Planning for the Future

Transcription

1 Community Change Planning for the Future A Basic Guide to Strategic Planning Other Booklets in this series are Doing it Well and Getting it Done

2 Page 3 What is strategic planning? What are the benefits of strategic planning? Page 4 Who is involved in strategic planning? How much time does it take? Page 5 What are the Key Elements of a Strategic Plan? Page 6 The Key Elements explained... Organisational Description Page 6 Vision - Mission Page 7 Values - Aims Page 8 Objectives Page 9 agreed and adopted? Implemented? Page 10 communicated? Page 11 kept alive? Page 12 Useful Contacts * for the purpose of this booklet the term group applies to any community / voluntary group and / or organisation. What is Strategic Planning? Strategic planning is when a group decides its future direction within an agreed time frame and develops a written Strategic Plan. The group takes time out to reflect on the work they are doing, their achievements, the needs of the community and relevant issues that may impact on their work. With this in mind decisions are made as to what the group as a whole aims to achieve in the future and a plan is written to enable them to get there. Strategic planning can sometimes be seen as something that has to be done in order to secure funding, however it is important to recognise the benefits of strategic planning. What are the Benefits of Strategic Planning? Enables a group to understand the reason why it exists and how it will act to serve this reason. Increases the effectiveness of a group through well planned responses to community need by identifying priorities, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and using resources efficiently. Enables a group to respond to changing environments. Defines what a group s success will look like and how they might monitor progress. Enables a group to share their understanding with stakeholders (anyone with a vested interest in the work of the group). Determines a group s future through long term planning rather than responding to immediate needs in an adhoc manner. 3

3 Who is Involved in Strategic Planning? It is the role of a group s Management Committee to ensure that everything a group does contributes to fulfilling its purpose and ensures its ethos and values. Management Committees should seek the opinion of staff, volunteers and service users within the strategic planning process. However, ultimately it is the Committee that are responsible for establishing the group s strategic direction and drawing up the Strategic Plan. How Much Time Does it Take? Groups can sometimes be reluctant to take time out of their hectic day to day running in order to plan but adequate planning time is essential in order to develop a comprehensive, realistic and achievable Strategic Plan. What are the Key Elements of a Strategic Plan? State a specific start and end date Table of Contents Organisational Description Vision Mission Values Aims Objectives Community Change would recommend that a group allocate a minimum of 2 days towards creating a 3 year Strategic Plan. If you think about it the Strategic Plan will outline the group s work and focus for over 1000 days. Setting aside 2 days to put that plan in place is small when that is taken into consideration. 4 5

4 THE KEY ELEMENTS EXPLAINED Organisational Description This section should include information that will be informative, particularly to readers from outside of the group: Brief overview of history of the group Description of major programmes, projects and services Overview of major achievements and highlights of the group Vision The vision sets down what the group aspires to do in 10 or 20 years time. What would you want to see as an overall impact of your work in that time? Some examples of Vision statements are: Fair, equitable and resilient communities. Our vision is a society where women s experiences are fully recognised and valued and where women enjoy full and equal participation in all sphere s of life. Mission The mission is a concise description of the purpose of the group. It answers the questions: Why does our group exist? What does our group do? Who are we doing it for? The mission should provide continued direction and focus to your plans, programmes, projects and services of your group. Some examples of Mission statements are: Supporting Communities to participate actively in their own development and sustainability. Our mission is to support the development of women s organisations, enable collective action EVALUATE and positively impact on policy and decision making processes. Values The values outline the group s ethos the core beliefs and principles that guide how the group carries out its work with stakeholders. Some examples of Values are: Community Change will promote and encourage learning and good practice through support, training and networking. Community Change supports and encourages positive approaches to change as part of the natural community development process. We value diversity we seek to find and represent the commonalities we share, while affirming, valuing and giving voice to our differences as organisations and individuals. We value feminism we seek, collect and disseminate information which provides evidence of the need for our work. Aims Aims set out priority areas of work for a group. Your aims should: help achieve your mission, show clear direction and be limited in number (4-10 maximum) Some examples of Aims are: Aim 1: Continue to build capacity of community and voluntary groups and organisations throughout N.I. Aim 1: Membership support 6 7

5 How is the Strategic Plan agreed and adopted? Objectives Objectives define key areas of work that are required to achieve each aim. Some examples of Objectives are: Community Change - objectives under aim: Development support, facilitation and training on the roles and responsibilities of Management Committees and Boards Development support, facilitation and training on drawing up and reviewing constitutional documents Women s Support Network - objectives under aim: Providing access to information needed by our members, through comprehensive library of relevant research material. Signposting member groups to other relevant agencies. A draft of the Strategic Plan should be circulated to the Management Committee for comments and any recommended, agreed amendments made. When the final draft of the Strategic Plan is written it needs to be formally agreed and adopted by the Management Committee. This means that the Management Committee discusses and agrees that the document outlines the way forward for the group. The acceptance and approval of the Strategic Plan by the Management Committee should be minuted. From that point on the Strategic Plan becomes the document that guides all the work of the group and should be referred to on a regular basis. How is the Strategic Plan Implemented? After a Strategic Plan is written and agreed it is essential to break this mass of work into small workable pieces. This is done by dividing the Strategic Plan into a yearly action / operational plan which identifies key tasks, responsibilities, resources etc. For further information on Action Planning see Community Change s Action Planning booklet entitled Getting it done - A Basic Guide to Action Planning. 8 9

6 How is the Strategic Plan Communicated? How is the Strategic Plan Kept Alive? It is recommended that the Strategic Plan is circulated among the Management Committee, service users, funders and within the community. Every Management Committee member and member of management should get a full copy of the Strategic Plan. Consider distributing all of the Aims and Objectives from the Strategic Plan to everyone in the group. It is amazing how even the newest staff or Management Committee member can gain a quick context, appreciation, and understanding of their group by reading the Strategic Plan. Consider circulating copies to the funders, statutory organisations, partners, government departments etc Publish portions of your Strategic Plan in your regular newsletter, and advertising and marketing materials (brochures, ads, etc.). Include portions of the Strategic Plan plan in policies and procedures, including the employee manual. Train Management Committee members and employees on portions of the Strategic Plan during Management Committee and staff inductions. Regularly revisiting the plan Make sure the plan is discussed at Management Committee meetings. It can provide a useful tool to take stock of progress, ensure accountability and identify the need for possible new strategies. Building strategy into all meetings Try to ensure that meetings have a strategic dimension to them- reviewing current activities, future thinking and planning. It s easy for a Management Committee to spend all of its time on day-to-day reporting and operational matters. Setting aside review sessions for the Strategic plan At least once a year the Management Committee should review the plan to check that the strategy is still relevant and informs the next year s action plan. Highlighting success When elements of the plan have been successfully completed make a point of letting people know. This can increase morale internally and also increase the confidence of external stakeholders such as funders. Informing new Management Committee members Remember to circulate the Strategic Plan to new Management Committee members to ensure that it is reflected in the daily work of the group. Not allowing drift It is easy for a group to drift from its mission, vision and values or be driven by other people s priorities. Make sure that everyone in the group understands and works within the strategy. If you need to change it, do so formally

7 Community Change Useful Contacts Community Change Tel: NICVA Tel: Community Evaluation NI Tel: www. ceni.org Rural Community Network Tel: Equality Commission NI Tel: Supporting Communities NI Tel: Labour Relations Agency Tel: Volunteer Development Agency Tel: National Council for Voluntary Organisations Tel: Workers Educational Association Tel: Other Useful Websites: The strategic plan key element examples are taken from: The Community Change Strategic Plan The Women s Support Network Strategic Plan April 2007 March Unit 8a, Weavers Court Business Park, Linfield Road, BELFAST, BT12 5GH T: F: E: info@communitychange-ni.org