How We Do It: July 2000, Strategic Planning

Step 1 – Operational Planning Process. Every fall, all departments (sales, administration, construction and maintenance operations) are involved in the preplan-ning process. Department

supervisors meet with their respective employees to review departmental procedures, safety concerns, customer service, equipment, the company mission and new service and training opportunities.

Step 2 – Strategic Planning. Strategic planning is completed in December. A four-member management team, which represents all departments, comes together for three days to review preplanning notes and prepare an outline for the company-wide session held in January.

During the strategic planning session, the management team reviews the effectiveness of the prior year’s plan. Then the team looks at areas such as volume growth, profit targets, organizational structure, economic impact and the corporate mission. The analysis includes pointing out company strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.

The outcome of this session includes a three-year growth projection along with a list of four to six specific objectives for each of the next three operating seasons, covering topics such as sales, growth/improvement of facilities and personnel, customer service, marketing and cost controls. The strategic planning outline is then sent to all supervisors and full-time foremen for study and review.

Step 3 – Operational Planning. In January, all full-time, year-round employees participate in our two- or three-day annual operational planning session held off-site.

We incorporate team building, brainstorming and training as part of the session to give employees another opportunity to express opinions and ideas. Thorough review of preplanning and strategic planning notes takes place. Different members of the management and supervisory team facilitate each part of the session. As strategies are discussed, specific tactics are identified to accomplish each task. Each tactic is assigned a name and date, and is tracked during the rest of the year. All employees are assigned tactics above and beyond their normal job responsibilities.

From this session, we assemble an outline of the primary objectives we wish to accomplish during the coming season. All notes and tactics are recorded and put into a document, which is given to all participating employees.

Step 4 – Budgeting Process. We also formulate a budget to address all standard income and expenses. The budget, along with our operational plan, is our blueprint, which we study and follow during the next 12 months.

Operational plan reviews also take place periodically throughout the season. Once a month, each manager must report tactic completion for all departments documented by date and percentage in a detailed spreadsheet. In addition, all full-time employees attend both a summer and fall update to discuss sales targets, profit results, budget deviation and tactic completion.

Tecza Environmental’s success coincides with the operational plan’s completion and its individual tactics. Our growth totaling 65 percent over the past six years shows that the time we spend planning pays off.