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Governance
The Fundamental Role of the Board in Strategic Planning
Planning, monitoring and evaluation are part of an integrated process.
Regardless of the board model, all boards must plan for the future
of their organization and take steps to implement the vision. Therefore
the fundamental role of the board in strategic planning is to:
1. Create and continually reshape the mission of the organization.
2. Develop goals that will move the organization towards its mission,
as part of a strategic plan. Set the "rate of progress",
which is how quickly the board can expect to see results of its
strategic plan.
3. Monitor how effectively the organization is achieving its strategic
plan.
Boards may choose to do more work on planning than the steps listed
above, particularly if they are working boards or collectives.
Why plan?
Some boards are reluctant to spend board and staff time on planning,
but planning is a good way to:
- ensure the organization's services meet the community's changing
needs
- anticipate financial or funding changes
- establish a process for on-going operations
- enable the board and staff to make proactive rather than reactive
decisions
- help the board, staff, and committees develop a consistent understanding
of their roles and the organization's goals
- establish a framework for relationships with governments and
other agencies
- provide the community with an understanding of the work of the
organization or create a basis for future evaluations
United Way/Centraide Canada
What are the steps of a strategic planning process?
Strategic Planning Model
Many books and articles describe how best to do strategic planning.
Here is a brief description of the five steps in strategic planning.
The steps outlined below describe the basic work that needs to
be done and the typical products of the process.
Step One - Getting Ready
To get ready for strategic planning, an organization must first
assess if it is ready. While a number of issues must be addressed
in assessing readiness, the determination essentially comes down
to whether an organization's leaders are truly committed to the
effort, and whether they are able to devote the necessary attention
to the "big picture".
For example, if a funding crisis looms, the founder is about to
depart, or the environment is turbulent, then it does not make sense
to take time out for strategic planning effort at that time.
An organization that determines it is indeed ready to begin strategic
planning must perform five tasks to pave the way for an organized
process:
- identify specific issues or choices that the planning process
should address clarify roles (wino does what in the process)
- create a Planning Committee
- develop an organizational profile
- identify the information that must be collected to help make
sound decisions.
The product developed at the end of the Step One is a Workplan.
Step Two - Articulating Mission
A mission statement is like an introductory paragraph: it lets
the reader know where the writer is going, and it also shows that
the writer knows where he or she is going. Likewise, a mission statement
must communicate the essence of an organization to the reader. An
organization's ability to articulate its mission indicates its focus
and purposefulness. A mission statement typically describes an organization
in terms of its:
Purpose - why the organization exists, and what
it seeks to accomplish
Business - the main method or activity through
which the organization tries to fulfill this purpose
Values - the principles or beliefs that guide
an organization's members as they pursue the organization's purpose
The product at the end of Step Two is a draft mission statement.
Step Three - Assessing the Situation
Once an organization has committed to why it exists and what it
does, it must take a clear-eyed look at its current situation. Remember,
that part of strategic planning, thinking, and management is an
awareness of resources and an eye to the future environment. You
will need current information about the organization's strengths,
weaknesses, and performance - information that will highlight the
critical issues that the organization faces and that its strategic
plan must address. These could include a variety of primary concerns
such as:
- funding issues
- new program opportunities
- changing regulations, or changing needs in the client population.
The point is to choose the most important issues to address. The
Planning Committee should agree on no more than five to ten critical
issues around which to organize the strategic plan.
The products of Step Three are:
a database of quality information that can be used to make decisions
a list of critical issues which demand a response from the organization.
These are the most important issues the organization needs to deal
with.
Step Four - Developing Strategies, Goals, and Objectives
Once an organization's mission has been affirmed and its critical
issues identified, it is time to figure out what to do about them:
the broad approaches to be taken (strategies), and the general and
specific results to be sought (the goals and objectives).
Strategies, goal and objectives may come from individual inspiration,
group discussion, or formal decision-making techniques, but the
bottom line is that, in the end, the leadership agrees on how to
address the critical issues.
This can take considerable time and flexibility: discussions at
this stage frequently will require additional information or a reevaluation
of conclusions reached during the situation assessment. It is even
possible that new insights will emerge which change the thrust of
the mission statement. It is important that planners are not afraid
to go back to an earlier step in the process and take advantage
of available information to create the best possible plan.
The product of Step Four is an outline of the organization's strategic
directions, its general strategies, long-range goals, and specific
objectives of its response to critical issues.
Step Five - Completing the Written Plan
The mission has been articulated, the critical issues identified,
and the goals and strategies agreed upon. This step essentially
involves putting all that down on paper. Usually one member of the
Planning Committee, the executive director, or even a planning consultant
will draft a final planning document and submit it for review, to
all key decision makers (usually the board and senior staff). This
is also the time to consult with senior staff to determine whether
the document can be translated into operating plans (the subsequent
detailed action plans for accomplishing the goals proposed by the
strategic plan).
Revisions should not be dragged out for months, but action should
be taken to answer any important questions that are raised at this
step. It would certainly be a mistake to bury conflict at this step
just to wrap up the process more quickly, because the conflict,
if serious, will inevitably undermine the potency of the strategic
directions chosen by the planning committee.
The product of Step Five is a strategic plan!
Adapted from:
Copyright (c) 1994-95 Support Center, 106 -Mission Street, 5th Floor,
San Francisco, CA, USA 94103-3113. 415-974-5100. Distribution and
reprinting permitted as long as this copyright notice is included
All Rights Reserved.
For reprint permission, please email the Editor.
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