29 January 2025
How to encourage long-term thinking in your organisation
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As a business leader, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of day-to-day demands, whether it’s meeting urgent deadlines or hitting this month’s target. But while short-term wins feel satisfying and keep certain stakeholders happy, they won’t secure your organisation’s future.
To build something that lasts, you need to think bigger. And, more importantly, you need to help your team do the same. Here are some practical ways to develop a team that thinks beyond the next quarter, from challenging current thinking to making better use of your time and resources.
1. Challenge current thinking
Strategic thinking isn’t just for leaders; it’s not up to you to draft five-year plans and set lofty goals while handing team members daily to-do lists. To get your team working towards long-term objectives, you first need to challenge their current mindset and involve them in planning for the future.
Start by looking at how your people operate right now. Are they clear on why their roles exist beyond ticking off tasks? Do they understand how their work connects to the team’s objectives and the organisation’s purpose and vision? If not, it’s time for a rethink.
To encourage a more future-proof approach, coach your team members to see past the here and now. Ask challenging questions like “How could this affect our position in the market next year?”, and teach them to measure long-term success, not just immediate wins.
Strategic thinking is only useful when it’s used to make solid long-term decisions. So show your people where to find valuable information like industry news and internal data, help them interpret it, and challenge them to apply it in ways that will lead to future growth. Tools that give your team fast access to key data are invaluable here.
2. Lead by example
Strategic thinking isn’t just for leaders; it’s not up to you to draft five-year plans and set lofty goals while handing team members daily to-do lists. To get your team working towards long-term objectives, you first need to challenge their current mindset and involve them in planning for the future.
Start by looking at how your people operate right now. Are they clear on why their roles exist beyond ticking off tasks? Do they understand how their work connects to the team’s objectives and the organisation’s purpose and vision? If not, it’s time for a rethink.
To encourage a more future-proof approach, coach your team members to see past the here and now. Ask challenging questions like “How could this affect our position in the market next year?”, and teach them to measure long-term success, not just immediate wins.
Strategic thinking is only useful when it’s used to make solid long-term decisions. So show your people where to find valuable information like industry news and internal data, help them interpret it, and challenge them to apply it in ways that will lead to future growth. Tools that give your team fast access to key data are invaluable here.
3. Give constructive feedback
When team members have begun the shift to more long-term thinking, you can hone their skills by offering regular feedback.
To establish an ambitious but supportive culture, focus on ideas, not individuals. When someone presents a plan, ask probing questions to stretch their thinking, such as “How does this align with our long-term goals?” or “What are the risks of this approach, and how could we mitigate them?” The aim isn’t to criticise, but to guide colleagues’ thought processes and help them refine their ideas. If a proposal doesn’t hit the mark, explain why in a positive way that inspires improvement.
It’s just as important to reward behaviours that support long-term growth. If someone is willing to try something new even when the results aren’t immediate, acknowledge their bravery, patience, and innovative attitude. Take every opportunity to celebrate successes to keep motivation high and reinforce what’s working well.
4. Deliver the overall vision
If you asked team members to summarise both the team’s and the organisation’s long-term goals, how close would their answers be to your own? If there’s a gap, it’s your job to close it.
You can’t work together to deliver the vision if you’ve all got different ideas of what that vision is. So communicate it in practical, relatable ways, not using vague or flowery language. Use real examples to explain what success looks like, why it matters, and how each role contributes to achieving it.
But the real challenge is making the overall vision relevant to day-to-day work so that you can actually deliver it, not just talk about it. Rather than discussing it once a year at a conference or team meeting, consistently embed the vision into everyday conversations and decision-making processes. Whether you’re evaluating a proposal, prioritising projects, or coming up with new ideas, keep linking your decisions back to long-term goals.
Better reporting is a great way to bring your vision to life for everyone in the team. With a system that centralises all of your data and uses it to provide insights, you can paint a picture of where the organisation is heading as well as what’s working and what’s not.
5. Protect your time
Time is your most finite resource, yet it’s often spent on short-term distractions that do little for future success. To encourage long-term thinking in your organisation, you need to become fiercely protective of how you and your team use your time.
Start by evaluating your calendar. Are you prioritising activities that genuinely support the organisation’s long-term goals? Or is your week filled with meetings that could have been emails, firefighting tasks, and responding to whoever shouts the loudest? Ruthlessly assess what adds value and what doesn’t.
Also recognise the power of saying “no”… or at least “not now”. It’s easy to get pulled into every opportunity or problem that comes your way, but spreading yourself and your team too thin will take you away from the most strategically important work. Set clear priorities and stick to them, even when the pressure mounts.
One simple way to reclaim time is by cutting out unnecessary admin. According to PwC, 40% of employees and leaders say their administrative work is inefficient, believing technology could help turn this around. Our payroll and HR solutions automate time-consuming processes like managing expenses and absences, giving you breathing space to focus on higher-value work. At the same time, they can show you which activities are worth investing your efforts into in the first place.
Last but not least, don’t forget about time spent with your team. When things get hectic, it’s tempting to cut back on team check-ins and one-to-ones. But if you don’t keep reinforcing strategic goals, your people will soon slip back into short-term thinking. It’s not all about what you say, though; make team get-togethers a time when everyone can share achievements and insights that will contribute to sustainable growth.
6. Be open to change
Long-term thinking doesn’t mean rigidly sticking to a plan. Markets evolve, industries shift, and strategies must adapt in response. If you want your organisation to thrive, you and your team must embrace change as a constant, not an inconvenience.
Stay tuned into what’s happening beyond your office walls. Are you monitoring industry trends, competitor moves, and broader economic signals? If not, you could miss critical opportunities or warning signs. Make a habit of regularly reviewing what’s going on and encourage your team to do the same.
When the time comes, don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy before you fall behind. Show your team that changing direction isn’t a failure, but a smart response to new information.
Critical thinking is integral to a long-term mindset. So challenge your team to question assumptions, and create a culture where feedback, new ideas, and even dissent are welcomed. It’s vital your people feel they can speak up when they have something important to say.
Building a future-proof organisation is far easier with the right tools at your disposal. Find out how MHR solutions can help you focus on the bigger picture by streamlining your HR and payroll processes.