PHOENIX CONSULTING

220 Benchlands Terrace Canmore, Alberta T1W 1G1, Canada Tel & Fax: (403) 678-6692 E-mail:  svieyra@phoenixconsulting.org

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Simon Vieyra will conduct strategic planning sessions for companies, associations, boards of directors or other groups. Sessions usually include extensive prior consultation with the client, analysis of previous planning documents, a pre-planning questionnaire (samples are available on request), analysis of the input, facilitation of the planning session, and the development of a final report.

The following article (written by Simon Vieyra) outlines his straightforward methodology and may be used by those who are not in a position to hire the services of a professional facilitator.

CORPORATE STRATEGIC PLANNING

"Strategic planning is deciding what you want your association to be at some point in the future and
determining and devising the action steps and resources necessary to accomplish long-range goals."
Reginald M. Watts, CSAE

INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING WHERE YOU WANT TO GO

The effectiveness of strategic planning is based on a very straightforward principle. If you want to get somewhere, your likelihood of success increases enormously if you have a written and approved map, the appropriate provisions and the commitment of those who will accompany you.

Successful companies, associations and boards invariably attribute a large portion of their success to the existence of a practical strategic plan, familiar to and supported by their staff and/or members.

Perhaps the greatest potential obstacle to significant progress in management (particularly as it is usually structured), is the transitory nature of some of the decision-making leadership and the consequent danger of radically different priorities being set in each manager’s tenure or each successive year. The company or association may find itself always stretching for, but never quite reaching, very different goals. This can be very much against the best long-term interests of the company and/or the membership, and a major source of frustration for the staff as they are continually pulled in different directions by different agendas.

Perhaps the most effective way of overcoming this potentially debilitating obstacle is the development and establishment of a practical strategic plan. Interestingly enough, less than half of the companies in Canada, have now or ever have had, either a short-term or a long-term strategic plan. This does not mean that those who have no formal plans are necessarily less successful. They may compensate in other ways. What it does mean, though, is that they may be missing an excellent opportunity to improve their chances of even greater success.

WHAT STRATEGIC PLANNING METHOD SHOULD WE USE?

There are three main reasons why companies and associations might not do strategic planning.
1.     Because there are too many different methods from which to choose;
2.     Because the methods are too complicated or obscure to be understandable or
        workable (like a "do-it-yourself kit" or a recipe which you give up on because
        you need a degree in planning to figure it out); and
3.     Because of three weak excuses - "We don't have the time", "Apparently the last
        one didn't work out", and "Everything is always changing anyway".

Directors and managers, who have experienced the benefits of strategic planning, will most often give the following advice, when asked how to choose a strategic planning method.
               – Make sure it is as simple as possible (everybody has to understand and
                  use it)
               – If it takes more than ten pages to describe the process, don't use it; and
               – If the method uses long words, complicated diagrams and has extensive
                 forms to fill out, don't use it.

Most methods require going to a retreat for a number of days and using a consultant as an outside facilitator. There is no question that the plan may be greatly improved by being away for a period of time with a highly skilled person. But if you cannot afford the time or the money to do those things, there is no reason to abandon strategic planning. Outstanding plans can also be put together by a small leadership group, during an afternoon in a boardroom, with a flip chart and donuts, led by the President, Chair or the Executive Officer. Add the luxuries as you can afford them, but don't let them stop you planning.

The essential ingredients of an effective planning method are actually very simple and understandable. You need....
1.    A mission statement;
2.    Some information about what is going on around you (e.g. economic
       environment, internal audit, membership needs assessment);
3.    A productive meeting with
        - people who understand and are involved with the organization,
        - an atmosphere which encourages brainstorming and creative thinking, and
        - an agenda which leads you through the process;
4.    A resulting set of realistic, clear, well-formed objectives with action plans
       (stating who is responsible, the measurable result, cost, time and deadline); and
5.    A communication, tracking, control and evaluation mechanism to ensure the plan
       stays realistic, is updated and works.

Although the experts would not like you to think so, there is no real magic to strategic planning. You just have to have the right recipe (straightforward and understandable) and put together the right ingredients.

THE RECIPE AND THE FIVE INGREDIENTS OF PLANNING

1.    A Mission Statement

The usual planning process begins with a basic statement of purpose - the mission statement (why does the organization exist or what is its purpose?). This is the starting point and focus of the rest of the objective setting and will usually remain the same over time (although, once it is established, it should still be reviewed at the beginning of each planning session).

A mission statement defines
            – what the organization does, for whom it does it, and
            – how it does it.

If you do not already have a mission statement, it will not be hard to put one together. Take a look at your Letters Patent or Charter first, because you may well find one included. Another excellent starting point is to ask others organizations for theirs.

The main value of the mission statement is that all other planning is essentially answering the question "How can we do what we do better (for the people we do it)?".

2.    Information About What Is Going On Around You

Before you begin asking such questions as "What are we going to do this year?" or "How can we do what we do better?", it is important to gather some essential pre-planning information. This may take the form of research you will want to do, documents you will circulate or questions you will want your planning group to address before progressing further.

The information you need falls into two categories:

         – The external environment audit
What are the current and foreseeable challenges, strengths and weaknesses in the general economic climate and outlook and in your particular area or business?

          – The internal environment audit
Has a needs assessment been done recently and, if not, what do you know about the current and foreseeable future needs of the organization? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current resources of the organization (e.g. administration, assets and staff)?

3.   A Productive Meeting

A productive meeting results from the right people, brought together in the right atmosphere, with an effective agenda.

The right people for a planning meeting should be....
        – well informed about the organization currently and historically;
        – motivated by the objective good of the organization and, as much as possible,
           without personal biases;
        – decision-makers and leaders within the organization, to ensure that others will
           support the results;
        – strong in interpersonal and meeting process skills; and
        – no less than five in number and no more than twelve.

The meeting leader or facilitator will ideally be a competent outsider, but if this is not feasible, the President, Chair or Executive Officer might take on the role. It is critical to ensure that whoever leads the meeting has the necessary process skill. If your President, Chair or Executive Officer are poor at leading meetings, for goodness sake find someone else.

The right atmosphere for planning is created by the leader and the participants, and must...
        – be conducive to brainstorming (listing a large number of ideas before any
           detailed discussion or identification of priorities);
        – allow creative thinking (accepting apparently "off the wall" contributions without
           judgement);
        – include ideas from each participant; and
        – come from being in a comfortable and uninhibiting location.

The right agenda for a planning meeting need not be very complex.
    1.     Review of mission statement;
    2.     Review of long-range plan (if one exists);
    3.     Evaluation of previous plan (if one exists);
    4.     External environmental audit;
    5.     Internal environmental audit;
    6.     Review of input from other sources (e.g needs assessment/questionnaire);
    7.     Vision of the organization in 20 years (optional);
    8.     Brainstorming, creative thinking, generating ideas for next one or two years;
    9.     Assign priorities and select the final list;
    10.   Finalize, form and clearly word the objectives.

4.   Realistic, Clear, Well-Formed Objectives

The real secret to strategic planning is in the objectives you set (when you finally decide on the highest priority projects, programmes and ideas) and how you put them into words.

Objectives must be:
    – Clear, understandable and simply stated;
    – Challenging, yet attainable;
    – Realistic and few in number;
    – Measurable and specific, stating a desired result; and
    – In a form which identifies
    – the action(s) to be taken,
    – the individuals/committees/staff responsible,
    – the target date/critical path, and
    – the cost (resources need) and work hours.

(Some companies, associations and other groups favour an even more direct method, which will identify only the ends involved in their objectives, leaving staff to determine the means necessary to achieve those ends.)

Your session may generate some outstanding ideas, but they will only stand a real chance of succeeding if you ensure that they are in the form of clearly articulated objectives, having the essential characteristics we have identified.

5.   A Communication, Tracking, Control and Evaluation Mechanism

It is remarkable to note that the following post-planning ingredients are very often completely forgotten. In fact, the long term success of your plan is completely dependent on these elements.

Communication: Once the plan is set it is essential that the relevant people know about it. It should at least be:
    1.    approved by the Board of Directors, or appropriate corporate management
           group;
    2.    sent in whole or part to the entire staff and/or membership;
    3.    (the relevant parts) included amongst the first items on the agendas of every
           committee, staff group, etc. at each of their meetings; and
    4.    made a regular part of staff and/or membership updates in articles and
           speeches.

Tracking: The development of the plan must be monitored by the leadership, staff and committees to ensure that the main objectives are translated into departmental, committee and individual objectives; that they remain realistic over time (and are amended if necessary); and that their progress is regularly and appropriately reported.

Control: The plan must receive the ongoing support of the Directors and the leadership. It must be the responsibility of the President, Chair and the Executive Officer to ensure that issues do not arise which supersede the priorities reflected in the plan, without suitable adjustments being made and approved to the plan. This aspect of the process is critical for the organization and the staff.

Evaluation: Besides the ongoing monitoring, the plan should be formally evaluated each year, prior to the development of the next set of annual objectives, thereby becoming the jumping off point for subsequent plans and the continuity between short and long-range planning. In addition, the strategic plan becomes the most important objective basis for evaluating the senior staff, e.g. the Executive Officer.

These four elements constitute the administration of the plan. Without them you risk wasting a lot of positive energy. With them your plans will bear fruit, your association will move forward and you will sleep a lot easier at night.

CONCLUSION AND THE OPTIONAL EXTRAS

The optional extras which you can add to your planning process and which can make it even more effective include:
   –  Using a professional planning facilitator;
    – Taking your group to a secluded retreat;
    – Having more than one meeting and extending the time for the meetings;
    – Having each committee, department and staff member develop their own
       detailed objectives based on those in the plan;
    – Soliciting input from the members of the organization, committees and staff prior
       to the planning meeting;
    – Reading some of the publications on the subject; and
    – Consulting with fellow directors and administrators who have
       extensive experience using a plan.

The hope is that this article has taken a significant step towards demystifying strategic planning. In addition, it provides both practical guidelines
for setting about the planning process, and a checklist of the essential ingredients of a practical plan.

THE PLANNING CYCLE

Copyright©1992 by Simon Vieyra
Phoenix Consulting
220 Benchlands Terrace, Canmore, Alberta T1W 1G1, Canada. Tel. & Fax: (403) 678-6692   E-Mail: svieyra@expertcanmore.net

RECENT PUBLICATION IN STRATEGIC PLANNING:    
Corporate & Individual Strategic Business Planning, Phoenix Publications, 1998
      (also available in Polish edition,1998)
      - includes text, transparencies, case studies & guide

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