THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

Chris Sidotippt 4

The process and the plan

• the planning process is important– to secure ownership by those who will have responsibilities

for implementation– to provide partnership opportunities with the institution’s

external stakeholders– to enable institutional accountability to those to whom it

provides services– to make clear internal accountability of staff for

implementation– to ensure that the plan is an accurate reflection of the

situation the institution faces– to ensure that the plan is the best possible response to that

situation

• but the strategic plan is the thing!

What do you need for strategic planning?

• “intellectual process”– information (data)– understanding (analysis)– ideas (creativity)

• “social process”– organisational endorsement– leadership– people

Compass Partnerships (UK)

Planning: a social process Compass Partnerships (UK)

Inclusive process

“An inclusive process means that people who have a stake in the work of your organization participate in the planning process in an appropriate way. This does not mean that every client, funder, volunteer and staff member must come to a joint consensus about what to do. It does mean that these interested individuals have a chance to be heard by the decision makers.”

Compass Partnerships (UK)

Some key decisions

• the role of the institution’s leaders

• the role of the institution’s staff

• who should drive the process?

• the participation of outside stakeholders

The role of the institution’s leaders

• to explain to staff the nature and importance of strategic planning

• to endorse the process as an institutional priority

• to require the full cooperation of all staff• to add their authority to the demands the

process will place on all staff• to direct those steering the process so that

the plan receives leadership support• to make the final decisions

The role of the institution’s staff

• the process should involve all staff at critical points– need to access staff expertise– need to build staff ownership

• staff should– be briefed on the planning process– contribute to the situation analysis– join in defining the institution’s vision and mission– participate in developing strategies

Who should drive the process?

• designated staff need to be given specific responsibility for the planning process

• the planning process is time consuming and demanding

• picking the right staff to do it is important and difficult

• requires not only analytical ability but good people skills

• possible need to access external expertise in support

Outside stakeholders: who?• victims and potential victims of violations• the State

– the parliament– the government– the civil service– the courts

• civil society organisations– human rights non-government organisations– social welfare non-government organisations– academics– business and trade unions– faith groups and organisations

• the broader community

Outside stakeholders: how?

• opportunities to contribute formally– general invitation to make written submissions– targeted invitations to key organisations and

individuals• targeted consultations

– focus groups– individual meetings with key groups and

individuals– general consultative meetings

• open opportunities for comment– phone-ins– media discussion

Planning: an intellectual processCompass Partnerships (UK)

How to do it?

• written contributions

• interviews

• group discussions

• brainstorming

• drafting groups

• circulation and comment on drafts

Situation analysis

• planning must start with understanding the context in which the plan will be implemented

• situation analysis has an external focus:– what is the human rights situation in the

country?

• and an internal focus– how is the institution equipped to deal with

the external human rights situation?

Many situation analysis tools

• positives and negatives

• SWOT and variations

• PESTLE and variations

SWOT analysis

• strengths– where are we strong and effective? what are we

good at?

• weaknesses– where are we weak or less effective? what do we

do less well?

• opportunities– what possibilities does the external environment

offer us?

• threats– where are we at risk from the external

environment?

SWOT analysis

positive(helpful)

negative(harmful)

internal strengths weaknesses

external opportunities threats

Developing the plan itself

start from the top and work downvision

mission

objectives

strategies

activities

Developing performance indicators

• not an easy task!• should enable assessment of

achievement of the core objectives• critical tool for evaluation of

implementation of the strategic plan (and therefore of the institution)

• remember– indicators of quantity and quality?– measuring products or results?

Quantity and quality

• quantitative– many training programs did we conduct?– did we conduct as many as we planned to

conduct?

• qualitative– how did the trainees rate the program?– did they rate it as highly as we had

planned?

Products and results

• indicators of products (outputs)– how many publications did we produce and

distribute?

• indicators of results (outcomes)– how much did our publications increase public

awareness of and support for human rights?

Good performance indicators

• finding good and valid performance indicators is very difficult

• far easier to measure quantity than quality– but quality is more important

• far easier to measure product (output) than result (outcome)– but results are more important

• best approach is to have a small number of well selected, critical indicators– capable of measurement and– truly informative and helpful

Successful strategic planning

• leads to action• builds a shared vision that is values-based• is an inclusive, participatory process in which board

and staff take on a shared ownership• accepts accountability to the community• is externally focused and sensitive to the

organisation's environment• is based on quality data• requires an openness to questioning the status quo• is a key part of effective management

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