The work-a-day world has changed dramatically in the past two years. Employees telecommute, meetings are conducted virtually and business opportunities have evolved. A strategic plan can help business owners and staff focus on what really matters, adapt to the changed work world and grow and prosper.

What’s a strategic plan? Simply stated, it’s a document that establishes the direction of an organization. It can be a single page or run to many pages. It’s a living document, so simple and brief is usually better. 

What goes in a strategic plan? You can put many things into your strategic plan, but generally, the main components include a vision statement; mission statement; core values; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; long-term goals; yearly objectives; and action plans for each objective. Here’s a closer look at each component:

A vision statement encapsulates how you envision your business functioning and growing. This is an aspirational statement, so it should focus on your dreams for your company. This statement could be concept-based or quality based, depending on the nature of your business.  Examples of concept-based statements include those of Disney “To make people happy” and LinkedIn to “Create economic opportunity for every member of the global work force.” Quality based statements include those of Ben & Jerry’s “Making the best ice cream in the nicest possible way” and Nordstrom “To serve our customers better, to always be relevant in their lives and to form lifelong friendships.”

Your mission statement describes what you do right now. It often describes what you do, for whom and how. Focusing on your mission each day enables you to validate your vision statement. This statement should be two or three sentences long, not exceeding 50 words. Here is a simple, generic mission statement: To provide tutoring and learning support services that allow children to achieve learning success and become life-long learners and contributing members of our community.

Your core values take into account company beliefs and behaviors that enable you to attain the goals stated in your vision and mission statements. Here is an example from Coca-Cola. Leadership: the courage to shape a better future. Collaboration: leverage collective genius. Integrity: be real. Accountability: if it is to be, it’s up to me. Passion: committed in heart and mind. Diversity: as inclusive as our brands. Quality: what we do, we do well.

Your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) take into account where you stand in your market. Who’s your competition? What affects your business and goals? You can complete a simple SWOT analysis by making a table with four columns — one for each SWOT element — and then adding as many rows as needed to address these elements. Many of your entries will show up under more than one SWOT element.

Long-term goals should offer a look into the future. Where do you want to be in one, two, five and 10 years? What objectives do you need to set to meet these goals? Try to be as quantitative as possible.

Manageable yearly objectives support long-term goals. There’s a useful acronym to help in this process. Make your objectives SMART —  specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.

Action plans for each objective provide the day-to-day details of how you will achieve each coal and its objectives. Avoid too much detail, though, or you could limit flexibility and have a hard time getting employee and manager support.

Why do you need a strategic plan? Consider this proverb: “A vision without a plan is just a dream. A plan without a vision is just drudgery. But a vision with a plan can change the world.”

Your strategic plan offers the means by which you prepare proactively for situations, initiate actions and influence — rather react to — changing circumstances. Without a plan, a company is like a cork bobbing in the Colorado River, subject to the whims of the current. A strategic plan keeps you on track so you, your managers and employees know where the company is and where it’s going.