Strategic Planning - Guiding your business into the future

Welcome to strategic planning! If you have limited time to learn and need to know how to create a strategic plan...then read on. If things are more complex and need outside help, then I’m here for that too. But for now, READ ON!

A strategic plan is simply a guide to get your organization to where it needs to be in the future. Like any other plan, it tells the organization where you are headed and how to get there. Unlike other plans, it is focused further into unknown futures and requires lots of buy-in from many decision-makers, influencers, and teams that will put the plan into action.

At the heart of the plan is your strategy. Let’s keep it simple. A strategy is a collection of your long-term goals and your big purpose for being in existence. The plan is how to get there. A great strategy is anchored in reality about what you actually do and the capabilities that exist while  changing for continued impact in the context you operate in.

Be the best your organization can be

A strategy doesn’t exist on it own, on a shelf or a page on a website. It exists in the minds of everyone in the organization, stakeholders who are connected to your purpose, and funders who are invested in your success. It is interconnected between today’s reality and tomorrow’s goals. It has facts, dreams and actions.

Map out and ask:

• Who has decision-making?

• Who has a vested interest?

• Whose voice would give a different perspective?

• How much involvement during the planning process would be ideal from each stakeholder identified?

Get the right people involved at the right time. And don't hesitate to use an outside facilitator who can keep the conversations candid and caring.

by Michelle Clarke, M.A. Leadership