Does
the following scenario sound familiar? Association XYZ hires a consultant to
facilitate a long range planning session. The Board develops a mission
statement, goals, and objectives. Two weeks later, the consultant is long gone
and the staff and leadership team are left alone to figure out what actually
needs to be done! A year later, the board meets again and the plan is
revisited. Some Board members review the document as if they're seeing it for
the first time. The board engages in some fine-tuning but basically the plan
--and the outcome-- remains unchanged.
OPIS
is committed to NOT engage in that process. Oh, we are all for strategic
planning, but we believe that organizations that meet once a year to plan are
no better off than those that do not plan at all.
Many
organizations develop strategic plans. Far fewer successfully implement them.
The problem with execution often lies with the absence of a systematic, logical
connection between outcomes, performance, and structure. Many organizations
have some of the parts of strategic planning – however, they have not properly
assembled those parts. We might go to Home Depot and purchase a barbecue grill.
However, until we remove the parts from the box and properly assemble them, we
have nothing that is functional. In a like manner, many organizations have
parts: a mission statement, some goals – and at times, objectives, as well as
many products and services. The problem is that these parts are not often
assembled in a manner that allows them to work together. There is a better way.
Our approach is depicted in a graphic on the next page.
We propose
using a modified balanced scorecard approach to assist the organization in
developing its strategic plan. Our method is designed to enable an organization
to align people, programs, and structure to achieve its mission and vision.
This approach allows for a logical connection between the organization’s
mission, the goals it seeks to attain, and the activities it carries out.
Moreover, this interconnection does not just exist at the top layer of the
organization, but transcends all levels so that every person involved
understands how his or her performance contributes to the organization’s
mission. We have successfully used this systems approach with scores of
clients. Our approach would include the following steps:
1.
Identify
Critical Issues and Trends via interviews with your key leaders:
2.
Clarify
Mission Statement:
3.
Develop
SMART Objectives:
4.
Development
of Strategies to meet board objectives:
5.
Development
of Budgets that incorporate selected strategies:
6.
Review/Modify
Plan:
7.
Devise
a system to make strategic planning an on-going activity of the board.