Define the components of a new or existing strategy
Use this brainstorming template to analyze six core elements in your strategy. The strategy blueprint allows you to address your challenges by exploring your options, trying alternatives, developing ideas and reaching a desired outcome.
Get a holistic view of your strategy
Brainstorm with your team to establish success metrics and strategic goals
Get broad alignment and buy-in with stakeholders
To use Mural’s strategy blueprint template, follow the steps outlined below with your team. The template has a helpful framework to keep your brainstorming focused.
The first step is to bring together a diverse array of stakeholders — this will help ensure that your brainstorming session takes multiple perspectives into account and avoids any potential blind spots.
The next step, which can be completed in real-time or asynchronously, is to brainstorm with your team across the following categories tied to your strategy:
Challenges: What are the main challenges facing your organization? What big problems are you trying to solve?
Aspirations: What are you trying to achieve as a company? What does success look like?
Focus areas: What are the problems you can focus on that will have the most impact? What problems are less important to your strategic goals?
Guiding principles: What are the core values and principles that inform your decision-making?
Activities: What actions can you take to help bring your team closer to achieving your goals and aspirations?
Outcomes: What metrics will you use to determine if you’re successful or not? How can you be sure that those metrics reflect success?
To get the most out of the Mural strategy blueprint template, you should:
Ensure that you invite stakeholders with broad experience, so that you avoid blind spots and your brainstorming is more impactful
Make use of features like private mode to avoid groupthink even when working together in real-time, and anonymous voting to determine next steps democratically
Look for themes across your feedback and use them to help inform your strategy overall
A strategy blueprint is a visual representation or document that outlines the overall plan and direction for achieving a specific goal or objective. It serves as a roadmap for an organization or project, providing a clear framework and guiding principles to align efforts and make informed decisions.
A strategy blueprint typically includes key components such as the mission, vision, goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics necessary to achieve the desired outcome.
A strategic plan consists of several key elements that work together to define an organization's long-term goals and how it intends to achieve them. While the specific elements may vary depending on the context, the following components are commonly found in a strategic plan:
Mission: The mission statement defines the purpose and reason for an organization's existence. It communicates the fundamental values and guiding principles that drive its actions and decisions.
Vision: The vision statement describes the desired future state or outcome that the organization aims to achieve. It provides a clear picture of what success looks like and serves as a source of inspiration and motivation.
Goals: Goals are broad, overarching statements that outline the intended accomplishments or results that an organization wants to achieve. They are typically long-term in nature and provide direction for the strategic plan.
Objectives: Objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets that support the goals. They break down the goals into actionable steps and provide a clear path towards their attainment.
Strategies: Strategies are high-level approaches or plans of action that outline how the organization will achieve its objectives. They define the broad methods or tactics to be employed and guide decision-making at a strategic level.
Tactics: Tactics are specific actions or initiatives that are undertaken to execute the strategies. They represent the practical steps and activities that need to be implemented to accomplish the objectives and, ultimately, the goals.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): KPIs are measurable metrics that help track progress and evaluate the success of the strategic plan. They provide objective data to assess performance and determine if the organization is on track to achieve its goals.
Implementation plan: An implementation plan outlines the detailed actions, responsibilities, timelines, and resources required to execute the strategic plan effectively. It breaks down the tactics into manageable tasks and ensures that the plan is put into practice.
By incorporating these elements into a strategic plan, organizations can establish a clear direction, set realistic targets, and align their efforts towards achieving long-term success.
Using a business strategy template offers several benefits:
Structure and organization: A template provides a framework that helps you structure your thoughts and ideas in a logical manner. It provides that you cover all the essential elements of a business strategy, such as goals, target audience, competitive analysis, and action plans.
Time-saving: Templates save you time by providing pre-designed sections and prompts. You don't have to start from scratch, allowing you to focus more on the content and less on the formatting.
Consistency: A template ensures consistency across your business strategy documents. It helps maintain a unified approach and messaging throughout your organization.
Collaboration: Templates facilitate collaboration among team members. They provide a common starting point for discussions and allow multiple stakeholders to contribute their ideas and insights.
There are various types of business strategy templates available, depending on your specific needs. Here are a few examples:
SWOT analysis: This template helps you analyze your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It allows you to identify internal factors that can be leveraged and external factors that may pose challenges.
Business Model canvas: This template provides a visual representation of your business model. It helps you define key elements such as value proposition, customer segments, revenue streams, and cost structure.
Strategy map: This template makes it easy to see and understand the relationships between different departments and initiatives across your whole organization. This helps you identify areas for improvement as well as pave the way for better cross-functional collaboration.
Remember, these are just a few examples, and you can always tailor any Mural template to suit your specific business needs.
Mural is the only platform that offers both a shared workspace and training on the LUMA System™, a practical way to collaborate that anyone can learn and apply.