{"id":3306,"date":"2014-08-04T11:09:47","date_gmt":"2014-08-04T18:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=3306"},"modified":"2014-08-19T09:56:46","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T16:56:46","slug":"working-strategic-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/resources\/hr-tips\/working-strategic-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Working Your Strategic Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Man<\/a>Has your organization joined the many that are embarking on a strategic plan?\u00a0 Public sector organizations are turning to strategic plans en masse with the hope of defining a better future.\u00a0 Beautiful documents are being created to represent visions of a better state.\u00a0 In a recent poll of public agencies, we found that nearly 80% of organizations said they had some kind of a strategic plan. Interestingly, the majority of respondents said the plan is used primarily for budgeting purposes.\u00a0 Fifteen percent said strategic planning has resulted in a pretty document that sits on a shelf.<\/p>\n

With so much energy and attention being devoted to strategic planning, it\u2019s easy to lose momentum after the document is developed.\u00a0 But the opportunities for leveraging the plan are endless.\u00a0 A well \u201cworked\u201d strategic plan has the potential to engage community members, energize staff, and enhance organizational impact.\u00a0 Here are a few ideas for putting your strategic plan to work:<\/p>\n

Regularly review the strategic plan<\/strong> \u2013 For a plan to come to life, it must be reviewed, revised, and reiterated on a frequent basis.\u00a0 A quarterly or at least semi-annual review of the plan\u2019s commitments is essential.\u00a0 At each review the governing body may choose to reaffirm the plan, revise the plan based on environmental shifts, or refocus the plan based on major changes.\u00a0 Regardless of what happens at the regular review, the plan will remain useful only if it is current.<\/p>\n

Gather input from community boards and commissions<\/strong> \u2013 While the governing body should drive the strategic plan, volunteer board and commission members play an important role in supporting and guiding the plan. The City of Richland, WA<\/a> has engaged each major board and commission in a conversation about the City Council-developed strategic plan.\u00a0 Each citizen group (Parks and Recreation Board, Library Board, Planning Commission, etc.) has used the opportunity to identify ways they can support and align their work with the City Council\u2019s direction.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translate the plan to individual employee efforts<\/strong> \u2013 The strategic plan is only as good as the staff support it receives.\u00a0 Another way to leverage strategic planning efforts is to cascade the plan throughout the organization, aligning individual employee efforts to specific plan elements.\u00a0 Incorporating the plan into the employee performance evaluation process is an effective way to create a line of sight between the organization\u2019s goals and the employee\u2019s day-to-day focus. The Town of Gilbert, AZ<\/a> has introduced a new performance management designed to do just this.<\/p>\n

Discuss the strategic plan frequently with employees<\/strong> \u2013 When employee performance goals are aligned with the organization\u2019s strategic direction, conversations with employees about their performance expand beyond the mundane.\u00a0 A well-aligned strategic plan allows managers to have regular conversations with employees about their contributions while reinforcing big picture goals.<\/p>\n

Update the plan on regular intervals<\/strong> \u2013 It truly is a VUCA world \u2013 volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Because reality is changing rapidly, it\u2019s critical to make revisions to the strategic plan on a regular basis.\u00a0 While a quarterly or semi-annual review allows the governing body to reaffirm the plan, a thoughtful, comprehensive revision allows for necessary course corrections to respond to a rapidly shifting environment.\u00a0 An annual update and a five year re-do allows the planning effort to sustain momentum.<\/p>\n

An agency-wide strategic plan is a great way to create an ennobling future, one in which everyone can get behind.<\/p>\n

But what if my organization doesn\u2019t have a strategic plan?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if your agency has not developed a wide-reaching, forward-thinking plan for the future, you can create a mini-plan that encompasses the scope and mission of your work group.\u00a0 Even without a top-down plan, work unit leaders can engage employees in conversations about the future.\u00a0 Team conversations about where your work group is headed can be engaging and encouraging, giving employees the energy to tackle their daily work.\u00a0 Even if your policy makers have not embarked on a planning process, you can do it yourself by posing a few simple questions to your team:<\/p>\n