Practical Ways to Put Your Plans into Action

1. Practical Ways to Put Your Plans into Action League for Innovation in the Community College Sunday, March 10, 2013 Dallas Kathleen A. Paris, Ph. D. Interim Campus Manager Madison College, Madison, WI KParis@madisoncollege.edu

2. Planning in Your Organization • Just getting started • Have a plan, but not much action • Have a plan and lots of action Please add your dot on the flip chart!

3. The Power of Focus

4. “The purpose of planning is not to create plans, but to create results.” Patrick J. Below Author and Consultant

5. Strategic Planning • An organized process through which members of an organization reflect upon the challenges, opportunities, capabilities and resources of the unit, and the needs of their constituents, and identify priorities, future-oriented plans, goals, and action steps.” Professor Brent Ruben Rutgers University

6. Strategic Planning Is • Establishing major directions for the organization • Concentrating resources in a limited number of major directions in order to maximize benefits to stakeholders • Ensuring that the budget dollars follow the plan rather than vice versa. Paris

7. Your Thoughts? Why do you think most strategic plans are never implemented?

8. What We Learned About Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

9. Six Practices Correlated with Success 1. Meetings to get input prior to planning 2. Collective review of data 3. Meetings to review proposed plan

10. 4. Identifying measures of success (metrics) 5. Identification of annual or short-term goals 6. Periodic checks on progress

11. Benefits of Facilitation • Those using professional facilitators were more likely to report higher levels of benefit than those using ad hoc facilitators or no facilitators.

12. 5 Stages for Successfully Implementing Your Plan

13. 1. Creating the Plan The seeds for implementation are sown in how the plan is created.

14. Involve stakeholders Stakeholders = Those who will be affected

15. Why involve stakeholders? • You need information about their needs to create an effective plan. • You need their support for implementation. “Involving stakeholders is not a courtesy, it’s a necessity.”

16. Who are your stakeholders?

17. Use a smaller committee withmultiple ways for many people to have input into the process.

18. Representative Model Stakeholders have designated representatives on the Strategic Planning Team whose responsibility it is to communicate with their stakeholder group and bring back feedback. Example: faculty, teaching staff, clerical support staff, administrators, employers, community representative.

19. World Café for SWOT

21. Great graphics for reports

22. http://theworldcafe.com/book.html

23. Bring in Fresh Ideas

24. Study the data together: Where are we strong? Where are the gaps? What action is suggested? Require participants to interact with the data, not just listen to a report.

25. Review and refine plan before finalizing • Formal hearings • Brown bag sessions • On-line feedback • Listening sessions

27. Board members sign plan

28. Tweet what you learned! Learned about __________ # 145 #INND13

29. Formally adopt the plan

30. 2. Evaluating the Plan

31. Longand Short Term Elements 1. Mission (Purpose) 2. A long term vision (3-5 years out) 3. Priorities or goals that are updated (and reported on) every year

32. Questions to Ask • Is this doable in the timeframe? • Is it a focused plan or a catalogue of all the things we are doing? • Has someone’s “to do” list taken over? • Are the goals measurable?

33. What can we stop doing or do very differently?

34. The plan is a contract… • Leader: I will ensure that resources are available for what we are planning to do • Everyone else: I will do my part to achieve the goals in the plan.

35. 3. Communicating the Plan

36. Different versions for different audiences • If you can’t fit the plan onto one page, it’s not done yet….

37. 2010 • Arts & Sciences Strategic Plan • Madison College • Mission/Purpose • The Madison College School of Arts and Sciences exists in order to serve a diverse community with quality and flexible learning opportunities that support: • General Education foroccupational and technical programs • The Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees • Seamless transfer to baccalaureate programs • Lifelong learning • Vision for 2013 • Cultivating the spirit of innovation anda shared sense of purpose throughout A & S • Strategic Priorities • A. Effective advising for students • B. Physical space matches growth • C. Higher proportion of full-time faculty • D. Innovative and flexible learning options • E. Data based decision making • F. Producing global citizens

38. The Power of the Visual!

39. Strategic Plan Web Site

41. Use Visuals to Show Progress Service Learning and Community-Based Research http://www.chancellor.wisc.edu/strategicplan.old/graphs06/serv-learning.html

42. http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.htmlhttp://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

43. Wordles

44. An Inspiring Name for the Plan

45. Sharing Make it easy to see plans from the whole campus—all departments, services units, administrative units.

47. Use in public speaking • Champion your plan priorities whenever possible • Keep the message consistent • Encourage everyone to do the same

48. Find appropriate ways to communicate the message • On the back of business cards • Banners • Table drapes • Bookmarks • Pens • Notepads • Coffee mugs and water bottles • Mouse pads and flash drives • What else?

49. 4. Executing the Plan

50. The point person • Ensures that the goal is moving forward • Connects people working toward the goal • Serves as the “go to” person for ideas • Reports on progress • Does not necessarily have functional authority over the players • Create a “pull” rather than a “push”