Strategic Planning

demystified

Definition
What it is:
Management tool Choosing a desired future Consciously responding to dynamic environment Process, not an event Creative, interactive

Pitfalls
What not to do:
Separating planning from experience and planners from doers Legitimizing of what is being done Controlling future Assuming the future is predictable Reacting rather than interacting with environment

Assumptions
Creating leaderships commitment at the top
Entering the process without predetermined solutions Responding to the received input (avoid managed consensus) Working as a team

Defining the planning process

Following a clear path Deciding and agreeing on a timeline and how decisions will be made

Strategic Planning: The Path

Diagnostic Phase (Data Gathering)

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Diagnostic Phase
Understanding the BIG picture
TOOLS: Puzzling toward the future SWOT

Sharing perspectives
TOOLS: Stakeholder analysis (parents, students, faculty, alumni, staff, community partners)

Diagnostic Phase: Puzzling toward the future

Subject Area Experts

LEARNING Political Trends

TEACHING Political Trends

Economic Trends

Demographics (Student Profiling)

Economic Trends

Demographics (Student Profiling)

Globalization

Technology

Reconfigure Groups

Globalization

Technology

Diagnostic Phase: SWOT

External Environment (Outside the organization)

External Environment (Within the organization but outside the unit)

Internal Environment (Within the unit)

Strengths/ Weaknesses Internal Opportunities/Threats

External Opportunities/Threats

Diagnostic Phase: Stakeholder Analysis

Online bulletin boards and focus groups (alumni, community partners, parents) In-person focus groups (students, faculty, staff)

Visioning
Values
Tools: Values Audit Cultural Assessment using affinity diagram

Mission
Tools: Mindmap

Vision
Tools: Affinity diagram

Visioning: Values
Values are the set of beliefs people share about how to operate in conducting business Values are behaviors that are truly lived Values are special, unique, lasting, enduring Values guide, align, and galvanize an organization

Visioning: Mission
Overall purpose or contribution to the society. A clear statement of the reasons for being, and of the functions and desires the organization is to meet and fulfill. Never completely achieved because it is the reason for existence and not a measurable goal. It shouldnt be too narrow and focused on services. More attention should be paid to meeting the needs of the stakeholders. Mission is not necessary what differentiates one organization from another but what matters most to stakeholders.

Mission: Mindmap

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BENEFITS

EXPECTATIONS

Visioning: Vision
Provides a clear, easily understood image of a better future. Embodies values and directs the organization to what will be different and distinctive. Guides and inspires stakeholders but its not everlasting. May change every 5-10 years, just as the environment changes.

Goals Setting
Keep in mind
Values Mission Vision

Go back to the diagnostic phase

Recommendations generated in SWOT analysis Recommendations from the Puzzling toward the future exercise Stakeholder analysis outcomes

Broad statement of a desirable and measurable result in achieving the organizational vision

Action Planning
Strategic goal Objective 1 Action step 1.1:
Assigned to
Date due

Action step 1.2:

Assigned to Date due

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability

Monitoring = maximizing opportunities, cutting losses Evaluation = reporting on progress Accountability = built-in consequences and points of accountability, recognition and rewards

Thank You!
Communication / Focus / Execution Northern Arizona University Planning and Institutional Research (928) 523-7814 Eva.Hatchner@nau.edu