Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is an area where most organizations  have some experience, but their efforts are often fraught with a “what could be” rather than a “what is” mentality.” There is nothing wrong with lofty ambitions and goals, but they must fit the reality of the organization’s situation. It is less important that the document is a good read, then that it has clear, concise goals and objectives that are attainable and consistent with the organization’s vision and mission. Moreover, many plans don’t spend enough time on measurement or accountability and ignore the workplace ramifications of their planning efforts. We use the Drucker Self Assessment Tool, SWOT Analysis and Balanced Scorecard methodology to help inform our efforts.

Assessment Questions: Why does the organization exist? What are the core organizational values? What does it hope to accomplish in both the short and long term? Who are the primary customers and what do they value? How good is the organization at delivering value to its primary customers? How can the organization do a better job of delivering value to its customer? What are the internal organizational dynamics and how can they be leveraged to the organization’s benefit? What are the external market dynamics and how can they be leveraged to the organizations benefit? What are our measures of success? How do we ensure the organization is aligned behind its success measures? Who owns the planning goals and objectives and how are they held accountable? Do we have the right human capital to execute on our planning objectives? What are the “three horizons” of our strategic planning efforts?

Intervention: Development of a strategic plan that is actionable and measurable. Multiple tools will be used to facilitate this process.

Miscellaneous: While most management staff are familiar with the strategic planning process, they are somewhat cynical about its practical effectiveness. It ends up being one of the “hoops you jump through” to work for the organization or an exercise in “blue sky” thinking. The key is to ensure that the end product is useful from a hands on management perspective and applicable to daily decision making, as well as clear about what matters and what doesn’t. Moreover, it should be seen as a rallying document that both motivates staff and clarifies organizational co-dependency around strategic performance objectives.

Approach:  

• Review and assess existing strategic planning document(s) and track historical performance over 3-5 year period 
• Conduct 1:1 interviews with the senior leadership team and executive committee of the board 
• Facilitate use of the following assessment tools: SWOT, Drucker Self-Assessment Questions, and Balanced Scorecard 
• Where appropriate, conduct a program and service analysis using assessment results 
• Review and assess alignment of strategic planning objectives with organizational infrastructure levers and internal systems 
• Review and assess financial reporting documents and track historical performance over a 3-5 year period 
• Conduct focus group(s) or retreat with staff to solicit their feedback on planning and implementation of strategic goals and objectives 
• Conduct a 1:1 interviews or a facilitated discussion with key stakeholders to validate strategic goals and objectives 
• Create strategic planning document that looks at all three planning horizons and positions the organization accordingly through effective organizational alignment and clear performance accountability measures.