Chamber Leadership: strategic plan

Showing posts with label strategic plan. Show all posts

Creating a Chamber of Commerce Strategic Plan

Developing a comprehensive strategic plan is crucial for a chamber of commerce to effectively serve its members and contribute to the community's economic growth.

The following is a step-by-step guide to help you in your next strategic planning activity:

1. Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Identify the chamber's core competencies, resources, and advantages.
Weaknesses: Pinpoint areas where the chamber can improve or lacks resources.
Opportunities: Explore potential areas for growth and development.
Threats: Assess external factors that could impact the chamber's success.

2. Define Your Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission: Clearly articulate the chamber's purpose and reason for existence.
Vision: Envision the chamber's desired future state and long-term goals.
Values: Establish the guiding principles and beliefs that underpin the chamber's operations.

3. Identify Key Stakeholders

Members: Understand their needs, expectations, and challenges.
Community Leaders: Collaborate with local government, education, and non-profit organizations.
Economic Development Partners: Build relationships with economic development agencies.
Staff and Board: Involve the chamber's internal team in the planning process.

4. Set Clear Goals and Objectives

SMART Goals: Develop Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals.
Prioritize: Focus on a limited number of key objectives to avoid spreading resources too thin.
Align with Mission and Vision: Ensure goals contribute to the overall strategic direction.

5. Develop Action Plans

Identify Strategies: Determine the specific actions needed to achieve each goal.
Assign Responsibilities: Clearly define who is responsible for each action.
Set Timelines: Establish deadlines for completing each action step.
Allocate Resources: Determine the necessary budget and staffing for implementation.

6. Monitor, Evaluate, and Adjust

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Establish metrics to measure progress toward goals.
Regular Reviews: Conduct periodic evaluations of the strategic plan.
Adapt to Change: Be prepared to modify the plan as needed based on changing circumstances.

Additional Considerations

Involve Members: Gather input from members through surveys, focus groups, or advisory committees.
Collaborate with Partners: Build strong partnerships with other organizations to maximize impact.
Leverage Technology: Utilize technology to streamline operations and improve communication.
Communicate Effectively: Share the strategic plan with members, stakeholders, and the community.

Developing a Strategic Plan

This blog post is based on the title of Chapter 14, of Dave Adkisson’s book, Horseshoes vs Chess.

He starts out by discussing the difference between an internal plan vs an external plan.

Internal – is about getting the chamber back in shape and build the capacity to do more.

External – is about taking it to the next level. Once your internal mechanisms are in good shape, now it’s time to focus on what you can do for the community (think long-term).

He goes on to talk about how your strategic plan needs to also have a yearly business plan.

For a resource on creating a strategic plan go HERE.

He then went on to discuss reporting on the progress of your strategic plan.

It’s important that these updates be informative and accurate. It’s about accountability. The consent calendar is a great place to put the strategic plan update. Should a specific topic need to be addressed, feel free to make it a topic for discussion as a formal agenda item.

At the end of the day, the strategic plan (3-5 years) and your business plan (every year) progress reports need to be shared, internally and externally.

Remember, your program of work should always be tied to your strategic plan. Stay focused, your members will appreciate it and support you!

Strategy Outside of a Plan

I recently attended a webinar led by Lowell Applebaum, Vista Cova, on the title of this blog post. Lowell is also a faculty member of Institute for Organization Management.

He started out by making the following statements.

Strategy – a plan of action or policy.
Strategy Benefits – shared vision, mission.
Strategy Deficits – moment in time, these are times of change.
Strategic Plans – frequency should be a set of direction and goals – very different then the 5-year goals, retreats in the past.

Components of a Strategic Plan

History – where you came from.
Vision – your ideal future, ask your board what they would add, he used the term “additive listening” to create a group vision.
Organization Vision and Mission – why, leadership litmus test, resonance in affiliation, definition to the external world. Always put this in front of your board at every meeting. Use the back of your name tents to remind why your organization exists. Vision – statement of the future, Mission – how you’re going to do it.
Identity – who we are and how we act.
Audiences – know your who.
Core Values – what makes you, you!
Core Pillars – your area of focus.
Unifying Vision – direction and strategy for your volunteers.
Operational Plan – action items to implement your strategy.

Strategy Outside the Plan

What are you doing on an ongoing basis to help the strategic plan through everyday results?  He went on to talk about implementing a “Plan Ahead Team” – a group to keep their eye on the future and trends.  Think Foresight!  I did a blog on that topic which can be found HERE. It’s another way of saying scenario planning.

Listening as a Board Competency – he listed a number of ways you can touch base with your membership to get a pulse of what is happening in their industry, which included but not limited to, surveys, monthly calls, member visits, advisory groups, competition awareness, focus groups.

Strategic Refresh – what is your vision in the post pandemic disruption that we all have been dealing with over the past 12-18 months.  Get the right people in the room to have this discussion.  Have a plan for a quarterly update/milestones.  In 12 months, what do we want our members to say about us?

Core Audiences – who are your audiences?  Create a list.  Most will be your member’s, but you should also have a list of non-members who are your core audiences (i.e., educators, legislators, groups in your community that can’t be members, etc).

Program Impact Matrix – do you measure your programs for relevancy?  What a great way to get rid of those sacred cows.  For a blog post on that subject go HERE.  Others call this program-based budgeting, go HERE for that blog post.

Creating Space for Innovation – he talked about how we were forced to do this over the past 12 – 18 months.  But are you solidifying this for future growth?  Think risk/failure options on new programming.

Building Board Relationships – between the chief executive officer and the board is critical.  Communication is key.

Give yourself space and grace!

Strategic Planning - Better Strategic Plans

Bob Harris, CAE, an Institute for Organization Management faculty member, always delivers great content and this blog post is based on his recent virtual session at an ACCE program.

He started out by talking about the 5 things a Strategic Plan does:

Guides the Board of Directors;
Aligns your committees;
Empowers your staff;
Communicates value to your members; and
Drop programs that are no longer needed.

Bob suggested naming your next strategic plan - Vision 2025 or Vision 2030. He went on to ask the question, "is your mission statement and strategic plan in your board members hands?" If not, create something they can carry in their wallet. Less is more!

He talked about the 5 top documents of an organization:

Mission - purpose for existence;
Articles of Incorporation - relationship to state government;
Bylaws - relationship with members;
Policies - interpretation of the governing documents; and
Strategic Plan - roadmap for the organization. Keep it tight, maybe 3 - 6 goals, 3 strategies/tactics per goal? Some chambers are turning their strategic plan into their membership brochure. Think info graphic!

Bob went on to talk about best practices in creating your strategic plan:

Set the expectations upfront on what to expect in the process and what the outcome will be and the timetable (hopefully no more than 5 hours);
Hire a third party to facilitate the process. Maybe a chamber CEO from a nearby city;
Use story boarding for the process;
Include both board and senior staff;
Conduct every 3 years;
Due diligence - survey members on your program of work as a starting point for your facilitator; and
Strategic plan goals should be on your board agenda at every meeting.

For a resource on strategic planning go HERE. And go to Bob’s website for his two new books HERE.

3 Steps to Take Before You Sit Down with Your Board to Create a Strategic Plan

The more you prep for your next strategic planning process the better your outcomes will be.

How often do you conduct a strategic planning session or retreat? How often do you review your strategic plan?

Every year, every other year or once every three years?

Whatever your timeline is, it's important that you do your homework prior to your next retreat.

Here's three things you can do before your next planning session:

Background materials
Communicate the process
Set the stage

Background Materials

Tell the story of your chamber, where you’ve been, where you are now and that will set the stage for where the chamber should go. Key items to share from a historical perspective should include, but not limited to:

Revenue - dues vs. non-dues
Membership numbers - retention rates, etc.
Program of work - advocacy, economic development, networking, educational programs, etc.

And don't forget to attach real numbers to the above items. For a previous blog post on program based budgeting go HERE.

Communicate the Process

It's important to be transparent in your strategic planning process. Get everybody on the same page. When people know what is expected of them, they will deliver. Key elements that should be communicated:

Timing – set a timetable from beginning to end
Outcomes – set the expectation of what you want when you’re done with the process
Players - who's responsible and why

Set the Stage

I'm a fan of getting a third party facilitator to run the actual strategic planning meeting. They can keep people focused on the task and it keeps the process business like and not personal.

For a great resource on nonprofit boards from The Bridgespan Group go HERE.

Leader vs. Manager in Chamber Management

The official definition according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:

Leader - something that leads
Manager - one that manages

I like to think of it as vision vs. tactics!

We need both leaders and managers to be successful organizations and our chambers are structured that way.

Do you have both?

This post isn’t about becoming one or the other. It’s about recognizing the difference and playing to the strengths of each.

Allow me to draw an analogy we are familiar with – The Strategic Plan.

Pull out your strategic plan. I bet it starts with your mission statement and a vision for what you want to be. But under that you have a objectives and tactics laid out in a bullet format to achieve that vision.

The leaders create the vision (your board), the managers execute the strategy and tactics (chamber staff).

In my 20+ years in the association management field, it’s critical to understand the difference for your chamber to be successful.

Once board and staff understands their role, the opportunities are endless!

Strategic Planning

The strategic planning process has evolved over the years.

I’d like to focus on the process in today’s post. We can no longer create plans that are three, five or ten years in scope.

With today’s technology and the needs of our members changing so fast, our plans should be one, two and three year plans with the option to tweak as needed throughout the year.

Strategy is the key word in the strategic planning process. The following statements have been attributed to strategy. Do any sound familiar?