6 Steps To A Successful Strategic Plan
1. Perform your own SWOT analysis: What did you do right last year? What did you do wrong? What are your institution's values ... be honest.
2. Be reflective: What do you think, as an institution, that really holds you back? How can you create your own self-fulfilling prophesy?
3. Be focused: Where do you need to focus to be successful next year? Now pick the ONE thing you want to really put all of your resources into.
4. Step up: With your measurable goals - assign specific responsibilities to team members. Spread the accountability across the entire team so that no one person has an unattainable mountain of work.
5. Share: Communicate to all employees the strategic goals. Let them know how your institution is doing on a regular basis to keep them motivated.
6. Do the hardest work: Too often, strategic plans look great, make sense and fall flat. Measure your efforts against the goals - monthly. Meet as a Strategic Team to discuss the progress of each responsibility and results against the goals. Hold everyone accountable all year.
Note: Sometimes it helps to bring in an industry expert as facilitator to ask the tough questions and state the sometimes sensitive facts.
Take care,Eric