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Developing a Business Plan – A Strategic Planning Model

Peter Wiggin offers some pointers

Essential features of the Strategic Business Planning model

1. It does more than plan for the future; it helps organisations to create their future.

2. It is based on the need to be realistic and objective over the attainment of goals and objectives.

3. It encourages a process of self examination, the confrontation of difficult choices, and the establishment of priorities

4. It enables the simultaneous process of planning and the implementation of planning work already undertaken.

5. It plays close attention to content and process, in a way that makes it particularly suitable for use by welfare / service-orientated areas of work.

Planning to Plan

Answers need to be given to the following questions:

· Why are we undertaking this.

· How much commitment is there to undertaking this task.

· Who is it essential to involve.

· Who should be in the planning team.

· How long will it take.

The Values Audit

In order to create an informed consensus about the underlying values and beliefs that will drive the organisation.

This could include:

Value commitment towards the consumers of the service

Mission Formulation

It involves developing a clear statement of the overall PURPOSE of the organisation.

There are three aspects to this:

1 WHAT function does the organisation perform?

Resist concentrating on the services that the organisation undertakes. Instead focus on client need that you are attempting to meet.

The major issue in mission formulation, is achieving consensus on how broadly or narrowly to answer the WHAT question.

2 For WHOM does the organisation perform this function?

No organisation however large or small can meet all the needs of all its clients or customers.

3 HOW does the organisation go on about performing this function?

This can involve elements of a marketing strategy. Keep at a general level, can include statements about quality, method, market share/partnership working etc.

WHAT?

WHY?

HOW?

WHO

Environmental Analysis

A business plan needs to be based on sound foundations. It should include a review and analysis of two important environments:-

· External environment - implications of significant changes that are taking place (or are likely in the future) in the outside world. This could include political (new legislation) and economic changes (a new major funding opportunity!). There are also gaps and bulges in provision that may affect you, and you need to be more aware about.

You may find it useful to undertake a SWOT analysis when investigating both of these and think in terms of important stakeholders when undertaking the internal review.

Stakeholders include most essentially the clients or those on the receiving end of the organisations work, as well as staff, supporters, funders, and other organisations who may have a close interest in, or may be affected by the work of the organisation.

Development of Objectives

This is the more detailed process for deciding what the organisation wants to be doing, "envisioning the future", in a way which is consistent with its values and its mission statement.

It is important not to be too tied down with what the organisation is doing at the moment.

The OBJECTIVE (or objectives) should be based very much on responding to the NEEDS of those on the receiving end of the work.

HOW it intends to achieve these, can be defined in a more practical consideration of the ACTIVITIES it needs to undertake to achieve the objective(s)

Each Activity should include enough information to enable detailed operational and resource planning.

A fuller consideration of the Activities therefore leads on to the more detailed process of planning the essential INPUTS (resources- such as plant, staff and finances)necessary to undertake the work of the organisation and the METHODOLOGY required to meet the desired OUTCOMES for those on the receiving end of the work activity.

It is important that the work activity is capable of being measured.

Performance Audit

The performance audit examines the ability of the organisation in meeting the new or revised OBJECTIVES and ACTIVITIES that have been planned.

The purpose of this is to provide the data with which the GAP ANALYSIS - the determination of to what degree they are realistic and achievable.

The Gap analysis

If there is a discrepancy between what is planned and what can be delivered return to phase 5 and some reworking must be done.

It may even be necessary in extreme circumstances to alter the mission statement in the process. Also the structure of the organisation may have to be re-examined.

Implementation

Although this is referred to here as the penultimate step in the model, there is a continual need for management decision-making and implementation throughout the process. (e.g. mission statement, which has been the subject of thorough consultation, is likely to have been agreed by management/trustees early in the process).

Monitoring and Performance Review

Standards are increasingly being put in place as a yardstick against which services should be measured. If you are not working to externally imposed standards you may wish to develop your own standards against which your work can be assessed.

There are both quantifiable and qualitative aspects to standards. Outputs can be identified which quantify what the organisation intends to achieve in terms of numbers of people, services etc. Outcomes describe what is actually achieved, with emphasis where possible on the outcome benefit to the consumer.

Contact Peter Wiggin at peterwiggin@compuserve.com

Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works

by Leonard Goodstein, Timothy Nolan and William J Pfeiffer

McGraw-Hill Book Company; ISBN: 0070240205

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Updated 13^th March 2000