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!

Designing Strategy for Sustainability

The following blog post are my notes from a recent webinar I attended sponsored by Institute for Organization Management with Dr. Steve Swafford and Dr. Jill McCrory of Leadership Outfitters.

The session was focused on designing a strategy for sustainability for yourself, staff, leadership/volunteers and organization.

They started out by asking the question, what is your chamber’s greatest strength?  The sample of responses from participants:

• Storytelling
• Mission minded
• Advocacy
• Relationships
• Communication
• Community builder

Then they turned and led a discussion on focusing on strengths.

 

Yourself – pay attention to yourself because the team is paying attention to you.

 

Staff – identify your staff’s strengths through Clifton or other aptitude tests, do some team assessment and get the right people in the right seats.

 

Leadership/Volunteers – what are the leaders best at?  What are their aspirations?

 

Organization – do you have a clear vision and mission?  Where are you going, why?  Do you have clear achievable goals?  How will you get there?

 

They then talked about the SOAR Framework, a twist on the SWOT analysis, that most folks are familiar with, and how you should look at your staff leadership and organization through this SOAR lens as a tool to maximize performance in the areas mentioned above.

 

Strengths – what do you do well?  What are you excellent at?

 

Opportunities – what are the opportunities here?  Even those not in your control.

 

Aspirations – what do you aspire to become or do?

 

Results – what are the measurable results and outcomes?

 

To me, the SOAR Framework is very much like the Hedgehog Theory in the book Good to Great – which asks the following three questions:

1. What do you have passion for?
2. What are you the best at or can you be the best at?
3. Where do you make money?

Where those three intersect, that is the business you should be in.

They also talked about strategic leadership and the three components they feel make up that process – strategic thinking, strategic acting, strategic influencing.  What possibilities can you see?  Maximize your strengths.

 

They pivoted to address the question, what’s coming down the track – change catalysts?

 

They have identified four big areas that organizations are dealing with - you don’t want to get hit by the train!  The key is to be proactive before you see the trains light.  You need to anticipate what’s on the horizon for your organization in these areas.

1. Virtual and tech
2. Social and cultural
3. Legislative and regulatory
4. Financial and economics

I did a recent blog post on Foresight that addresses this concept.  Go HERE for that post!

For more resources on strategy for chambers and associations from Steve and Jill go HERE.

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:

1. Guides the Board of Directors;
2. Aligns your committees;
3. Empowers your staff;
4. Communicates value to your members; and
5. 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:

1. Mission - purpose for existence;
2. Articles of Incorporation - relationship to state government;
3. Bylaws - relationship with members;
4. Policies - interpretation of the governing documents; and
5. 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.

Strategic Integration: Move Beyond Strategic Planning

After reading the book Strategic Integration by Gabriel Eckert, FASAE, CAE and Bob Harris, CAE, I thought I’d say a few words on my thoughts of the book and their theory.

At the end of the day, this book is actually about implementing that strategic plan instead of just letting it sit on the shelf!

They start out by suggesting getting your strategic plan down to one page or in the case of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians to a business card to keep it simple, which will allow you to communicate it to your members and the community at large.

I’m a fan of less is more and if everyone knows the plan – board, staff, and members, that’s a good thing!

For a previous blog post on strategic planning go HERE.

Next they talked about ways to communicate the plan through storytelling, mantras and visuals and doing that through all your communications vehicles.  The key, keep it consistent throughout your communication vehicles!

Maybe an infographic or a different design template can be used to communicate your plan.  For a great resource on creating visuals by Canva go HERE.

Next came operational excellence, and the bottom line is, if you don’t have the staff and resources to implement the new plan you’re in trouble.

Word will get out and if it’s just another promise, ouch!  I hope you’re not in that camp.

The book then goes on to discuss:

Maintaining Focus – don’t try and do everything the first year and monitor your progress implementing the strategic plan through dashboards or other tools.  The key is to have a system that you can measure your results.

Absolute Alignment – getting the resources aligned with each priority.  When the say resources they mean, financial, staff and volunteers. It’s critical to clarify the different roles of the stakeholders.  The book has a great worksheet in the book to assign roles.

Iteration Innovation – segment your program of work, have clear roles, failure is a positive, learn, and improve/modify fast.

Systematic Sunsetting – create a system where you are evaluating your programs on a regular basis.  They suggest separating your program of work into possible three buckets and take one bucket each year (education, advocacy, events).  They have a great template in the back of the book in the resources section.

Strategy- Driven Culture – they break this down into three components: redefining success, continuous learning and celebrate success.  My take, be flexible and study your markets to remain relevant!

It’s a great read and they have many templates, in the resources section of the book, that is worth the price of admission.  So, if you want to purchase a copy from the American Society of Association Executives go HERE.

Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch

Chambers have been talking about strategy and strategic planning for years.

Yes, it’s important but I buy into the title of this blog.

You can have all the ideas in the world, but if you don’t have a culture to implement those ideas, you’ll end up spinning your wheels.

What do I mean by culture?  Staff and volunteers have to trust each other. My take:

• Staff and volunteers working together
• Staying true to your mission
• Transparency
• The ability to try new things
• Trust

I talked about failing forward in a previous post HERE and it’s important to support the concept (the CEO and Board).

My final comment on this is the last bullet above.  If you don’t have trust you have nothing.

For an interesting blog on culture in the workplace go HERE or follow them on Twitter @WorkXO.

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?

• Plan of attack
• Position yourself for success
• Clear vision
• Simple consistent long-term goals
• Live in the present, build towards the future
• Shape the playing field
• Understand your organization and its needs
• Creating incentives

What’s the scope of your strategic plan?  Do they include elements of the above attributes?

If you’ve not gone through a strategic planning process recently now’s a good time to start!

For more information on strategic thinking and planning from the folks at Tecker International go HERE.

Just Say No!

Easier said than done!

Agreed, but you need to find a way to say no or your chamber will try and be all things to all people.

We can’t be all things to all people. Let me repeat that, we can’t be all things to all people.

Successful chambers figured that out a long time ago. Decide what kind of chamber you want to be and live it every day.

Read previous post HERE on the Hedgehog Theory from Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great. Through your strategic planning process you should have the road map to success.

Are you an advocacy chamber, economic development chamber or a networking chamber?

I’d suggest you should be known for one and live that brand. I’m not suggesting which you should be, just the fact that you should focus on one of them as your brand.

Your brand on the street should be:

• The chamber that advocates;
• The chamber that brings jobs to the community; or
• The chamber where you can network for business opportunities.

I’ll grant you that you may be doing all three, but pick one to plant your stake in the ground.

That’s your marker. That’s your brand!