10-Step Strategic Planning Process

10-Step Strategic Planning Process

Step 1 Obtain Consensus and Support

Worksheet: Starting the Process

Step 2 Identify Organizational Mandates

Worksheet: Identifying Organizational Mandates

Step 3 Identify Stakeholders

Worksheet: Identifying Stakeholders

Step 4 Clarify Mission, Vision, and Values

Worksheet: Developing a Mission Statement

Worksheet: Developing a Vision Statement

Worksheet: Developing a Value Statements

Step 5 Assess Internal and External Environments

Worksheet: Internal Assessment

Worksheet: External Assessment

Step 6 Identify Strategic Issues

Worksheet: Identifying Strategic Issues

Step 7 Formulate Goals and Strategies

Worksheet: Setting Goals and Strategies

Step 8 Develop Objectives and Action Plans

Worksheet: Developing Objectives and Action Plans

Step 9 Develop an Effective Implementation Process

Worksheet: Implementation and Evaluation

Step 10 Monitor and Evaluate the Strategic Planning Process

Worksheet: Implementation and Evaluation

Strategic Plan Linkages

Goal Goal Goal

Objective Objective Objective

Action Plan Action Plan Action Plan

Table of Contents

10-Step Strategic Planning Process 1

Strategic Plan Linkages 2

Table of Contents 3

Strategic Planning Worksheets

Starting the Process 4

Identifying Organizational Mandates 6

Identifying Stakeholders 7

Developing a Mission Statement 8

Developing a Vision Statement 9

Developing a Value Statements 11

Internal Assessment 13

External Assessment 14

Identifying Strategic Issues 15

Setting Goals and Strategies 17

Developing Objectives and Action Plans 19

Strategic Plan Components 22

Implementation and Evaluation 25

Starting the Process

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Organizational Readiness

1. Why are we engaging in strategic planning?

2. Is top leadership capable and committed to this effort?

3. Is the external political environment amenable to this organizational effort?

4. What resources will be required for an organizational strategic planning process (e.g., budgetary, staff, planners, time, information technology, opportunity costs)?

5. Are adequate and proper resources committed to strategic planning?

Barriers

1. Identify impediments to initiating and following through with a strategic planning effort (e.g., leadership, resources, competing agendas, and organizational crisis).

2. Can these be addressed, mitigated, or avoided during the strategic planning process?

Benefits

1. What are our expectations for a strategic plan?

2. What are the advantages (direct and indirect) to this organization to engage in the strategic planning process?

3. Do these advantages outweigh the organizational costs and engaging in this process?

Structure

1. Who is the organizational Sponsor (i.e., top leadership which is committed to the process)?

2. Who is the process Champion (i.e., persons/group which provide the continuing advocacy and expertise to sustain the strategic planning process)?

3. Identify the members, roles, and responsibilities of the Strategic Planning Core Team.

4. Identify other organizational members and units that will be directly engaged in the process.

Schedule

1. What is the timetable to complete the process?

2. What are the phased steps, benchmarks, and outcomes that must be accomplished to complete the entire process?

Participation and Communication

1. What is our plan for involving internal and external stakeholders in the strategic planning process?

2. What internal teams will be initiated to help with the various components of this process?

3. How will we communicate the implementation, progress, and final results of the strategic planning process to our internal and external stakeholders?

Checklist

Proposal for Strategic Planning - a Checklist

q Purpose of the strategic planning effort / q Identification of those involved & their roles
q Commitment by top leadership / q Opportunities for participation (e.g. teams)
q Benefits to the organization & members / q Organizational familiarization, training, and
communications plans
q Specific steps of the process
q Time frames / q Anticipated outcome

Identifying Organizational Mandates

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Identifying organizational mandates

Before a mission, goals, and objectives can be identified, an organization must identify what it is required to do - its mandates.

Questions to ask:

1. What is our organization's formal authority? (usually found in code, ordinances, charter

2. What are our organization's formal mandates? (legal or other binding expectations)

3. Are there information requirements or mandates for the organization? (e.g., do other agencies have written or informal agreements with us ; political mandate from the voters)

Identifying Stakeholders

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Stakeholders

Any person, group, or organization than has a claim (i.e., "stake") on the organization's attention, resources, or services/products; it is also any entity which is affected by the organization.

External Stakeholders

Identify the persons and groups that fall into external areas such as:

· Community (civic, fraternal, special interest, minority, religious, youth, neighborhood groups)

· Public interest groups

· Business (primary companies, business interest groups, coalitions)

· Government (local and regional government department heads, planners, elected officials, city/county manager, social and human services, recreation)

· Nonprofit service providers (domestic violence, adolescent, adult, special populations, drug/alcohol treatment)

· Schools (local districts, universities, trade)

· News media (print, electronic, community publications)

· Criminal Justice (other police agencies, courts, district attorney, probation, parole)

· Competitors (private security)

· Citizens without special affiliations

Internal Stakeholders

Identify the persons and groups that fall into internal area such as:

· Employees (line, supervisory, mid-management)

· Functional committees

· Employee associations

· Unions

· Command Staff

· Volunteers

Contact Lists

Create contact lists for the stakeholders for later interviews/surveys

Developing a Mission Statement

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Mission

A mission statement is a declaration of organizational purpose; the raison d'être (reason for existence) for the organization.

Process

Contact (interview or survey) internal and external stakeholders to determine:

· What is the current mission (stated or unstated) of the organization?

· What are the expectations (internal and external) for the organization?

· What does the organization do well (e.g., core competencies)?

· What are customers and how can we best serve them?

· What does this community and organization really value?

· What changes should be made in our current mission?

Organize, discuss, and merge the responses into a draft mission statement that has the following characteristics:

· Tells "why" the organization exists and "why" it does what it does (not just "what" it does)

· Says what is important to the organization (what it values)

· Outcome-based (vs. activity-based)

· Brief, succinct, snappy -- KISS principle (not a dissertation!)

· Inspiring (yet not overzealous, trite, or maudlin)

3. Review mission statements from other organizations and fine-tune the draft.

4. Review the draft mission statement with internal and external stakeholders.

5. Finalize mission statement with top leadership.

6. Publicize the mission statement throughout organization and community.

Developing a vision statement

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Vision Statement

Describes what the organization and its service audience should look like as it successfully implements its strategies and achieves its full potential. It is a mental image of a desired future state that represents an improvement over the present situation.

A vision statement should reference the organization’s:

· Mission

· Basic philosophy, core values, and cultural features

· Goals

· Basic strategies

· Performance criteria; critical success factors

· Ethical standards expected of employees

Process

Contact (interview or survey) internal and external stakeholders to determine:

· What is their view of organizational success in the future?

· Describe this organization once it achieves its full potential?

· How is that different from now?

Consider breaking this exercise into components such as:

· Operations and Service Delivery

· Human Resources

· Organization and Management

· Technology and Facilities

Organize, discuss, and merge the responses into a draft vision statement that has the following characteristics:

· represents a preferred/ideal state

· is compelling--something we can stand behind

· focuses on excellence

· focuses on the future

· respects the past

· describes the organization's niche, or uniqueness

· describes how we treat our internal and external customers

· defines how we will behave and act

· describes a purpose for the desire change

· describes outcomes from achieving the organization's mission

· is based on values and beliefs (what we stand for)

Review the draft vision statement with internal and external stakeholders.

5. Finalize vision statement with top leadership

6. Publicize the vision statement throughout organization and the community

Developing Value Statements

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Values

A code of beliefs to which an organization adheres and aspires

Values = Guiding Principles = What We Stand For

Process

1. Contact (interview or survey) internal and external stakeholders to determine:

· What principles of service and conduct does the community expect from organization?

· What are our values now (stated or unstated) ?

· What does the organization believe in? What does it want to believe in ?

2. Organize, discuss, and merge the responses into draft value statements that address the organization's beliefs in general areas such as:

· Service delivery

· Constitutional role

· Organizational mandate

· Organizational mission

· Organizational climate

· Employees

· Customers

· Training, professionalism, communications, etc

3. Draft value statement which:

· Set forth the department's philosophy of policing (e.g., community policing; problem-solving, etc.)

· State in clear terms just what the department and its employees stand for (e.g., mutual trust and respect).

· Articulate in broad terms overall goals of the organization (e.g., enhance quality of life).

· Reflects the community's expectations of the organization (e.g., protect constitutional rights; prevent crime).

· Provide a shared framework for employee performance (e.g., fair and responsive customer service)

· Serve as broad parameters of conduct (e.g., integrity; respect for others).

· Provide a framework from which the department can be evaluated (e.g., can the community determine if we live up to our values?)

· Inspire those in the organization (e.g., noble principles).

4. Prioritize the top 10 value statements.

5. Review values from other organizations and fine-tune the draft.

6. Review the draft value statements with internal and external stakeholders.

7. Finalize value statements with top leadership.

8. Publicize the values throughout the organization and community.

Internal Assessment

SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Strengths & Weaknesses

Internal SWOT

· Strengths and weakness relate to those abilities, strategies, programs, actions, and reputation of the organization (examples: community interaction; respect for persons; crime fighting; corruption control; training; youth programs).

· They also include those resources that the organization can access/leverage (e.g., budget; grants; foundations; community volunteers; inter-agency partnerships)

· Strengths can be taken advantage of and weaknesses can be minimized through the development of informed goals and strategies

Process

1. Contact (interview or survey) internal and external stakeholders to determine:

· What are our major organizational strengths (i.e., core competencies)?

· What is our major organizational weakness (i.e., areas to improve)?

· What can this organization do to become more effective and efficient?

2. Research internal information sources (e.g., organizational performance measures, service demand, workload, employee surveys, internal opinion polls, crime/arrest/clearance data, staffing trends - sworn and civilian).

3. Review external information sources (e.g., community surveys) which address policing issues.

4. Discuss, organize, merge, and cluster the information into categories:

· Operations/Service Delivery

· Human Resources

· Organizational/Management

· Technology/Facilities

External Assessment

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis

Strategic Planning Worksheet

Opportunities & Threats

External SWOT

Opportunities and threats include those trends, demands, influences and other factors in the organization's environment, which impact the organization.

Opportunities can be taken advantage of and threats can be minimized through the development of informed goals and strategies

Process

1. Contact (interview or survey) internal and external stakeholders to determine:

· What external opportunities does the organization have?

· What external threats does the organization face?

· Trends (social, demographic, economic, service expectations)

· What can the organization do to better serve the community in the future?

2. Research external information sources

3. Discuss, organize, merge and cluster the information into categories such as:

· Economic

· Demographic

· Social

· Technological

· Land use

· Transportation

· Service expectations

· Community capacity

Identifying Strategic Issues

Strategic planning worksheet

Strategic Issues

Any fundamental policy questions or challenge which impacts the organization's present or future capacity to pursue its mission. A strategic issue involves conflicts.

Strategic issues involve the internal organizational strengths and weaknesses, and the external opportunities and threats.

The identification of strategic issues must precede the development of organizational goals and strategies, which are responses to strategic issues.

Process

1. The Strategic Planning Core Team, having the results of the SWOT analysis (i.e., Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) identifies specific strategic issues that emerge.

2. Discuss, organize, merge, and cluster the strategic issues into categories:

· Operations/service delivery

· Human resources

· Organization/management

· Technology/facilities

3. Describe the strategic issues in the context of the organization's mission/mandates, strengths, weaknesses, and the environment's opportunities and threats.

4. Describe the issues as a challenge to the organization; something it can do about it.

5. Try to keep the focus on the issues, not answers at this point. However, if strategies do emerge, don't ignore them-make notes for the step when goals and strategies are designed.

6. Describe the consequences of not addressing the issue.

Final Screening questions for strategic issues include:

1. What is the issue, conflict, or dilemma?

2. Why is it an issue? What in terms of the mission, mandates, or SWOT 's makes it an issue?

3. Who says it is an issue?

4. What would be the consequences of not doing something about it?