6 STEPS TO CREATING A STRATEGIC PLAN IN 1 DAYThis is a guide for producing a basic Strategic Plan in a day that will not just satisfy your CEO or Board but also provide a very useful action plan that helps to focus your daily efforts on what really matters, ensuring your tasks are aligned with your overall goals.

By the time you have completed these steps you will have the following list of deliverables:

1. Assessment of your current position2. Mission & Vision Statements3. Values Statement4. SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats) Analysis5. Goals (long & short term)6. Action Plan7. Identification of resources required to achieve goals

STEP 1 – MISSION, VISION & VALUES

One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of strategic planning is the difference between the Mission & Vision Statements. It is best explained by thinking of them as:

Mission = answers “why does the organization exist?

Vision = answers “what will success look like when the Mission has been achieved?

VISION STATEMENT

Why have one? The vision is a guiding image of what success will look like once it has been achieved. The pursuit of this shared image of success is intended to motivate people to work together to a common goal.

Vision Statements should be inspirational. For example Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech included his vision which still motivates and inspires millions of people around the world.

There are 2 components to the Vision Statement:

1. External Component = focuses on how the world will be improved if the organization achieves its mission. It focuses on the client to be served. For example “all people in our city will have access to quality health care, regardless of ability to pay”.

2. Internal Component = focuses on what the organization will look like when it is operating effectively to support the achievement of the external vision. It includes the scope and scale of programs and services, funding, partnerships, technology, staff, etc. For example “we will have a gallery that has all the great contemporary artworks of the twentieth century on display”.

Developing the Vision Statement

Pretend it is 5 years from now and your organization has just had an article written about it in a major publication after having achieved all of its objectives. Answer the following questions:

What would the headline say? What quotes would be featured from Management? What would be the key points in the story?

Note the key points and phrases and use them to compile the vision.

Other questions that may assist in compiling the vision include:

How would our clients businesses improve if we are successful in achieving our mission? What are the most important services that we should continue to provide? What changes do we need to implement (eg. Fund raising, Staffing, Facilities, Technology, Systems) to

better achieve our objectives? What makes us unique? Or what is our distinctive capability? What do our clients need most from us?

Examples of Vision Statements:

All people in our state will have access to quality health care, regardless of ability to pay. The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts seeks to change people’s lives by making art a common

experience of everyday life and learning. The Wisconsin Leadership Institute will be a primary resource for encouraging, supporting and

connecting aspiring leaders so they grow in capacity to lead and serve.

MISSION STATEMENT

A Mission Statement includes 2 elements:

Purpose

One sentence for the ultimate result an organization is trying to achieve – Why do we exist? Focuses on the end result.

It includes both an affirmative verb that indicates a change in status (eg. Increase, prevent) and an identification of the problem to be addressed (eg. access to health care, infant mortality rates in our city).

Business

One sentence about what the organization does - the primary methods the organization uses to achieve it’s purpose.

A means to an End. Often includes a description of for whom the services will be provided.

The word “by” is usually used to link the Business component to the Purpose.

Example of Mission Statement:

Native Child’s goal is to affirm the Indian child’s culture and identity in a positive way through a curriculum that builds self-confidence and a sense of belonging.

VALUES

Identifying values helps to align the heart with the head by tapping into people’s emotions. Values usually focus on:

Service Quality People & Work norms

Once completed it is useful to ask yourselves 2 questions:

What gaps exist between an organisation’s current values and those core values that they wish to personify?

Are the projects, products, customers and employees of the organization consistent with the organizational agreed values?

Your organizational values will determine your strategies and your operational principles. If, for example, you have an organizational value that emphasises doing things with rather than for people, then you are likely to involve beneficiaries of your services, or potential beneficiaries, closely in your planning process.

Some examples of values that you may consider include: quality, quantity, structured, dynamic, innovative, expert, enthusiastic, aware, focused, aggressive, responsive, largest, superior, etc.

If you are struggling to compile your listing then answering the following questions may assist:

What level of risk is acceptable? Do you want to grow & expand? Do you want to be independent or affiliated with strong partnerships? What are the types of people you wish to have as staff? Do you focus on quality or quantity? What are your social, legal & moral ethical standards?

Examples of Values:

Independence (we are independent of religious or political affiliation, and we encourage participation from all members of the community irrespective of personal characteristics).

Sharing (we believe we all benefit from sharing different approaches to solving common problems)

STEP 2 – ASSESS YOUR CURRENT SITUATION

This step in it’s most simple form includes a listing of the core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats (SWOT) associated with an organization.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal to an organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs and the organization itself. These include:

Sales & marketing, distribution, promotion & support Management systems Operational efficiency & capacity Products & Services provided, their quality & pricing Finances Research & Development Costs Governance

Note: in a startup company the strengths and weaknesses are related mainly to the experience and skills of the senior staff.

Threats and opportunities are external to the organization. These include:

Political Economic Social Technological Demographic Legal

Once you have compiled your SWOT listing, then you should consider what linkages exist between strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats. For example an opportunity can only be exploited if the organization has a corresponding strength.

Note that the importance of this exercise is not in identifying the listing, but in the details of how each item is dealt with:

Strengths should be used to advantage Opportunities should be exploited via an action plan Weaknesses should be resolved or mitigated Threats should be managed

STEP 3 – AGREE ON PRIORITISED GOALS

Now that you have determined your Mission, it is time to agree on the key goals that you need to focus on to achieve the Mission. It is critical in this step that you prioritise effectively. It is better to over achieve on a small number of goals than to under achieve or fail because your spread your time and resources across too many goals.

Goals should be prioritized according to a combination of how much they contribute to the achievement of the Mission and also on their profitability, viability and degree of resources required.

If a goal has a major impact on achieving the Mission & is financially viable without using too many resources then you should be investing more time and resources into it.

Goals set should be to address the causes of any problems identified. For example, if the objective is to reduce crime rates and unemployment is viewed as the major cause, then the goal could be altered to be: “unemployment rates will decline by at least 50% within 5 years”.

Once you have created a list of goals then each one can be assessed by asking:

Who is the target audience? How does the target audience benefit? What other organizations have the same goal? Why are we different to them? Is there potential for collaboration on this goal with other organizations? Does it fit with the overall Mission Statement? What would happen if we did not pursue this goal? What resources are required?

All goals identified should be:

Precise Measurable Time phased

For example “rates for all crimes in our community decline by at least 50% within 5 years”.

The final list of goals should be assembled in a way that looks something similar to the following table:

# Proposed Goal

Assumptions, facts, and values that support this proposed goal

What possible obstacles do we face in implementing this goal?

How to respond to possible obstacles: strategies for overcoming obstacles and short-term priorities

What triggers might encourage us to re-evaluate this goal?

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STEP 4 – WRITE THE ACTION PLAN

Actions are the steps required to achieve the goals identified in Step 3. Each action should:

Be directly related to an objective Have individual responsibility listed Have a clear timeline by when they are to be performed Have any dependencies identified. These could include resources, new skills, cultural change, new

systems or processes.

If you are struggling to think of actions that will help you to achieve your goals, then try thinking of what you could do to:

Build on strengths Resolve weaknesses Exploit opportunities Avoid or mitigate threats Resolve issues Bridge any gap between current and required values

STEP 5 – IMPLEMENT THE PLAN

It is a common mistake of organizations to focus on the systems, process and major projects associated with a strategic plan and neglect the staff that are integral to the achievement of the Mission. Therefore it is vitally important to get staff feeling some ownership and accountability for the goals specified in the Plan.

In order to compile a list of the actions that are required to ensure successful implementation you need to list the major changes that may need to happen as a result of the decisions reached in the strategic planning process. This includes:

1. Future staff skills needed that do not already exist

2. Systems

3. Processes

4. Organizational culture

STEP 6 – EVALUATE & MONITOR THE PLAN

Any Strategic Plan should be referred to on a daily basis as a guide to daily decision making. It is possible that circumstances could change that necessitates a change to the Plan. These changes should be made as soon as possible rather than waiting for the next annual review of the Plan.

CONCLUSION

Strategic Planning if done properly is a very effective tool in ensuring alignment between your daily actions and the overall objectives of your organization. It should be constantly referred to and not simply subjected to an annual offsite review.

Some of the key items to consider when creating your plan include:

Focus on the important issues Be willing to question the status quo If you do use a facilitator then use someone external to the organization who is not going to be biased

by hierarchy Create an ongoing action plan that can be used as a guide to ensuring your daily actions are aligned

with your long term vision

Keep reviewing and amending your plan as required Do not underestimate the importance of a proper implementation, taking into account any potential

sources of resistance to change

Author: Sean Chamberlinhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/seanchamberlin