Tools & Resources For Your Strategic Planning Process
Strategic Planning That Doesn’t Waste Your Time
Take advantage of resources to grow your business without reinventing the wheel.
Strategic Planning Techniques and Tools You Can Actually Use
Eisenhower Matrix
What It’s For: Prioritizing tasks by urgency and importance.
Helps With: Time management, focus, delegation
Our Pros Say:
If everything’s important, nothing is.
Talent Assessments
What It’s For: Evaluating team members based on performance and potential.
Helps With: Team communication, team development, hard conversations
Our Pros Say:
Leadership is knowing where people actually are, not where you wish they were.
Start/Stop/Keep List
What It’s For: Clarifying what to begin, quit, and continue doing.
Helps With: Team alignment, momentum, clarity
Our Pros Say:
Strategy isn’t always about starting. Sometimes it’s about quitting.
SWOT Analysis
What It’s For: Identifying your organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats.
Helps With: Clarity, developing organizational strategies
Our Pros Say:
The classic SWOT analysis is great, but our guide is a fresh spin on it.
EOS® + StratOp Comparison
What It’s For: Understanding two leading planning models and how they differ.
Helps With: Choosing your planning path, integrating methodologies
Our Pros Say:
Pick your lane. But make sure it’s going somewhere.
Strategic Planning Examples
What It's For: Seeing what a Barzel Group strategic plan actually looks like.
Helps With: Getting a glimpse into the process we use.
Our Pros Say:
These examples are just the surface of what’s possible.
Templates Don’t Build Teams. People Do.
These tools don’t exist in a vacuum. Get the most out of your strategic planning process by scheduling a session with our business wizards.
Where Strategic Planning Goes Off the Rails
You treat it like a one-time event.
You brainstorm instead of choosing.
You confuse big goals with clear actions.
You make a beautiful plan, then never look at it again.
Want a plan that actually leads somewhere? Contact our facilitators.
How to Use These Tools Without Overthinking It
You don’t need a consultant to walk you through every worksheet. These tools were built to be picked up and used by real leaders in real time. Here’s how to keep it simple and actually get results.
It depends on your team size, leadership style, and goals. EOS® is popular for operational clarity. StratOp adds a more reflective, long-view component. The tools here work regardless of method, because they’re about decision-making and alignment.
Vision > Priorities > Roles > Metrics > Cadence. That’s it. If your plan doesn’t give you clarity on these five areas, you’re still guessing.
Annually is common, but real leaders revisit strategy quarterly and adjust monthly. Don't wait for the calendar—wait for clarity.