Do You Need a Strategic Plan?

Short answer: yes! But perhaps not just for the reasons you think.

When done right, a strategic planning process provides you with so much more than the typical blueprint for the next 3-5 years. A well-crafted process focuses on developing the capacity of the organization to think strategically and act nimbly in the face of adversity.

The 2020 pandemic taught us that situations change and can change quickly. As such, you need the ability to respond strategically to these changes, sometimes on a moment’s notice. The 3 to 5-year plan can guide the organization, but the needed pivot cannot wait.

So how does a well-designed strategic planning process help this? Short answer: it enhances your capacity to think strategically in the following ways.

1. It allows time for big picture thinking and discussions. During board meetings, topics often revolve around the day-to-day and month-to-month needs of the organization – approving the budget, discussing the upcoming fundraising event, reviewing program outcomes – without the opportunity to discuss big picture questions like mission and vision.

2. It creates a common understanding of your mission, vision, and programs among and between your board and staff. The conversations integrated into the process create this shared understanding that become especially crucial when facing new challenges.

3. It brings the board and leadership staff together. A well designed and facilitated process creates a supportive environment in which everyone has the chance to interact, participate, and speak. This exercise creates a stronger team among board members and between the board and staff as they learn more about each other and the organization. A stronger team can make better decisions in the future.

4. Most importantly it develops a culture of strategic thinking, learning, and acting. While most people look for the actual plan – ideas written on paper – as the ultimate deliverable from a strategic planning process, more importantly, a well-designed process should teach the board and leadership staff how to think and act strategically. Board member and staff should better understand their environment and the factors that could impact the organization either negatively or positively. That way, when opportunities arise – or things like global pandemics, civil unrest, or historically high inflation and employee turnover emerge – they know what questions to ask and how the different elements of the organization impact the rest of the organization. That culture and ability will ultimately determine the success of the organization more than words on a piece of paper will.

What other benefits have you or your organization realized from your strategic planning processes? If you answer “none,” you might need to review the process or facilitator that you use and find one who understands the important of process over product.