Strategic Planning 5

Strategic Planning (cont'd)

How do we increase our chances of implementing our strategic plan?
Organizations and their leadership are often reluctant to commit time and resources to a planning process because of the fear of the plan "ending up on the shelf." This article addresses a key question regarding the strategic plan: What can I do to ensure the plan does not end up on the shelf?

There are three areas that must be addressed to ensure that the planning process and resulting strategic plan are valuable and useful for the organization:
The process that is used to develop the plan can guarantee success or failure. Credibility and ease of use are often direct results of how the plan was created.
The format of the plan will influence how and when people use the document in the workplace. Complex, outdated documents are doomed to remain on the shelf.
Management's use and respect for the plan influences the acceptance for the rest of the staff and board members. There is no reason for program directors to refer to established goals and objectives if the executive director does not.

Ensuring the Plan Has Impact
During the strategic planning process, it is important to include the following process, content, and usage elements to ensure the usefulness of the strategic plan to the organization.
Process Elements
Engage leadership
Include the informal and formal organizational leaders when conducting a process. Active involvement communicates a message of organizational importance and priority.
Work from a common understanding
Provide training on the process and establish a list of expectations and results to ensure that everyone is working towards the same outcomes.
Include individuals who will implement plan
Encourage all levels of staff to contribute to the process. Involving these individuals will ensure that the plan is realistic and help motivate staff to implement the plan.
Address critical issues for the organization
Failure or unwillingness to put these critical issues on the table for discussion and resolution might lead staff to implicitly or explicitly challenge the credibility of the plan, its priorities, and/or its leadership.
Agree on how the plan will be operationalized
Specify who will implement which parts of the plan, scheduling routine evaluation meetings to review progress.

Content Elements
Include an internal and external focus
Remember to address structural, board/staff development, and communication issues in your plan.
Do not get too detailed
Use the strategic plan to articulate the broad framework, direction and, priorities of the organization and its programs. Extremely specific plans become quickly outdated and end up on the shelf.
Create a balance between the dream and reality
Ensure that your plan is grounded in the reality of what can and cannot be accomplished.
Keep language, concepts and format simple
Make sure that the language is easy to understand, especially for those that are unfamiliar with your organization. Structure the document so that it is user friendly.

Usage Elements
Actively use the plan as a management tool
Actively using the plan for short-term guidance and decision making will establish a model for use.
Incorporate sections of the plan in everyday management
Formalize the usage of the plan into the day-to-day activities of the organization. For example, one organization reads the mission statement at the opening of every business meeting to remind the membership of the organization's focus and purpose. In another organization, the executive director requires that all ideas for program changes or expansion directly address how the changes relate to the organization's mission.

Organize the work of the organization in the context of the plan
Establish operational goals and activities within the context of the strategic plan (e.g., include goals and objectives in individual and program evaluations or have program directors refer to the plan to provide guidance in decision making).

Design a system for controlling the process
Ensure that there are mechanisms (e.g., evaluation meetings, monthly reports against plan) to inform management on progress.

By employing the strategies listed above, you can be sure that the effort you put into the strategic planning process will direct your organization and become a useful tool to both management and staff.

Should I use an external consultant?
The Role of the Consultant
When considering whether or not to include consultants in the strategic planning process, a planning committee should first have a clear understanding of what they really want from a consultant, and what assistance a consultant can actually provide. Peter Block, author of Flawless Consulting, describes three main roles that an effective consultant should play.
as "a pair of hands," a consultant can do tasks that a client organization knows how to do itself, but does not have the staff to accomplish (e.g., organizing meetings, drafting documents, conducting interviews with clients, and other such hands-on work.

In the "expert" role, a consultant provides knowledge or skills that the organization does not have in-house (e.g., doing an evaluation of a program or management function, providing an analysis of the implications of environmental trends in funding or service delivery, etc.).
In the "collaborative" role, the consultant works as a partner with the organization, contributing process knowledge, but leaving the rest to the client, who has the task expertise and staff to accomplish tasks once the approach is determined (e.g., providing guidance on the planning process and facilitating planning meetings and retreats, while clearly leaving the content debate to the client).

Typically, a consultant proves most helpful to a nonprofit when offering a combination of all three roles with the emphasis on the collaborative role, the consultant can significantly add to the productivity and continuity of the planning process. If no one in an organization has experience with strategic planning, then a consultant's assistance with designing and managing an effective planning process will help focus planners' energy where it is most needed and preclude their wasting time reinventing the wheel. Also, an outside person working with the group offers objectivity and neutrality. Sometimes it takes an outsider to ask the hard or dumb questions, and a skilled facilitator will help surface disagreements about important issues, as well as manage potential conflicts in a constructive way. Still, the reality is that it can be expensive to pay a consultant to do work that a staff could do. If cost is a key consideration, this could in itself determine the role (if any) that a consultant should play in the strategic planning process.

In choosing a consultant, an organization must also look for "fit." A consultant may have all the expertise one could ask for, but still should not be hired unless planners truly have confidence in the person. The consultant must be both a good listener and not afraid to speak honestly. Many important issues will be discussed in the planning process, perhaps including delicate issues that demand discretion or could arouse conflict -- so, a good, trusting working relationship between the consultant and the planning committee is crucial to a successful strategic planning process.

Checklist for Working with a Consultant
The following list delineates many of the issues described above and is a handy reference for organizers as they consider working with and establishing a working relationship with a consultant (the list is adapted from an article by Barbara Davis published in The Grantsmanship Center News, March/April 1983.
Clarify your broad expectations of what the consultant will do.
Decide roughly how much you want to spend.
Talk with at least two consultants and check the references they provide to you.
Ask each consultant whom you are seriously considering to submit a written proposal summarizing the work to be performed, the time line and cost.
Make sure you feel comfortable working with the person you select.
Develop a clearly worded written contract, which should include the following:

- a list of deliverables 
- a projected completion date 
- a schedule for payment 
- checkpoints along the way at which the client and the consultant can evaluate progress and resolve any problems that may have arisen 
- a mechanism by which either party can terminate the contract before it is completed 
- identification of the person in your organization who has the authority to agree to expenditures or approve the consultant's work 
- an understanding of who will do the actual consulting work.

How do I use retreats in the planning process?
A planning retreat is a meeting typically involving board and staff. It can be one to two days long, sometimes using a facilitator to help structure the process. Retreats are usually held away from the workplace or on weekends to ensure that participants can focus wholly on the issues at hand and are not distracted by the everyday interruptions of the office. Sometimes key stakeholders will be invited to join the retreat in an effort to strengthen the relationship between the stakeholder and the organization or to educate individuals around certain organizational issues.

Part of the value of the planning process is the opportunity for different elements of an organization to work together in defining the organization's future. Retreats can provide the means for achieving this aspect of the planning process.

When a Retreat Should Be Used
An organization can have a retreat at any time during the planning process, but the most common times are either at the beginning or at the end of the process.

Retreats may be organized at the beginning of the process to educate participants on the process or to build enthusiasm and commitment. These types of retreats are opportunities to begin collecting and processing information about the environment. Some organizations have external experts speak on different strategic issues that may be important to keep in mind during the planning process (e.g., changing client needs, potential duplication of services, or opportunities for collaboration, etc.).

Retreats may also be used at the conclusion of the planning process as a means to summarize the analysis and decisions developed during the process and as a communication tool to board and staff. Informing participants of decisions and ideas throughout the process will ensure that they understand and support the plan. The retreat, however, should not be used in place of this routine communication -- it is a time for recognition of commitment and contributions in addition to an opportunity for closure.

How a Retreat Can Be Formatted
Retreats are a combination of small and large group activities and discussions. The small group is used for extensive discussion and consensus building, whereas the large group is for reporting on small group activities, as well as brief discussions and final decision making.

It is important to have a well planned retreat that includes a formal agenda and planned outcomes distributed to retreat participants prior to the retreat. Michael Doyle and David Strauss' book, How to Make Meetings Work, provides an excellent reference guide to planning a successful retreat.

Benefits to Having a Retreat
A well planned and managed retreat can accomplish several key success factors that may enhance your planning process. They include:
Encouragement of creativity - many people in group situations stimulate each other to think beyond traditional boundaries.
Teambuilding for the organization - people work together more efficiently once they know each other (e.g., personalities, work styles, methods of communicating, etc.). Retreats provide an opportunity for staff, support staff, and board members to come together and collaborate for the first time.

A foundation of common understanding - for many organizations, this is the opportunity for everyone to hear the same information and messages.

Drawbacks to Having a Retreat
Although using retreats may enhance your planning process, there are several potential drawbacks to having a retreat. They include:
Consumption of critical resources - a successful retreat takes a considerable amount of planning. The process also consumes both cash and time resources.

Pressure to produce results at the retreat - often the purpose of a retreat is to identify and discuss issues. Not everyone feels that this is an effective use of time, and the retreat can be viewed as a waste of time and other scarce resources.
Generation of work the staff cannot or should not handle - participants often assume that because it was discussed, it should happen. Sometimes the group can feel overwhelmed with ideas generated and the planning process as a whole.

When a Retreat is Right for Your Organization
There are a few questions to consider when evaluating whether your organization should plan a retreat during the planning process:
How knowledgeable is the board about the organization and how much will they be able to contribute in this setting?
What outcomes are the different parties looking for in the retreat? How realistic is it that all outcomes will be accomplished?
How willing are the board and staff to commit the preparation and participation time?

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