Do's and don'ts for strategic planning: Step back and focus on the big picture

With a new year just around the corner, it's a good time to review what your practice accomplished in 2017. What performance goals did your office meet or exceed? And in what areas did you fall short? With that information in hand, you can begin working on your strategic plan for 2018.

Revisit your practice vision. A vision looks three to five years into the future. It's what you hope to accomplish in that time frame. But it should be reviewed every year just to make sure you're still on target. If you've accomplished everything you set out to do, then it's time for a new vision. Or, if you've run into obstacles and setbacks, you may need to make adjustments to the vision's original timeline.

Don't forget to set goals based on the vision. If the vision delineates a three-year practice transformation, your annual goals should progressively move the practice toward that vision. Set tough but realistic goals that fuel the improvements and growth you want to see in your practice.

Roger P. Levin, DDS, is the founder and CEO of Levin Group, the leading dental practice consulting firm in North America.

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