Strategic Planning Manual - Strategic Planning

What is Strategic Planning?
Benefits of Strategic Planning
Relationship to Institutional Effectiveness
Steps for a Planning Group
Steps for a Reporting Unit

  What is Strategic Planning?

The basic aim of strategic planning is to actively determine the nature or character of the organization and to guide its direction. It identifies the mission and mandates of the organization and devises strategies for fulfilling its purposes. The following characteristics are commonly associated with strategic planning:

Emphasis on Conditions in the External Environment: Strategic planning emphasizes looking from the outside in, identifying and understanding conditions in the environment over which the institution may have little control, but which may have an impact on its nature and vitality. Since many of the challenges and changes experienced by institutions of higher education are triggered by outside forces (e.g., demographic trends, government fiscal and educational policies, shifts in occupational demands, and changing public attitudes toward education), this emphasis on the external environment is a fundamental characteristic.

Thus, strategic planning looks outward at the external environment, monitoring major demographic, social, economic, political, and technological trends that may hold opportunities or threads for the institution. While strategic planning also considers internal factors, it requires that they be balanced by an assessment of external realities (See Section: Environmental Scanning).

Shortened Time Frame: Acknowledging the changeability of the external environment and the rapid growth of knowledge, strategic planning uses a 3-5 year planning time frame.

Dynamic Process: Because the external environment undergoes continuous and often rapid change and because it is impossible to predict future conditions with certainty, strategic planning is a dynamic, continuing process in which adaptations and/or deviations from the plan will be required and should be expected. For this reason, plans are reviewed and updated regularly.

Emphasis on Competitive Environment: Strategic planning stresses the importance of achieving a position or niche for the institution as a whole as well as for specific programs. Through strategic planning, a university strives to distinguish itself from its competition so that people inside and outside the institution will recognize its special identity, character, and areas of expertise. First, the institution seeks to identify strengths, alone or in combination, that might give it a competitive advantage over institutions with which it competes.

Allocation of Resources: Ultimately, to be effective, strategic planning must be integrated with budgeting so that the allocation of resources reflects the priorities that have been established, thus moving the institution in the direction it has charted.

  Benefits of Strategic Planning

• Establishes a shared direction and focus
• Develops a coherent and defensible base for decision-making
• Develops a renewed commitment to high performance teamwork
• Taking Time to Plan…SAVES TIME!
• Highlights and addresses organizational needs and/or limitations
• Sets more realistic objectives that are demanding, yet attainable
• Accelerates or improves growth
• Identifies or eliminates poor performing areas
• Improves Services
• Develops better communications within and outside of the organization
• Generates personal and group commitment
• Provides a road map to show where the company is going and how to get there
• Improves integration and coordination of internal activities
• Establishes a sense of security among employees
• I mproves resource allocation
• Creates a culture of anticipation and innovation rather than one of reaction and defensiveness
• Helps control your own destiny
• Quantifies Accountability
• Celebrate accomplishments!
• Questions assumptions

Strategic Planning
Makes Things Happen!

  Relationship to Institutional Effectiveness

1.Strategic Planning and Assessment

A -->SP: Assessment results should be used as one of several measures to inform the progress toward accomplishing the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.

SP -->A: Strategic planning informs the selection of outcomes, both educational and operational (or planning-related).

2. Assessment and Program Review

A --> PR: Assessment is an important aspect of the program that is explicitly considered during a program review.

PR --> A: Program review results can affect the measures chosen and outcomes used in assessment.

3. Program Review and Strategic Planning

PR --> SP: Program review should help to inform the strategic planning/budgeting process by identifying programs worthy of receiving additional resources.

SP --> PR: Strategic planning is one aspect of the program that is considered during program review, and planning done well will more likely lead to a program that can demonstrate good stewardship of resources, and therefore increase the likelihood of a successful program review.

There is no one right way to plan. Instead, there are many systematic ways to convert visions and good intentions into results. The following suggestions are offered as a guide to the planning process recommended for planning groups and reporting units.

Flowchart. This flowchart depicts the flow of the strategic planning process, from development, budgeting, to evaluation and revisions.

• Determine an inclusive strategic planning process: It is recommended that the head of the planning group decide who is to participate in the planning activities, select a planning committee/coordinator, what planning process will be followed, and how the results will be shared with all members of the group. A representative group may be charged with producing the plan, but everyone should have the opportunity to offer suggestions and to react to proposals.
• Select a planning committee/coordinator
  

• Conduct an environmental scan (internal and external trends)
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Assess external opportunities and threats; Assess internal strengths and weaknesses
• Conduct a brainstorming session with PG: reduce impact of threats and weaknesses; seize opportunities and strengths
• Develop/Review/Revise Vision
• Identify values that are unique to your Planning Group
• Develop/Review/Revise Mission
• Develop/Review/Revise goals and strategic directions
• Review the reporting unit action plans as part of this reviewing process.
• Ensure that the reporting unit action plans and planning group goals and strategic directions are consistent.
• Make clear what resources and personnel commitments will be needed to meet the proposed goals and strategic directions (complete strategic budget request forms, if necessary)
• Link planning group strategic directions to the goals/strategic directions of EKU
• For instructions on how to "Establish Links in Tracdat", see the TracDat Manual (www.oie.eku.edu)
• Establish appropriate key performance indicators (KPI) and criterion for each strategic direction
• Specify who is responsible for each action to reach objectives; determine a timeline and action steps needed to reach each strategic direction; specify a schedule for assessing the strategic directions; specify methods (process and frequency) to monitor and evaluate the plans, and identify who is responsible for collecting specific KPI.
• Review the draft strategic plan (all PG members should be given the opportunity to review the strategic plan)
• Implement strategic plan
• Collect data for KPIs (continually): Enter results into TracDat
• Analyze data and evaluate progress on plan
• Update TracDat information (continually)
• Submit annual IE Progress Report to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness to demonstrate "closing the loop": Prioritize strategic budget requests of the planning group and reporting units
• Evaluate Reporting Unit Action Plans and provide feedback
• Submit an updated plan, every 4 years
  

  Steps for a Reporting Unit

• Determine an inclusive strategic planning process
• Select a planning committee/coordinator
• Conduct an environmental scan (internal and external trends)
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Assess external opportunities and threats; Assess internal strengths and weaknesses
• Conduct a brainstorming session with RU: reduce impact of threats and weaknesses; seize opportunities and strengths
• Develop/Review/Revise mission
• Develop/Review/Revise goals and objectives (both planning and educational objectives)
• Make clear what resources and personnel commitments will be needed to meet the proposed goals and objectives
• Link reporting unit objectives to strategic directions of planning group
• Link reporting unit objectives to the goals/strategic directions of EKU
  ? For instructions on how to "Establish Links in Tracdat", see the TracDat Manual (www.oie.eku.edu)
• Establish appropriate key performance indicators (KPI) and criterion for each objective
• Specify who is responsible for each action to reach objectives; determine a timeline and action steps needed to reach each objective; specify a schedule for assessing the strategic directions; specify methods (process and frequency) to monitor and evaluate the plans, and identify who is responsible for collecting specific KPI.
• Review the draft action plan (all RU and PG members should be given the opportunity to review the plan)
• Implement action plan
• Collect data for KPIs (continually): Enter results into TracDat
• Analyze data and evaluate progress on plan
• Update TracDat information (continually)
• Submit annual IE Progress Report to the planning group, along with strategic budget requests, to demonstrate "closing the loop"
• Submit an updated action plan, every 4 years