Propel your growth with a proper plan. A strategic plan is just a plan. But what you put in it and how you act on it determine how useful a tool it is.
If you google strategic planning, you’ll get all kinds of complicated explanations and infographics and flowcharts with multiple steps about organizational growth process, yada yada. It doesn’t need to be this way. A solid strategic plan boils down to the answers to three questions. Yes, just THREE.
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
What will it take to get there?
Really, that’s all there is to it. Sure, there may be a good bit of work involved to get to this point (not always), but in order to achieve your goals and reach your potential, the answers to those questions are really all you need. It really is this simple. All you’re doing is translating your vision for the future into actionable steps. And those steps do not need to be complicated.
Your strategic plan doesn’t even need to be especially formal. Sure, large organizations are likely to have work groups, and stakeholder feedback, and needs assessments, and other complementary processes. But whether or not you need these depends on your program’s structure, size, type, and leadership.
Where are we now?
The first question asks, “where are we now?” This is an important step, because you should really reflect on your current situation and how it is and is not satisfactory. You’re not starting over, so you don’t want to abandon things that are going well. You also want to look at what is not working: those aspects where you’re not seeing the results you want or where you feel unsatisfied.
Also, look at your data. I know, data is like a dirty, four-letter word for some. But if you look, you’ll find a wealth of valuable information in it.
What are your most successful services? When do you see the most participation? Uncovering the insights in your data will help during the decision-making step.
You can make this as formal or informal as you need.
Where do we want to be?
The hard part, believe it or not, is deciding what you want nd where you want to go. Sure, we all have some great ideas swimming around in our heads like, “wouldn’t it be nice if…?” or “I’d love to…” but sitting down to commit to a goal or outcome… It’s really hard.
Get clear on what you want to achieve. Be specific. Take some time to visualize your ideal outcome. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What kind of things are you doing?
Once you’ve run through some scenarios in your head and have a solid idea of what you want, it’s time to start crafting some results. What you want can be really broad, or really narrow and as short-term or as long-term as you want.
Write out what you want to accomplish. I suggest using the SMART goal format. (You can read more about my approach to the SMART goal format here.) Again, be specific and clear about the results you want to achieve.
What will it take to get there?
Next, you need to decide how you’ll achieve these results. What are you going to do? How will you get from point A to point B? Write out the action steps. If it is a multi-step process, make sure you have all the steps in sequential order. Include everything you will DO to propel you toward your ideal program vision, down to the smallest task.
I find it helpful to categorize the action steps into:
- things that I can do right now;
- things I need help with or want to delegate; and
- the multi-step, more complex processes or tasks.
Taking immediate action on the items in the first category empowers you and your team with immediate results, which supports and increases confidence. This is critical to staying the course on the road to your success.
A Word of Caution
I want to take a moment here to caution you against a common problem with planning. The worst thing you can do is put a lot of effort into a strategic plan and then say, “OK, we developed a strategic plan.” And then proceed to put it away, or close the file, and walk away, never to look at it again. Or maybe pull it out a year later after forgetting all about it. I hear you scoffing at this as you read this. But really, I see this happen. All. The. Time. In fact, I would hazard a guess that this happens MORE than strategic plans are actually put into action. Really. And it’s a shame. So much lost potential.
Just like anything else, a thing is only as useful as you use it. If you put together a great plan, and then you act on that plan, and then revisit the plan, and tweak it, and course correct when things don’t go quite as expected, you WILL begin to make progress. It is that incremental progress that will propel you toward your accomplishment.
Revisiting Your Strategic Plan
I suggest keeping your strategic plan visible. Post it somewhere you and your team will see it frequently as a reminder of what you’re trying to accomplish, for example, the wall near your desk, your refrigerator, bulletin board, etc. DO NOT let it sit in your computer. You need to SEE your plan as part of your environment.
I suggest that you and your team review your plan regularly, especially if things are not progressing as expected. Take some time to revisit the plan, consider what is working and what could be working better. Then, develop strategies and adjust your plan to compensate. You are in charge of your plan and you are in charge of your growth.
Have you ever gone through a strategic planning process? What worked well, or not so well, for you? Share in the comments.
Related blog posts:
How to Write Goals that Work (Reflection + SMART)
3 Reasons We Don’t Achieve Goals – and What to Do About Them
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