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Steven M. Grove
Whether you are a for-profit or nonprofit camp, you are a business and
certain important factors must always be considered. One of these is strategic
planning.
Many organizations think that taking last year’s ideas and putting a
new date on them constitutes the planning process. However, the planning
process involves a thorough review and look at your entire operation from
a fresh perspective. It is a look at where your organization is and where
you are heading, as well as thoughts as to how to get there. Organizations
refer to the planning process in many different ways — strategic planning,
long-range planning, business planning, and strategic long-range business
planning — but they all mean the same thing: a road map to follow.
Getting Started
Getting started seems to be one of the hardest parts of all large projects.
You sit and wonder how you will get a plan completed and how it will be
implemented. It is important to remember that your plan is just lots of
baby steps. Starting is the key to actually getting the plan completed.
Begin your project by deciding:
- Who will be on your planning team? This group holds the key to your
future. Assemble the right talent to assist you.
- Will the committee act as one large group or several small groups?
Who will lead?
- What is the time frame for completion of the plan, including the
distribution of the final draft? A good plan will take six to twelve
months to complete. Being as specific as possible with the time frame
will help the plan be successful.
- What is the scope of the project you are planning and why? This
should be the first and very general approach that starts you heading
in the right direction.
The start of the planning process is the hardest. Everyone will be very
skeptical, and the thoughts and ideas may be so far in the future that
many will believe the goals are unattainable. Be sure to maintain enthusiasm
and interest at this point, and make sure those involved feel appreciated.
Selecting the Committee
Your plan will be a collection of thoughts from people who believe in
its implementation. You will need to have a team who is going to buy into
this process and then assist in its implementation and success. The group
should include a mix of talents, ages, and constituencies, for example,
former and current campers, parents, current and past staff, community
members, and even people who may assist in the funding of the projects
to be planned.
Involve others who will look objectively at your needs. Those directly
involved can often be too close to a subject to see it clearly. Outsiders
often bring a fresh look to the table and will also assist to tempering
your enthusiasm with reality.
Even more important is bringing talent that will make the process go
more quickly. Lawyers, insurance agents, accountants, or engineers may
bring different resources to the plan. People in the community will also
know the reality of various plans going through other processes such as
zoning that will be important.
Be sure to select committee members who will stay involved from start
to end. Too much of the plan is going to take time to implement and you
want active participants. Along the same line, you need to look at the
time commitment necessary based upon the plan to be produced. Honestly
tell your volunteers how much time will be involved.
Deciding the Group's Goal
What type of plan do you want to produce? Are you updating a current
plan or producing a new plan? Review the issues at hand and look at what
you are trying to accomplish. Give your group a very specific charge to
accomplish. Leaving the goal too open makes the process that much harder.
For example:
- Are you planning for a loan?
- Is the plan for a long-range
fund-raising process?
- Are you preparing the business for sale or expansion?
- Are you interested in serving
a different population?
- Is this the first draft of a general long-range plan?
Defining what the planning group is to accomplish will allow you the
chance to set specific goals to reach within the time frame the plan is
to be completed. Define the who and the what upfront. This alone may take
a few meetings among the key individuals in order to decide the starting
point. The closer you are at the start to your key direction, the closer
you will be to your results at the end. In addition, there is nothing
more frustrating than to give people a task that once started has to be
changed and changed again due to a lack of direction or leadership.
What the Plan Should Include
Now comes the time to decide what information you need to include in
your plan. People have different needs, and even donors will differ with
regard to what they want to know. The final printed plan should be done
to provide a reader with the information they are looking for. There are
a few helpful hints to assist in achieving this.
Your written plan should have eight to twelve sections, including:
- the mission of the plan
and/or organization
- the goals of the organization
and the plan
- the objectives of the plan
- the strategies of the plan
- actions to take in the plan
- evaluations of the various steps of the plan
A useful plan will have some of the following qualities:
- It will include historical data, including some information about
the process, organization, and status.
- The plan will be specific and measurable. Do your dreaming and then
put the ideas into priority order according to what can be attained.
Put some items into the far-off category. A good rule of thumb is
to divide the main plan into what will be accomplished over the next
five years, but add a section for what you will look at five years
after that to let readers know you are thinking into the future.
- It will be flexible and able to be easily read by different groups.
Don’t ignore the big things that need to be addressed, and don’t be afraid
to address the hard issues. The harder the issue addressed, the better
the plan. If you need to sell off a piece of land in order to better capitalize
the business, indicate this in the plan. You must provide solutions as
well as ideas. Don’t say you are going to address a lack of attendance
without attempting to address how you will correct this issue.
Gathering Data
Once you have decided the team, the need, and other important issues,
you need to begin gathering data to support your goal.
Collect data from as many groups as you can. Conduct focus groups with
past and present campers, staff, or parents. Gather people together from
all over. You may even have to travel to hold these meetings, but it will
be worth it.
In addition, create questions and surveys that will get the information
you need. The collection of data can be as simple or as complicated as
you choose. You may want to contact a company that specializes in target
surveying. Remember, don’t ask just yes-or-no questions. Collect opinions
and listen with an open mind.
If you’ve gathered the necessary information, your plan should be able
to help you answer three important business questions, defined by management
guru Peter Drucker. Many long-range plans do a lot for improvements, financial
plans, and other fancy thoughts, but don’t answer these critical questions:
- Who are my customers?
- What business am I in?
- What do my customers expect of me?
Be prepared to treat the finished plan as a business plan. Many times
a plan will be quite specific but unrealistic, or it won’t be far reaching
enough. One of the key points that is made in any business plan is that
all areas of the business are examined and documented. This is a very
long process, but one that you must do. All too often, I have seen business
people just move ahead without knowing where they are going. This can
lead to a disaster.
Be sure your plan includes costs and pricing. People want to know what
you are planning and how much it is going to cost. Your business plan
can say a lot about your goals, direction, methods, and business sense.
Believe it or not, many improvements in businesses don’t cost anything
at all. It doesn’t cost to be happy, to smile, or to create a better customer
service philosophy, and it certainly doesn’t cost anything for everyone
to build upon your mission or vision statement.
The Finished Plan
The end is just the beginning. When your document is complete, publish
it. Don’t skimp on the visual look of your plan; work with a local print
shop to make it colorful and enjoyable to read and have. Keep in mind
that plans are not something to write and put on the shelf. They are merely
the starting line.
With this in mind, consider presenting the information in different ways.
The community may only want to see a small brochure with some highlights.
Your board or supporters may wish to see the entire document.
You can also take your plan on the road and ask people to support it.
Money is the easiest of all resources we have. People and time are far
harder resources to find and keep under control.
In regard to people, keep your planning group together as long as you
can. Allow them the chance to monitor the steps to begin implementation.
Bring in more people to start carrying out the tasks, but monitor the
process closely. Be willing to alter and change your plans. Some priorities
may change as time goes on. As you accomplish a task, document your results
and drop it out of the plan.
The planning process can get your entire organization back on track.
You have to make time for it and you must be diligent about following
through. A business moves only forward or backward. You either have to
be moving ahead with your projects or they will be slipping. Which way
are you going?
Originally published in the 2000 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
