Ask these three questions and watch your team's energy transform in a day
How are you? As spring continues, what sprouts and signs of life are emerging and inspiring you?
Our last post on planning in uncertain times resonated with many of you. Readers wanted to know more about short-term planning: What does this mean? How do you actually do this?
That brings us to Carol (not her real name). Recently we got an inquiry from Carol, who’s the Executive Director of a social service nonprofit. Carol had attended one of our presentations and was interested in doing some planning, but was not sure how much her organization could take on.
Taking the readiness assessment confirmed what Carol had suspected: her organization had some strategic questions to explore to infuse new energy into her team’s short term AND they were not ready to build and commit to a three- or five-year strategic plan.
ID: hands of different colors assembling a puzzle with pink, orange and green pieces
What to do when you’re not ready for a full strategic plan
Here’s what most people don’t realize, and I hope it comes as good news: Strategic planning can be scaled up or down as needed. Carol’s organization had encountered some recent budget cuts. So the more realistic work they could take on was to come together and create a one-year plan that would enable them to stay focused and energized as they navigated choppy financial waters.
This shorter-term planning process is guided by three questions:
What are the most important conversations for the group to have right now?
In the case of Carol’s organization, the first conversation that the staff and board needed to have together was affirming the value and importance of their work—work that had improved the lives of thousands of community members. This grounded them in reflecting on their financial challenges and brainstorming solutions that could have an immediate impact.
2. What do we want to have at the end of this process?
Carol and her team wanted clear goals to guide their work over the next year—goals around continuing to deliver their important work, fundraising, and advocacy. The Ross Collective designed and facilitated a day-long planning retreat to reflect on the current situation and build goals in each of these areas, taking their current constraints into consideration. We held several follow-up meetings after the retreat to refine and clarify these goals.
3.Who needs to be part of the conversation?
In working on the retreat design, we encouraged them to think about how to create an inclusive process, so that the people doing the work would have the opportunity to weigh in on the goals and plans going forward.
Carol had initially thought the retreat would only involve the leadership team. Then, she thought it would only involve the staff. After some discussion, we realized that it would be important to include some board members in addition to the leadership and staff, especially those who were working on fundraising.
Holding a team retreat—in which people feel that their most important concerns are addressed, there is a clear plan going forward, and their voices are included in the process—genuinely builds ownership, energy, and opportunity.
Carol and her team are in the early stages of implementing the work we created together. When we last spoke, she shared her gratitude for a large donation that had come in recently as a result of building this plan, as well as some important moments of visibility for the organization.
Does your organization need support with a team planning process?
If you’re in a place where three- to five-year planning isn’t realistic but short-term planning can help bring everyone on the same page, we are booking consulting engagements for shorter-term planning processes this summer and into the fall.
Reach out to learn more—we can’t wait to hear from you!