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Creating focus through collaborative change

 

Cole Consulting's Facilitated Strategic Planning  Process™

 "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction."

                        - Albert Einstein

Overview

It’s been said that if you don’t know where your business is going, any road will get you there.  You may not, however, be happy with where ‘there’ turns out to be.  Strategic planning is the process by which an organization identifies not only where it’s going, but also how it’s going to get there.  It is the roadmap that ensures that all of the ‘drivers’ can clearly see the best routes to take.  It is also the vehicle’s Owners Manual, that document that, when things go wrong (and it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’), any given ‘driver’ can access key information to keep things moving forward; swiftly, safely and efficiently.  And, finally, it is the Work Order that brings accountability and clarity to the whole process.  This describes the ‘content’ piece of the process.

At the same time, it is important to pay attention to the ‘context’ within which the process unfolds.  It seems that our tendency, at least in the American business culture, is to overcomplicate and analyze.  This is the last thing we want from a strategic planning process.  As Albert Einstein has so eloquently pointed out, it “takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”  Our belief at Cole Consulting is that human beings have an innate wisdom, that, when accessed and nurtured, help simplify and focus the direction and purpose.  This is the premise upon which we build our process.  In every instance, the process is modified and customized to fit the particular style, rhythm and culture that make your organization the unique entity you value so highly.  The following ‘Steps to Success’ serve as a template from which each organization picks and chooses the most relevant elements.

Five Steps to Successful Strategic Planning

Certainly there are variations, but the foundation of a successful strategic planning process involves the integration of these five main components:

1.      Focus & Prioritize – it is not ok to just add more things to do, as important as each thing might be; we must put first things first to achieve significant results.  So, first answer this: what does the organization actually have to be doing during the next five to ten years, to survive, to grow, to make a difference?  This is all done at a very high level (the 30,000 foot view, if you will).  The Focus should emphasize the organization’s unique assets, the will of its membership and the specific ways in which it takes pride in what it does and how it does it. 

2.      Perform a SWOT – a listing of the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and threats.  A truly effective SWOT is best performed with a diverse cross-section of talented leaders from throughout the organization.  The SWOT is the internal assessment tool from which the rest of the planning process unfolds and develops.

3.      List Long-term Objectives (LTO) – if, for example, the Focus of an organization is  “to grow our membership and improve our image in the community”, then the LTO’s define what constitutes “growth”, and how we’re going to “improve our image”, as well as what the organization ‘will look like when it’s ‘improved’.  These are developed at a high level, so they’re consistent with the Focus, but they begin the process of creating the practical application that translates into everyone’s day-to-day job.

4.      Develop Key Strategies – now it’s time to take the LTO’s, combine them with what we’ve discovered in the SWOT, and develop very specific strategies for achieving measurable results.  The Strategies are developed according to the functional areas that have responsibility for implementation.  They need to be measurable, observable and achievable.  Where the Focus and LTO’s are the heart and soul of the process, and the SWOT is the brain, this component can best be thought of as the muscle that is going to ‘operationalize’ the Plan. Here’s where we list and prioritize up to ten major, pragmatic strategies.

5.      Create Action Plans – this last step provides the “Who” is going to do “What” by “When” specifics.  The focus is by functional area.  The “Who” tends to be the different functional leaders, and the “What” is everything that has been identified in order to resolve threats, build on strengths, and leverage opportunities. It’s also the time to review any new dimensions revealed by reflecting back on the Focus & Priorities, comparing them to our newly developed Strategies and Plans, and make any appropriate adjustments.

Embarking on a strategic planning process takes time and commitment on the part of board and staff. With the organization’s future success as the group's objective, having a road map to navigate the planning process helps lead to better understanding and cooperation. How to best accomplish all of this?  As with most things in life, there are more questions to answer before we can get to the answers. 

Is the Board ready to move into a more proactive form of governing?  Can it give up the ‘juice’ that comes with the reactive form of governing through ‘fire fighting’?  Can the individuals who make up the Board actually work together as a healthy team to accomplish a greater good for the whole organization?  Do you want to have a specific direction, and a road map to help get you there, or are you more comfortable just driving around?

If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, then a qualified facilitator can help you get there.   With a solid commitment to the organization as a whole, and to the strategic planning process in particular, successful results are guaranteed.

The facilitator’s role:

1.      Help set the stage – this involves making sure that the right people are invited to take part in the planning process, that the appropriate pre-work has been distributed well in advance so that people are prepared to get right to work, and that the process is developed in such a way that successful planning is inevitable.

2.      Train participants in the methodology and facilitate discussion.

3.  Provide expertise in steering appropriate, wise planning development – although most facilitation work is inherently passive in nature, there are some moments during the planning process where an experienced facilitator will ‘switch hats’ and go into a more active role of leading discussion in more healthy directions.  There may also be opportunities, ‘teachable moments’, where it will be appropriate to provide complementary, on-the-spot training to ensure that everyone has the right tools for the job (i.e. Process Improvement Models, Active Listening skills, team building exercises, etc.).

Finally, while not necessarily an official role, good facilitators focus on customizing a style and approach that best suits each particular organization.  Part art, part science, this role requires sensitivity to the value and wisdom each participant brings to the process.  In the end, the ‘unseen outcomes’ – the joy of teambuilding, the opportunity for previously unrecognized individuals to find their leadership ‘voice’, and the sheer fun of creating new directions with clarity and purpose are often as valuable as the newly generated Strategic Parameters and Action Plans that drive the organization’s direction, and future.