Strategic Planning – How it All Comes Together

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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. The Strategic Planning Process

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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..

22. 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

23. 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?

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. Questions?