Blog 29: Knowing the Steps to Create Your Strategic and Operational Plans

Introduction

If you are working all by yourself, you may not need a strategic plan, since you may be able to keep some type of plan in your head – and no one else needs to know the intricacies of your plan. But once you add staff, board members, and volunteers, a clear and compelling plan is essential to involve and communicate what you want to do, how you will do it, and what everyone should do to support these goals and objectives.

For example, when I am working alone as a writer or consultant, I know the plans, activities, deadlines, and responsibilities all by myself. As soon as I involve colleagues in my work, it is imperative to develop and share information on plans, activities, deadlines, and responsibilities, so we can coordinate and work together to achieve the desired results.

The Importance of Strategic and Operational Planning

It Takes Team + Work to Succeed

It takes teamwork to succeed in nonprofit work as well as in sports! That’s why my slogan is “Working together for a better world through strategy, teamwork, and leadership.” On a successful football team, it is the coach’s job to put together the game plan based on experience, research, and optimism. The players need to know the plans, the strategy, their responsibilities, and the ways of working together to win.

I recall the reflection of a classmate at a high school reunion when he said, “We never won many games, but we learned something even more important and that was teamwork. If I didn’t do my job as part of the team, it could hurt a fellow team member.” I thought of that as I read the Boston Globe headlines after the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA Championship: “Jason Tatum – a star on his own – finally realized his NBA title dreams by embracing greatness of his teammates.” The article emphasizes his learning about teamwork: “Tatum transformed his game this season, realizing he was surrounded by talent, surrounded by winners, surrounded by players who cared as much about his success as he did.” [June 18, 2024]

The other greatest basketball player of 2024 is Caitlin Clark who led Iowa to amazing success with her 3-point shooting, amazing passing, and team support. “Clark led the NCAA in assists in her last three seasons.… Clark dominated the Big Ten during her college career, as she’s the only player in NCAA D-I men’s or women’s history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four straight seasons. Clark is the Big Ten all-time leader in points and assists and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team all four years.” [10 Things to Know About Caitlin Clark, Apr 15, 2024]

How do you get good teamwork? The first step is good planning.

The Four Levels of Planning

In this book, we will take time to step through these critical levels of planning:

Research - to know where you are
Strategic planning - to know where you want to be
Operational planning - to know how you can get there
Culture design - to know your culture will support your plans
Organization development - to know you will have the needed skills

The inputs to a good strategic planning process are research, leadership, teamwork, organization, facilitation, participants, time, and process. The immediate outputs are the written strategic plan and operational plans for the coming period. The long-term outcomes include more committed staff and better, more strategic work. The results are better program impacts, increased fundraising results, and a more efficient organization.It is important to know the different steps involved in planning and to set and keep to an agreed timeline to complete each step in the process.

Larger nonprofits have a complex process to get the best thinking and support from staff and would usually dedicate three full days in a retreat while smaller organizations can complete the process in several half day sessions and community groups can do it in five or six evening meetings over several weeks.

Step-by-Step Planning Process

Step 1: Prepare for the Process with Research

Prepare for the process by conducting the needed research before the planning. Research tells you where you are, what you have done well and what you haven't, what new opportunities await you, and much more. Research findings are presented at the first session.

Step 2: Create a Common Understanding

The work of the first day or session of the planning is to develop a clear understanding of the realities facing the organization and to begin to think creatively about future possibilities. It is also about getting people to feel comfortable with each other. This is important because people from different functions will be analyzing and participating in decisions about other departments. Everyone working together as a team is essential for the organization!

Caption: "Steps in Strategic Planning"

Step 3: Draft the Key Components

The work of the second day or session is to draft the big strategic directions in the plan. Based on the research and creativity from the first day, these next steps define the components in the plan that will guide everything you do for the next few years. This includes defining your vision, mission, values, and strategic goals and also key strategies, positioning (image), credibility (trust), and culture (behavior).

Step 4: Draft the Operational Plans

While the first part of the retreat is focused on setting the foundation for planning and the second part is focused on the strategic level of planning, the focus of the third part is on operational planning. Based on the outputs of the first two sessions (research findings and new strategic directions), you can now have departments, teams or individuals, and draft their operational plans for the organization.

Caption: "Steps in Operational Steps"

Step 5: Review and Complete the Plans

The tasks after the retreat are as important as the conclusions of the retreat itself. It is imperative that you take time to present the strategic and operational plans to all staff, establish clear deadlines, complete other needed plans, review detailed plans, and present the strategic and operational plans for board approval.

Step 6: Address Critical Organizational Issues

Another level of planning is for organizational development (OD), which deals with more fundamental elements of the organization including its capacity, leadership, skills, and structure. As an organization grows and ages, it will face new issues and challenges, and you should pay increasing attention to these fundamental issues.

Conclusion

Catch the wind by creating good strategic and operational plans with an organization culture that unifies everyone in working together to achieve the results you want. Mix realism and optimism to get a stretching but feasible set of objectives. The detailed steps presented below are based on all the plans I have led or facilitated over the years.

Introduction to Tools for Strategic and Operational Planning

“Strategic Planning and Culture for Nonprofits: Clear and doable steps to create motivating plans and the supporting culture you need for success – Make a Better World”

For more detailed worksheets and additional tools, visit www.NGOFutures.com.