Strategic planning

When you’re first developing your business strategy, how do you decide what to prioritize? Strategic planning templates identify your key strategic initiatives and the tasks needed to accomplish them. By aligning your decision-making with the company’s mission and vision statements, you can see how your team’s efforts drive business goals. We’ll help you create your own custom strategic plan template so you’re always prepared.

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a document that outlines a clear path for setting goals and achieving them. It serves as a roadmap from your current position to your desired destination, typically including your mission statement, long-term goals, and short-term, actionable tasks that guide your team's next steps. Because priorities can change over time, a strategy template makes updating your business plan easier without starting from scratch. Creating a single template that you can use cross-functionally helps you streamline strategic planning among teams, so all projects lead back to your biggest company goals. 

What are the 7 elements of a strategic plan template?

Every effective strategic plan template includes these core components:

• Vision statements describe where your organization aims to be in the future. It motivates your team and guides decision-making when priorities change.

• Core values define the principles that shape how your organization functions. Your organization uses them to guide everything from human resources decisions to customer interactions.

• Objectives and key results transform your vision into specific outcomes. Your team can run a quick brainstorming session to choose the outcomes that matter most.

• Strategic initiatives specify the major projects that advance your objectives. Your team should define key deliverables for each initiative.

• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) track progress with benchmarks. Your team can organize KPIs into a scorecard for faster reviews.

• Roles and responsibilities define ownership within your strategic action plan. Each owner should understand how their work relates to the business model.

• Timeframes and milestones establish target dates and progress checkpoints. Your team can use dashboards to track both.

How to create a strategic plan template

If you’re learning how to write a strategic plan, an Asana template provides a reliable starting point. It helps you break down big goals into smaller tasks so you can work toward your next strategic goals with less friction.

• Create a mission and vision statement. The mission explains why your organization exists. Your vision describes where you want to go. Add both to your strategy template so every goal and initiative maps back to your purpose.

• Identify your market position. After defining your mission, outline how your organization fits into the market. Use a competitive analysis or SWOT analysis to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities before creating your strategy plan template.

• Create your template in Asana. Your strategic planning template should act as a central source of truth for both project planning and execution. The simplest way to link strategy to action is to use project management software, which lets you track progress of key elements like goals, milestones, and to-do lists in one place.

Asana strategic planning features

• List View. Use List View to organize initiatives, owners, dates, and status in one easily scannable place, so teams can manage strategic planning with Asana like a working checklist.

• Goals. Use Goals to connect daily work to outcomes, so team members can track progress and make better decisions during Asana strategic planning.

• Custom fields. Use Custom fields to standardize how you track work (such as priority, status, and due dates) across projects. This helps keep your Asana strategic planning template consistent as plans evolve.

• Dependencies. Use Dependencies to map task sequences and identify blockers in real time, so teams can adjust timelines before work stalls.

Recommended Asana integrations and apps

• Google Workplace. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the Google Workspace file picker, built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach any My Drive file with just a few clicks.

• Dropbox. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the built-in Dropbox file chooser in the Asana task pane.

• Slack. Turn ideas, work requests, and action items from Slack into Asana tasks and comments.

• OneDrive. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the Microsoft OneDrive file chooser, built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach files from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.

FAQs about using strategic plan templates