When Colruyt Group wants to draw up a strategic plan for one of its enseignes or domains, it calls on me, among others, as strategic coordinator. So when the French department, Colruyt Prix Qualité (CPQ), needed a new strategy, I brought out/brushed up  my best French to steer everything in the right direction.

To solve strategic issues, the Colruyt Group uses a methodology. This ensures that we develop every strategic plan in the same way. In addition, a strategic support team is put together for the department for each issue. And I am part of that.

More than facilitating discussions

Every three years, the French enseigne of the Colruyt Group, CPQ, works out a new strategic plan with the questions: what are our goals in the next three years and how are we going to achieve them? As our support team was a bit smaller, I was there to set out the big picture, work out a plan of action and, of course, prepare and facilitate the meetings. I also keep the Colruyt Group informed of the progress of the process.

A personal touch to methodology

My task in the whole process towards an elaborate strategic plan? To use the tools provided by the methodology. Although it remains important to search with the team for what works best for the question at that moment. So I motivate the team to share their ideas and creatively guide them through the process using the methodology as a guide.

From plethora of ideas to strategic plan

First, we listed all the ideas without looking at feasibility. Then we categorised all those ideas into themes, which then became goals. For each goal, we worked out the necessary steps. Meanwhile, we also asked ourselves the question: how can we focus on the longer term without losing sight of current (tactical) issues?

We shared each new version of the strategic plan with the other colleagues. With their feedback, the plan took more and more shape. Finally, we determined the KPIs so that CPQ could monitor exactly how the realisation of the plan was going in the coming years.

Staying on track

Developing a strategic plan takes a long time. So it is a challenge to keep everyone motivated and make every meeting a nice and motivating moment. This ensures that everyone feels committed to the plan and dares to take ownership. Handing out compliments, participating in improvisation exercises or getting to work with scissors and glue were some of the ways to involve everyone in the process. And so CPQ again has a strong strategic plan for the next three years.