Many organizations and many departments or agencies within organizations already have mission statements. If no mission statement exists, the start of a strategic planning process is a good time to create one.

A Good Mission Statement

A good mission statement is the foundation of a strategic plan. A good mission statement:

♦ Tells the world why your organization exists, what difference it makes, what you want to be remembered for, and what wouldn’t happen if the organization ceased to exist.

♦ Is a statement – not a paragraph or a page or a long volume.

♦ Explains or hints at why you’re doing what you’re doing.

♦ Is short and clear and can be easily understood by staff and stakeholders.

♦ Avoids jargon and is easy for outsiders to understand.

Perhaps the most exciting part of strategic planning is thinking about the future and imagining what could be. This phase involves contemplation about the impact the organization can make on the world, and the legacy that will be left behind. There are a number of discrete steps, each with its own unique importance. The strategic plan should be grounded in a mission and a vision, and must have accompanying goals and objectives.

Each step is described briefly below and then in more detail on its own page.

♦ Mission: An organization’s mission is a succinct and clear statement of the difference it makes in the world.

The key to setting a solid foundation is data, research and the use of the best practices literature. Data, research, and best practices are a solid foundation on which to build strategies. Facts about the current environment help keep a strategy tied to reality and assure that the strategy addresses critical issues. Gathering accurate and timely data are essential to success. Clear presentation of the data is also important, so all members of the planning group are clear on the meaning and implications of the data.

Each stakeholder group or individual will have a unique role to play in the strategic planning process. Some may be included in the strategic planning committee and others sought out for individual input. Determining which group a stakeholder falls into is a judgment call. You will need to balance the value of having their voice heard during the discussions against their availability to commit to attending meetings.

For example, the member of the Governor’s staff who makes decisions on your agency’s funding will be an important part of your authorizing environment. However, the demands on that person’s time may necessitate their input via in-person interview rather than their attendance at each planning meeting.

There may also be stakeholders who have a very narrow scope of interest in the process but whose insight you would like to have. That can be gained through an interview, rather than participation in the full process.

Assessing readiness to plan and implement change is a key step in the community-based strategic planning process. There are two key factors to assess – the readiness of the agency managing the strategic planning process, such as the SAA office, and the readiness of the community to engage in the process. Each is addressed below.

Assessing Organizational Readiness to Take on a Strategic Planning Process

There is never a perfect time to begin a new effort. Typically in government we have too much to do and too few resources to get it done. However, there is no better reason to do a strategic plan than to determine how best to allocate scarce resources. There are a number of questions that will help determine if your organization is ready to take on the challenge of strategic planning.

Below you will find frequently asked questions regarding strategic planning that fall within one of the following categories:

→ General
→ Mission Statements
→ Vision Statements
→ Goals and Objectives

General

Who should be involved in the strategic planning process?
A core planning team from within the organization, and a wide group of community stakeholders should have input. Overall leadership should come from as high in the organization as possible.

Strategic planning is a process. It has a beginning and an end. But a good strategic plan is not set in stone, it is flexible to change if the situation demands as demonstrated by time and experience. As the chart below demonstrates, strategic planning is a continuous loop of activity, with each phase feeding the next.

Disparate funding streams are inherently confusing – for those inside and outside the agency. Consolidation of funding strategies into a coherent whole helps rationalize both funding and strategy.

Combining funding streams and other resources into one fund upon which the community may draw is important in changing how grants from the states are perceived by local agencies, and to diminish the categorical nature of existing public safety grant programs. Using the community-based planning process to implement change at the local level necessitates leveraging and coordinating resources rather than planning to funding streams or priorities set by the funders or officials not part of the jurisdiction.

A key stakeholder is someone who can help your planning effort succeed or fail – the person who has information you need, or other important resources for solving the problem – access to money or legislative or regulatory “fixes.” Getting and keeping key stakeholders on board is one of the most important aspects of any project.

All of these stakeholders must have access to information regarding community-based planning and believe – to sustain their involvement – that the process will either benefit them individually or better the community as a whole. This, like creating an infrastructure to support the planning process, will foster long-term commitment and institutionalization of collaboration.

How Can You Identify Key Stakeholders?

It is critical to identify and define “key stakeholders” – officials and groups from all levels of community and government, including:

Successful community-based strategic planning incorporates capacity building as part of the process to assure that the community-based planning process is institutionalized and remains locally focused. This is important because it enables successful implementation, even when other external forces, such as available resources and political climates, inevitably change. Building lasting community capacity contains four key ingredients:

♦ Outreach to build understanding of the process

♦ Developing skills to conduct and sustain community-based planning

♦ Fostering relationships to sustain the planning process

♦ Investing in evaluation