Is your strategic plan really strategic?

Is your strategic plan — strategic? 

Having goals with benchmarks are important, however, often times they are not strategic.  Many organizations confuse or call their business plan a strategic plan. While organizations need a business plan, this should not be confused with a strategic plan. The simple test to determine if your plan is strategic or not:  can you answer this question, yes:  if you accomplish all the goals in your plan, will the organization attain its vision?  If this answer is yes – then you have a strategic plan.  However, if honest, most of the time you will need to answer no. 

Where does your Board want your organization to be in ten years (or is it five or seven or twenty)?  Answering that one question is the first critical step in developing your strategic plan.  Too often, Boards focus on the mission – what we are doing for our members.  The mission statement can be used to formulate a plan – but not one that is truly strategic.  You will not make changes based on your mission – you MUST make changes to attain your vision.

Let’s use something that often appears in plans:  items like membership goals, revenue goals, attendance goals and program implementation are often seen in strategic plans.  However, more members, money, and increased conference attendance on their own are not necessarily strategic.  Unless an organization’s vision is to be the “biggest” or “represent an industry,” the number of members belongs in the business plan. Membership produces revenue, which is usually a means to an end.

To be strategic a plan must consider what an organization wants to look like in the future.  For example, if an organization’s vision states that they will be: the premier, preeminent, leader in…. then the organization must define what that means and what it looks like if they achieve such status. A good strategic plan is typically broad in nature yet focused on advancements that can be made today to shape the organization’s future and impact what they are down the road.

This may be a radically different thought process than the current culture of an organization.  This also is a critical component of your conversation: is your Board ready for change?  Most volunteer boards are only capable of moving one to two steps beyond their current knowledge and culture at a time.  When pressed to consider more drastic changes boards often will get too far beyond their comfort zone and retreat back to that comfort zone.

Check back as future blogs will focus on the critical nature involved in developing a truly strategic plan.  We’ll start with how to develop an effective vision statement and then talk about how it is can provide the foundation for a strong operational business plan.  Both of these elements are important components in the planning process.  But let’s recognize them for what they are and the place they play in this process. 

If along the way, you have questions or comments, direct them here:  governancedirections@gmail.com.