Things to Consider as You Begin Action Planning

As you enter this portion of the work, here are a couple of key strategies to remember.

• Strategic Planning is cyclical, there are seasons of Visioning, planning, and assessment.  Good plans build continual assessment into the plan.

• The actionable portion of your plan should be congruous with the identity you have determined for your organization.

• The actionable portion of your plan should also give thought to the results of your Internal/External analysis, in order to:

• Take advantage of your organization’s strengths

• Eliminate or reduce weaknesses

• Capitalize on opportunities and trends

• Defend against threats to your mission

• Organize the organizations resources toward you mission

• Prioritize your work
  
  

Finally, be brief.  The world is filled with great 60-page plans that are never read.  A plan should be just specific enough to insure all leadership knows what is need to accomplish the task and monitor the progress.  In the actionable portion of the plan, great prose is not required.

Remember the model of complex change management.