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Step 1: Describe your organization’s current purpose and mission. Step1 |
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Strategic Planning Objectives: |
Why do you want to do a strategic plan? |
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Vision, Mission and Value Statements: |
Guides actions and organizational direction. |
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Historical Pattern Recognition: |
Understanding historical patterns helps chart the future. |
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Step 2: Assess the current environment, trends, strengths & weaknesses. |
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Observing Market Trends: |
Organizations that thrive analyze trends and prepare for changes. |
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Customer Observation: |
Knowing your customers is the cornerstone of strategic planning. |
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Voice of the Customer: |
The VOC is used to capture customer needs or requirements. |
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Product Observation: |
Identify new products, enhance old products, and see new opportunities. |
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Process Observation: |
Observe the current process and identify improvement opportunities |
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Futures Data: |
Understanding ‘facts as they may exist’ clarifies potential outcomes. |
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SWOT: |
Identify your Strength-Weaknesses-Threats- Opportunities. |
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SWOT “Jump Start” Survey: |
Get a quick read with a survey |
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Step 3: Decide where you want your organization to be in 2-5 years. |
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Do Nothing Alternative: |
Predict what will happen if you continue current course of action. |
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Delphi Technique: |
Obtain “expert” opinions on the likelihood of future events. |
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Futures Wheel: |
Explore cause and effect relationships of future events |
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Strategic Options & Checklist: |
Help ensure all strategic alternatives have been considered. |
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Assumption Reversal: |
Reversing initial assumptions broadens thinking. |
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Strategic Goal Statement: |
Without a clear goal, projects can head down the wrong pathway. |
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Step 4: Develop alternative strategies on how to reach your Strategic Goal. |
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STOP: |
Template for Situation-Target-Obstacles-Proposal |
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Scenario Building: |
Scenarios (future history) are useful strategic planning tools because they help explain the developments along the way that may lead to a particular future. |
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Backwards Thinking: |
Working backwards to the beginning gives fresh perspectives on how to move forward. |
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Brainstorming with Note Cards: |
Encourages independent contributions from everyone. |
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Personal Brainstorming: |
Frees people to create without worry of others opinions. |
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Step 5: Pick the strategic alternative(s) you want to implement. |
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Force Field Analysis: |
Understand the driving/restraining forces in making a decision. |
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Prioritization Matrix: |
A low-hanging-fruit decision-making process. |
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Consensus Builder: |
Develop a team decision with a great deal of commitment. |
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Validate Decision: |
Make sure the decision does not create more damage than it resolves. |
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Step 6: Develop actions that align work efforts with strategic goals. |
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Balance Scorecard: |
Improve performance by aligning projects with strategic objectives. |
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Milestone Chart: |
Helps guide and monitor work efforts to reach the final goal. |
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Strategic plan – Immediate Actions: |
Steps need to be taken now to prepare for the future/ |
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Strategic plan – Future Event Actions: |
What events will trigger future action plans? |