenses by 20
• Increase the satisfaction of our employees by 30
• Ensure high-level delivery in the provision of services – operations
• Quality, training and monitoring of management

3. Turn KPIs into numbers

Turn goals into numbers so that everyone has in mind what a particular goal means. All this translating into numbers, i.e. indicators or KPIs, otherwise it’s worth your effort in the company.

• Sales projection for 2020 in numbers
• Projection of costs, expenses in numbers
• Investments in the operation in numbers
• How much does our company need to bill to pay the bills?
• What is our monthly balance point?
• What kind of investments will we make to keep our hotel product up to date?

However, if there are unaccompanied numbers planning did not do any good. Therefore, it is an obligation to efficient and effective management to always monitor budget control, the famous budget.

And, of course, changes along the course of the year happen and that’s totally normal. Now, those who don’t know where they want to go any way is good. And often this path is a drifting boat.

Planning gives us the vision of where we want to get, while the operational plan the boat course until then. We will cultivate the practice of planning in our companies. This gives us competitiveness and perpetuates our organizations.