Putting strategy into action: The four key aspects to keep in mind

1. What is a strategy? Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill expectations of different target groups.

2. The concept of Learning Organisations and Organisational Behaviours The LO concept was developed to help organisations cope with the rapid acceleration in the pace of change a challenge also facing every NSO. Additionally, the LO approach is one that encourages Members to be involved and contribute to the NSOs development. Member involvement is a growing expectation at all levels and the LO approach will help us to meet that expectation. Key organisational behaviours o Involve and consult our membership at all levels whenever possible o Flatten organisational structures o Share information and store it in an accessible way so that everyone can see the whole picture and can therefore contribute to discussions o Encourage learning and personal developmentthis is what we should be doing in Scouting anyway! o Regular external stimulus for the organisation's thinking and development o Adopt a holistic approach to strategy 3. Managing Change and Managing Projects Managing change o Why change things?: Need to improve, to fix a fault, internal pressure or external pressure o Why its hard in Scouting and Guiding?: Too much work, lack of resources, loss of expert-status for some people, you dont change things that are running ok o Understanding the issues: People resist change not organizations o Reasons for failure: Lack of planning, too much focus on the systems and the practical, not enough focus on people, project managers get too close/defensive, project managers forget the process/learning they went through o Plan to succeed: Plan it in from the start, have a specific group looking at it, be open (from the start), use all the communication channels you can find, allocate enough resources, focus on the people, use ambassadors that people respect, ensure total support from the hierarchy, remember it is ongoing o Dealing with Resistance: Education, participation, facilitation and support, negotiation and agreement, manipulation, coercion (explicit and implicit)

o Embed change in the culture: Involve and consult whenever possible, flatten organisational structures and communication channels, share information and store it in accessible way, encourage learning and personal development, regular external stimulus, holistic approach to strategy Project management as a holistic approach o Analyzing (analyze the environment) o Planning (specifying the desired results, determining the schedules, and estimating the resources) o Organizing (defining peoples roles and responsibilities) o Controlling (reconfirming peoples expected performances, monitoring actions and results, addressing problems, and sharing information with interested people o Learning 4. How can your NSOs and NSAs get support in OD? The Organisational Development Core Group, tailored support: Consulting, workshops, etc. Contact the Regional Scout Bureau; europe@scout.org The library of documents [coming soon] OD seminar, February 11-12, 2012; venue tba