Create your first strategy: masterclass on strategy planning

Create your first strategy by focusing on a chosen area, assessing the current situation, defining a clear end goal, and building a practical proposal and step-by-step plan.

A good strategy creates clarity, aligns teams, and prioritizes resources toward a shared vision, helping decisions, reducing complexity, and guiding action in changing environments.

Bust common myths about strategy and show how to use a simple, one-page framework to assess the current situation, set targets, develop proposals, and create a plan.

Identify the current state by outlining key features and barriers, using swot and pestle analyses and measuring data to define problems and inform your strategy.

Define your strategy scope by identifying a problem or opportunity and answering what, why, who, when, where, and how to craft the problem or opportunity statement.

Master a flexible SWOT analysis to assess your current situation by examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use the SWOT matrix and template to map internal and external factors.

Master how to conduct a Pestle analysis to assess political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental external factors and inform strategic decisions, with a downloadable template.

Measure data to establish a baseline and reveal the current situation; use financial, operational, and stakeholder metrics to focus strategy, improve processes, and enhance customer experience.

Put together the first section of your strategy by compiling a clear current situation assessment using tools like SWOT or metrics, or the STP template.

Set the ideal future target by defining your big vision and answering the key questions shaping your strategy, using simple visioning techniques.

Define your strategy’s future state with the from/to technique using a downloadable template, mapping current state in the from column to a to column vision and planning improvements.

Create a vision by starting with why, set a BHAG that inspires investment and engagement, and share it in the Q&A to align future strategy.

Collate all prior insights to define the future state and create a compelling vision using the STP template, then seek feedback before delivering your strategy.

Apply a prioritization (decision) matrix to plot each scenario by impact and effort, identify quick wins and big goals, and avoid low-reward distractions, guiding online course strategy.

Define your proposal by collecting all prior insights to set a clear direction for your strategy, using the STP template if you choose, and prepare a step-by-step project plan.

Define a detailed delivery plan by listing what needs to happen, who will do it, and when. Assess risks and resources to ensure you can deliver your strategy.

Create a comprehensive project plan by listing all actions, assigning one responsible person, and scheduling timelines to deliver your proposal across platforms and marketing channels.

Identify assumptions, constraints, and dependencies to strengthen your project plan and prepare for changes. Understand how these factors drive risk management and orderly task execution.

Run a collaborative joint planning session to map deliverables, assign tasks and owners, set timelines with post-its, and translate the plan into a shareable Gantt chart or Trello board.

Finalizing your strategy by adding the assessment of the current situation, vision, and proposal into your plan, including key actions and deadlines, for a clear top-line view.

Finalize your first strategy by integrating your ideas, share the final version with others, and use a strategy document and Q&A video to engage and answer questions.

Collate all information into one document using the STP template to finalize your strategy. Review, refine, and format, invite feedback, and prepare a plan to share your strategy.

Engage the right people from the outset to ensure your robust strategy is understood and acted on, using writing, presentations, in-person sessions, and a question-and-answer session.

Build a complete strategy to turn a great idea into reality using swot analysis, scenario planning, and visioning to guide the current situation and plan for future growth.