Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is a dynamic and disciplined process that will position the organization for maximum progress toward fulfilling its mission and vision.

A strategic plan is a detailed road map of actions an organization will take to achieve its vision. Each element of the plan must be achievable, must be time-specific, must be costed and budgeted, and must be delegated to a specific individual or committee for its achievement. It is implicit that before a strategic plan can be prepared, the organization must have in place its mission, vision, and guiding principles. The first year of the strategic plan effectively becomes the next year’s business plan and a basis for the related budget.

Every organization needs a strategic plan.  It can be informal and intuitive—a loosely agreed sense of how the organization want things to go—or formal and documented.  Whatever the form, a strategic plan expresses the organization’s desired destination and indicates a clear path for getting there.

As organizations mature, planning should shift from the informal to the formal.  It is impossible for more than a handful of people to have the same understanding of unstated, informal goals and objectives.  Formal planning requires dialogue among board, staff, and key stakeholders.  

A successful planning process must be (1) a joint board/staff effort; (2) mission driven; (3) focused on the future; (4) documented; and (5) geared to implementation. The plan must also be attuned to your organization’s resources and internal capabilities to implement the plan. 

Components, Processes, and Timing

There are six steps typical to a successful strategic planning process:

Step l: Planning to Plan   Board establishes a planning oversight committee.

Step 2: Initiating the Planning Process    A planning retreat is held, attended by all relevant members of the board and staff, plus others as appropriate.  At the retreat, two important things should occur: (a) an analysis of internal and external factors that may impact the organization’s future; and (b) identification of key issues. 

Step 3: Developing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies    The board at the retreat, or in work groups following the retreat, establishes one or more goals for each issue.  For each goal, one or more objectives are created. Objectives lead to strategies, which have timetables and specific assignments of responsibility for implementation.  

Step 4: Drafting the Plan   All work is consolidated into a single strategic plan.

Step 5: Gaining Approval    The complete plan is reviewed, modified, and approved. 

Step 6: Implementation and Monitoring   The plan is reviewed and refined periodically as conditions change. 

Deliverables

Depending on the scope of the engagement, we can help our clients:

• Develop a list of goals to be accomplished by the organization, with specific, concise objectives necessary to accomplish each goal
• Identify the group or designated person responsible for accomplishing each goal and objective 
• Set the target date by which each goal and objective will be accomplished 
• Identify the resources required in order to accomplish each goal, objective, and strategy
• Monitor achievement of the plan