Strategic
planning can be touted as an important process1, but what’s the real
benefit of strategic planning and what are the most important aspects of strategic
planning? In our course we identified some reasons why strategic planning is important
(most of which can be supported by the Jossey-Bass
Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management1,2) and in
re-examining these reasons the benefits of strategic planning can be grouped
into three overarching themes: a well-informed and unified sense of direction; a
thorough evaluation of opportunities and threats; and avoidance of confusion,
wasted resources, and failed initiatives.
A
well-informed and unified sense of direction results from strategic planning as
it brings together representatives of the organization and key stakeholders. Diverse
perspectives can help to establish, clarify, or redefine the mission, and those
involved then have investment in the direction the organization plans on taking
and a clear sense of what they need to do to achieve the goals of the
organization. Those involved in the process also facilitate a thorough
evaluation of opportunities and threats. The organization can identify and take
advantage of opportunities both internally and externally that will leave them
better equipped to fulfill their mission and can also identify threats to the
successful fulfillment of their mission and determine ways to circumvent or
overcome those threats. Finally, strategic planning can help the organization
avoid confusion, wasted resources, and failed initiatives by preventing
financial and other inefficiencies that may result from duplication of efforts,
general disorganization, and/or uncertainty around how to accomplish the goals
of the organization or a specific project.
Given these benefits, how does one
actually go about developing a strategic plan? The attached figure3 provides
a basic outline that can help us walk through some key steps involved in
strategic planning4.
The
organization needs to define and/or clarify its mission to provide direction to
the strategic planning process. It needs
to conduct an external environmental
analysis, examining the social, economic, political, and technological
trends currently at play in the community/ies the organization serves. The
organization also needs to conduct an internal
organizational analysis to assess its own capacities related to staffing
and volunteers, financial capital, technological assets, organizational
structure, and information availability. These three processes can then be used
to establish a longer range vision
for the organization. As the organization establishes its direction through its
mission and vision it can conduct a SWOT analysis
to analyze its internal strengths and weakness and the external opportunities
and threats that will impact its ability to achieve its goals. From the
SWOT analysis strategic issues can be
defined which in turn can be analyzed in terms of their probability of occurrence
and the impact they will have on the organization. As strategic issues are
defined and prioritized based on probability and potential impact the
organization can develop its strategy,
defining what it is going to do to address the strategic issues
and achieve its goals. From there plans need to be made to address how the organization is going
to do what it needs to do. Throughout this process and the
eventual implementation of the strategic plan evaluation is imperative to understand the effectiveness of the
process and to determine any need to readjust decisions made.
That’s a very basic introduction to
the integral aspects of strategic planning but it’s also important to note that
the perfect plan will fail if it’s not implemented properly, so another
integral aspect of strategic planning is strategic management1 which
you can learn more about from reference 1, below.
References:
1. Brown, William A. "Strategic Management."
Robert D. Herman & Associates. The
Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management 3. Ed. David
Renz. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. 206-229. Print.
2. Bryson, John M. "Strategic planning and the
strategy change cycle." Robert D. Herman & Associates. The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit
Leadership and Management 3. Ed. David Renz. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.
230-261. Print.
3. Howard, Leslie A. (2015) Personal Communication.
4. United Way of Dane County. “Strategic Planning Process”
n.d.
