It’s 2017: Where’s Your Strategic Plan?

By Rolfe Larson, Senior Consultant for Strategic and Business Planning, Joining Vision and Action (JVA)

2017 Strategic Plan

Another day begins. There are things to do, people to care for, plans to make. More than you can realistically accomplish in one day. So you’ll need to prioritize.

So it is with strategic planning.

Brrring! 2017 is upon us. So consider this a reminder to review your organization’s strategic plan. Whether your plan is three months or three years old, now is a good time to evaluate the assumptions and strategies that appear in it. Ask yourself/your organization the following:

Is the reality of today different from the reality that produced that plan?
What has changed in your world, or is about to change, that could affect the strategies outlined in your strategic plan?
How can you best prepare for changes in the environment, and what contingencies can you prepare now?

JVA’s Focus

One of Joining Vision and Action’s (JVA’s) focuses for 2017 is to understand, and respond to, the impact of the national election. Like you, we know that a new administration brings challenges and opportunities, and we’re actively engaged in our own strategic planning process to answer the questions above—to be sure we’re providing the most relevant and valuable services and resources to our clients.

The recent national election is likely to result in many changes in funding and policy at the federal level, in key areas such as healthcare, education and the environment. In most cases, we cannot predict precisely what those changes will be, or when they will happen. While the agenda and budget are in the works, early indications clearly suggest the new administration’s priorities will be different. It is reasonable at this point to anticipate that funding may be less focused on the populations you serve and on the issues you care about.

So how will your organization respond—how will your funders respond? Are there new assumptions that need to made, new strategies to be developed?

In this moment of change, the dawn of a new year and the dawn of a new national government, this is a good time to evaluate whether your strategic plan still fits the current situation. Because research shows that if you do some work anticipating what might come down the road, by doing some robust “what if” analysis of possible scenarios, including how you would respond, you will be better prepared when change does happen. Good luck!