Developing your 2016 Strategic Plan – You’re Already Late!
by Deb Dietz, CEO at SMB Value Partners, Inc.
It’s April already and time is flying. For many not-for-profits and associations their annual meetings have come and gone or they are diligently working to make it an exceptional member experience and financial success. But what happens after all the hard work in planning and executing your meeting is over? Many staff members will go off on a well deserved vacation after burning the midnight oil for months. And, when they come back, the coma sets in. The lull after the storm. Undoubtedly, association leadership and staff members learned a great deal at their meetings with their constituents, committee members, volunteer leadership, service providers, strategic partners, and their board of directors. Many accolades from all for a job well done, right? But, what about all those ‘opportunities for improvement’ that surfaced during these discussions? Now is the time to develop actionable plans and face those issues head-on. Break free from the coma and get started! Consider Victor Hugo who said, “He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign”.
If you believe your existing, and perhaps chaotic, strategic planning process could use some re-engineering, consider putting these building blocks in place:
Strategy – Mission and Vision statements. I know what you’re thinking, and I’ve been there too. How many hours have we all sat around a conference table debating the difference between mission and vision? Let’s keep it simple and think of it this way: Mission (why we exist), Values (our guiding principles), Vision (picture of our future), Strategy (differentiating activities and initiatives).
Need - Revamping your performance measurement systems. If your company is experiencing issues including: a) debating the meaning of your measures, b) no one is paying attention to their measures, c) you haven’t changed your measures in a long time, or d) you’ve recently changed your strategy but your measures don’t link up to your new strategy, then you should consider implementing a new performance measurement system.
Sponsorship - Executive leadership must be aligned to the goals and objectives of the strategy and they must be held jointly accountable for results. Alignment fosters collaboration, breaking down business silos and gets leaders, and staff, aligned to common objectives. On a side-note, I recently participated in a roundtable discussion with CIOs and CFOs as part of a technology leadership networking group, and when I mentioned this point about shared accountability and alignment, I had the CFO of one company tell me, “Deb, you’re talking about nirvana; this type of alignment just doesn’t exist today”. I gave him some examples of how it can, and does, work – and then when I made the point about driving performance objectives across the executive leadership team, so that all the executives shared performance goals, and their compensation was aligned to those results, his eyes got even bigger. Nirvana, yes – but that’s not a bad thing to shoot for.
Support – While it’s critical for executive leadership to sponsor an organization-wide strategic planning process, the success of such an endeavor hinges on managers and staff resources working towards common objectives and being jointly accountable. If the strategic plan ‘cascades down’ from the leadership to the staff resources, the alignment and focus derived across the organization can lead to real breakthroughs in performance.
Organizational Scope – I’ve built strategic plans for employers and clients that have included different functional areas having their own ‘mini’ strategic plans, ensuring business and service unit related objectives ‘roll up’ to the organizational objectives and measures. This ensures alignment across the organization.
Resources - The strategic planning process should, ideally, include key staff resources as part of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Strongly consider who will best represent your department, division, or team and allow them to participate. I’ve seen very senior level executives and more junior level staff resources participate. This is a great way to get buy-in of your plan throughout your organization. Consider having a representative from each department participate. This is also a great professional development opportunity for junior staff members….even if they don’t have a ‘seat at the table’ they can be in the back row observing, and learning. As future leaders, this is a great way to give them insight into the challenges and opportunities the organization faces. Allow them to participate and don’t exclude or discount their contribution.
Data – Make sure you have the ability to measure performance, meaning you need to define the data to analyze and determine what your performance measures should be. You need to know current state, desired state and have access to the appropriate financials, and quantify the value of the improvements.
If you consider these steps when developing your strategic plan, I believe you’ll find the process to be invaluable. And, it’s not a once-and-done process, but gains more value as a repeating, evergreen, process. But, these steps take time, and like I said – it’s April. You’re already late.
by Deb Dietz, CEO at SMB Value Partners, Inc.
It’s April already and time is flying. For many not-for-profits and associations their annual meetings have come and gone or they are diligently working to make it an exceptional member experience and financial success. But what happens after all the hard work in planning and executing your meeting is over? Many staff members will go off on a well deserved vacation after burning the midnight oil for months. And, when they come back, the coma sets in. The lull after the storm. Undoubtedly, association leadership and staff members learned a great deal at their meetings with their constituents, committee members, volunteer leadership, service providers, strategic partners, and their board of directors. Many accolades from all for a job well done, right? But, what about all those ‘opportunities for improvement’ that surfaced during these discussions? Now is the time to develop actionable plans and face those issues head-on. Break free from the coma and get started! Consider Victor Hugo who said, “He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign”.
If you believe your existing, and perhaps chaotic, strategic planning process could use some re-engineering, consider putting these building blocks in place:
Strategy – Mission and Vision statements. I know what you’re thinking, and I’ve been there too. How many hours have we all sat around a conference table debating the difference between mission and vision? Let’s keep it simple and think of it this way: Mission (why we exist), Values (our guiding principles), Vision (picture of our future), Strategy (differentiating activities and initiatives).
Need - Revamping your performance measurement systems. If your company is experiencing issues including: a) debating the meaning of your measures, b) no one is paying attention to their measures, c) you haven’t changed your measures in a long time, or d) you’ve recently changed your strategy but your measures don’t link up to your new strategy, then you should consider implementing a new performance measurement system.
Sponsorship - Executive leadership must be aligned to the goals and objectives of the strategy and they must be held jointly accountable for results. Alignment fosters collaboration, breaking down business silos and gets leaders, and staff, aligned to common objectives. On a side-note, I recently participated in a roundtable discussion with CIOs and CFOs as part of a technology leadership networking group, and when I mentioned this point about shared accountability and alignment, I had the CFO of one company tell me, “Deb, you’re talking about nirvana; this type of alignment just doesn’t exist today”. I gave him some examples of how it can, and does, work – and then when I made the point about driving performance objectives across the executive leadership team, so that all the executives shared performance goals, and their compensation was aligned to those results, his eyes got even bigger. Nirvana, yes – but that’s not a bad thing to shoot for.
Support – While it’s critical for executive leadership to sponsor an organization-wide strategic planning process, the success of such an endeavor hinges on managers and staff resources working towards common objectives and being jointly accountable. If the strategic plan ‘cascades down’ from the leadership to the staff resources, the alignment and focus derived across the organization can lead to real breakthroughs in performance.
Organizational Scope – I’ve built strategic plans for employers and clients that have included different functional areas having their own ‘mini’ strategic plans, ensuring business and service unit related objectives ‘roll up’ to the organizational objectives and measures. This ensures alignment across the organization.
Resources - The strategic planning process should, ideally, include key staff resources as part of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. Strongly consider who will best represent your department, division, or team and allow them to participate. I’ve seen very senior level executives and more junior level staff resources participate. This is a great way to get buy-in of your plan throughout your organization. Consider having a representative from each department participate. This is also a great professional development opportunity for junior staff members….even if they don’t have a ‘seat at the table’ they can be in the back row observing, and learning. As future leaders, this is a great way to give them insight into the challenges and opportunities the organization faces. Allow them to participate and don’t exclude or discount their contribution.
Data – Make sure you have the ability to measure performance, meaning you need to define the data to analyze and determine what your performance measures should be. You need to know current state, desired state and have access to the appropriate financials, and quantify the value of the improvements.
If you consider these steps when developing your strategic plan, I believe you’ll find the process to be invaluable. And, it’s not a once-and-done process, but gains more value as a repeating, evergreen, process. But, these steps take time, and like I said – it’s April. You’re already late.
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