1. THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
Chris Sidoti
ppt 3

2. What is strategic planning?
a continuous and systematic process
to define how an institution will move, over a period of years, from where it is to where it wants to be
by deciding
institutional directions
intended results
how results are to be accomplished and
how success is to be measured and evaluated

3. Why have a strategic plan?
to develop a common understanding within the institution
to explain the institution to outsiders
to present the big picture rather than short term or partial pictures
to seize the initiative rather than simply react
to define goals and objectives
to set priorities, including for resource allocation
to enable activity planning consistent with broad goals and priorities
to provide a basis for institutional evaluation

4. What is in a strategic plan?
situation analysis
what is the external context in which the institution works?
the institution
what is the nature and role of the institution within that external context?
clear statement of direction
what are the vision, mission and objectives?
strategies
how will the objectives be achieved?
evaluation
how will the effectiveness of the institution be assessed?

5. What are the key terms? vision mission (or purpose) objectives
strategies
activities
products (or outputs)
outcomes (or results)
performance indicators

6. Vision our dream of the future what we strive to achieve
the picture of the long term
related to our institution and its work

7. A bad vision statement
“A world that is at peace, just, environmentally responsible, economically advanced, culturally diverse and mutually supportive”

8. A good vision statement
“A society in which human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled”

9. Mission the general statement of purpose guiding our activities
a definition of our mandate – what we are and what we do
our institution’s particular role in achieving the vision

10. A bad mission statement
“To be a bank that doesn’t think like a bank. A bank that knows that yesterday isn’t today….and that today becomes yesterday tomorrow”
Actual 1997 “Corporate Vision Statement” for a major banking/finance company

11. A good mission statement
“We achieve our vision through promoting and monitoring human rights compliance and seeking remedies for victims of human rights violations.”

12. Objectives
what, in general terms, we actually seek to achieve during the life of this strategic plan
higher level statements of key institutional goals to be pursued in carrying out the institution’s mission
should be limited in number, no more than six or seven
should reflect institutional priorities

13. Some possible objectives
to increase public awareness of and support for human rights
to assist and encourage government to ensure that all laws, policies and programs are human rights compliant
to expose human rights violations and assist victims to obtain remedies
to encourage the development of human rights law and mechanisms internationally and domestically

14. Strategies how we seek to achieve our objectives
operational approaches
our priorities
can be linked to the objectives as a whole or to each objective individually
should reflect institutional priorities

15. Linking strategies to objectives
Objective 1: to increase public awareness of and support for human rights
Strategies:
ensure a high media profile for human rights issues
encourage the development of school curriculum to educate children on human rights
coordinate community education activities with civil society organisations

16. Activities what we will actually do to implement the strategies
can be linked to the strategies as a whole or to each strategy individually
should be at a general descriptive level:
“we will conduct five human rights training programs a year”
NOT “we will conduct five human rights training programs a year on these dates and at these places”

17. Products what we actually produce sometimes called “outputs”
publications
reports
media releases
training programs
speeches
sometimes called “outputs”

18. Results what our activities accomplished sometimes called “outcomes”
better knowledge of human rights law among school students
greater public awareness of key human rights issues in our country
more positive government responses to victims of human rights violations
well trained human rights advocates and activists
sometimes called “outcomes”

19. Performance indicators
provide information about the degree to which the actual results of our activities meet the planned objectives
critical to enable evaluation of the implementation of the plan and of the effectiveness of the institution
quantitative (how many) and qualitative (how well) measures of performance
can measure products (outputs) but better to measure results (outcomes)

20. Strategic plans and activity plans
strategic plans and activity plans complement each other
the strategic plan is the big picture plan that guides the institution over several years, setting the broad priorities for action
the activity plan or implementation plan is the annual plan that sets out how the strategic plan will be implemented in the year and what specific activities will be conducted and where and when and how

21. A good strategic plan will
be written down
be relevant to the institution and its context
be realistic and not merely idealistic or aspirational
be easy to understand 
be clear to implement
have specific time frames over a significant period
provide clear accountability for implementation
recognise that things will change and be able to adapt to those changes
be endorsed by the highest governing body in the institution