Strategic planning is a significant undertaking. It requires energy, creativity, time and money. Your resources are important and limited.
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Strategic Planning is what we do at Woodland Strategies. Here are a few tips as you consider your upcoming planning project.
- Align your leadership. Strategic Planning won’t work without this in place. Your board of directors, executive director, and key stakeholders should all be on the same page.
- Decide if you want to hire a professional consultant. You can participate or facilitate. Don’t try to do both.
- Figure out who your key players should be. Get the right people on your team.
- Go somewhere offsite for the actual Strategic Planning Retreat. The same old conference room is not the place to engage in this kind of thing.
- Establish ground rules before you do anything. Do not skip this step.
- Your plan should reflect your messaging. What is the big picture? What is your ten-year vision?
- Select three to five overarching goals, only. Things can get unwieldy very quickly. Set yourself up for success.
- Expect and embrace constructive conflict in a psychologically safe setting. Constructive conflict signals that change is happening.
- Be sure to have a clear document—not one that is collecting dust on the bookshelf. Put it to use! Have a dashboard highlighting your key elements. How will you measure? How will you measure? Who’s responsible?
- Communicate and embrace your plan on an organizational wide scale. Watch for silos. Is your team communicating in the most productive way? “Measure twice, cut once”—as they say. Have weekly reporting and monthly updates to be sure you are on your way. Don’t forget your annual audit. Consider your stakeholders.
Woodland Strategies is a business consulting firm located in Minneapolis, MN. We also have offices in Phoenix, AZ.
We specialize in the nonprofit and small business models as we assist clientele in creating strategic plans, marketing strategy, fundraising strategy and more. Our consultants also offer expertise in project management, nonprofit management, risk management, stakeholder assessment and more. We can help you with full six to eight month project, three month “tune-ups”, annual meeting facilitation, and workshops.
Get started today! Visit us to schedule a time to discuss your organizational needs.