Strategic Planning – How it All Comes Together 10/14/2016 – 1:00pm C-208

Agenda What is Strategic Planning Why is Strategic Planning important The Strategic Planning Process A Real Life Example

What is Strategic Planning To put it simply Strategic Planning is a process by which an organization determines where it is going and how it will get there Aside from these two key points it is crucial that an organization has a way to determine if they are successful

What is Strategic Planning cont.. Includes the production of a “physical” plan The process is typically organization-wide or can be done at a department/division level Is a continuous and on-going process

Strategic vs. Long-Range Planning Strategic and Long-Range Planning are the same process While relatively similar the two styles have a major difference in their area of focus Long-Range: focuses on determining a vision Strategic: focuses on the how’s of achieving a vision

Why is Strategic Planning Important Provides a common direction Builds unification Tells the group where they are focused Does what we do support our mission Helps measure progress

The Strategic Planning Process There are many variations but they all follow the same overarching structure Usually includes roughly five major steps/areas We will focus on a process that is structured as follows: Environmental Scanning, Missions & Objectives, Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation, Evaluation & Control

The Strategic Planning Process Environmental Scanning Mission & Objectives Strategy Formulation Strategy Implementation Evaluation & Control The Strategic Planning Process

Environmental Scanning Can be broken down into two key sections Internal – assessing an organizations strengths and weaknesses External – how an organization relates to its environment

Internal Environmental Scanning Addresses the organizations strengths and weakness typically through the use of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis This component is crucial when it comes to discovering what is currently being done that is successful Uses data such as financials as well as information about relationships and attitudes The use of a consultant is often common during this section

External Environmental Scanning Identifies opportunities and threats in the external environment Includes reviews of the targeted audience and trends in the broader community such as demographics, community values and changing laws and regulations Also takes into account social trends, changes in the political landscape, the economy and technology

Mission & Objectives Information from the environmental scanning area is greatly important here and must considered The focus is to develop or update items such as a mission statement, organizational core values, and possibly a community vision This section can be handled differently based on whether you are a new organization planning for the first time or an existing organization looking to make changes

Mission & Objectives cont.. Mission Statement – the stated purpose for your organization’s existence; your organization’s public statement Organizational Core Values – the beliefs that guide the organization; these are shard by the Board and staff and not easily changed Community Vision – your vision for the community; your image of what the community you serve would be like if your values were shared and practiced by everyone

A New vs. An Existing Organization A New Organization: May not have much more information to go on than the environmental screening data Much of this information will be being developed from scratch at first An Existing Organization: Will have past versions of a mission statement, organizational core values, a community vision to work from If changes occur here they will more often be revisions than something new entirely

Strategy Formulation Use information from the previous sections to build This section typically makes use of specific approaches, one of which is building strategies as SMART Goals Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely Includes the creation of both goals and steps to achieve them Think KPI development

Strategy Formulation cont… It is normal to go through multiple drafts Don’t build in a vacuum on your own Having feedback from multiple individuals/groups to create ownership Having previous by-in and awareness can make moving forward a much smoother process

Strategy Implementation Taking the previous formulations into action How a strategy is implemented can have significant impact on its success as a whole and often involves many individuals Communication is crucial so that all are on the same page Staff motivation is key here so nothing gets left behind

Evaluation & Control Progress must be monitored to track success throughout Adjustments are often made along the way and this is okay Waiting until the end to evaluate would hurt the process

Evaluation & Control cont. Having an evaluation schedule is important and it is what bridges the gaps and keeps the cycle going You are comparing your expectations to what actually has happened It links the past and the future

A Real Life Example – Building a Budget One common activity that is similar to Strategic Planning is building a household and/or personal budget You ask yourself many of the same questions The process could be drawn out in a similar structure A budget is typically a living document as well

Budget – Internal Environmental Scan Internal Scan – addresses factors such as any income your household has and any personal items you feel are necessary but not required These are things such as vacation funds, entertainment spending, etc..

Budget – External Environmental Scan External Scan – bills or items that are required that you cannot change such as insurance, mortgages, loans, food You can also effect/adjust amounts for these but they typically are necessary to survive for everyone

Budget – Mission & Objectives These are your overall goals for constructing a budget Are you trying to simply break even? Do you want to be able to come out ahead and build a savings? Are you trying to pay of certain debts?

Budget – Strategy Formulation Constructing the actual budget as a whole This includes picking out the following Categories of expenses Amounts allocated to each category How you plan on tracking your budget Anything you want to avoid

Budget – Strategy Implementation The main focus is the act of you actually following your budget Key things to remember Pick a clear and unchanging start date Communicate to all those involved Tracking – Don’t forget those recites

Budget – Evaluation & Control Its about making adjustments for either now or next time period Did you under budget on groceries but over budget on travel/gasoline Do you need cheaper insurance coverages Can you or should you be saving more money

Budget – Evaluation & Control cont… Focused on monitoring your progress continuously In the end this is the section that starts the process over and cannot be missed What is the point of a plan if you don’t know if it is working

What We Covered Today How to define Strategic Planning What makes Strategic Planning important Overview of the Strategic Planning Process Building a budget as a real life example

Questions?