M3 Planning

Company: M3 Planning, Inc, Reno, Nevada
Company Description: M3 Planning, Inc, is an innovative company offering web-based strategic planning software. Erica Olsen, one of our principals, has led our company of 8 persons in developing MyStrategicPlan, an intuitive strategic planning software for organizations. We are not just running a website; our plan is to start a strategy revolution.
Nomination Category: Product & Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product of the Year

Nomination Title: M3 Planning's MyStrategicPlan software

1. Describe for the judges the nominated product, including its features and benefits (up to 500 words). Include in this section the date during the eligibility period on which the product was first introduced to the marketplace:

MyStrategicPlan is web-based strategic planning and implementation software that
enables any organization, regardless of size and budget, to build their
comprehensive strategic plan in a matter of weeks (or even days) and monitor
implementation all year long. MyStrategicPlan has transformed this once
time-consuming process into something fast and easy that you can actually look
forward to. It is a cost-effective solution for anyone who wants to develop and
execute their business strategy with a plan that can be executed and not just
sit on a shelf. The system is interactive and dynamic so the result is a living,
breathing plan - a guide that allows you to keep your finger on the pulse of
your strategy throughout the year.

The system creates strategic alignment with cascading goals, individual action
plans and one-click reporting, and the new dashboards feature at-a-glance
tracking that identifies goals and action items as completed, pending, or overdue.

Because tasks in MyStrategicPlan cascade from wide-reaching organizational
objectives down to individual action plans, MyStrategicPlan acts as a
Performance Management System as well. One of the most important parts to making
strategy a habit instead of an event is accountability of all team members.
MyStrategicPlan has built accountability into the strategic planning system
through the following activities:
• Status check: You can see as a visual representation of who is progressing on
completing their goals and actions. See the screen shot below.
• Personalized Updates: MyStrategicPlan sends monthly updates to the
administrator of the strategic plan. These updates help users know how the
execution is progressing.
• RSS Feed: Status notices delivered to everyone’s inbox when an action is due,
coming due or past due.

M3 Planning, Inc, started with the idea of giving even small businesses the
chance to have a "Virtual VP of Strategy" who keeps things on track. We
developed an automated strategy management process for businesses and
organizations that can and should be used year round. Our system was created to
be an out-sourced VP of Strategy for businesses and organizations.

We're not just running a website; our plan is to start a strategy revolution.

The latest version of our MyStrategicPlan software was released in December 2007.

2. List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, product photographs, logos, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

MyStrategicPlan software overview:
http://www.mystrategicplan.com/strategic-planning-software/index.shtml
MyStrategicPlan features:
http://mystrategicplan.com/strategic-planning-software/strategic-planning-software-features.shtml
Sample Reports:
http://www.mystrategicplan.com/samples/
Sample Timeline Report:
http://www.mystrategicplan.com/plan/tutorials/goal-tracking-example.html
Press Release 1:
http://www.mystrategicplan.com/about-us/press-release-march-8-2007-entrepreneur-of-the-year.shtml
Press Release 2:
http://mystrategicplan.com/about-us/press-release-dec-2007-goal-setting-software.shtml
Press Release 3:
http://mystrategicplan.com/about-us/press-release-mar-2008-top-honors.shtml
Press Release 4:
http://mystrategicplan.com/about-us/press-release-april-2008-economic-downturn.shtml
Press Release 5:
http://mystrategicplan.com/about-us/press-release-may-2008-performance-management-made-easy.shtml

3. Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the team that developed the nominated new product (up to 100 words):

Named Entrepreneur of the Year by The Business Report of Northern Nevada
(February 2007), Erica Olsen is a founder and Vice President of M3Planning, Inc,
a nationwide leader in on-demand strategic planning services. A member of the
Association for Strategic Planning, Erica also holds a BA in Communications and
a MBA in International Management from Thunderbird. Through M3 Planning’s online
client base and onsite strategic planning facilitation work, Erica has developed
and reviewed hundreds of strategic plans for organizations across the country.
She has also authored several books including Strategic Planning for Dummies and
is a developer of MyStrategicPlan, a web-based system that helps organizations
develop and manage their strategic plan.