Strategic or "Long Range" Planning

Strategic Planning is the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future. Strategic Planning:

• Provides a clear direction for organization
• Identifies specific Goals, Objectives and Strategies
• Provides an effective Tracking Process to ensure the Plan is fully implemented
• Builds Management consensus and strong Team alignment

Key questions that will be answered by the Planning Process include:

- What should the full scope of our function be?
- What is our function now?
- What will our function be if we do not intervene?
- What new and different services should we try to create long range?
- How will we get there?
- What must we do today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow?
- What time spans must we consider?
- When must we start work to get results when we need them?
- What will not get done at all if we do not commit resources to it today?

The Strategic Planning Process will provide a clear sense of purpose; bring the “big picture” into focus; break the tasks down into smaller and more manageable parts and finally; drive your vision into action.

The beauty of Strategic Planning is that it is a group process that helps to meld the organization into a cohesive team. When goals are shared by the team, the results are a strong and consistent flow of energy toward reaching the goals. In addition, as the team develops, responsibility is shared even more and team members are more likely to give, seek and use feedback from others. Of greatest value is that team members become more involved by choice, trust increases and joint resolutions are sought.