Creating Your Strategic Plan

THE AUTHORSJOHN M. BRYSON is the McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs in the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and in 2011 received the Dwight Waldo Award from the American Society for Public Administration for “outstanding contributions to the professional literature of public administration over an extended scholarly career.” He consults widely on strategic management with public, nonprofit, and business organizations in the United States and abroad. FARNUM K. ALSTON is the founder of The Crescent Company and has worked on hundreds of strategic planning projects for public, business, and nonprofit organizations.

• Preface to the Third Edition viiAcknowledgments xiiiThe Authors xvPART 1 AN OVERVIEW 1Introduction 3The Context and Process of Strategic Change 15Readiness Assessment Worksheets1 Interviewing People About the Proposed Strategic Planning Process 282 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges (or Threats) 343 Barriers to Strategic Planning 384 Expected Costs of Strategic Planning 395 Expected Benefi ts of Strategic Planning 406 Thinking Strategically About Strategic Planning 417 Should We Proceed with the Strategic Planning Process? 51PART 2 CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC PLANNING: TEN KEY STEPS 53Step 1 Initiate and Agree on a Strategic Planning Process 55Worksheets8 Plan the Planning Effort 629 Strategic Planning Team Membership, Roles and Responsibilities, Reporting Relationships, Tasks, and Competencies 7110 Meeting Agenda 7311 Meeting Summary 7412 Meeting Evaluation 7613 Designing Learning Forums 7714 Strategic Planning Process Communications Plan 7915 Creating an Elevator Speech 81Step 2 Clarify Organizational Mandates 83Worksheets16 Initial Compilation of Mandates 8517 Background for Group Discussion of Mandates 86Step 3 Identify and Understand Stakeholders, Develop and Refine Mission and Values, and Consider Developing a Vision Sketch 89Worksheets18 Stakeholder Identifi cation 9419 External Stakeholder Analysis 9620 Internal Stakeholder Analysis 9921 Power Versus Interest Grid 10222 Key External Stakeholder Engagement 10423 Key Internal Stakeholder Engagement 10624 Mission Statement 10825 Values Statement 11126 Vision Sketch 114Step 4 Assess the Environment to Identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges 119Worksheets27 Internal Strengths 12328 Internal Weaknesses 12529 External Opportunities 12730 External Challenges (or Threats) 12931 Competencies, Distinctive Competencies, and Distinctive Assets 131Step 5 Identify and Frame Strategic Issues 135Worksheets32 Individual Strategic Issue Identifi cation 13933 Operational Versus Strategic Issues 14334 Master List of Key Strategic Issues 14535 Master Strategic Issue Statement 148Step 6 Formulate Strategies to Manage the Issues 151Worksheets36 Some Key Questions for Identifying Strategies 15437 Strategy Statement 15738 Criteria for Evaluating Suggested Strategies 15939 Checklist for Contents of the Strategic Plan 162Step 7 Review and Adopt the Strategic Plan 163Worksheets40 Plan Review and Adoption Process 16541 Plan Evaluation 168Step 8 Establish an Effective Organizational Vision for the Future 169Worksheet42 Vision of Success 171Step 9 Develop an Effective Implementation Process 175Worksheets43 Evaluating Priorities for Existing Strategies, Programs, Products, Services, and Projects 18344 Evaluating Priorities for Proposed New Strategies, Programs, Products, Services, and Projects 18445 Prioritizing Strategies, Programs, Products, Services, and Projects 18546 Creating Implementation Recommendation and Action Teams (I-Teams) 18647 Action Planning 19648 Microsoft Project Schedule Template 19949 Strategy/Action Status Report Form 207Step 10 Reassess Strategies and the Strategic Planning Process 209Worksheets50 Improving Existing Strategies 21151 Improving the Strategic Planning Process 212RESOURCES 213A Model Readiness Assessment Questionnaire 215B Brainstorming Guidelines 225C Snow Card Guidelines 227D Strategic Planning Workshop Equipment Checklist 229E Conference Room Setup Checklist 231F Model External Stakeholder (or Customer) Questionnaire 233G Model Internal Evaluation Questionnaire 245H Analyzing and Reporting Results of Internal and External Surveys 265Glossary 267Bibliography 271