Strategic planning is a management term to describe an organisation’s future planning, usually over a two to five year time frame. It is a process that helps organisations identify what they want to achieve in the future and the path they can take to get there. A strategic plan:
- Creates a vision for the future.
- Provides specific goals, strategies and activities to achieve the vision.
- Helps focus on outcomes and how they can be achieved.
Involves leadership and decision-making about resources, priorities and timeframes.
Why is it important?
The process for creating a strategic plan:
- Provides staff and customers the opportunity to have a say in the direction of your organisation.
- Provides agreed priorities for the future.
- Enables your policy directions to become a reality, helping to bring about real outcomes for customers.
- Helps to build stability and to plan for uncertainty.
A strategic plan will give your organisation:
- A formal process for learning from past experiences, developing a clear focus for the future and moving forward with greater efficiency and effectiveness.
- A mechanism for your board/committee to monitor your organisation’s performance.
- A clear and shared direction for staff.
What are some of the main components of a strategic plan?
The following are a few of the common terms and/or parts of a strategic plan. Not all plans, however, include all of the following. Strategic plans are, after all, documents for your organisation, to provide you with a plan for the future. Their design and content should therefore be tailored to your needs.
- Vision Statement: A vivid idealised description of a desired outcome that inspires and energises staff. Visioning is the first step of the strategic planning process; It should answer the question "What is our preferred future?"
- Mission Statement: A broad statement about the organisation’s fundamental purpose, scope and reason for existence. Mission statements can be as short as a sentence, or as long as a paragraph. They are useful because they provide agreement on what the organisation is about.
- Goals / Aims: Future targets or general statements of what organisations wish to achieve.
- Objectives: Objectives are more focused statements of what the organisation intends to achieve. The acronym SMART is often used to describe the characteristics of good objectives - ie Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-limited.
- Strategies: Strategies are the rules, guidelines and methods the organisation may use to achieve what it aims to do and ultimately its vision.
What does my organisation need to do to create a strategic plan?
Strategic plans differ between organisations. Some are relatively simple, others are quite complex. There is no right or wrong way of creating or designing a strategic plan. Most importantly, your plans must be relevant to your organisation and its stakeholders and provide a way of making your vision a reality. Strategic planning involves answering the following questions for your organisation:
Where are we now?
- Collect information about internal and external factors such as team effectiveness, current service outcomes, changes in government policy, demographic shifts and changing customer needs. Assess the impact of these factors on your organisation.
Where do we want to be?
- Create a very real and concrete picture, an image of what ‘should be’ and reflect this in a vision statement.
- A shared vision, as mentioned above, provides direction and helps people in an organisation focus on what they are trying to change and achieve.
- Identify priority areas you want to change in order to achieve your vision and reflect these in your goals, aims and strategies.
How will we get there?
- Identify strategies which are most likely to accomplish your goals and achieve your organisation’s vision.
Who is going to do what and when?
- After the strategic plan is complete, organisations may need to develop specific plans for the management of the organisation (business plan) or for its programs and services (operational plans). This process enables your organisation to implement the strategic plan and to plan and monitor organisational performance. These plans will often list the tasks that will be carried out that year and specify what will be done, how they will be done, the time frame for doing them, what will be apparent when you have done them and to what standard. This also includes identifying resources available to provide services and developing a plan to manage organisational risks. Once completed, communicate the finished plans to customers, staff and the community. Treat strategic planning as an ongoing organisational process, not a one-off event. Use strategic planning to drive day-to-day activities.
How will we know if we are there?
- Set up effective methods to ensure that the strategies are being carried out and that the desired quality of work is being achieved.
- Review progress against realistic, easily identifiable milestones (for example, key performance indicators) along the way. This helps to maintain energy for change.
References
See the Service Excellence Program for more information.
Bartol K, Martin D et al (1995) Management A Pacific Rim Focus Sydney McGraw-Hill Inc. Aidirondack S (1989)
Just About Managing A guide to effective management for voluntary organisations and community groups, London Voluntary Service Council. Prepared by Davis C (1996)
Strategic Management and Planning, The Health Industry Development Council, Adelaide, S. Aust. Strategic planning? Some nuts and bolts, Australian capital Territory Council of Social Services, (Online) (2007) Roe M, (1995)
Working Together To Improve Health: A Team Handbook, The University of Queensland Planning, The Community Door (Online) (2007)
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