#BetterLeadership

- Strategy: a plan of action prepared to achieve the major goals of an organization. In order to take strategy into consideration for your planning efforts, you must define your goals as they relate and support the Vision and Mission of the organization.

A Strategic Plan should answer the following:

~Where are we going as an organization?

~What is the environment? (external/internal, this is critical to the vision)

~How do we get there? 

For strategic planning, I use the following definitions:

Vision - What do we want to become? (Aspirational)

Mission - Why do we exist? What function does the organization perform?  For whom does the org perform this function? How does the organization go about fulfilling this function? (Specific)

Goals - are the translation of the vision and answer “what do we want to do?”  

*Key Result Areas* - It is helpful to organize the goals under broader labels, e.g.  Product Design & Development, Financial, Branding, Marketing, Funding/Development, International Presence, etc.

Objectives - are quantifiable metrics that show progress toward our stated goals.

Strategies - these are the action plans that when implemented will achieve the objectives.

Tactics - day to day and week to week actions we take to implement our strategies, meet our objectives, and accomplish our goals. 

*** Strategic Management means approving only projects and programs that fit the scope of the organization's mission ***