Ten practical ways to get your organisation to think and act strategically
A good strategy is more than a smart looking plan. It should bring people together, review progress and opportunities and develop a clear and realistic direction that will drive the organisation forward.
- Look outside. Good strategy is an ‘outside-in’ process. It should start with a review at the main trends that could affect your work, how the context that you work in is changing and how you might respond.
- Challenge your assumptions. It’s an opportunity to occasionally rethink some of the ideas and thinking that underpins what you do and how you operate.
- Start at the end. Work out where you want to be in say three years time and work back to where you are now.
- Think outcomes. What are the key outcomes or differences you want to make? How can we use the limited resources we have to make the greatest impact?
- Don’t get too involved in detail. Be careful of over-planning and leaving no space to be flexible or respond to unplanned events and opportunities.
- Ask stakeholders what they think. Get the perspective of users, funders and partners. How do they think you should develop?
- Benchmark. Compare yourself with others in your field or sector. What can you learn from their experience? What ideas can you steal!
- Focus on success. Build a positive vision of your future. How will you know if you have been successful? What’s the organisational ambition?
- Involve people. People are more likely to work to the plan if they have been involved in putting it together.
- Keep it alive. Make sure it doesn’t just become a document on the shelf. Plan how you will use it, review it and keep it relevant.
Contact me to discuss way in which I can help you with strategic and business planning.