You Completed a Strategic Plan – Now What?
By: Danielle Jessup, CMP
Your board and staff just put a ton of time and effort into making a new strategic plan to steer your organization in the right direction for the next few years. The strategic planning process doesn’t end when the meeting adjourns – that’s just the beginning. As staff, it is essential to provide post-meeting resources and execute effective follow-ups. This stage is vital to ensure accountability and action. Below you will find examples and tools to help with this process and a quick step-by-step guide in ensuring everyone stays on track.
- Organize, Identify, and Circulate
Ensure the correct plan is compiled, finalized and circulated to all key players – the doers and the managers. If needed, distribute visual aids or reports so members can revisit them during the execution phase. If the plan doesn’t specifically outline who is responsible for each section, or strategy, create a Responsibility Matrix to ensure clarification of roles. One good example can be found in Google Sheets – Titled: Project Tracking.
Consider assigning a champion at each level of the process – someone who can rally the team and advocate for the strategies.
- Establish Effective Follow-up
The most important aspect of the plan is action – ensuring accountability and tracking progress.
- Once the digital workspace and files have been distributed, set up an initial meeting to review the items and address any questions.
- Perform weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly check-ins, depending on the scope of each project. Use these meetings to adjust timelines or methods if necessary.
- Using a project tracking form is a great tool to ensure every task is assigned to an owner and it also defines project details such as timeline, priority of task, and deliverables.
- Use regularly scheduled meetings, like monthly board calls or committee calls to review the status of each project.
- Maintain Momentum
Strategic planning is a constant process. Ensuring that all key players keep the momentum of the plan in action after the initial meeting requires ongoing effort.
- If you are using a tracking system, this will allow you to show progress in real time and recognize individuals or groups for the work they have accomplished.
- Sometimes strategies need to be modified to ensure the objective comes to fruition. Adapting, when necessary, keeps the process moving. Don’t let disruptors, either within the team or the plan itself, create abandonment of the strategy. Staff and board need to remember to remain flexible.
- Regularly remind your team that their work not only has a long-term vision but will also have a lasting impact on the success of the organization.
- Evaluate the Process
Since strategic plans are completed every couple of years, it is important to review and evaluate the process, the outcomes, and the resources used.
- When objectives are met, consider meeting with those individuals to discuss that process and how it can be improved for the next planning meeting. Ask questions like: What worked? What didn’t work? Are there aspects that were not considered in the original plan? How can we refresh the strategy for future plans?
- Ensure the project tracking system collects accurate details such as the timeline, so future plans ensure objectives can be met in a timely manner.
- Review processes that were modified to ensure future strategic plans are effective.
Conclusion
Having gone through my first strategic planning process, I understand fully that the work begins when the meeting ends. It is important to prepare your team by providing resources to effectively execute and track the overall plan. Ensuring the organization, accountability, and momentum of the plan is vital to its success. Don’t forget to promote the work that was completed to members, or those who are impacted by the plan. Conclude your strategic plan with the same momentum you started with.
Danielle Jessup, CMP – holds over 16 years’ experience in association and organizational management. She works in the capacity as an executive director for both state and national associations. Danielle holds a B.S. degree from The Florida State University. Fun Fact: Danielle enjoys spending her free time outside with her family, preferably somewhere in the water. She also spends a good amount of time on the ballfield and in a dance school with her two kids.
