1

FACILITATIONANDSTRATEGICPLANNING

ImTomRomito.ImafacilitatorandIworkwithorganizationsthatwanttoimprove
themselves.ThisshortpaperexplainshowI,asafacilitator,helpthemdothatthroughaprocess
calledstrategicplanning.

WhenImeetwithagroupforthefirsttime,Iaskthemwhattheywanttoaccomplish.Usually,
theydontknowexactlywhattheywanttodo.Theycomplain,however,thattheireffortsare
fragmentedandunfocusedbecausetheydonthaveanymoney,theirboardandofficersare
burnedout,andtheydonthaveaplanforthefuture.IexplainthatIcanofferthreewaystohelp
them.Theyareactionplanning,strategicplanning,andteambuilding.Allthreehavethe
objectiveofimprovinginternalmanagement,buttheydifferintheirapproachandintensity.I
decideontherightapproachtousebasedonmyassessmentofthegroupshealth,size,and
interest.Sometimes,theorganizationImgoingtoworkwithisastartup,ortheycantagreeon
whattheirmissionis.Iknowrightawaythatitsripefora
strategicplanningprocess
.Ifthe
organizationisalreadyseasonedandhighperformingandjustwantsatuneup,teambuilding
oractionplanningmaybeappropriate.

Ifstrategicplanningistherightprescription
foranorganizationthatsneworstruggling,I
takethemthroughaprocessthatincludes12
steps.Iborrowedthisprocessfromabook
entitledStrategicPlanningforNonprofit
OrganizationsbyMichaelAllisonandJude
Kayeandadaptedittofitmyownfacilitative
style.Thefollowinggraphicandparagraphs
describethestepsinmyprocess.

Animportantthingtonoteaboutmyprocess
isthatIhelpthegroupachieveclarityon
terms.Manygroupsusethetermsofstrategic
planninginterchangeably,andIthinkthisis
detrimentaltobuildingconsensusonanything.
ThetermsImtalkingaboutare
goal
,
strategy
,
objective
,and
action
.AsIgothroughthe

BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

stepsofmyprocessinthispaper,IexplainhowIapplytheseterms.

Conductadesktopbriefing
.ThisisanapproachIusetoorienttheorganizationsleaderand
boardonthebigpictureofmystrategicplanningprocesssotheycandecideiftheywantto
undertakeit.ThedesktopbriefingactuallyisabriefingthatIgivealongsidesomeonesdeskor
fromoneendofatablearoundwhichpeoplearesitting.IborrowedthisideafromtheU.S.
Army.Iuseasmallwoodenboardthatpropsupabinderturnedinsideout.Thebindercontains
sheetsofpaperindocumentprotectors.Eachsheetshowsadifferentaspectofmyprocess.The
brieftakesabout30minutes,dependingonquestionsandcommentsthepeopleImbriefing
have.Bytheendofthebriefing,theleaderortheboardusuallysays,Letsgoforit!orthey
wanttomullitoverandgetbacktome.Ifthegroupdecidestheywantgothroughastrategic
planningprocess,weselectaplaceandscheduletomeet.

Createagoalstatement
.Thefirststepinmyprocessistogetthegrouptodefinethegoalof
theirorganization.Thegoaliswhyitexists.Mostgroupsfeeltheyhavetohavemanygoals.I
submitthatanyorganization,entity,ormovementcanonlyhaveonegoal.Allotherendeavors
aresubordinatetoasinglegoal.Forexample,intheworldofmartialarts,therearemanystyles.
Allofthemaredifferentpathstothesamegoal,whichistheunificationofmind,body,and
spirit.Itrytogetthegrouptoagreeonwhatthesinglegoaloftheirorganizationis.Iexplain
thateverythingelsewedoduringthestrategicplanningprocesswillsupportthatgoal.

Identifybarrierstoachievingthegoal
.ThenIhelpthegrouplistbarriersorissuesthatimpede
themfromachievingtheirgoal.Thesebarriersmightbeinternal,suchasstaffing,funding,or
leadership.Theymightalsobeexternaltotheorganization,suchascustomers,community
relations,orelectedofficials.Thenwelookatwhatcausesthesebarriersandwhatwouldbethe
consequencesifwedidnotremovethem.

Reviewpreviousandcurrentstrategiesforremovingthebarriers
.Theideaoflisting
strategiesthegrouppreviouslyoronceused,andiscurrentlyusing,istoacknowledgethe
groupseffortstoachievethegoalonitsown.Wewillalsoreviewwhypaststrategieswere
discontinued,howsuccessfulcurrentstrategiesare,andwhetherornotwewanttokeepusing
them.

Createamissionstatement
.Asopposedtothegoal,whichiswhattheorganizationwants,the
missionis
whattheorganizationdoes
.Basedonthegroupsassumptionsandmethods,we
developacompellingmissionstatementthatsupportsthegoal.Wealsocomeupwitha
powerfultaglineorslogantohelpbrandtheorganization.Istresstothegroupthatitsmission
mustsupportitsgoal.

Createavisionstatement
.Thepurposeofdevelopingavisionstatementistogetthegroupto
agreeon
howitseesitself
,nowandinthefuture.Thisisbasedonthevaluesthegroupmembers
haveininteractingwitheachotherandwitheveryonewhohasavestedinterestinthe
organization,suchascustomers,partners,funders,andelectedofficials.Thevision,too,must
supportthegoal.

BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

Developaninformationgatheringplan
.Iexplaintothegroupmembersthatwhattheir
stakeholders(customers,partners,funders,andelectedofficials)havetosayaboutthe
organizationwillhelpustodeveloppotentialstrategiesforremovingthebarriersthatimpedeus
fromachievingthegoal.Towardthisend,wedevelopaplantogatherthisinformation.We
developlistsofwhatinformationwethinkweneed,wherewearegoingtogetit,andhowwe
aregoingtodoso.Typically,withmyhelp,thegroupdecidesthatweneedtoconducta
survey
and
focusgroups
.Thesearethetwomostpowerfultoolswecanusetogatherinformation.I
typicallytaketheleadondevelopingandrunningasurveyandassemblingandconductingfocus
groups.Lookformyseparatewhitepapersonthesetwosubjects.

ConductaSWOTanalysis
.Thisiswhereeveryoneworks.Itaketheinformationwegathered
fromthesurveyandfocusgroupsandconstructaSWOTmatrix.Thislaysouttheinformation
infourquadrants.ThefourquadrantsareStrengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities,andThreats.
Theydescribewhattheythinkabouttheorganization.Thenwerelatethesequadrantstoeach
othersothegroupcanseepotentialstrategiesemerge.Breakoutgroupslendthemselveswellto
thisstep.Followingthisexercise,webringforwardthepreviousandcurrentstrategiesnoted
beforeandlistthemalongwiththepotentialstrategiesthatemergedfromtheSWOTanalysis.

Derivecorestrategiesandrelatedobjectives
.Here,wetakeallofthepotentialstrategiesfrom
thelaststepandvisualizethreetofive
corestrategies
thatwillguidetheorganizationforthenext
threeyears.Wedothiscombining,adding,oreliminatingpotentialstrategiesasnecessaryto
arriveatthecorestrategies.Corestrategiesareoverarchingstatementsthatdescribehowthe
organizationplanstoachieveitsgoal.Thepotentialstrategiesthatdonotbecomecorestrategies
willbesubordinatetothecorestrategiesandsupportthem.Thesearecalled
objectives
.Each
corestrategywilltypicallyhavethreetofiveobjectivesassociatedwithit.

Createanactionplan
.Thisiswheretherubbermeetstheroad.Ifeveryoneworkedbefore,
theyarereallyworkingnow.TheactionplanisanothermatrixIconstructthatshowwhatthe
groupisgoingtodo,whoisgoingtodoit,andwhentheyaregoingtodoit.Theactionplan
liststhespecificactionsthegroupintendstodotoachievetheobjectivesofthecorestrategies.
Thebeautyoftheactionplanisthateveryone,oralmosteveryone,inthegroup,signsuptodo
something,andtheyareaccountableforaccomplishingtheactionplan.Withoutthesemetrics,
thefollowingstatementprevails:Ifeveryoneisaccountable,nooneisaccountable.Hereisa
sampleofanactionplanmatrix:

ACTION
WHO
WHEN

Developacompanionfundraisingstrategy,ifappropriate
.Inmywhitepaperondeveloping
afundraisingstrategy,Idiscussthekeystepsofhowanorganizationcansurviveandthrivein
hardtimes.Manyorganizationsdonotwanttotakethisintoaccountwhentheyundergoa
strategicplanningprocess,forreasonsthatarenotreadilyapparent.Thisiswhyitsimportantto
getagrouptodiscusstheundiscussable.Askilledfacilitatorcanferretoutthesereasons.
BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:

http://www.tomromito.com

Writethestrategicplanningdocument
.Someonehastowriteadocumentthat
capturesallofthisthinkingandtalkingabouttheorganizationsfuture.Itypicallypreparea
tenpagedraftandgiveittotheorganizationforconsideration.Atthispoint,myroleis
essentiallyover.Someorganizationswillpublishthedocumentandsomewillrewriteit.

Sothisismystrategicplanningprocess.Ihaveconductedsevenfullprocesseslikethissince
2006withorganizationsinGreaterCleveland.Alloftheseorganizationsstatethattheyare
betterfortheexperiencebecausetheyhavearoadmapforthefuture.

BuildingCapacityinYourOrganization
2015TomRomito,Facilitator,Cleveland,OH44109USA
Email:
thomasmromito@gmail.com
Web:

http://www.tomromito.com