Imagine if everyone on your team was on the same page—literally. With a strategy distilled onto a single page, aligning your team around your goals becomes simpler, faster and more effective. A one-page strategy doesn’t just streamline communication; it keeps everyone focused on what matters most, removing any confusion, so everyone knows where you’re headed.
Strategic planning is at the heart of any successful business. Yet, surprisingly, many companies still operate without a cohesive, up-to-date plan. They might have targets and objectives, sure—but what about a strategy that actually pulls the whole team in the same direction? That’s often missing.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a one-page strategy that’s straightforward, impactful, and easy for everyone in your organisation to understand. Plus, we’ve included a template to help you put this tool into action right away.
By the end, you’ll have what you need to generate your own one-page strategy—a practical way to keep your team aligned and moving toward shared goals.
A strategy on a page is a one-page blueprint that captures your company’s purpose, goals, and the steps to achieve them—all in one clear, concise view. With its straightforward structure, a one-page strategy becomes a powerful tool for sharing your vision across the entire organisation, aligning your team, and keeping everyone focused in the same direction.
The core elements of a one-page strategy include:
Each of these elements contributes to a cohesive, accessible plan that’s easy for the entire team to understand and act on.
My introduction to the power of a one-page strategy came from Donald McGuirk, the former CEO of Codan Limited. During a meeting, he showed me a single sheet of paper—several short statements and bullet points sketched in pencil, all laid out in neat columns and boxes. “This is our company strategy,” he said, "it's taken three years to make that fit on one page."
Donald used that one-page plan to align his whole organisation and drive remarkable growth. During his final five years as CEO, Codan’s share price skyrocketed from $1.17 to a high of $19.33 with annualised returns to shareholders averaging 35.9% over the previous decade.
Inspired by this approach, I introduced a one-page strategy while serving as Vice Chair of Music SA. As we began our strategic planning process, I advocated for condensing our vision and plan onto a single page. The result? A clear, accessible roadmap that communicated our objectives to staff and stakeholders alike. This document was instrumental in securing triennial funding from the South Australian Government and remains a core tool for aligning Music SA with the board’s strategic direction.
Here is the MusicSA One Page Strategic Plan that we developed:
Seeing the impact of Codan’s results and Music SA’s success, I became a strong advocate for the one-page strategy model.
The thought and precision required to create a strategy on a page are similar to those of more extensive, multi-page plans—but the result is a sharper, more focused guide. By simplifying complex strategies, a one-page plan aligns the entire organisation and turns high-level goals into actionable outcomes.
Creating a one-page strategy is a focused, decision-making process that guides your thinking through a clear framework. Here’s a streamlined approach to develop your own one-page strategy::
The time frame you set shapes your strategic decisions. In today’s fast-changing world, shorter strategic time frames have become the norm—typically one to three years.
A template gives structure to your planning, prompting you to cover key areas. We suggest the following order to guide your thinking:
For added simplicity, we’ve provided our own template that includes all these essentials, making it easy for staff to understand and apply. [Click here to download a FREE copy of our Template.]
Using a one-page template helps keep your planning focused and visible. Think of it as a draft that evolves with your decisions. This visibility keeps your goals front of mind, so you’re clear on how each step builds toward your final strategy.
Focus on getting a solid first draft rather than perfecting every detail. The one-page strategy model encourages continual improvement, so you’ll refine it over time. For now, aim to create a workable draft, then share it with trusted advisors and stakeholders for feedback.
Each decision you make becomes part of a series of initiatives aimed at achieving your goals. To bring these initiatives to life, create an action plan using columns like:
This exercise gives you a clear view of each initiative and how long each will take, helping you better understand your timeline.
Next, organise your initiatives on a timeline that aligns with your strategy’s time frame. If you’re using a three-year plan, try a visual layout like this:.
This view allows you to see each year side by side as show in the following image, offering a clear path for how your strategy will unfold:
A review ensures your plan is achievable and inspires staff to commit to the vision. In this step, streamline your initiatives based on priority and resources, removing or modifying anything that’s not feasible within the plan’s timeframe. Discussions with key stakeholders can help refine these decisions.
Bring your plan together by compiling three core documents:
Update these documents with any final adjustments from your review. Together, they form a complete, easy-to-follow roadmap that your entire team can rally around.
When every team member can easily articulate your strategic plan—and understand their specific role in delivering it—you’ve achieved alignment. This alignment is essential for managing your team effectively and ensuring your plan is executed successfully.
To reach this alignment, each team member needs a clear understanding of:
These points are all captured within the three documents that make up your strategy. Once you’ve communicated each element and assigned responsibilities, your one-page strategy document becomes a powerful tool for managing and tracking progress from the top down.
Best Practices for Embedding Your One-Page Strategy:
By embedding your one-page strategy in these ways, you’ll reinforce alignment and keep your team focused on delivering your strategic goals across the organisation.
Think of your strategic plan like a roadmap on a long journey. Just as you’d check a map to ensure you’re still on course—and adjust for roadblocks along the way—regular reviews of your strategy help keep your organisation moving in the right direction. Sometimes, minor course adjustments are all you need to stay aligned with your goals.
To deliver your strategy effectively, plan regular review sessions. The frequency will depend on your plan’s pace and requirements:
With countless resources and books on strategic planning available, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. To simplify things, we developed the Demystifying Strategic Planning podcast series, designed to make the process straightforward and approachable.
Start with Episode 1 here.
You can find the rest of the series on the Business Builders Podcast, available on your favourite platforms:
A strategic plan is more than just a set of goals—it’s a carefully crafted series of initiatives designed to drive specific business outcomes, whether those are growth targets, business transformation, or securing funding.
The beauty of the one-page strategy model lies in its simplicity. By presenting goals, objectives, and initiatives on a single page, it streamlines planning and makes it easy to communicate. This clarity aligns your team, keeping everyone focused and committed to bringing the plan to life.