Business Applications

What is most important for a high-quality strategic plan - the process or the document? Metaplan believes the process is critical. Metaplan's approach transforms strategic planning from an annual event to a continuous process. Our integrative methods bring together the various stakeholders and help tie strategic planning to your day-to-day business. Our approach ensures that you achieve the desired outcomes of your strategic planning meetings, overall planning process and post-planning implementation.

Most organizations develop a strategic plan annually and find the process difficult and time-intensive. Metaplan believes the key barriers include:

• Approaches that are too highly structured or lack any defined processes
• Inputs and revisions to the plan that occur in a piecemeal fashion, adding unnecessary time and effort to the process
• Sub-optimal involvement of cross-functional groups
• Corporate mandates to meet top-down objectives and create a novel plan

Metaplan provides moderation, mediation, and facilitation to help companies overcome these issues. We work with organizations to develop the plan and, more importantly, the reasoning and alignment needed for the plan to be implemented successfully. We lead engaging and participative discussions with your group to generate shared understanding, ensuring that issues are raised, conflicts are addressed, and contradictions are resolved.

We work with the collective team in a single workshop to leverage organizational knowledge and eliminate the timing issues created by sequential sessions. Moreover, Metaplan creates alignment and buy-in from the team because they develop the plan as a group, which aids in successful implementation and flawless execution.

Metaplan also delivers strategic objectives that are agreed upon by the entire group, as well as operating strategies and tactics to achieve these goals. We assist in prioritization, as well as internal and external environment assessment. We will work with you to develop the documents and facilitate the implementation of the plan in your company.

Metaplan's unique, collaborative approach provides benefits including:

• Generates shared understanding among the group
• Enhances strategic thinking of the team
• Creates open communication and increases collaboration
• Raises and resolves conflicts and contradictions
• Provides facilitation for implementation and follow-through

In particular, organizations that meet any of these criteria will benefit from the Metaplan approach:

• Strategic planning is a new or difficult process for organization
• A new approach is desired
• A wide range of ideas and/or concerns about the planning process,   and the issues to be addressed, exists
• A lack of commitment to the process
• A lack of openness among group members
• A desire for key players to focus on participation instead of facilitation
• A facilitator role does not exist in the organization
• Need for an objective voice or perspective

Corporate Retreats

Our professionals also can moderate your corporate retreats to ensure that you have a strategically focused agenda that leads to decision-making and alignment on key issues. We conduct preparatory interviews and develop structured exercises to in advance of the session to optimize meeting outcomes, ensuring that conflicts are addressed and resolution is reached on key strategic issues. Our interactive approach creates more engaging sessions and fosters interaction and teamwork to bring groups together.