It is perhaps tempting to give it a try, reassured
by the fact that most of your colleagues are trying their very best to make the
world a better place. It might work for a while. If it is not storming outside.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to look beyond the daily operations, and
into the future. The process of creating a strategic plan is an effective tool
to align the organization and set the direction. Having it written down increases
the probability that everyone is on the same page (L. Howard, personal
communication, February 3, 2015).
1. Identify key stakeholders
The primary step is to determine who should
be around the table. According to Howard, it is ideal to include everybody, both
because multiple perspectives are value adding, but also to get buy-in. (L.
Howard, personal communication, February 3, 2015). Even if everyone cannot participate
throughout the process, make sure to involve and collect input.
2. Develop a vision (the crown)
This is the crown of the organization. It
describes why the organization exists, what it does and how it creates value
for society. The vision should be long-term,
and it should be used as a linchpin, guiding all the organization’s decisions
and activities. (Bryson, 2010)
3. Conduct a SWOT analysis
This is the process of assessing the organization’s
internal and external environments. The internal environment is within the
organization’s control, making up the strengths and weaknesses of the
organization. A strength can be a scaleable model, and a weakness might be that
the organization lacks long-term thinking (luckily, a thoroughly worked out strategic
plan will deal with that). The external assessment includes determining opportunities
(such as a growing need for the organization’s services) and threats (for example decreasing donor
allocation of money to cause).(Bryson, 2010)
4. Define strategic issues
This step makes sure that everyone is
aboard with what the organization has to deal with. We focus on strategic issues,
decisions that link the organization to its environment. Examples include
issues that can alter the organization’s core business – major changes in products,
services, customers and clients. It can also include issues that need immediate
response, or certain areas that do not have to be dealt with immediately, but
must be monitored carefully. (Bryson, 2010)
5. Develop a strategy (the trunk)
This
step can concisely be described as “identifying a valuable problem or opportunity,
and a coherent set of actions that address it” (Posen, 2015). Put in other
words, we start from the defined issues and then make sure we link a coherent
set of rhetoric, choices, actions and consequences to address these (Bryson, 2010). The strategy is the tree’s trunk, connecting
the crown to the ground.
6. Make a plan for how the strategy should be implemented (the roots)
How should these strategies take root? We
want to make action plans to know who is accountable for what, what results
should be achieved, milestones and how communication should be managed. (Bryson, 2010)
7. Evaluate
To learn from and update strategies that don’t work and leverage strategies that do - we have to evaluate the
strategies themselves as well as the process of setting and carrying them out. (Bryson, 2010) Does the tree
stand steady even if it is stormy outside?
After evaluation, it is probably time to
start planning for the next strategic planning process (Bryson, 2010). The external
environment is constantly evolving, and we want an organization that can
continuously improve to survive in the long run.
Resources
United Way of Dane County. Strategic Planning Process
Bryson, John M. 2010. Strategic Planning and the Strategy
Planning Circle. In: Renz, David O. The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit
Leadership and Management. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA.
Posen, Hart E. 2015. Welcome to Strategy [PowerPoint slides].
Retrieved from: https://ay14-15.moodle.wisc.edu/prod/course/view.php?id=864
