What it is: The strategic plan is a concise and formal management tool that addresses a set of objectives, and prescribes a plan of action to achieve those objectives. It provides a framework for decisions based on choices that are currently available. It has specific timelines, input requirements, and deliverables.
What it is not: It is not a tool to predict the future. It is not a tool to replace leadership and executive resources.
The process: The process presumes an organizational setting through which decisions will be made in an environment where much activity is taking place and where issues continuously change. It is a creative process that requires flexibility in thinking, sensitivity to diverse personalities, priorities and politics, as well as adaptation to changes and surprises.
Assumptions
Strategic planning is not an exact science.
- Planning will be a continuous process
- Decisions will be made based on the best available information
- The future is not necessarily predictable
- There will be a range of outcomes
- The process will focus upon strategies that utilize current assessments
Deliverables
It is an employable management tool that will provide:
- A document that will serve as a blueprint for addressing and prioritizing the organization’s issues and objectives with a defined response
- An explicit framework for achieving the objectives (project, business objectives, etc.)
- A common reference for community leaders
- Milestones that are definable
- A platform to launch a feasibility study, project study or design process
- Consensus among all stakeholders (key donors, the board, the community)
Factors Affecting the Outcome
- The degree of commitment to the existing mission statement
- The amount and quality of information
- Level of cohesiveness among the stakeholders
- Level of participation by stakeholders
- Willingness by all stakeholders to provide full disclosure of information up front
- Size of the organization or project
- Volatility of the organization to change
- Volatility to external factors
- Effective Leadership
