Over the years I’ve written about how convoluted strategic planning gets for most organizations.   Most of the small non-profits I work with seem to think it’s wise to use mainstream business strategic planning frameworks to plot their way forward.   Even though these frameworks are pursued with the best of intentions, for many volunteer Boards of small and meagerly funded organizations, it’s usually overkill to adopt highly technical frameworks for planning.   It might just be too much.

Even the process of vision, mission, goals and objectives is often too overbearing because it tends to force conversations into boxes, and it often results in Boards spending a lot of time designing statements that are too high minded, and largely forgotten.   It also constrains the process and uses valuable time to talk about abstract notions that might be over kill for an organization that just does one thing well.   Sometimes “providing quality child care at an affordable price” is all you need to say.

So I’m thinking about what IS essential for Board planning in small organizations,   and here are some of the things that make good sense to address:

What’s going on out there? A conversation about what is going on in the world and how it effects the work of the organization.   This could take the form of a reflective Board meeting, a presentation on demographics or other social trends, understanding the political forces that shape their funding and operations and so on.   Could be as simple as a conversation, or as involved as a learning journey.   Regardless it grounds the work of the organization in the world that it serves.

What’s happening in here? What has heart and meaning for us?   What do we love about the work we do in the world?   What needs to be said about our contribution?   Also, what is the current state of play here?   What pressing issues do we have within the organization in terms of staff, funding, capital and service?   This is a look at our mission and vision but also raises awareness of the important governance issues for a Board.   Keeping this conversation high level has the added benefit of resulting in only the big things making the radar, meaning that the staff can concentrate on the day to day operations without being micromanaged.

What are the scenarios that might unfold? What is possible in the next five years?   How might we react to things?   I find scenario planning to be a fun and creative activity, and the deeper you can go into it, the more ownership people take over their futures. This kind of exercise can involve others as well, including staff, stakeholders, clients and supporters.   Everyone can be involved in imagining scenarios for the future.

What decisions do we need to make? Really, all planning comes down to making decisions.   Some of these are big and others are small, but if you can get a handled on the key decisions that you will be facing in the next five years, it helps to focus the work of a Board on gathering information and preparing to choose between options.   So what decisions will we be faced with?   A new site?   New program offerings? Changing the funding model?   Capital decisions?   The best planning is directed at being able to make these decisions in a timely and wise fashion.

These are four main areas to focus on.   Each could be the focus of a Board meeting that drives the planning process.   What other simple instructions can we use to streamline the process of strategic planning for small Boards and organizations?