A strategic planning session – whiteboards, sticky notes, and all – is designed to chart a path forward. But sometimes, those plans end up as a binder on the shelf rather than a daily tool for decision-making.
We believe that a strategic plan is the framework you can use every day to make better choices, keep your team aligned, and move your organization forward. Done right, strategic planning helps your company deliver on its mission and meet its vision with precision. When your legal team is involved in the strategic planning process, you add a level of clarity that streamlines action.
Let’s look at why every organization benefits from a simple, straightforward strategic plan, and how law firms like Malek + Malek can play a key role in building one.
Why a Strategic Plan Matters
Research shows that nearly half – 48% – of business leaders spend less than a day a month discussing strategy. The same study found that that same percentage of organizations – 48% – fail to meet their strategic targets.
This can be translated as a lack of focus, which is what a strategic plan provides. An accessible, frequently used strategic plan consistently answers questions like:
- Why do we exist?
- Where are we going? What does success look like for us?
- How do we most effectively get to where we want to be? What priorities matter most right now?
Without those answers, everything feels like a priority (and when everything is a priority, nothing really is). That creates wasted energy, frustrated staff, and missed opportunities.
When leaders and employees both understand the organization’s clear vision, everyday choices become easier. The entire team buys into the premise of what matters most to the business, builds a healthy, values-aligned workplace culture, and holds one another accountable.
This is especially important during times of change, such as welcoming a new CEO or restructuring leadership. A strong plan provides stability and helps avoid the trap of the “but we’ve always done it this way” mindset.
The Role Legal Plays in Strategic Planning
For many organizations, “bringing in legal” is seen as a delay that slows down momentum and halts processes. But if your legal team is part of the strategic planning process from the start, they can keep your organization moving forward rather than becoming a barrier.
Compliance is the obvious reason to include lawyers in strategic planning, but there are other reasons, too.
Consider the following:
- Better decisions. Should you litigate or settle? Expand or pause? With a plan in place, your lawyers can give advice that lines up with your mission and priorities.
- Less delay. Many leaders complain that lawyers slow things down. But when your legal team understands your plan, they can keep you moving forward instead of holding you up.
- More accountability. A plan helps ensure legal decisions aren’t just about risk avoidance—they’re about progress.
What It Looks Like in Practice
We’ve probably all worked with organizations that struggled to define their purpose. Without a shared “why,” teams fall back on old habits, operate reactively, and waste time on decision-making and busy work that leaves heads spinning.
As a business law firm that can offer strategic planning facilitation, we’ve helped our clients create concise, practical plans, then stick to them. That means C-Suite executives, leadership, and board members all the way down to folks answering phones know the direction the organization is headed.
Here’s how one of our clients described our approach:
“Malek + Malek not only provided us with a framework for success but also helped us articulate our ‘why.’ Through their guidance and collaboration, we developed a mission that truly reflects our purpose and a vision that sets a clear path forward.
With their support, we transitioned from reactive decision-making to a proactive, strategically driven organization. We now operate with confidence, clear objectives, and measurable goals, ensuring that our team and stakeholders are aligned for long-term success.”
– Kristy Needham
That’s the difference a strong plan can make. It turns “busy” into “impactful.”
Where Our Strategic Planning Approach Comes From
Our interest in strategic planning started with our own firm and quickly extended to our clients. We saw how much easier it was to make day-to-day legal and business decisions when we operated with the mission to change the world for the better and a vision to be a force of justice in the world.
It’s also personal. Early in his career, co-founder Luke Malek was influenced by the idea of mission-driven organizations, like schools that defined the kind of graduates they wanted to shape. Later, he experienced firsthand what happens when organizations don’t have that clarity: stalled progress, wasted resources, and leadership clashes.
Those experiences shaped our belief that organizations don’t just need legal advice. They need alignment. And our attorneys can help create it.
What Makes a Strategic Plan Work
One reason strategic plans aren’t often used in day-to-day business activities is because they are too cumbersome to apply. A good strategic plan will be narrowly focused on the things that matter the most.
When strategic planning with our partners, we help create plans that are:
- Simple. A mission statement you can remember.
- Focused. A few priorities that matter most, not a laundry list.
- Usable. A 2-page document you can pick up every day – not a color-coded binder on the shelf.
- Accountable. Clear ways to measure progress and stay on track.
When those elements are in place, decision-making gets easier across the board – legal, financial, operational.
The Bottom Line
The point of strategic planning is to be more successful. Think of strategic planning as a way to attain – and maintain – alignment, focus, and confidence. And when your legal team is involved, you gain an added layer of clarity that connects your mission and your operations to streamlined workflows.
When strategy and law work together, the result is forward motion towards making a mission-aligned impact with your business. Contact Malek + Malek today to start building your strategic plan with confidence.