As an AEC technical professional, your role in helping your firm's leadership formulate its vision is crucial. Despite marketing not being your primary responsibility, you set the strategic plan in motion and make it practical and effective. Your insights are essential in shaping the strategic plan because you have first-hand knowledge of the firm's clients, their projects, funding requirements, and expansion plans.

Provide Productive Feedback

When attending a strategic planning session, your ability to provide productive feedback is your most valuable skill. You should have a solution-oriented mentality when providing useful and constructive knowledge, drawing from your project-related experience with clients and industry professionals to give leadership an accurate picture of the situation in the "real-world." This knowledge is essential market research that can help shape the appropriate strategic planning initiatives.

Focus on the Most Important Pieces of Information

It is crucial to focus on the most important pieces of information when participating in the planning session. You can share your expertise and experience in areas such as client experience, attracting technical staff, and training and mentorship. You can provide insight into what new services clients might find valuable, how the firm can expand its role to become more involved in the client's operations, or what the firm needs to do to attract the best technical staff.

Share Your Perspective

Your perspective as an AEC technical professional is essential beyond the strategic planning table; it is applicable throughout the execution of the strategic plan. By providing your insights throughout the years it encompasses, you can guide leadership to steer the firm in the right direction. You can share your perspective on what training you and your colleagues need to become more effective rainmakers, how the firm can better support technical staff, or what gaps in involvement from leadership need to be filled.

To sum it up, your contributions to strategic planning are crucial. By providing productive feedback and focusing on the most important pieces of information, you can help shape the appropriate strategic planning initiatives. Your insights are also essential throughout the execution of the strategic plan, guiding leadership to steer the firm in the right direction.