Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning

Create comprehensive strategic plans and break them into actionable steps with clear milestones and tracking.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Plan a conference or event
• Prepare a product launch strategy
• Organize a marketing campaign
• Manage complex multi-week projects
• Coordinate multiple stakeholders
• Create quarterly/annual goals
• Plan content or community initiatives

Planning Framework

1. Define the Vision

• What does success look like? (specific, measurable)
• Why does this matter? (motivation/purpose)
• When does it need to happen? (deadline)
• Who is involved? (stakeholders, team)

2. Assess Current State

• Resources available (time, money, people)
• Constraints and limitations
• Dependencies on others
• Risks and unknowns

3. Strategic Pillars

Break the goal into 3-5 major workstreams:

• Each pillar is a major area of focus
• Pillars should be relatively independent
• Each has its own owner/lead

4. Tactical Breakdown

For each pillar:

• Key milestones with dates
• Specific tasks
• Dependencies between tasks
• Success criteria

5. Timeline & Rhythm

• Work backwards from deadline
• Build in buffer time (20% minimum)
• Set regular check-in cadence
• Define decision points

Plan Templates

Conference/Event Plan

Vision Statement: [Event Name] on [Date] will [outcome] for [audience].

Pillars:

1. Venue & Logistics

• Location secured by [date]
• A/V requirements by [date]
• Catering finalized by [date]

1. Content & Speakers

• CFP opens [date], closes [date]
• Speakers confirmed by [date]
• Schedule published by [date]

1. Marketing & Promotion

• Announce date by [date]
• Early bird tickets by [date]
• Speaker announcements [cadence]

1. Sponsorship

• Prospectus ready by [date]
• Outreach begins [date]
• Commitments secured by [date]

1. Operations

• Volunteer recruitment by [date]
• Day-of schedule by [date]
• Contingency plans by [date]

Product Launch Plan

Vision Statement: Launch [Product] by [Date] reaching [metric] with [outcome].

Pillars:

1. Product Readiness

• Feature complete by [date]
• Beta testing [date range]
• Bug fixes complete by [date]

1. Documentation

• Getting started guide by [date]
• API docs by [date]
• Tutorial content by [date]

1. Marketing & Comms

• Messaging finalized by [date]
• Assets created by [date]
• Launch posts scheduled by [date]

1. Community Preparation

• Beta testers recruited by [date]
• Support channels ready by [date]
• FAQ prepared by [date]

Campaign Strategy

Vision Statement: [Campaign] will [action] resulting in [metric] by [date].

Pillars:

1. Content Creation
2. Distribution Channels
3. Community Engagement
4. Measurement & Iteration

Execution Framework

Weekly Rhythm

• Monday: Review week's priorities, blockers
• Mid-week: Progress check, adjust if needed
• Friday: Week recap, next week prep

Task Prioritization

Use the Eisenhower Matrix:

• Urgent + Important: Do now
• Important + Not Urgent: Schedule
• Urgent + Not Important: Delegate
• Neither: Eliminate

Progress Tracking

For each task track:

• Status: Not Started / In Progress / Blocked / Complete
• Owner
• Due date
• Actual completion date
• Notes/blockers

Risk Management

Maintain a risk register:

• Risk description
• Likelihood (H/M/L)
• Impact (H/M/L)
• Mitigation strategy
• Owner

Decision Framework

When facing decisions:

1. What are we deciding?
2. What are the options?
3. What are the criteria?
4. Who needs to be involved?
5. What's the deadline for deciding?
6. How will we communicate the decision?

Plan Review

After Action Review

Post-event/project:

1. What did we set out to do?
2. What actually happened?
3. Why did it happen that way?
4. What will we do differently next time?

Metrics to Track

• Timeline adherence
• Budget adherence
• Quality metrics
• Stakeholder satisfaction
• Key outcomes achieved

Example Prompts This Skill Handles

• "Create a plan for Bitcoin Conference Week 2026"
• "Help me strategize the diVine launch"
• "Build a 90-day marketing plan for Shakespeare"
• "Plan the NosVegas side event"
• "Create a quarterly roadmap for community building"

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: derekross
• Source: derekross/derek-claude-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.