Strategic planning
A strategic plan should be more than a document produced every few years. Used effectively, it gives the board and organisation a shared direction and provides a framework against which priorities, opportunities and resources can be considered.
Why it matters
Without a clear strategic direction, organisations can become reactive, responding to immediate opportunities or pressures without considering how they contribute to longer term objectives.
An effective strategic plan helps boards prioritise, allocate resources and make informed decisions about both what the organisation should pursue and what it should decline.
What effective practice looks like
A manageable number of clearly prioritised strategic objectives.
Regular board consideration of progress against the plan.
Objectives specific enough to inform real organisational decisions.
Clear connections between strategic priorities, budgets and resources.
Appropriate measures or indicators that allow the organisation to assess progress.
Flexibility to respond to significant changes without losing sight of the organisation’s overall purpose.
Common weaknesses
Strategic plans are developed but rarely referred to afterwards.
Objectives are so broad that progress is difficult to assess.
Strategy and budgeting operate as separate processes.
New opportunities are pursued without considering their alignment with existing priorities.
Responsibility for delivering or monitoring objectives is unclear.
Questions your board should be asking
Could board members clearly describe our principal strategic priorities?.
How regularly do we review progress against them?.
Does our budget reflect the priorities set out in our strategy?.
When considering a new opportunity, do we explicitly assess its strategic fit?.
A useful strategic plan should make decisions easier. It provides a framework for assessing opportunities, allocating resources and measuring whether the organisation is moving towards its intended outcomes.