Category Archives: Strategy and Planning for Associations

The 5 Truths of Association Planning – Part 2

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Last week we explored the first 3 of 5 essential association planning truths. Below you’ll find the remaining undeniable truths that are always present for an organization’s strategy and planning methods.

Making Strategy is Not a Natural Skill.

Employees are promoted through organizations because of their operational skills, pure and simple. We must not expect that managers and leaders at a certain level will have an innate skill to plan. The first part in any successful planning effort is education. More importantly, we need to keep our expectations low the first couple times through the process and understand that like anything we will get better at planning with time and experience. Of course better planners make better plans.

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There is no Growth Without a Plan.

Organizations without a plan are running on pure business momentum. Without a clearly stated intention to grow and the necessary actions, resources and investments, growth will stall. When growth stalls, organizations of all kinds begin to lose relevance and their core reason for being.

Ask yourself honestly about the level and efficacy of planning in your organization. Are you getting what you need from planning?

The 5 Truths About Association Planning – Part 1

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In nearly 20 years of helping organizations, I have seen strategy and planning from a thousand different angles, however 5 undeniable certainties are always present.

 

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Planning is Hard.

Perhaps it is a sign of our times that we want instant gratification and we underestimate the effort to do something right, but this is especially true with planning. From public, private and non profit organizations, I witness a chronic under-assessment of the level of hard work required to make and execute a successful plan.  This truth pervades every level of the plan from a board of directors who think they can create a compelling and successful strategy in a half day session to a project team who low-balls the effort required for just about everything. If planning was easy, every company, association and charity would grow and thrive every year.

There is no Such Thing as Buy-In.

Many leaders I work with want make a plan with little or no meaningful input from the people who will be responsible for implementation. They believe they can “get buy-in” after the fact. This almost never works. People want a fair and substantive influence on the plan they will ultimately need to execute.

People Hate to be Measured.
A great plan works because it is understandable, measurable and crystal clear regarding expected outcomes and the specific accountabilities for those outcomes. Putting such a fine point on accountability naturally puts just about every involved in a state of unease. Your process needs to take this into account and be prepared that even if people want real input as outlined above, they will turn around and resist when their opinion actually helps shape the business plan.
Stay tuned for 2 more essential truths of association planning.

 

 

Deadly Planning Mistakes: A Planning Horizon That is too Long

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Many planners still consider “strategic” to be synonymous with “long-term”. Executives enjoy long term strategic planning because it’s usually pure fantasy. Consultants love to do long term planning exercises because they make everyone feel good. Yet long planning horizons are the root cause of visions and strategies that are too motherhood to be successfully executed.

We’ve learned from experience with clients, that when we take executive teams through an exercise to create a 2-3 year practical vision, they are visibly uneasy. They know if they commit to a vision of the organization only 8-12 quarters away, real plans will need to be underway within a few months just to be on track.

 

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Creating a Sense of Urgency

This sense of urgency is the best reason to keep planning horizons short. Bridging the gap between strategy and execution is difficult, and a vision that is both practical and compelling is the best foundation. A vision should drive the articulation of an organization’s most crucial priorities, its Strategic Imperatives, as well as a solid plan for how to achieve those priorities. Without that short, practical vision, turning strategy into action is almost impossible.

There is one important caveat: strategic planning, in particular vision statements, should never have a horizon that is too short. A vision for an organization that is only 12 months away, for example, is likely unrealistic, and can cause a sense of hopelessness. This can be just as damaging to successful execution as a vision that is too long.

There is a place for a very high level, longer term strategic vision for your association, but don’t let it be a substitute for a practical vision and strategy that will be the drivers of real action. Keep your business planning horizon between 2-3 years to create plans that are practical, compelling, and stand a fighting chance of execution.

More on Value Proposition Statements

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Value Proposition Statement as a Marketing Tool 

If you firmly articulate your Value Proposition statement, then by all means write a marketing version of it and use it. Be mindful, however. Don’t just articulate the Value Proposition statement with the sole objective of marketing. This may sound like splitting hairs, but trust me, if you set out to create a marketing statement, this is exactly what you will get.

A clear and concise value proposition statement can become one of the most powerful marketing messages than an association can have. Here are a few reasons why:

  • It clearly states who the target market it, and demonstrates an intimate knowledge of the target market. Obviously, members will really like it if they feel like your association understands them and their issues.
  • It will clearly describe the tangible benefits that members will receive through membership.
  • It will tell members how receiving the product or service from your association will benefit them more than if they received it from your competitors, or if members tried to duplicate the value themselves.
  • It clearly differentiates you from your competitors.

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Refreshing the Value Proposition

Like all other parts of the business plan, don’t let the value proposition go stale. Members’ needs change just about as fast as everything else in the association world, so refresh your value proposition at least once a year.

Value Proposition Pay Off

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Value Proposition allows associations to form a strong strategic foundation they can continue to build on, but what other benefits come from a deep understanding of value proposition?

Firstly, and most importantly, your organization can avoid commoditization of your offer. You don’t even need complete control over all parts of the value you deliver. Your association’s unique partnerships with others, and tight relationships with suppliers, and other intermediaries can be combined with your offer to deliver a powerful solution to your members. The use of engaged members can even be part of the value chain equation.

 

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When done right, understanding and articulating a clear statement of value proposition will help you realize:

  • Better recruitment
  • Faster product development and time to market
  • Decreased development and marketing costs
  • Improved operational efficiency
  • Increased market share
  • Better member retention

To come: how to use value proposition statement as a powerful marketing tool.

Association Growth: Rethinking the Planning Process

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Planning can be painful, and many associations have tried to make up for “good process” with “big process”. When the size and complexity of an organization increases, their strategy and planning processes either develop unwieldy, and often bizarre layers, or they simply do not keep pace. Many big organizations have let their planning processes run out of control. Some of the results are not pretty:

  • The budgeting process has not only become unwieldy, highly detailed, and often politically charged, but it has largely supplanted any real strategy and planning efforts.
  • Annual planning processes become too much of an event, they suck valuable resources, and are too slow and cumbersome to provide value.
  • Organizations are planning for the wrong reasons, usually to satisfy a corporate requirement, rather than to actually improve the business condition.
  • Organizations have not made the investment in leaders and managers to develop the skills necessary for true strategic thinking.
  • Even associations that set the operational standards in their industry do not take the time to truly understand their business as a basis for innovation and growth.

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When organizations shift their thinking about what they want to get out of their planning processes, they generally follow the fundamental objectives that their new planning process must:

  • Consume less organizational effort than the existing process.
  • Increase the strategic ability of leaders and managers.
  • Provide a well defined relationship between vision, strategy and actions to all employees to improve morale, and the drive for common good.
  • Provide detailed, actionable deliverables in the short term, with diminishing detail as the planning horizon increases.
  • Entrench planning as part of the leadership toolkit.
  • Operate effectively regardless of the quarter and not be limited by calendar dates such as December 31.

7 Principles of Strategic Imperatives: Part 3

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Unlike many of the concepts of effective business planning, Strategic Imperatives are something that many planners have never heard of. The idea of Strategic Imperatives, sometimes known as Strategic Priorities, Business Imperatives, Business Priorities, among others, have not had a long history.

The use of Strategic Imperatives is currently limited to the most forward thinking organizations, so if you can only do one thing to improve your business plan, focus on Strategic Imperatives.

6. Each Strategic Imperative Must Have a Clear Completion Date.

Although Strategic Imperatives are not projects, they do have a start and finish date. Strategic Imperatives are not operational, and they can’t go on indefinitely. Strategic Imperatives should change over time, and as Strategic Imperatives are completed, other Strategic Imperatives are started.

To build on the example I used in our last blog regarding “People Development” as a Strategic Imperative; it, of course is possible that at some stage in an association’s development the deliberate development of its employees may be a reasonable Strategic Imperative. But that Strategic Imperative must have well-defined boundaries, and clear objectives that can and must be completed in a reasonable length of time.

When those objectives have been met, the Strategic Imperative gets dropped from the list. Of course “People Development” is always going to be an important ongoing part of any operation, but it is no longer a Strategic Imperative. I see lots of examples like this in my work, including Strategic Imperatives around “Improving Member Service”, “Growing the Sales Force”, and “Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement.”

 

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7. Clearly define accountability for each Strategic Imperative.

Because Strategic Imperatives are strategic, we are talking about executive accountability.

The overall accountability for each Strategic Imperative should reside with one of the organization’s most senior people. But don’t fall into the trap of giving accountability for every Strategic Imperative to the ED or CEO. Yes, they have overall accountability for the vision and the strategy of the organization, but don’t forget we are trying to deliberately push accountability down the organization one step at a time, and Strategic Imperatives are the first step.

Although the accountability for each Strategic Imperative is going to be assigned to one senior person, there will be shared responsibility to execute it, as the associated actions move down the organization.

 

7 Principles of Strategic Imperatives: Part 2

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Previously, we covered the first three principles required for effectively formatting, creating, writing, and managing Strategic Imperatives. Our list of principles continues below:

4. Strategic Imperatives should be inspirational

Setting up strategic imperatives are one of the first steps of using the strategy of an organization to drive action, and as such, they should be inspiring. Inspiration needs to be grounded in reality, avoid vagueness and feel good statements. To achieve this without speaking in platitudes, ensure each strategic imperative:

  • Is as specific as reasonable, given that it is strategic
  • Will be a stretch to accomplish without being so far out that it creates a sense of hopelessness
  • Is well written and presented in clear, concise language, without sounding like marketing
  • Is backed up with the underlying context and assumptions that were used to create them

5. Strategic Imperatives must be Imperative

This may go without saying, but do not allow items to creep into your list of Strategic Imperatives because it seems like the right thing to do.

Articulating even one Strategic Imperative that isn’t really imperative will weaken the whole set, and will sully the process. This is especially true if staff perceive that a Strategic Imperative has been included for political reasons, or that it’s just “lip service”. The first time staff and managers are introduced to the set of Strategic Imperatives, you want them to say “wow, those really are the most important things we need to accomplish, and I want to make my contribution.”

The best example I can give for this comes from my own experience helping clients articulate their Strategic Imperatives. In all the Strategic Imperative sessions I have done, almost without fail, the last Strategic Imperative on the list is titled “Human Resource Strategy” or “Develop the Best People”, or “Training and Development”, or sometimes just “People”. Now these are all great things, but are they imperative? Are they operational, or is it actually imperative that the organization puts a special time constrained emphasis on the development of its people right now?


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7 Principles of Strategic Imperatives: Part 1

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Strategic imperatives should follow a specific format that are created, written, and managed with the following principles in mind:

1. Focus on “What”, leave room for “How”

This is a subtle but important part of articulating Strategic Imperatives. Employees want to be informed of the crucial parts of an association’s strategy and given a clear sense of priorities, but they do not want to be told how to do their jobs. This distinction matters, because if you want the Strategic Imperatives to really drive action, then you need association staff to get on board and work towards the solution themselves.

Focusing on “how” to achieve Strategic Imperatives, is restricting and prevents employees from coming up with the best approach for execution. By putting focus on what needs to be done, rather than how to do it, will produce superior results.

2. Define success but not how success will be achieved

This principle builds on number 1. What success looks like for each Strategic Imperative (SI) must be measurable, and specific, but not overly detailed. However, if SI’s are too vague, then staff cannot envision how they can contribute to a solution.

A successful board should be guided by those who bring different perspectives to the table.

3. Communication is key, be careful of spin

In fact, SI’s form a key part of communicating an association’s strategy to staff. This is what strategic imperatives are all about – bridging the gap between strategic and operational planning.

Create the initial set of SI’s completely without spin. Once senior management is united behind the intent of the Strategic Imperatives, then a version can be crafted and broadly communicated. You have a key role in ensuring that SI’s are created without spin, until a decision is made to create a communicable version.

During the process of creating Strategic Imperatives, senior leaders can become overly concerned with what people will think or how the imperatives will sound to staff. Do everything you can to prevent this from happening, otherwise the line becomes blurred between what is spin and what the actual intent of the strategic imperative is.

 

Stay tuned for more principles of strategic imperatives!

Recognizing the Planning-Execution Gap

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The Planning-Execution Gap is a phenomenon that rattles almost every organization. The gap comes in all shapes and sizes, but there are important similarities, and you will usually hear people saying things like this: 

  • “We have a clear strategy, but we just can’t seem to execute.”
  • “We’ve been dealing with this issue for a long time, but we just can’t overcome it.”
  • “Only the ED understands everything that’s going on around here.”
  • “We try to be all things to to all people, and everything seems like a priority – but we never get anything done.” 

 

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A big challenge when leading your association through business planning, is bridging the gap between strategy and execution. 

It’s easy to fall into the trap of helping your organization’s leaders articulate a nice strategy, but that doesn’t mean it can or will be executed. Many organizations will have a sound strategy at one end of the planning spectrum, and good projects and actions at the other, but the two just do not connect.

The participants in your planning process are human. Sure they would love it if they could execute their plans to move the business forward, but it takes hard work and many don’t really want to make the necessary changes to close the gap.

As a result, many organizations live with the Planning Gap because it is easier to “do” business planning once a year, and forget about it. Everyone seems surprised that very little actually got accomplished in the following year, then justify the shortcomings in a variety of ways, and repeat the process over again.