STRATEGIC PLANNING
A Straightforward 5 Step Process for Club Presidents
STEP 1:
DEFINE CURRENT REALITY
STEP 2:
DEFINE THE GOAL
STEP 3:
DO A THOROUGH GAP ANALYSIS
STEP 4:
DEVELOP & DOCUMENT AN ACTION PLAN & TIMELINE
STEP 5:
DEVELOP & IMPLEMENT A MONITORING PROCESS
Step 1:
Define Current Reality
Figure out where your starting point is. Use every source of information that you have available, to ensure that you have a complete, accurate and objective picture of your Club on a specific date. For example:
- all statistical reports
- complete information re all Guests and potential new Members
- objective performance assessment of each Club Officer
- analysis of your Club Success Plan (or successes to date & the progress you have made toward the goals you set at the beginning of the year - if you are doing a mid-year strategic plan)
When you have all your data organized, do a SWOT Analysis - define:
S
trengths: activities, programs, strategies, and people that/who have proven to be successful
W
eaknesses: activities, programs, strategies, and people that/who have proven to be unsuccessful
O
pportunities: new possibilities identified through the current reality process
T
hreats: potential new challenges or problems or roadblocks identified through the current reality process
When you have completed and documented all of the above, you will have a complete and accurate picture of your Clubs current Distinguished Club reality.
Step 2:
Define The Goal
At the beginning of the Toastmasters year - with success data available for the previous year OR half-way through the year - with success data available for 6 months of your Teams performance - are ideal times to examine & define all of your goals.
What do you intend to accomplish by 06/30?
- Distinguished? Select? Presidents?
- How many continuing Members?
- How many new Members?
- How many CTMs?
- How many ATMs?
Step 3:
Do A Thorough "Gap Analysis"
This term refers to an objective and detailed analysis of the "gap" between current reality and the goal.
The SWOT analysis data will be critical here - specifically the future-focused sections of "opportunities" and "threats".
At this stage, document your findings: what needs to be done to get you from where you are to where you want to go? The documentation in Step 3 is at a macro level - big picture statements about what needs to be done. The detail comes next!
Step 4:
Develop & Document Your Action Plan and Timeline
Using a separate sheet for each of the following headings, decide and document:
WHAT needs to be done / completed? List every individual step
WHO is responsible for each step?
WHAT resources must be provided? By whom?
WHEN must each activity be completed?
The headings are:
- Continuing Members
- New Members
- CTMs
- ATMs
Step 5:
Develop & Document A Monitoring Process
Without this final step, your Strategic Plan has no real value.
Review your Action Plan & Timeline and make some more decisions. Decide WHQ is responsible for monitoring each area of the Action Plan. Decide HOW that monitoring will be done what specifics will they check? How will they do it? Decide WHEN monitoring needs to be done for each activity and/or for each step. Decide WHAT will be done when monitoring reveals that an activity is proving to be ineffective. WHQ will make those decisions? And THEN WHAT will you do? HOW will course corrections be initiated?
A Strategic Plan - when developed and used effectively - is a powerful tool. It is also a dynamic - ever-changing - document. It is step 5 that makes it dynamic. And the dynamics are what can make it effective.
