<- back to Leadership Resources
Facilitating Strategic Planning
Bulletin: EB 76, December, 1990
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana
by Dave Sharpe
This brochure provides a step-by-step guide for conducting strategic planning. It is intended for facilitators coordinating strategic planning efforts of community, governmental, and non-profit organizations in which the time of staff and volunteers is limited. This brochure can also serve as a very brief introduction to strategic planning that can help an organization determine if it desires to undertake such a process. The presented process, while only one of many ways of organizing strategic planning efforts, has been tested and found successful with a variety of organizations ranging from a local development corporation to an Indian tribal council to an entire college of agriculture.
Strategic planning is a systematic effort by an organization's leadership to envision the organization's desired future, and to plot a course of action for reaching it. Strategic planning involves careful consideration of the organization's goals plus the internal and external factors that may help or hinder reaching those goals.
EXPECTATIONS
For strategic planning to be successful, organization members at all levels need clear expectations of the process and its results. Simply undertaking the process is likely to raise expectations for changes within the organization. Members from the chief executive on down may view any change as a threat. Those not part of the planning team may regard the process with suspicion. Rival factions may perceive strategic planning as an opportunity to press for their particular positions. Others may hold low expectations for any change, feeling "We've been through this all before and nothing came of it. "All" these expectations may be justified. Suspicion and hostility can be reduced by a constant flow of communication between leaders and members on the process, its current status, and its current and expected results.
Reasonable expectations regarding the time required for the planning process also need to be communicated. The total time required for conducting all the group work comes to about 3 1/2 days. But the quality of the group's decisions and the organization's commitment to the decisions will increase if the entire process is spread over at least a year. So doing allows for reflection and discussion of the recommendations between steps.
FACILITATION
Knowledge of, and experience in, the use of group processes will prove a real asset to the strategic planning facilitator. At the least the facilitator must be familiar with the intent and procedures of the strategic planning process. Trust in the process and the facilitator is often strengthened if the facilitator comes from outside the organization, thus having no stake in the outcome. The facilitator must be perceived as neutral and fair. Secretarial assistance at the sessions to type the results of each step, and to reproduce them for all participants speeds the process.
THE PROCESS:
Step One: Chief Executive Commitment
The importance of the chief executive's commitment cannot be over emphasized. Without leadership commitment the whole process will merely be an exhaustive esoteric exercise.
The strategic planning process is essentially a democratic process in which power is distributed equally among the participants. At several points decisions are reached through a vote of each committee member including the chief executive. Some organizational leaders will find the equalization of power threatening. Others will find it totally unacceptable. Unless the chief executive is really committed to the strategic planning process, the results of the process and the implementation of the results is likely to be diminished.
It is recommended that the chief executive officer of the organization meet with the facilitator, discuss the entire process, fully understand how the process works, agree that power will be distributed evenly among the participants, and accept that some of the chief executives' ideas or goals may lose out in the process. Commitment from the leader is required to insure commitment from the rest of the planning participants.
Step Two: Planning Committee Formation
The facilitator and chief executive officer jointly determine the strategic planning committee membership. As a minimum, the planning committee needs to include directors or department heads within the organization. A representative mix of organization members will help reveal proposal impacts on the entire organization. So the committee should include representatives of staff from all of elements of the organization i.e.: administrators, staff, and volunteers. Some organizations may wish to include clientele. The ideal size is around fifteen members. Our experience suggests thirty is close to the absolute maximum.
The committee may wish to involve external experts, particularly in the environmental scanning process. But outsiders should not be official committee members or have a vote on decisions.
A letter from the chief executive to all members of 'the planning committee (perhaps accompanied by a copy of this brochure,) should explain the strategic planning process, the method used to select members and the importance of their full participation in the process if their element of the organization is going to be properly represented.
Step Three: Sensing and Barometric Surveys
Prior to the first meeting of the planning committee, a "sensing" survey is administered to all committee members. The sensing survey serves two functions. First, the sensing survey obtains confidential and anonymous responses from the planning committee members on a number of issues facing the organization. By obtaining this information prior to the planning session, the participants' ideas are not influenced by or limited to the discussion of the rest of the committee. Second, it provides the facilitator with advance knowledge of the topics of greatest concern to the organization.
The sensing survey can be developed by the facilitator in consultation with the chief executive officer or by the facilitator and a subcommittee of the planning committee. In either situation, the chief executive officer should approve the list of questions and be aware of the potential for critical, negative, and possibly hostile responses.
A typical sensing survey is illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2. CA/ES/AES Strategic Planning Sensing Survey
1. What goals do you have for the CA/AES for the next 5 to 10 years?
2. What opportunities do you expect for CA/ES/AES over the next 5 to 10 years?
3. What can we expect from others who provide similar services over the next 5 to 10 years?
4. What changes or challenges will the CA/EA/AES face over the next 5 to 10 years?
5. How well does communication flow within the College?
The sensing survey is sent to each planning committee member three or four weeks before the first planning session. Participants are asked to complete and return it in a week. We've found participants prefer to return the surveys to a neutral party like the facilitator, particularly if the responses are controversial. The survey results are compiled by the facilitator's office. All responses to each question are listed. Sufficient copies are produced to provide a copy to each planning committee participant. The results of the sensing survey are the first item considered in the planning session.
The second survey conducted prior to the planning session is a climatic measurement. This climatic barometer helps reveal what it 'feels like" to be part of the organization. The climate of an organization influences who works well with whom; it influences the organization members' level of morale, their job satisfaction, the public image of the organization, the flow of internal and external communication, the ability of members to work together as a team, and ultimately, the capacity of the organization to accomplish its mission.
A sample barometer appears in Figure 3.
Sample Barometer
Strategic Planning for MSU Extension Service
As part of the Extension Service's Strategic Management Process, we are attempting to get a reading of the "climate" as it presently exists for the Extension Service. "Climate" refers to what it feels like to work for this outfit.
Please indicate what role you have in the Extension Service. VA
Area Supervisor VA
Support Staff VA
0 4a
County Extension Agent -0
0
State Specialist 0 0. 44
Department Head 04 VA
40 0
State Administrator 91
Please rate the following from 1 to 5 (1=low, S=high). If the 0,
go
4i
item is not applicable to you, please write N/A 44 0
1. How would you rate your level of trust with:
Comments:
2. How would you rate your freedom to express your views to:
Comments:
3. How would you rate the level of morale of-
Comments:
4. How would you rate the support you receive from:
Comments:
5. How would you rate your satisfaction with the way conflicts are handled between you and:
Comments:
6. How would you rate your level of job-related stress: (your column only)
Comments:
7. How would you rate your relationships with:
Comments:
8. How would you rate your comfort level in taking risks with:
Comments:
9. How would you rate your level of understanding about the roles of-.
Comments:
11. How would you rate the fairness with which rewards (salary increases, awards, training opportunities, recognitions are distributed by.- (mark all those that apply)
Comments:
12. How would you rate the ability to work together as a team of-
Comments:
13. How "in-on-things" do you feel with:
Comments:
Figure 3. Sample Barometer
Respondents first indicate their particular position within the organization. Then they rate their feelings about their relationships with other elements of the organization. The barometer can be completed by all members or by a sample of the organization. As a rule of thumb a random sample of thirty members from one element is sufficient. The difficulty in drawing samples arises when there is a low number of members in an element. For example, the Montana State University Extension Service has only four Area Supervisors. In this situation, all Area Supervisors were surveyed.
The results of the barometric survey are tabulated and provided to the strategic planning committee at the planning committee meeting.
Since responses to both surveys are anonymous, the opportunity is present for strong criticism of policies, practices and people in the organization. Those most likely to be criticized are the leaders, due to their responsibility for policies and practices. Leaders need to be forewarned of this possibility and prepared to deal with criticism as non defensively as possible. They should be reminded that the purpose of the survey is to provide objective information that can be used to help the organization plan for its future. The survey helps leaders identify areas that require particular attention. All of the members of the planning committee need to be aware of the potential for criticism arising from the responses and be prepared to deal with that criticism in an open and honest fashion. The facilitator may want to review the survey responses before they are tabulated and modify responses that are destructive direct personal attacks.
This discussion of criticism is intended to alert facilitators and committee members that it can occur. We have seen a number of cases in which little criticism arose and others in which personal criticism was severe.
Step Four: Environmental Factor Selection
The final step prior to the committee planning sessions is to identify factors to include in the Environmental Scan and/or determine how these factors will be considered in the planning session. Perhaps the best way to do this is for the facilitator to meet with a committee of the organization's leaders. The committee's tasks are to identify which external factors have the greatest potential for influencing the organization, and to determine how the environmental scan will be conducted in the planning sessions.
Examples of environmental factors are included in the Environmental Scan section of this publication. The committee may decide to invite outside experts to discuss the factors at the planning session. The committee might recommend that an internal study be conducted on some of the factors and reported in the planning session. The committee might decide to ask the participants to identify the most important factors at the planning session and attempt to make their own predictions on how these factors will influence the organization. Or the committee might suggest some mixture of these approaches.
In any case, the decision on how to handle the Environmental Scan needs to be made before the planning sessions. If studies or arrangements for outside presenters are required, these will need to be completed before the sessions.
Step Five: The Planning Sessions
Once the sensing survey and the barometric measurement results are tabulated, the entire planning committee can come together for the planning sessions. The organization should expect to spend a total of at least 3 1/2 days in planning sessions, with follow up work likely for task forces. The schedule for planning sessions will depend on the available time of the particular organization and the progress made in each session.
Facilities
Since the participants need to devote their full attention to the planning process, it has been found helpful to hold the planning sessions away from the organization's offices, thus avoiding interruptions by telephones or clientele. A single room is all that is required for the planning session. But, the room needs to be large enough to accommodate all of the participants seated around tables with sufficient room for everyone to get up and move around from time to time. Lots of wall space is needed for taping up flip chart records from many of the activities. We have found that a good deal of coffee is consumed in the planning sessions so coffee and/or other beverages should also be provided.
Finally, the chief executive officer should be available to participate in the entire planning process.
Step Six: Planning Session Introduction
The purpose of the planning sessions is to derive a set of goals for the organization for the next five to ten years, or three to five years or whatever time period the organization chooses to address, plus a plan of action to achieve these goals. The first activity in the planning sessions is an introduction by the chief executive. The chief executive should outline his or her goals for the planning process, indicate what outcomes can be expected from the process and what he or she intends to do with the recommendations that come from the planning group. The chief executive should also indicate that there may be requirements for follow up committee work after the initial planning sessions.
The chief executive introduces the facilitator and emphasizes that the facilitator will be running the sessions while the chief executive acts as one of the participants. After the facilitator has been introduced, the facilitator provides copies of the strategic planning process (FIGURE 1.) to all planning committee members and briefly reviews each step, its anticipated product, and the expected outcomes from the entire planning process.
The Montana State University Extension Service Strategic Planning Process
Chief executive committed
Planning committee formed
Sensing survey
Value audits
Climatic measurement
Environmental scan
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats identified
Preliminary goals listed
Obstacles considered
Mission statement
Structure analysis
Action plan
Implementation
Evaluation and monitoring
Figure 1. Diagram of the Steps in the Planning Process.
Step Seven: Values Audit
One of the facets of strategic planning that sets it apart from more traditional planning processes is its consideration of the culture and values of the organization. If the goals that are set in the planning session are to actually be carried out, it is important that they reflect the values of the members of the organization. Goals that run counter to important values of the organization's membership are likely to be difficult to implement and may actually be sabotaged.
Differences in values between elements of an organization are a common source of conflict. The values audit helps participants identify and understand these conflict sources. The values audit together with the sensing survey and barometer results may point out areas of disagreement within the organization that will require future attention if the organization is to function smoothly. In the values audit participants express what is most important to them about being a member of the organization.
To conduct the values audit, the facilitator asks each participant to write down on a sheet of paper five to ten aspects that they value or care about as a member of the organization. For example, participants might stress that they care about their job security as an important aspect of the organization, or they may value the freedom or independence to act they experience in the organization. The facilitator could ask: "What is it that you really value or care about in your position with the organization? For example, what is it that you really care about, in being a County Agent? What's important to you about your job?"
When the individuals have finished writing, the facilitator asks the participants to read what they have written, and records the results on flip chart paper in front of the entire group. This can be done either in "round robin fashion". calling on one person in turn, or by simply asking the participants to read off examples of what they wrote down. The facilitator continues recording the results on flip chart paper, taping the sheets to the wall until all the group's ideas are recorded. The ideas are numbered as they are recorded.
Once all the values are listed, the facilitator asks the group to take a look at the entire list; and for each individual to write down the numbers of the ten listed values that are most important to them. After the individuals have recorded their top ten selections on their sheets of paper, participants are asked to go to the flip chart lists on the wall and make a mark with a felt tip pen behind each of their votes. Different color pens are provided for different staff elements within the organization; for example the administrators could use red, field staff green and state staff blue. This generates a tally of the values most important to the entire group and to the individual group elements.
The final results of the values audit are provided to a secretary who prepares copies for all of the participants, indicating the top values for each of the organizational elements. The results of the values audit are retained for comparison later with the goals identified as top priorities.
Step Eight: Mission Statement
The organizations mission statement tells who the organization is, what the organization does, how it does it and why it does it. The mission statement helps members and others understand what business the organization is in. It helps define the scope of the organization's activities. A new vision of its mission can help the organization limit or expand its actions.
The mission statement can be developed by discussion groups of five to seven preparing their answers to the questions: Whom do we serve? What do we provide? How do we provide it? The answers to each question should not exceed a sentence. The facilitator should encourage the members of the organization to think as broadly as they possibly can in determining what they feel the mission of the organization ought to be. Each group records its ideas on flip chart paper, tapes them to the wall and reports them back to the entire group. The Facilitator leads the entire group in a discussion to arrive at a consensus mission statement for the organization. It should not be longer than a paragraph in length.
Step Nine: Sensing Survey Review
Each participant is provided with a copy of the sensing survey results. Participants are asked to read through all of the items on the survey, and to note their reactions to the responses. They are also asked to note what goals or actions they feel are suggested by the survey.
Next the participants are divided into discussion groups of five to seven members. Each discussion group is asked to come up with a listing of what it feels are the most important results from the responses to each of the survey questions. Each group selects a recorder to take down the major ideas. The results of the discussion groups are reported back to the entire group. The results are retained as another check on the goals identified later.
Step Ten: Barometric Measurement
The results of the barometric instrument are tabulated and reproduced in advance. The results are tabulated for the entire organization and by the staff element of the respondent. For example, in the Extension Service Strategic Plan, all of the responses from the Extension Service members were compiled. Then State Specialists' responses were compiled together, all of the County Agents' were compiled together, and all of the Administrators' responses were compiled, thus showing how each particular element of the organization felt about its relationship with the other elements of the organization.
At the planning session both total tabulations and the results for each of the elements are provided to all of the members of the planning committee. The committee is then divided up into the various elements of the organization, all of the administrators meeting as one group, field staff meeting as another, etc. Each of the subgroups is asked to look through the results of the barometric measurement and determine the areas of greatest concern that require attention and also the areas that probably are of least concern and need the least attention. The purpose of this procedure is to develop a list of areas of concern that need to be considered as part of the action plan the organization eventually develops. For example, responses to questions on levels of trust may indicate that some elements of the organization will need to communicate much more frequently and intensively with each other if they are going to build a reasonable level of trust or recover from a level of trust that has deteriorated. Such requirements need to be recorded and included in the final plan.
The results from each element are reported back to the entire group with an opportunity for reaction from the rest of the group.
Step Eleven: Environmental Scan
The better the organization's understanding of the environment in which it will operate, the better its ability to set and achieve realistic goals. The environmental scan helps the committee gain this understanding. To be effective the environmental scan requires obtaining the best possible information on the factors likely to have the most impact on the organization.
The environmental scan identifies the external factors likely to impact the organization over the next three to five years. Such factors include demands from clientele, the intentions and the actions of other agencies or organizations that provide similar services, economic conditions and political conditions in which the organization will operate, societal trends and changes, and societal issues that the organization may be addressing.
The simplest way to conduct the Environmental Scan is to ask the planning committee members to suggest what they feel will be the most important factors bearing on the organization, listing the five to seven that the entire group seems to feel will have the greatest impact, and then dividing the planning group up into five to seven subgroups to focus in on the factor. Each subgroup determines its best guess as to the impact on the organization of that particular factor over the next three to five years. The success of this approach depends on the knowledge of the participants regarding the factors considered. If the participants don't know much about the factor and its probable future. the committee members may simply be sharing their collective ignorance. Plans founded on ignorance are not likely to succeed.
A better approach is to have a preliminary planning committee identify the probable factors that will have the greatest bearing on the organization and then invite in a panel of experts to address each of these. For example, a member of the state Legislature might be invited in to give her best thinking on what the state political climate will be for the next five to ten years. The Director for the State Population Center might be invited in to talk about population trends and expectations in the state.
Subcommittees can now be formed to prepare brief statements of their predictions regarding the key factors. The statements are reported to the whole group and retained for inclusion in the final plan.
Step Twelve: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
From the Environmental Scan, the Sensing Survey Review, the Barometric Measurement and their own experience with the organization, the participants should be able to develop an image of the organization's strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.
At this point the committee clearly delineates what the strengths of the organization are, what it's weaknesses will be, what opportunities will be presented over the next three to five years for the organization and what threats the organization will face.
Now the group is broken into four groups, one to address the strengths of the organization, one it's weaknesses, one the opportunities and another the probable threats to the organization. Each of the four groups should contain representatives from all of the organization's elements. Each group is asked to come up with a list of what it is addressing-strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or threats-and to arrange those in an order of priority as to which they feel will be most important. Groups are also asked to indicate on a scale from low to high the probability that they would expect an opportunity would present itself or that a particular threat would have to be faced.
When the groups have concluded their deliberations and have recorded their results, each group selects a reporter to report its conclusions back to the entire group. The facilitator asks the rest of the participants if they agree with the subcommittee conclusions. If they don't, the facilitator attempts to gain consensus on statements to which the whole group can agree.
The statements are retained to be reviewed before goal setting and to be included in the final report.
Step Thirteen: Preliminary Review
Before identifying goals for the next 3-5 or 5-10 years, the committee needs to review the results of the previous steps. The facilitator can guide the group back through the conclusions from the sensing survey, the barometric measurement, the environmental scan, and the listed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The review can be expedited if secretarial assistance can provide each participant with a copy of the previous results. Lacking copies, the flip chart paper from each step can be re-hung and reviewed.
Step Fourteen: Goal Identification
A nominal group process is used to identify organizational goals.
The question posed to each participant is: 'Based on all of the information that we have covered so far, plus your personal desires for the organization and your knowledge of desires of other members of the organization, what do you feel should be our goals for the next 3-5 or 5-10 years? Each participant can be provided a response sheet with this question at the top. Or the question can be written on an easel so participants can refer to it as they proceed.
Participants are asked to individually write down all the responses they can think of to the question. They are asked to work silently. This phase takes 5-10 minutes.
Next the group is broken down into groups of 5-7 for idea recording. Each subgroup selects a recorder to write down all of the groups' ideas on flip chart paper. The recording is done in a round-robin fashion, taking one idea from each person in turn until all ideas have been recorded. Two rules should be stressed during the recording phase: 1. No criticism of other ideas, and 2. No lobbying for your own ideas. The recorder needs to number the ideas and write them large enough so they can be read by the entire group when taped to the wall.
Each subgroup completes its list and tapes its flip chart sheets to the wall. The subgroup then examines its list to determine if any of the ideas are so similar they can be combined. A criteria to apply in deciding whether or not to combine ideas is to ask if one action would meet both goals. If it won't they should be kept separate.
Next the individual subgroup members vote for the ideas they feel are most important by writing the numbers of their top four choices on a sheet of paper. The recorder tallies the number of votes for each idea.
Each subgroup should come up with four top priorities. Ties can be voted off.
When all of the subgroups have completed their voting the facilitator leads the group through a second round of voting. This time the facilitator starts with one subgroup's priorities. These are lettered and read to the whole group. If the idea is not understood by everyone the originator should be asked to clarify it. The facilitator then moves to another subgroup's lists and continues with the lettering and reading. The procedure is repeated until the top four priorities from all subgroups have been lettered and read. If the same idea appears on more than one list its original letter is repeated on the other sheets. The whole group now votes individually on all the lettered ideas, each participant again getting four votes.
Five to eight priorities should be identified through this process. The number will probably be reduced after obstacle consideration.
Once the planning committee has come up with its list of top priority goals for the organization through the nominal group process, those goals should again be checked against the results of the sensing surveys, the values audits, the climatic measurement, the environment scan findings, the findings on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization to be sure that the top priorities do in fact, reflect the preliminary deliberations of the planning group.
Step Fifteen: Obstacle Consideration
The nominal group process should have produced a listing of the top five to eight goals for the organization. The next step is to assign a table to each of the priorities. Participants are asked to choose the priority that interests them most and go to that table. If a lot of participants are concentrated at one table and few at another, participants can be asked to go the table of their second choice, to equalize the number of people considering each goal. If there are goals that no one cares enough to work on, it probably suggests that that's a goal that is not likely to be carried out by the organization anyway and the group could consider eliminating it.
The group at each table is first asked to write up a brief description of what the present situation is as it relates to that goal and then what the members would like to see the situation be for the organization in three to five years. Once each of the subgroups has completed those two steps, the subgroups are asked to brainstorm obstacles that are likely to prevent the organization from achieving the goal. The obstacles are listed on flip chart paper.
The members within each of the subcommittees are asked to look at the list and determine if any of the obstacles are so great as to be insurmountable with anticipated resources. If there are obstacles that are likely to be insurmountable, the group should recommend that this goal not be undertaken because the probability for success is so low.
Where surmountable obstacles are identified, the group should prepare a list of actions that would help overcome those obstacles.
Once all of the groups has completed these tasks, they report their results back to the entire committee. Their findings are discussed by the entire group. The committee then decides which priorities to retain for its strategic plan, and whether any goals need to be modified.
Step Sixteen: Action Planning
In action planning, the group determines what actions have to take place if the goals are to be accomplished. To do this, the goals that have made the cut" from the nominal group process and the obstacle identification process are assigned to tables. The tables are provided with flip chart paper and magic markers and participants are asked to go to the goal that interests them most. Again, the members should be asked to have a second choice and some should go to their second choice if too many have congregated around one of the goals.
A recorder for each group writes the name of the goal at the top of the sheet and then under the goal, writes the question "How Can This Be Done." The group then records its ideas on what will be required to accomplish that particular goal. The facilitator should allow about five minutes for the groups to record all of their ideas. Then the groups are asked to rotate to another table, read through the list of suggested actions and add any ideas they can think of to the list. Again, about five minutes should be allowed for the groups to record their ideas. The groups are then asked to rotate once more to another table to repeat the process and continue the rotation and recording until all of the members have had an opportunity to provide their thinking on what would be required to implement the particular project. Finally, the groups are asked to return to the table from which they began, read through the list, and decide which are the most important or best suggestions from the list of actions.
Next each group takes a fresh sheet of flip chart paper and divides it into three columns. The columns are titled, "What," "When," and "Who" Under the column titled "What" the group records the activities it feels are most important in order to accomplish the goal. When each of the groups have completed this, they report their deliberations back to the entire group. The entire group has an opportunity to discuss the recommendations.
Once the entire committee agrees on the proposed actions, the committee is asked to suggest when each of the listed items needs to be accomplished. The "When's" should be real dates like January 13, rather than listings such as "some time in the future" or next fall' or "next spring."
After the group has a completion date listed behind each of the activities, the entire group recommends or volunteers who will carry out all of these activities. It is recommended that no names of people who are not present at the meeting be written in the "Who" column behind the "When's." It is also recommended that the entire group take a realistic look at who is going to carry out the recommended actions. If most of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of a few, the probability of accomplishing the goals maybe reduced. In this case, the committee may need to rethink whether to retain all of the goals, and whether they need to extend their time period.
Step Seventeen: Organizational Structure Review
With the goals identified and actions planned, the committee can consider how well the existing or anticipated structure of the organization is prepared to accomplish its priorities. The committee should discus the capacity of the present structure to achieve each priority. If the organization's structure will prevent the assignment of adequate resources to top priorities restructuring may be required. If the planning committee feels restructuring is called for, the recommendation should be included as a priority, and an action plan similar to those for the other priorities should be developed. Organization restructuring is not to be taken lightly. If it is to be achieved a separate working committee will probably be required.
Step Eighteen: The Planning Report
A brief draft strategic planning report needs to be prepared soon after the planning session and disseminated throughout the organization. The report should start with an overview of the reasons for undertaking strategic planning, followed by a brief description of the planning process. A page or two on each of the goals should be included. Sections on: Present Status, Reasons for Concern, The Desired Situation, Obstacles, and a Plan of Action need to be prepared for each goal.
All organization members should be encouraged to review the report and submit comments to the planning committee. Generally a month is sufficient time to receive comments from members. The planning committee needs to review the comments, and decide if any changes are required before the final printing. Copies of the plan should go to important elements in the environment: clientele, advisory committee and board members, and perhaps to other organizations providing similar services with an invitation for their feedback.
Step Nineteen: Formation of an Implementation, Evaluation and Monitoring Team
For the strategic plan to actually be enacted and the goals accomplished, someone will need to take responsibility for seeing that follow up occurs. The best way to do this is to form a plan implementation team. The team should consist of a representative from each of the organizational elements. The implementation team should include the chief executive officer of the organization plus leaders required to accomplish the priorities. It's responsibility is primarily one of oversight, to see that the recommended actions for each of the goals are being acted upon and will be accomplished by the date recommended.
Another function of the implementation team is to monitor the results of all of the actions that are taking place, evaluate their success, identify those that may need modification or rethinking, and to ensure that those modifications do in fact take place.
The implementation team should take responsibility for publicizing the results of the strategic planning process to all members of the organization immediately after the planning session, and for insuring that word gets out to the rest of the organization on a timely basis as each of the goals are accomplished.
The planning implementation team can also take responsibility for pulling together a new strategic planning session three or five years down the road as the organization again is facing a new and uncertain future and needs to forge new directions.
|
