2. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Overview
In this lesson you’ll learn about the:
Importance of Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Factors that influence goal setting process
Personal vs. business goals
Role of employing an integrated process in strategic planning
Strategic planning process
Integrated Management Planning
‘SMART’ goals
Goal selection and tactical objectives
Speaker Notes:
The lesson, Strategic Planning and Goal Setting focuses on how strategic planning can help you achieve your goals. You’ll learn why goals are important and need to be written out and openly discussed with your operation team or family before critical decisions are made.

3. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Strategic goals should be openly identified, discussed and prioritized before management decisions are made
Speaker Notes:
Strategic goals should be openly identified, discussed and prioritized before management decisions are made.

4. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: External Factors and Internal Factors
Goals are influenced by:
External factors
Global economics
Government policies
Environmental factors
Internal factors
Resources
Management philosophy
Risk attitude
Speaker Notes:
Your goals are influenced by several external and internal factors… some that you can’t control and others that you can. For example, global economics, government policies and environmental factors are all external non-controllable factors that can influence your goals. Your resources, management philosophy, and your willingness to accept risk are “internal” controllable factors that can influence your goals.
Ultimately you want all of the combined factors to help you create “Your Desired Future.”

5. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Changing Your Attitude
Insanity has been defined as doing thing the same way and expecting a different result
Carroll’s advice still applies in business and life today asking the questions:
Where are you going in business?
What do you want to achieve?
What are your goals?
Be specific about where you’re going- choose your goals make a map or plan, and follow through on that plan
Which road are YOU choosing?
Speaker Notes:
Successful goal setting requires a change of attitude and is critical to measure your successes. Doing things the same way and expecting a different result is insanity. A change is necessary to positively affect your business outcome.
If you recall in Lewis Carroll’s story, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the Cheshire Cat sitting in a tree responds to Alice’s question by replying, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
The same is true with personal and business goals: if you don’t set them (not knowing where you are going), then how do you know when you’ve reached your destination (have your goals been met)?

6. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Change is the Norm
In today’s business world, change is becoming the norm while stability is becoming the exception
Focus on integrating processes and life-long learning to make your goals into realities
Speaker Notes:
Change is becoming the norm in today’s business ventures. Stability is really the anomaly. It is wiser to focus on activities that help us cope with changes rather than concentrating on current fact or technologies. By integrating processes and life-long learning rather than embracing a short-sighted focus, we will be able to influence our goals in a positive way. Goals will become realities more often if we continue to keep them in view.

7. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Organizational Structure of Management:
An integrated process is needed to manage resources
Changes and variations in resource quality and quantity must be accounted for
The goals of the manager and/or owners must be kept in mind
Speaker Notes:
Now that we have looked at the reasons for establishing goals as part of a strategic plan, let’s see how they can affect our agricultural business.
In order to effectively manage an agricultural-type operation an integrated process is needed for managing all the resources available. In addition, this process should account for changes and variations in the resource quality and quantity available over production cycles.
Furthermore, the integrated process should keep in mind the goals of the manager and/or owners.

8. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Speaker Notes:
Strategic planning requires establishing an integrated process or a planning model that is developed to specifically address the needs and concerns of today’s agricultural managers.
In this graphic, we can see that successful planning and management require effective execution of strategic, tactical and operational areas.

9. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Speaker Notes:
The strategic phase of this management process begins with establishing goals and inventorying resources.
Tactical measures require exploration of possible new enterprises or ventures, developing enterprise plans and managing resources.
The operational phase involves the implementation of your plans, your adjustment to change, and your ability to establish a new set of objectives, if needed, to ensure your success.

10. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Risk Management
Manage your risk by:
Identifying the potential risks and areas affected
Understanding the potential size of the risk
Determining the probability of the risk occurring
Formulating an action plan to handle the risk
Speaker Notes:
Once the risks are identified, then you must formulate action plans for adjusting to each perceived risk. The first of four steps to creating an action plan is to clearly identify and understand the risk, and determine what areas of your business each may affect. Second, understand the size of the potential risk. Third, determine the probability of a loss occurring. Finally, formulate an action plan to handle the risk.

11. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Strategic planning
Tells you where you are heading and what it might look like once you arrive
Keeps the operation focused to the established goals
Allows for proactive management
Speaker Notes:
Strategic planning requires that you look at the BIG picture. It tells you where you are heading and what it might look like once you arrive. Strategic planning keeps the operation focused on the established goals and allows for proactive management.

12. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Strategic thinking
Ties your mission statement to your resource inventory
Speaker Notes:
The strategic level of the planning process links your mission statement to the strategic goals and ties them to inventory of resources.
The process gives a fairly complete description of where the operation would like to be and where it stands now in respect to its resources.

13. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Integrated Management Planning
In the Integrated Management Planning:
The overall operation is like the tree top
Strategic goals are like the branches and leaves
Mission statement is like the root and trunk of the tree
Speaker Notes:
Planning under the integrated management process links the various stages of the operation together. Much as a tree draws its strength from its roots, the operation grows and flourishes from the day-to-day decision making, as described in its mission statement and implemented through the strategic goals.

14. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Strategic Goals
Why do I need to use strategic goals?
They clarify what’s important to my operation
They provide a basis for evaluating my progress
They provide direction and focus for my plans
They are a proactive strategy
Speaker Notes:
Why do you need strategic goals? What purpose do they serve?
Goals help you clarify what’s important to your operation and provide a basis for evaluating your progress. In addition, they help you provide direction to your management team and keep them focused on the short and long range plans for the operation.
Setting strategic goals is a technique for more proactive management. It’s best to avoid reactive strategic goals and action plans.

15. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Teams and Goals
Use a management team concept
Identify the key people and their roles in the management team:
spouse, parents, children, siblings
partners, employees, technical or financial advisors
you
Determine accountability for each aspect of the operation
Seek input and consensus from the team members
Speaker Notes:
Let’s look at the human resources involved in establishing your strategic goals. Think of the resources in terms of a management team. Identify the key people and their roles in the team. These may include your spouse, parents, children, siblings, partners, employees, technical, financial advisors, or just you. Determine who is responsible and accountable for each aspect of the operation. Seek input from all team members and work to obtain a consensus among the team members.
The achievement of goals and successful implementation of plans is farm more probable if team members understand and agree and focus on the goals.

16. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Your Strategic Goals To-Do List:
Write concise goal statements
Project realistic levels of achievement and establish time-lines for accomplishment of goals
Prioritize your goals
Estimate the goal costs
Avoid preoccupation with tactics and tools until your strategic goals are well-defined
Speaker Notes:
Just as we write down “To Do” lists each day, we now need to write a “To Do” list for our strategic goals. As with any task, committing to do the work is only part of the battle. It’s the writing-them-down that establishes a personal commitment to getting the work done.
First, write your goal statements concisely and clearly. Then establish timelines and realistic levels of achievement.
Prioritize your goals, making sure that the most important goals are addressed first. Estimate the costs associated with the accomplishment of each goal. And avoid the preoccupation with tactics and tools until the strategic goals are well defined.

17. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: SMART Goals
Specific- Clearly defined and stated goals
Measurable- Meet objective standards
Attainable- Realistic goals with appropriate effort
Related- Goals that are not in conflict with other goals or your values
Tractable- Progress that can be monitored over time
Speaker Notes:
To help you remember the strategic planning process, let’s be SMART. S-M-A-R-T represents the steps in the goal setting process we have just discussed: Be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Related and Tractable. Let’s take a look at each one.
S- Specific- Goals need to be clearly defined and stated… no room for ambiguity here.
M- Measurable- Acceptable standards of measurement need to be consistently used for each goal.
A- Attainable- It is may exciting to reach for the stars, but accomplishing realistic goals is rewarding.
R- Related or Realistic- Goals should be written so that they are related to each other and do not compromise your basic values and beliefs.
T- Tractable- Goals should be established with progressive steps and checked or monitored over time.

18. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: SMART Goals
Specific goal example- to generate enough income to allow us to maintain ownership of the operation
Measurable goal example- to generate $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation
Speaker Notes:
Now let’s examine each letter and corresponding goal setting concept separately.
An example of setting a specific goal might be to generate enough income to allow us to maintain ownership of the operation.
That goal is measurable if it states a specific amount for the goal- for example, to generate $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation.

19. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: SMART Goals
Attainable goal example- to generate $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation
Realistic goal example- Realistic only if the operation usually returns more than $10,500 over direct expenses each year
Speaker Notes:
The goal is attainable if past profits and future production would generate “$10,500/year for a mortgage payment allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation.”
It is realistic only if the operation usually returns more than $10,500 over direct expenses each year.

20. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: SMART Goals
Related goal example- Related to other goals that move the operation toward higher returns and long-term ownership
“To generate $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation”
Tractable goal example- To generate $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation while not requiring more time or new skills from management
Speaker Notes:
The goals are related if they move the operation toward higher returns and long-term ownership.
Goals are tractable if progress can be monitored over time.
This specific goal is tractable, “generating $10,500/year for a mortgage payment, allowing us to maintain ownership of the operation and not requiring more time or new skills from management.”
If less than or more than $10,500 is generated, then adjustments would need to be made to future goals.

21. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Strategic Goals- An Example
Warm Springs Ranch Strategic Goals
Pay off $5,000 of non-current liabilities a year and be debt free in 20 years
Develop a livestock enterprise that will generate income for two families
Increase the tonnage of alfalfa produced on the farm to 2,000 tons per year by increasing the amount of ground under tillage and increasing yields
Invest $250 a month into a college education fund and $250 a month into a retirement fund
Develop a range management plan that will increase forage availability by 10% and also promote the sustainability of the range resource
Speaker Notes:
Let’s look at a list of strategic goals established for a livestock operation we’ll call Warm Springs Ranch.
Pay off $5,000 of non-current liabilities a year and be debt free in 20 years.
Develop a livestock enterprise that will generate income for two families.
Increase the tonnage of alfalfa produced on the farm to 2,000 tons per year by increasing the amount of ground under tillage and increasing yields
Invest $250 a month into a college education fund and $250 a month into a retirement fund.
Develop a range management plan that will increase forage availability by 10% and also promote the sustainability of the range resource.
Remember, strategic goals should be openly identified, discussed and prioritized before management decisions are made.

22. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Goal Directed Management
A strategic planning process in which high-priority goals provide focus and direction is goal-directed management
In goal-directed management, several facts are recognized
Speaker Notes:
Now let’s talk about goal-directed management, defined as strategic planning process in which high-priority goals provide focus and direction for management. In goal-directed management, several facts are recognized:
People are more motivated to do better work if they like their work and management responsibilities.
Family members are more willing to support and work with goal-directed management, if they participate in formal goal
identification and priority-setting.
3. All adult or near-adult family members are involved in the ranch or farm decision-making.

23. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Goal Directed Management (Cont.)
In goal-directed management:
The farm or ranch business unit and the family unit are closely linked and interact with each other
Business operations and family life put competing demands on physical, financial and human resources
Goal conflicts and resource limitations can best be dealt with through prioritization and tactical planning
Speaker Notes:
Further,
The farm or ranch business unit and the family unit are closely linked and interact with each other.
Business operations and family life put competing demands on physical, financial and human resources.
Goal conflicts and resource limitations can best be dealt with through prioritization and tactical planning.

24. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Organizational Changes
Changes in the organization demand changes in priorities
Goals are not final or unchanging
Resources will change over time
New interests and goals will emerge
Priorities will change
Management will change priorities and goals
Speaker Notes:
Dr. Paul Gessaman, agricultural extension economist for the University of Nebraska, states “it is important to recognize that goals and strategic plans are not final and unchanging. The human, physical, and financial resources that can be used for farming or ranching and personal life will likely change over time. You’ll be working under new conditions when market prices change; when family members marry; when death claims a spouse, parent, or partner; or when land is gained or lost.”
Some of your original goals will continue to be important. Others may become unimportant or unfeasible. New interests and goals will emerge and priorities will need to be updated.
A change in management will likely create a need for revising goals and priorities. Despite the time and effort required, updating is important. It reconfirms or modifies your goals, adds to your personal goal commitment and improves your capability for effective management.

25. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Why Strategic Goals?
Do you remember what the Cheshire Cat said to Alice?
Select goals that will get you to where you want to go.
Concentrate on six to eight goals that have the highest impact
Review long-term strategies
Prioritize your goals
Identify goals that support your mission
Select goals that are likely to be accepted by the team
Make the goals visible to the organization
Speaker Notes:
Do you remember what the Cheshire Cat said to Alice? Select goals that will get you to where you want to go.
Working on many goals at the same time might be something we want to do; however it may not be possible. The best way to accomplish your goals is to concentrate on the six to eight that will have the highest impact on your strategic plan and have realistic and achievable targets. In the early stages of your strategic planning process, you may want to concentrate on no more than three goals at a time. Review your long-term strategies and prioritize your goals.
In setting your priorities, you should identify those goals that will move you closer to the fulfillment of your mission. The goals should be broad and generate results that will be highly visible. Consider goals that you believe will be agreeable to the management team. Getting everyone onboard gets you closer to accomplishing the results that you want. Develop a format that is easy for everyone to follow and make the goals visible to the team. Display a copy of the goals in a prominent place where they can be seen by all of the management team members.

26. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting
Strategic Goals- Benefits
With your goals prioritized on paper, assigning costs to them makes them seem real
Estimating the costs of each goal helps you measure each step of the process
Goal accomplishment leads to greater satisfaction
Speaker Notes:
Once you have written down and prioritized your strategic goals, you then need to estimate the costs associated with each goal. Assigning costs to goals makes goals feel more real. It is not all that hard to do; and it will help you better understand what resources each goal requires for it to be accomplished.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to find all the money right away. However, it does give you a target to shoot for. It also give you an incentive to being looking for ways to save additional dollars. Each new dollar saved can be used to move just a little closer to accomplishing your financial goals.
In addition, since your goal statements represent where you want the operation and yourselves to be in the future, moving toward these goals will mean greater satisfaction and success in your lives.

27. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Tactical Objectives- “TO”
Tactical objectives relate to strategic goals and the mission statement
Try to start each objective with “to” and then add your action
For example:
To reduce…
To increase…
To replace…
To grow…
Speaker Notes:
Our tactical objectives relate directly to one or more strategic goals and the mission statement. The are clear, concise, understandable, and are stated in terms of results or outcomes. A date is specified for accomplishment of each objective. Each objective should list only one major outcome.
Sometimes it helps to create your objectives with “to” and then an action. For example: to reduce, to increase, to replace, to grow.

28. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Operational Plans
Operational plans should answer these questions:
What information exists about each action?
What resources must be included in the action steps?
What are the interrelationships among the various resources?
What is the ordering and timing of the various steps?
Who should be accountable for completion of each of the action steps?
Speaker Notes:
Operational plans link tactical objectives to day-to-day activities. They describe what action steps must be taken.
Your operational plans should answer these questions:
What information exists about each action?
What resources must be included in the action steps?
What are the interrelationships among the various resources?
What is the ordering and timing of the various steps?
Who should be accountable for completion of each of the action steps?

29. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Goal Setting Format
Decide the goal setting format that best suits your needs, but make sure it includes:
Each strategic goal
Costs associated with each goal
Tactical objectives
Operational plans
Speaker Notes:
The format that you decide to use for listing your strategic goals should be easy to use, provide instant priorities recognition and make your goals easy to track.
Each strategic goal should have the associated cost, the tactical objectives and the operational plans listed.

30. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting: Summary
In this lesson, you have learned:
Some of the basics for setting goals for your operation
That written goals are like a road map for your mission statement
How to write objectives
That your goals must be SMART
Speaker Notes:
Congratulations! You’ve completed the lesson Strategic Planning and Goal Setting. In this lesson, you learned some of the basics for setting goals for your organization. You also learned that written goals represent a road map to the accomplishment of your mission statement.
Goal setting requires strategic thinking and needs to be done as a family or organizational team.
Remember that goals need to be “SMART”: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relate and Tractable.