Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Week 5
Strategic Planning and Goal
Setting
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Plans are only as good as the action they
inspire.
Michael Fullan
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Strategic Planning
• What is strategic planning?
– Hoyle characterizes it as planning that is “involved
with environmental monitoring, broad
participation, and vision” (p. 84)
– Strategic planning usually involves long‐term
planning
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is a management tool, period. As with any management
tool, it is used for one purpose only: to help an organization do a
better job ‐ to focus its energy, to ensure that members of the
organization are working toward the same goals, to assess and adjust the
organization's direction in response to a changing environment. In
short, strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental
decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what
it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. (Adapted from
Bryson's Strategic Planning in Public and Nonprofit Organizations)
A word by word dissection of this definition provides the key elements
that underlie the meaning and success of a strategic planning process:
The process is strategic because it involves preparing the best way to
respond to the circumstances of the organization's environment, whether
or not its circumstances are known in advance; nonprofits often must
respond to dynamic and even hostile environments. Being strategic, then,
means being clear about the organization's objectives, being aware of
the organization's resources, and incorporating both into being
consciously responsive to a dynamic environment.
The process is about planning because it involves intentionally setting
goals (i.e., choosing a desired future) and developing an approach to
achieving those goals.
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CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Goal Setting in Strategic Planning
• Goals should be SMART
– Specific/Significant (Not: shifting)
– Meaningful/Measurable (observable)/Motivating
– Achievable/Action‐oriented/Aligned
– Realistic/Relevant
– Time delimited/Timely/Tangible
• Meeting goal statements should begin with “To”
+ a verb + something observable (often
quantifiable)
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Starting Point
• One common starting point for a strategic
plan is a SWOT analysis
– What are the district’s Strengths?
– What are the district’s Weaknesses?
– What are the Opportunities available?
– What are the Threats faced by the district?
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Next Steps
• Based on SWOT analysis, identify major issues confronting the
district
• Create and prioritize goals to address issues
• Develop overall strategies to reach goals
• Establish action plans (specific objectives, timelines, resources
required, roles for participants) and means of assessment
• Monitor plans and adjust as needed
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Some Suggestions re: Goal Setting
• Avoid goal statements that are based “to improve”
(unless accompanied by quantifiable goal) and “to
address the lack of.”
• Do not try to address global issues, issues that are
not aligned with the charge, or issues beyond the
capacity of the group.
• Do not substitute activities for goals. Goals are
outcomes, not inputs.
• Things that can be accomplished quickly are probably
not goals or goals that require meetings.
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Goal Setting
• Verbs for use in goal setting:
Align Analyze Approve Assess (Evaluate)
Change Complete (Finalize) Create Decide
Decrease (Increase) Determine Discuss
Establish Identify Maximize (Minimize) Plan
Prepare Prioritize Replace Review Revise
Start (Stop) Summarize Teach Write
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Working with Others
• All administrators must work with others to
accomplish goals
• District leaders, even more than building
administrators, are dependent on others to get
things done
• Meetings in one form or another are the medium
through which much of this coordination and
goal‐directed action are accomplished
• Many meetings are not effective. Here are some
tips learned through research and experience:
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Decision Point
Is a meeting needed?
– “Telling” should not be the reason for a meeting
– Use updates, email, blogs, bulletin boards to keep
people informed
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Before the Meeting:
Get the Details Right!
• Determine who should be invited
– Who has the information, expertise, credibility within the
school, ability to work with others, ability to attend
consistently?
– Make sure those “closest to the action” are invited
– Balance the value of small group size with the need for
results
• Smaller groups may work efficiently
• Larger groups encourage presentation of diverse
perspectives and promote synergy
• Consider alternate ways of involving those who would
value opportunity for input
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Before the Meeting:
Get the Details Right!
• Have all the materials and supplies ready
• Identify pre‐meeting homework: readings, web sites, “think
abouts” etc.
• Develop and distribute meeting outline or agenda
– Overall (long‐term goal) or purpose of the group
– Purpose of the meeting
• What is being discussed and why it is important
• Desired outcomes
• Non‐purposes of meeting
• Beginning/Ending times
• If appropriate, time to be devoted to various phases of the agenda
– Who will lead or facilitate
– Who will receive information about the meeting after its conclusion
– Put the most important items at the top of the agenda
• Take care of refreshments
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Running the Meeting
• Review desired outcomes/non‐purposes
• Keep records and preserve data
• Follow the agenda
• Facilitate wide participation
• Break out into subgroups if needed
• Reach closure to the greatest extent possible
(Allocate time for this)
• Call the question when needed
• Record of meeting should be distributed to all
participants
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Meeting Summary Chart
The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has
been accomplished.
‐ George Bernard Shaw
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Avoid PLOT!
• PLOT stands for Parkinson’s Law of Triviality. (C. Northcote Parkinson,
1957)
– Organizations devote too much time to the consideration of relatively
unimportant issues
– Why?
• Perhaps because it is easier to address concrete, simpler issues
than more abstract and complex ones
• No one wants to admit a lack of expertise
• There is a tendency to trust those considered to be experts on a
given question
• Group members want to participate in group activities. Members
have more confidence and more to contribute when a question
lies within their experience and training.
– Have you ever experienced this dynamic? You may want to share an
anecdote with the class.
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Avoid PLOT!
– How can you prevent PLOT from taking over?
• Anticipate topics that may lead the group off‐track
• Devote limited, but critical , time to review of the ground rules for group
discussion/action
• Reinforce the charge of the group, the purpose of the meeting and/or the
deliverables expected
• Use an agenda that has time limits defined for each item
• Create a “parking lot” for ideas that could be addressed in other forums
or at other times
• Assign a process observer with responsibilities for stopping the discussion
when it has veered into trivialities
• Use your authority as leader to move the agenda along (“Okay, we’ve
discussed this issue …now we must return to our agenda.”)
You are welcome to add your own ideas about how to combat PLOT to our
class discussion!
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Research Shows…
• You can make meetings much more engaging
to participants by
– Starting and stopping on time
– Promoting active, open communication
– Ensuring that meetings are relevant .
Source: Allen, J.A., and Rogelberg, S.G. Group &
Organizational Management.
http://gom.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/09/04/105960
1113503040
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.
Final Tips
• Process is the means, not the end. Good
process is not a substitute for results.
• Avoid: Paralysis by analysis
“When all was said and done, much more was
said than done.”
CEQ 515 Robert Feirsen, Ed.D.