Return on Resources…The e3 (e-cubed) Factor

There are 10 Reasons to Measure things and adopt performance measurements in your business. These reasons are fairly simple to understand, and more difficult to implement, but stay with me for a minute. Before we get to the 10 Reasons let’s cover a few important elements and answer a few questions.

When was the last time you measured efficiency and effectiveness of your resources in business?

Measure everything in business. The fundamental purpose behind measuring is to improve performance. Knowing your Resources are is key.

In order for an organization to evaluate performance it requires (benchmarks) to compare its actual performance against past performance.

What if we could measure efficiencies within a certain business discipline? You can, and you should do this NOW…

What if we could show where our Resources are deployed and how effective they actually are? You can…you just need the right tools.

What if we could illustrate how effective our Resources are, and do this without spending more capital?

The 10 REasons to measure things in your business are:

1. To Strategize

2. To Evaluate

3. To Control

4. To Visualize

5. To Budget

6. To Motivate

7. To Celebrate

8. To Promote

9. To Learn

10. To Improve

You can measure these things within your own enterprise, but the key is to LEVERAGE and MAXIMIZE your Resources. You can measure how mature a discipline is within your company, and you will have many. You can get a snapshot of where your Resources are deployed, and how mature each discipline is. A discipline can be Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, Strategic Planning, Social Media Strategy, etc.

So, I have to ask you the basic question “How’s your ROR?”

No not, ROI, but ROR…Return on Resources. Do you know where they are deployed and how effective (or not) they are? Or, how efficient (or not) they are?

All of these things make up the term the e3 (e-cubed) factor…Efficient, Effective, Execution. I love talking about these three things in business…in fact they are so important to me that I named my company e3 Factor.

The normal business focus is to milk every cash flow dollar for everything its worth…keeping costs down; bootstrapping; pumping everything back into the business; avoiding “luxury” items, and so forth.

Think of a new consideration: Measuring your Resources may be the cheapest strategic and competitive edge you have in business. You will find hidden treasures in your business as you measure and ask the right questions.

I have developed a business assessment tool that accomplishes this, and provides a beautiful snapshot of where each resource is deployed in each of the disciplines in your enterprise. If you would like to know more about this service, take a look at my website, or call and we can discuss how your business can take advantage of launching your company into the stratosphere by shifting your Resources to completely and fully maximized, and optimized!

www.brianhazelgren.com 

Strategic Planning – Part 5

What do I Need to Know Before I Start the Planning Process? 

The following addresses the concerns of the pre-planning stage. This stage is divided into four phases, each addressing different issues and questions. They are:

• To plan or not to plan
• Pre-requisites for planning
• Level of planning
• Involving an External Consultant
• Once the decision to plan has been made

 

To Plan or Not to Plan

Planning consumes resources, a precious commodity for all organizations. As a process that eventually defines the direction and activities of the organization, it can be an overwhelming and daunting task. Despite the overwhelming nature of the process, the benefits of planning can far outweigh the hardships.

There are benefits to be gained from the actual planning process, as well as from the final planning document. The very activities that staff and boards conduct as part of the planning process empower them to be more effective in their roles-more informed leaders, managers, and decision makers. In addition, the final planning document becomes a tool that can be used to effectively and efficiently manage the organization.

The time devoted to the planning process varies from organization to organization and depends on the resources available to devote to the process. Whether you decide to devote only a two day retreat to the process or engage in a twelve month process, your organization will begin to realize the benefits from the start. Some of the fundamental benefits to the planning process and the development of the final plan include:

• a framework and a clearly defined direction that guides and supports the governance and management of the organization
• a uniform vision and purpose that is shared among all constituencies
• an increased level of commitment to the organization and its goals
• improved quality of services for clients and a means of measuring the service
• a foundation for fund raising and board development
• the ability to set priorities and to match resources to opportunities
• the ability to deal with risks from the external environment and
• a process to help with crisis management

Prerequisites For Planning

As with any major effort, a planning process has its proper time and place in the organization. There are certain organizational elements that must be in place in order to ensure that the planning process will provide the maximum benefit to the organization. It is important to be candid when assessing the organization’s readiness to engage in the planning process. Even if you get half way through the planning process before you realize that the organization is not ready, stop and remedy the situation before continuing with the process. Unfortunately, many organizations plan when the organization is not ready. They always have an unsatisfactory planning process and subsequent results. Make sure the following elements are addressed before making the commitment to plan:

• a commitment of active and involved leadership, with continuous leadership engaged throughout the planning process
• a resolution of major crises that may interfere with the long range thinking during, commitment to, and participation in the planning process (i.e., insufficient funds for the next payroll, the organization is not operating legally, etc.)
• a board and staff that are not embroiled in extreme, destructive conflict
• a board and staff who understand the purpose of planning and what it can and cannot accomplish, as well as consensus about expectations
• a commitment of resources to adequately assess current programs and the ability to meet current and future client needs and
• a willingness to question the status quo and to look at new approaches to performing and evaluating the “business” of the organization.

 

Level of Planning
As with any other organizational effort, you can do a little planning or a lot of planning. “Enough planning” is when your organization’s leadership understands and has consensus about a clear organizational direction.

It is highly important to examine what needs you are attempting to address from the planning process and the resources available to engage in the process. It is safe to assume that an organization can expect more benefits from a more informed, more resource intensive process.

The key resources required for planning are staff time, board time, and dollars (i.e., market research, consultants, etc.). Specific examples of time resources consumed by the planning process might include time spent:

• collecting and analyzing environmental information
• engaging key stakeholders
• gathering historical financial information, projecting future budgets, and cash flow projections and
• analyzing options and consequences for potential organizational and program strategies.

The amount of resources, time, and money spent on planning should reflect the complexity of the issues you are addressing and the availability of information and resources. The level of planning and resource requirements will vary for every organization.

 Involving an External Coach

For an organization with little or no experience in planning, an external coach, or consultant can enhance the planning process by providing the following services:

• Facilitating of retreats, meetings and the planning process as a whole: The use of a consultant to serve as the “conversation traffic cop” is one method of ensuring that good ideas do not get lost in the emotion of the process or personality of the participants. A consultant can work with an organization to minimize planning barriers that impact effectiveness, using his or her experience as a source of tried and true processes.
• Training in planning information and processes: It is critical for everyone involved in the planning process to be speaking the same language and using the same planning tools. External consultants can provide that conduit of information flow and education.
• Providing an objective and different perspective in the process: As an outsider to the organization, the consultant can ask questions and challenge existing traditions, assumptions, and routines more objectively than staff and board members. Often planners do not realize that they are using jargon or have made certain assumptions about their constituency. Having an outside consultant participate in the planning process helps ensure that organizations stay true to one of the prerequisites of engaging in the planning process, the willingness to question the status quo.
• The process expert role: The consultant who has facilitated and conducted many strategic planning processes can provide significant information and advice on tools and processes that can best accomplish your process and content goals.

Once the Decision to Plan Has Been Made

The planning process is like any other process, it needs to be managed. People have many expectations when they hear the word planning. It is important to make sure that everyone is operating from the same set of expectations and knowledge base. Organizations often train keyboard and staff members in process and planning language before embarking on the planning process.

It is also important to identify the potential information needs of the process. Key decisions will be made during planning. In order for these decisions to be high quality, decision analysts and decision makers need to have appropriate financial, program, and client information.

Another tool used in the management of the planning process is a work plan, or a plan to plan. It is an outline of the steps and activities that will take place during the planning process. The plan specifies the tasks, outcomes, resources to be expended (time and financial), and the person(s) responsible in each of the phases in the process.
The following items summarize the steps necessary to prepare for the planning process:

• Planning should be an inclusive process.  Obtain a formal commitment to conduct planning, including education of board and staff, if necessary
• Select a strategic planning committee of no more than five to seven people, a combination of visionaries and “actionaries,” or a planning liaison to spearhead the process
• Consider the adequate level of resources (dollars and time) required to conduct an appropriate planning process.
• Develop a workplan or a plan to plan that outlines who is responsible for each outcome and time frames

 

Selecting the Team

I have found that the strategic planning team is better equipped to do the company a good service as long as the team is diverse, knowledgeable about the company, and that each member is passionate for the organization’s success. Oddly enough, this does not always mean that only the founders or the C-Level executives are the best choices to round out the team.

When you choose the members of the strategic planning committee choose those individuals that have a good perspective of their area of focus. The top brass don’t always know what goes on in the trenches, and may not be able to provide the best viewpoint of how things operate in the company and what needs to be improved upon.

Look for individuals who:

• Are passionate about what they do
• Have a vested interest in the success of the company
• Provide a broad point of view of what works and what doesn’t
• Can exercise patience and can get things moving when the process seems to drag
• Are Leaders who can rally the rest of the organization to buy in to the concept of change
• Understand the advantages of strategy
• Are willing to assess the organization even if it means that weaknesses are uncovered
• Are flexible and willing to make changes when necessary
• Are not “yes” people, but leaders who can stand up and be a compelling voice
• Have the power to deploy the proper resources to bring the plan to fruition

 

Planning Should be an Inclusive Process

A planning process should be designed to include all board, staff, and other individuals invested in the success of your organization. An inclusive process:

• helps to build both internal and external enthusiasm and commitment to the organization and its strategies. Individuals take on ownership of the goals and efforts to achieve the stated outcomes
• ensures that your informational data base reflects the needs and perceptions of internal individuals and external constituents
• incorporates a level of objectivity into the process. “Outsiders” can identify jargon or ask critical questions around which “insiders” might make assumptions
• develops foundations for future working relationships
• develops uniformity of purpose among all stakeholders
• establishes a continual information exchange among staff, management, customers, and other key stakeholders.

Who Should the Planning Process Include?

Ideally, all key stakeholders should be involved in the planning process at some level. Stakeholders are individuals that are invested in the success or failure of your organization’s mission. Key stakeholders include those persons who can either significantly help or hinder the implementation of your plan.

Key stakeholders may include individuals or groups who you do not traditionally think of including, but are able to contribute valuable perspectives. Examples of key stakeholders may include:

• Board of Directors: The role of the full board is one of governance and oversight. As the entity responsible for governing the organization, its focus should remain on the ultimate and overreaching goals and strategies necessary to achieve organizational success. Therefore, the full board should be involved in processing environmental information and the approval of the vision, values and priorities. As the governing body, it should formally vote on adopting the plan as the management framework around which the organization will develop its operating plan(s).
• Staff: Staff members are a critical ingredient to successful planning – they are the link between the visions and the every day activities of an organization. In an inclusive process, the philosophy is to give staff input and, when appropriate, authority when determining the means of the organization. These individuals have the experience and knowledge around critical success factors that should not be ignored. When staff members are not an integral part of the planning discussions, they need to be informed of the decisions that have been made. Involving staff will:

• ensure the realism of the plan
• encourage all levels of the organization to take ownership of organizational vision and goals
• involve the organization’s future leadership in the development of its identity and vision
• unite individual visions into a single collective vision for the organization.

 

• You should include staff members that are both current (part and full time, salaried, and unpaid) and previous employees.
• Clients: In a planning process, it is critical to ask and answer, “How well are we meeting the needs of our customers/clients or members?” Directly involving these constituents (both current and previous clients) in the planning process is one of the best methods for assessing organizational performance and receiving guidance for future client needs and program focus.
• Other External Stakeholders: In order for a planning process to be strategic it must address external issues and their potential impact on the organization. Including external stakeholders in the process is one fundamental way of ensuring that these issues will be incorporated into discussions and considered in the organization’s future. External stakeholders can educate staff and the board on the perception of the organization in the community, as well as identify areas where services are being duplicated. Involving external key stakeholders in the planning process can establish a solid rapport on which you can develop powerful business relationships that can last long into the future. External key stakeholders include: financial advisors (existing and potential), community leaders, potential collaborators, other agencies in parallel or related fields, volunteers, etc.

www.brianhazelgren.com

Source: The Business Game Plan, by Brian Hazelgren

Strategic Planning – Part 4

Key Definitions of Strategic Planning

Strategic

In the dictionary, the word strategy has to do with war and deception of an enemy. In management, strategy has to do with responding to a dynamic and sometimes hostile environment in pursuit of a service mission. Thinking strategically thus means being informed and consciously responsive to this dynamic environment.

Planning

Strategic planning is planning because it involves intentionally setting goals (choosing a desired future) and developing an approach to achieving those goals.

Fundamental

Because it is impossible to do everything, strategic planning implies that some decisions and actions are more important than others. The most important decisions have to do with what an organization is and why it exists; the most important actions have to do with what it does. On the other hand, strategic thinking is deciding on and carrying out the fundamental or most important actions.

Disciplined

Discipline highlights the relationship between the different steps in strategic planning. Mission depends on environment; which actions are most important are determined by assessing strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, threats, competition and barriers. Strategic planning is also disciplined in that there is a sequence of questions typically raised to examine experience and test assumptions, gather and make use of information about the present, and try to anticipate the future environment the organization will be working in.

Decision Making

Strategic planning is based on decision making because in order to answer the questions raised in the structured planning process, choices must be made. The plan ultimately is no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, how to do it and why to do it.

Long Range Plan

Long range is the longest time period for which it makes sense to make plans. The time period varies from organization to organization: the Social Security Administration is planning for the retirement of today’s babies sixty five years from now; high tech computer companies are putting out new products every six months.

Operating Plan

Operating plans are the detailed action plans to accomplish the strategic goals laid out in the strategic plan. An organization should have operating plans for each major organizational unit and correspond to its fiscal year. In addition, an organization may need operating plans which correspond to business cycles or longer, or cycles that differ from the fiscal year. Each is important.

Strategic Management

The concept of strategic planning implies managing, day-to-day and month-to-month, in a way that focuses on the most important decisions and actions. This requires the kind of longer-term perspective and priorities that result from a strategic plan.

This concept also incorporates the assumption that the environment is always changing: thus, strategic management requires ongoing reassessment of current plans in light of long-term priorities.

Inclusive Process

An inclusive process means that people who have a stake in the work of your organization participate in the planning process in an appropriate way. This does not mean that every client, funding source, volunteer and staff member must come to a joint consensus about what to do. It does mean that these interested individuals have a chance to be heard by the decision makers.

 

Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Management

Strategic thinking means asking, “Are we doing the right thing, and at the right time?” It also requires three things:

• Purpose or end–a strategic thinker is trying to accomplish something
• Understanding the environment, particularly of the opponent, or opposing forces, affecting and/or blocking achievement of these ends
• Creativity in developing effective responses to the opponent or opposing forces.

As you might guess, strategic management is the application of strategic thinking to the job of leading an organization.

Finding the right mix of management and staff to carry out the task of strategic planning is the first step to the realization of planning success. Once you have the team in place constant communication will be the foundation the team will use to build the foundation. A breakdown in communication will crumble the process.

www.brianhazelgren.com

Source: The Business Game Plan, by Brian Hazelgren

Strategic Planning – Part 3

Sports and Business Have Many Similarities

Coaches wouldn’t dream of starting a season without one. Athletes would be lost without one. Fans would not enjoy the season as much if their team doesn’t follow one.  The media would have a heyday with teams that would not discuss a form of one. Quarterbacks would look like scared rabbits without reading one.

What is it? Well to put it as simply… “it” is a game plan. A game plan that is built upon a foundation of “we can win, and become the champs if we follow what we have planned for.” I refer to not just having one game plan, but employing several game plans throughout the season. A game plan is a great tool to have, and an even greater asset if followed and updated regularly.

During my younger years as an All-American athlete, I listened to my coaches talk about being the best, the champs, whether in our conference, the state, or even the country. They would even go as far as setting individual goals for certain team categories. I would listen with great interest to the goals they had established for the team, and how we would work together to achieve those goals. The coaches, our management team, would spend countless hours reviewing the skills and talents of the players, and lining up the right mix of skills with the positions. They would review films over and over and over, then come up with what they felt as a long-term strategic plan for the season. Then each week they would review the scouting reports and come up with a tactical plan for each opponent.

I learned several influential lessons from these “sculptors of boys and men”. These lessons have stayed with me for decades. They were built upon the foundation my parents established for me at an even younger age. One of the more powerful lessons is the concept of coming up with a solid, workable plan; following it; and then being flexible enough to revise it as you go.

Each new season of competition brought with it the notion of being classified as the very best. My old college friend and teammate Steve Young was a master of the game. He was always an inspiration to the team. He was a natural leader and was the perfect example of always striving to be the very best he could. I will be forever grateful to Steve for his competitive nature, as well as his example. He would study the game plan relentlessly at the beginning of the season. He would follow it because he trusted in those that had done their homework and put together a plan of action. And then he would update the plan every week as he faced a new opponent. If he thought changes needed to occur he would speak his mind—keeping the team as his number one focus and not himself.

Steve followed the team game plan and inspired those around him to stretch themselves and to reach for new plateaus. If someone was struggling he would lift them up to his level of performance. He was a fierce competitor on the field, and still is a fierce competitor off the field, both in sports and in business.

As a youth it didn’t matter if it was football, basketball, baseball or track, I couldn’t wait to get the season started. I would work my tail off trying to make my skills and talents pay off while in the heat of battle.

When I advanced to the collegiate ranks, even more challenging circumstances would present themselves and I had to figure out how to make my skills and talents work for the betterment of the team, as well as for myself.

I enjoyed a very successful career as an athlete. I was named All-American in three sports. I won three state championships. I broke five records in track and field—some that stood for 20 years. I have played on a national championship team. I had a chance to play professional ball in two sports. And through it all, I can say that it was the planning that made much of these things come to pass. Not just planning, but following the plan and making changes along the way.

Think about it for a minute…a pro football team does not stay with the same game plan week in, week out. The game plan must be modified and improved upon as a new opponent is faced, or as a back up athlete comes into the game to take over for an injured teammate. However the original plan is not tossed out, it is simply revised and improved upon.

So it is with developing a game plan for business. The original plan is what gets things moving. Markets change. Technology changes. Setbacks, even serious ones happen. New contracts are awarded. New industries are created. Natural disasters occur. Partners go off the deep end and spend wildly. Many things happen in business that you did not plan on, yet seem to crop up anyway. That is life. Yet each of these instances requires a flexible approach, a game plan that can be modified when needed.

Therefore, formulating a strategy is as important in business as it is in sports…

As a young man, I grew up participating in athletics and I really wanted to be the very best at everything I did. This meant focusing on an end result, but having a plan of action to get me there. I had a passion for pushing my mind and body to new levels, and doing my absolute very best to come out the victor. This required a certain game plan that always needed to be updated, tweaked, and often revamped into something entirely different than what was originally planned out. This “game plan” actually made me stay focused when things became a little fuzzy, or even not clear at all.

As an athlete, I participated in four sports: football, baseball, track and basketball. I was very blessed with the physical makeup to excel in these sports and was at the top of my game for many years. The fascinating aspect of putting together a game plan was that although I thought I had it figured out in the beginning, I soon realized that my plan needed to change each week. As I faced new opponents, the coaching staff would prepare a plan of action that was tailored to beating that particular opponent. Which meant that the original game plan at the beginning of the season had to be updated to meet a new set of circumstances head on.

Just as in sports, business is run by a set of plans that needs to be updated and kept alive in order to achieve maximum results. So then, this becomes what I will refer to as the Business Game Plan. This plan of course has to involve the Head Coach, Assistant Coaches, Players, Equipment Managers, Offensive and Defensive Teams, a Special Team, Cheerleaders, the band, the crowd and the media.

If you are not a sports fan–not to worry. All of this will make sense very soon, and hopefully you will understand my madness in developing this section with a sports twist, and learn to have fun with it.

www.brianhazelgren.com

Source: The Business Game Plan, by Brian Hazelgren

Strategic Planning – Part 2

Strategic Planning and Long-Range Planning

Although many use these terms interchangeably, strategic planning and long-range planning differ in their emphasis on the “assumed” environment. Long-range planning is generally considered to mean the development of a plan for accomplishing a goal or set of goals over a period of several years, with the assumption that current knowledge about future conditions is sufficiently reliable to ensure the plan’s reliability over the duration of its implementation. In the late fifties and early sixties, for example, the U.S. economy was relatively stable and somewhat predictable, and, therefore, long-range planning was both fashionable and useful.

On the other hand, strategic planning assumes that an organization must be responsive to a dynamic, changing environment (not the more stable environment assumed for long-range planning). Certainly a common assumption has emerged in the new economy that we are faced with in business: e-business and going global are an essential part of the strategic plan. This assumption, that the environment is indeed changeable, is often done in unpredictable ways. Strategy is about seeing the opportunities, then, stresses the importance of making decisions that will ensure the organization’s ability to successfully respond to changes in the environment. Organizations that resist change will fail to adapt, and will not survive.

Strategic Thinking and Strategic Management

Strategic planning is only useful if it supports strategic thinking and leads to strategic management – the basis for an effective organization. Strategic thinking means asking, “Are we doing the right thing?” Perhaps, more precisely, it means making that assessment using three key requirements about strategic thinking: a definite purpose in mind; an understanding of the environment, particularly of the forces that affect or impede the fulfillment of that purpose; and creativity in developing effective responses to those forces.

It follows, then, that strategic management is the application of strategic thinking to the job of leading an organization. One precise question provides a framework for understanding strategic management: continually asking the question, “Are we doing the right thing?” It requires attention to the “big picture” and the willingness to adapt to changing circumstances, and consists of the following three elements:

• formulation of the organization’s future mission in light of changing external factors such as regulation, competition, technology, and customers
• development of a competitive strategy to achieve the mission
• creation of an organizational structure which will deploy resources to successfully carry out its competitive strategy.

Strategic management is adaptive and keeps an organization relevant. In these dynamic times it is more likely to succeed than the traditional approach of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

 

What Strategic Planning Is Not

Everything said above to describe what strategic planning is can also provide an understanding of what it is not. For example, it is about fundamental decisions and actions, but it does not an attempt to make future decisions. Strategic planning involves anticipating the future environment, but the decisions are made in the present. This means that over time, the organization must stay abreast of changes in order to make the best decisions it can at any given point – it must manage, as well as plan, strategically.

Strategic planning has also been described as a tool – but it is not a substitute for the exercise of judgment by leadership. Ultimately, the leaders of any enterprise need to sit back and ask, and answer, “What are the most important issues to respond to?” and “How shall we respond?” Just as the hammer does not create the house, so the data analysis and decision-making tools of strategic planning do not make the organization work – they can only support the intuition, reasoning skills, and judgment that people bring to their organization.

Finally, strategic planning, though described as disciplined, does not typically flow smoothly from one step to the next. It is a creative process, and the fresh insight arrived at today might very well alter the decision made yesterday. Inevitably the process moves forward and back, side-to-side, several times before arriving at the final set of decisions. Therefore, no one should be surprised if the process feels less like a comfortable trip on a commuter train, but rather like a ride on a roller coaster. But even roller coaster cars arrive at their destination, with a little creativity.

Values That Support Successful Strategic Planning

When you come up with an idea for your business, how do you go about assessing whether it is a good idea? How do you convince yourself (and others) that you can make money exploiting the idea? A written strategic plan is one way to evaluate an idea before you commit to pursuing it. The process of creating the plan can reveal factors that you might otherwise not consider. And that can save you big money.

The following guiding principles support the process of strategic planning. These are self-explanatory and are offered as a way to approach this work.

Successful strategic planning:

• leads to action
• builds a shared vision that is values-based
• is an inclusive, participatory process in which board and staff take on a shared ownership
• accepts accountability to the organization
• is both externally and internally focused and sensitive to the organization’s environment
• is based on quality data
• requires an openness to questioning the status quo
• is a key part of effective management.

Many business managers feel that they can keep track of everything without the need to write it down. A written plan, after all, is really just the personification of the internal planning that every business manager does anyway. However, the structure a written plan provides makes it more likely that you will consider all relevant factors and that nothing important slips through the cracks.

What justifies the additional time and energy you’ll spend creating a written plan that presents a blueprint of your business idea? For starters, how about an increased chance for success? More specifically, a plan can be:

• A reality check when you first examine the feasibility of your business idea, which forces you to consider all relevant factors
• Your business’ resume, which will be vital in dealing with lenders and outside investors, and an important tool in negotiating with vendors and attracting employees
• A timetable for operations, helping you to coordinate all the diverse activities that go into running your own business
• A modeling Tool that helps you evaluate the variable factors that affect your business, so you can better prepare to deal with situations that may arise as conditions change
• A vehicle for tracking progress of your business
• A blueprint against which you can adjust operations in order to achieve your goals
• A starting point for future planning

Strategic Planning – Part 1

“Strategic planning is a management tool, nothing more, nothing less. As with any management tool, it is used for one purpose: to help an organization do a better job – to focus its energy, to ensure that members of the organization are working toward the same goals, to assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment.” (Adapted from Bryson’s Strategic Planning in Public and Nonprofit Organizations).

In short, strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.

A short analysis of this definition provides the key elements that underlie the meaning and success of the strategic planning process:

The process is strategic because it involves preparing the best way to respond to the circumstances of the organization’s environment, whether or not its circumstances are known in advance. Being strategic, then, means being clear about the organization’s objectives, being aware of the organization’s resources, and incorporating both into being consciously responsive to a dynamic environment.

The process is also about planning because it involves intentionally setting goals (i.e., choosing a desired future) and developing an approach to achieving those goals.

The process is disciplined in that it calls for a certain order and pattern to keep it focused and productive. It raises a sequence of questions that helps planners examine experience, test assumptions, gather and incorporate information about the present, and anticipate the environment in which the organization will be working in the future.  Those questions are:

• Why are we in business?
• What do we do?
• How do we do business?
• Where are we now? Be realistic.
• Where do we want to be? In the near and short term? What will it cost?
• How do we get there? What can you do to achieve this both now and later? How will you identify the resources you will need? Tools, technology, capital, and people.
• How do we implement our plan? What are the risks? What if you fail? What are the contingency plans?
• How do we know when we’ve arrived? What metrics and milestones will be in place to measure success or failure?
• Who will evaluate the process after we have completed the plan? ….To keep everyone on track.

 

Dont neglect the present as you develop your strategic plan. A tactical, rolling 90-day plan should be included in the process. The reasons for this are several, but to name a few, this short term plan plugs into the overall strategy and allows for a tactical focus, while you are ramping up the long-range plan.

Finally, the process is about fundamental decisions and actions because choices must be made in order to answer the sequence of questions mentioned above. The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, what resources to involve, and how to do it. Because it is impossible to do everything that needs to be done in this world, strategic planning implies that some organizational decisions and actions are more important than others – and that much of the strategy lies in making the tough decisions about what is most important to achieving organizational success.

The strategic planning process can be complex, challenging, and even chaotic, but it is always defined by the basic ideas outlined here and you can always return to these basics for insight into your own strategic planning process.

 

Brian Hazelgren….      www.brianhazelgren.com