Leadership Training Manual 6

LESSON 6

STRATEGIC PLANNING: FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL

“Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Chron.1:10

The key to great planning is focus. You must know where you want to go before asking others to follow you. Once your personal and organizational mission is defined, the methods become easier to clarify as well. All great human endeavours have included a God factor and the leadership factor. The leadership factor is planning.

BIBLE EXAMPLES OF PLANNING

Ø God did it. Isaiah 37:26

Ø Noah did it. Gen. 7-9

Ø Nehemiah did it. Neh. 1-5

Ø David did it 2 Sam 7 &1 kings 5:2-3

Ø Jesus told parables about it.

·        The wise and foolish builder. Mt. 7:24-27

·        The builder counting the cost. Luke 14:28-30

·        The king planning for battle. Luke 14:31-32

·        The unjust steward. Luke 16:1-8

STEPS TO EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING

Plan to plan: when a good deal of time is spent planning, we find that we’ve saved time on the overall task.

Determine your primary purpose: determine first what goal you want to reach- the big picture. Then you can make long term and short term plans accordingly. The following self –examining questions and their answers would help:

Why do we exist?

What are we trying to accomplish?

Assess the situation: a plan for the future based on an unrealistic view of the present will lead to disaster.

There are four angles to consider when assessing your situation:

a)     INSIDE the organization: what we are doing from the perspective of those we work with.	b)    OUTSIDE the organization: what are you doing from the perspective of someone who does not know your strategy
c)     CURRENT POINT OF VIEW: what does your situation look like from the point of where you are now?	d)    FUTURE POINT OF VIEW: how does your situation look month or years from now?

PRIORITIZE THE NEEDS: List team goals in the order of their importance and priority. Results are left to chance when things are not prioritized in which case, we would not get what we desire.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS:

Target: whom are we trying to serve and what need are we meeting?

Leadership: Do we have the right people at the top to accomplish our goal?

Counsel: whose advice do we need in order to succeed?

Direction: Exactly what are we trying to do short –range, mid-range and long –range

Organization: who is responsible for what? Who would supervise whom?

Funding: what are the expected expenses and income?

Reporting: Are we on target with our progress?

Communication: How can we effectively make known what we are doing?

Evaluating: Are we seeking the quality we expect or demand of ourselves?

Refining: How can we keep improving on the critical aspect of this ministry?

SET SPECIFIC GOALS: The goals set should be written down to serve as a constant reminder. For effective planning, your goals must be realistic, personal, specific, measurable and convictional.

COMMUNICATE and CLARITY: The vision must be shared and the steps that need to be taken shown. Every planning meeting should include the following; written conclusion, project list, time-line, resource list, next step (action items) and responsibility (project leaders).

IDENTIFY POSSIBLE OBSTACLES: Imagine a worse-case scenario and how you would respond. This way, you are armed with ways to overcome your challenges before they come. Possibly, come up with alternative plans.

HAVE AN OPEN SYSTEM OF PLANNING

MANAGE and DIRECT your resources. Other than people, your most valuable asset is time and money. Invest in both wisely. You can do this by scheduling your items and budgeting for the project.

MONITOR and CORRECT: This means that you will stay abreast of the execution of the plans and make adjustments and corrections where necessary.

STUDY THE RESULTS: Keeping scores is the only way to know whether you are winning or losing. Make your changes based on current information if you are making any.