Strategic Planning Workshop

1. Strategic Planning Workshop Southern and Central Alberta Food Bank Federation January 27- 28, 2006

2. Purpose • To provide local food banks with a template and process for planning within their own organization using the SCAFBF as an example • To contribute to the development of a strategic plan for the Federation based on input from members

3. Curious about what’s coming up?

4. Outline - Day One • Why plan? • Strategic Plan/Action Plan • Roles of Boards in planning • Environmental scan /Internal audit exercise • Framework pieces/Strategic direction exercise • Developing priorities/Objectives exercise • Using the plan/adapting

5. Outline - Day Two • What will inform our direction? What do we know? What don’t we know? • Developing Vision, Mission, Values and Goals Statements • Developing Strategic Directions • Setting Objectives • Action Planning • Structure

6. Working Understandings • Everyone has something to contribute – we all have different life experiences –the more diverse the conversation the better • Everyone will hear and be heard – everyone has a responsibility to provide their perspective and share their ideas and also be an active listener • The wisdom of the whole is greater than its parts – people grow ideas through interaction and exploration with others • There are no wrong or right answers – you decide what is right for your organizations based on beliefs about your community and your role in the community • You can change your mind – as new information is discovered

7. Why plan? • What are the benefits?

8. Why Plan? • What happens without a plan?

9. Planning ahead…sometimes into the unknown…

10. Roles of Boards in Planning • Responsible for establishing the • purpose (mission and vision), • progress (set rate of progress and monitors results), • continuity (ensuring resources for managing and implementing organization’s work) and • identity (securing community support for organization mission and goals)

11. Basic Kinds of Planning • Strategic Planning • Focuses on being responsive and adaptive taking into consideration the context in which you are working in or will be working in – looks at broader community • Needs to focus on finding out what is going on outside the organization - opportunities and threats • There is a strong connection in designing your response to situations internal and external

12. Being strategic about planning… WRONG JUNGLE!!!

13. Planning without the larger story… SHUT UP! WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS!!

15. Basic Kinds of Planning • Action Planning • Focuses on taking your strategic plans and developing plans to implement the directions • Sets priorities and targets/objectives that are shorter term • Assigns responsibility, timelines, resources • Looks at how you structure yourself to get the work done

16. Planning Model • Strategic Planning • Environmental Scan/Internal Audit • Vision, Mission, Values, Goal Areas • Strategic Directions • Action Planning • Objectives/Priority Setting • Action Planning/Structure • Monitoring Progress and Outcomes

17. Environmental Scan • Stakeholder input • Funders – accountability/parameters • Realities for clients - now and emerging • Alliances – who help us do our work • Challenges – what hinders us from doing our work/root causes • Awareness and public attitude – realities in the community • Organization capacity – strengths/assets and challenges • Results – how do we know what we do is the right thing to do?

18. Foundational Pieces • Values and Principles • Values are defined as a “belief, standard or quality considered inherently worthwhile or desirable” • They describe “who you are” and “why you engage” in a certain activity or cause • Our behaviours, decisions and actions are based upon what we believe to be important • As we learn and grow, our values can become more refined and we are better able to live by them

19. How’sthat working for you?

20. How do they work in an organization? • Individuals who are aligned with the values of the organization tend to be more supportive of the organization • An understanding of shared values can provide the organization with a “filter” to test decisions and actions • General values such as honest, compassion can be put into “principle statements” that fit for the context of the organization

21. Examples • We will use laughter and humor appropriately in our workplace recognizing that it is vital to health and resiliency • We believe that everyone deserves respect and will ensure we act in a caring manner to ensure dignity • We believe we are responsible to our community and will ensure our procedures and policies reflect that accountability

22. Vision • Describes the desired future • Describes the impact or results of your efforts on your community, members or clients • Inspiring, a stretch yet realistic and within your influence or control • Provides a shared image of what you are trying to achieve so people understand why and what they are doing there

23. Mission • Defines your purpose • Simple statements capture what you do for whom • Sets parameters for your work so you don’t get side tracked (i.e. for money or change in board) • Some mission statements put values or vision in their statements

24. Goals – mini visions of key focus areas Three general goals: • One describes the ideal state of the programs and services provided • Two describes larger community awareness and support – community relations • Three describes the organizational capacity - the ideal state of the organization

25. Programs And Services • Describes the ideal state of your programs and services • Strategies might include lunch boxes for schools, processes for distribution, eligibility policy

26. Community Relations • Describes the relationship you have with the community • Strategies might include an awareness campaign on what the food bank is trying to do and why it is important • Targeted messages about projects, drives, events

27. Organizational Capacity • Describes the kind of capacity your organization will need to be effective and efficient in achieving your mission • Strategies might include securing long term funding • Training for volunteers • Securing staff and location

28. Goal statements • Examples (written in the present tense) • Programs • Our services and programs are innovative and meet the needs of our clients/members. • Awareness • The community supports the efforts of the immediate need and understands causes and advocates for systemic change. • Organization • ABC is an accountable, adaptive learning organization

29. Outcomes Describe what benefits or changes you want to achieve in several areas Knowledge Understanding Attitude Behaviour Condition Status Measuring results Pick a couple results to measure to show impact Identify what would indicate those results best Develop a way to measure change Proving your worth…

30. Examples of Outcomes and Measures • Parents do not smoke around their children • number of parents that indicate they don’t smoke around their children • Benchmark: starting point to measure change might be 40 % and after your awareness program you see a change in the stats • Families are developing household budgets • Number of times family develops a weekly budget in a six month period • Benchmark: 0

31. Objectives • A way to set priorities based on your resources • Describes 2-4 things you will accomplish within a given time period (i.e. 1 year) • Action Plans are then developed to achieve the objectives to delegate work • Who will do it? • When will it be done? • What resources are needed? (info, people, funding, expertise)

32. Examples • We will have increased our membership by 10%. • A fund development plan will be developed and a committee in place to implement the plan.

33. And we’re on our way…