Strategically Planning or Spinning your Wheels?

 

I had the pleasure of being a panelist at Cause Collaborative last week.  One of the things I said that seemed to resonate with people is that spinning wheels only look like forward motion. 

Does your organization have a strategic plan?  The absence of a plan allows for organizations to spin their wheels, disengage their volunteers, frustrate their Board and burnout their staff, all while not moving the organization or its mission forward. 

If there is one thing that I hate, it’s wasting the resources of a community.

Strategic planning is a process by which the board, staff, and select constituents decide the strategy for the future direction of an organization and allocate resources, including people, to ensure that target goals are reached.  Having a board-approved, staff-involved strategic plan that includes effective measurements and the allocation of resources aligns the organization, provides direction to all level of staff and Board, and defines the path for the future of the organization.  It also allows leadership, both board and staff, to reject divergent paths that will not lead to the organization’s intended destination.  

Where are you today? 

Where would you like to be in three years?

How are you going to get there? 

How will you know when you do?

Do you have the people at the table to accomplish your goals?  If not, what or who do you need to add (or remove)?

Let’s start talking – and let’s stop spinning!