Have a Great Year! The Oft-Forgotten Importance of Strategic Planning Lauren Grymek, Executive...

Have a Great Year!The Oft-Forgotten Importance of

Strategic PlanningLauren Grymek, Executive Director, Seaport TMA

Ian Todreas, Senior Manager, ERGOct 20, 2008

Overview

What

Why

How

A Case Study

What is Strategic Planning?

What is strategic planning?

An analytic and interactive process, both Retrospective (how did I do last year?) Prospective (what do I want to do next

year?)

Often looks like A report A final presentation An interactive discussion All of the above

Why Bother?

Why bother?

Strategic planning helps you Reflect

• Are you doing what you say you do? Yes – do you know? No – time to get back on track

Get organized, think ahead• Set goals, plan for big items or initiatives • Develop roadmaps, budgets to achieve

them!

How to Do It

Basic Steps

Commit Plan to make a plan Determine scope, format, audience

Budget Don’t think it can be done for nothing It will demand your time

Engage Every level of your organization plays a

part

Consider a consultant

Do you have time?

Do you have the perspective?

Does the person who has time/perspective have the skill/expertise? Hint: Most interns don’t

Can you afford a consultant? Hint: Consultants might be more

affordable than you think

Workshop Exercise

Hiring Good Consultants for Less

(Group Exercise)

Basic steps

Review goals and objectives Understand the difference Align with mission, brand, and

expenditures The Big Idea: Just as a tune-up will help

your vehicle go farther…

Review Goals and Objectives

The difference? Goals – broad, aspirational, overarching Objectives – specific, measurable that help

meet goal

Ian’s goal Become best-decorated Olympian

Ian’s objectives Learn to swim Live next door to an indoor pool Grow 2 feet Hire Michael Phelps’ coach Consume 10K calories at each meal

Review Goals and Objectives

Compare mission statement to goal and objectives Do they align? Is mission statement too broad or narrow?

Does your brand support your goal and objectives? Define your brand How do others perceive your brand? Does your definition match perception? Do your materials, employees,

programs/activities support your brand?

Review Goals and Objectives

Do your expenditures support your goal

and objectives? How much are you spending per

commuter? Per program? Per mode shift? Per ton CO2 avoided? Per member?

Workshop Exercise

Cost-Benefit Assessment Worksheet

(see Handout)

Establish New Goal and Objectives

Conduct external and internal research Look at your results, data What are others doing?

Interview stakeholders – ask tough questions Who: board, members, commuters, ETCs,

etc. What do we do? How are we doing? Do you value what we do? What do you

want? What do we do badly? What do we do well?

Case Study

Planning in Action:

Seaport TMA

Seaport TMA’s Strategic Plan

Original Seaport RequestCreate “new and different” program initiative

ERG ResponseFirst, conduct strategic plan to see

What is needed Who would need it When they would want it How and why Seaport could/should

deliver it

Seaport TMA’s Strategic Plan

Our approach Mission statement analysis

• Identify activities that do not support mission

Brand analysis• Define brand• Identify ways to strengthen and rebrand

Budget/activity analysis

• Identify high $/commuter programs

Seaport TMA’s Strategic Plan

Mission statement revisions Eliminate programs that don’t support

mission• “Read and Ride” Library

Recommend new programs that do• Try Transit on Us

Brand analysis Create new look-and-feel Apply consistently and universally

Seaport TMA’s Strategic Plan

Quantitative analysis of programs ($/commuter) Eliminate or modify programs that have

unbalanced $/commuter ratios• GRH Program• “Ride to Win”

Sync activities “Touch” all audiences while balancing

the workload

Workshop Exercise

Creating an Event Calendar

(see Handout)

Seaport TMA’s Strategic Plan

Next steps Finalize concepts and roadmaps for

future activities Create budget for each proposed activity Draft a timeline for each initiative Implement!

Thank you!

Lauren Grymek, Director, Seaport TMA

lauren.grymek@FMR.com

617-385-5510

Ian Todreas, Senior Manager, ERG

ian.todreas@erg.com

617-357-4623