Is strategic planning worth the effort? Frequently organizations are concerned whether it will be time well spent, whether the plan that gets created will get implemented. Here are two stories of the impact strategic planning had on two small organizations that prioritized getting intentional about their future.

Challenge:
A small local disability focused service organization spent the last several years strengthening its board, its financial footing and documenting processes for its signature events. After this strengthening process, the leadership decided it was in a good position to be more deliberate about deciding its future direction. 

Approach
After interviewing key stakeholders and conducting focus groups of board members, I shifted what was planned as a full day retreat to two online sessions. The goal of the sessions was to define the organization's key goals for the next 3-5 years. During the online sessions, the board 

• engaged in scenario planning, 
• identified the significant implications of the themes from the interviews and focus groups 
• envisioned the organization's future impact on those they serve
• agreed on three key strategic goals that will shape their next three years.

Results
The organization now has a new strategic plan with clear support from the organization's leadership. The process helped the group celebrate the strides they had taken over the past several years. They were able to acknowledge their success and build on that positive momentum to move forward with focus and direction.

Challenge:
A small local environmental organization had been volunteer-led for most of its 30 years. In the past five years, it had hired its first executive director and added several part-time staff. The organization had not successfully undergone strategic planning and its vision was primarily directed by its founding board members. The organization had a very large board that was still very involved in day-to-day operations.

Approach
I interviewed and conducted focus groups with key board members. Board members conducted interviews with external stakeholders. I facilitated two online sessions to define the organization's key goals for the next 3-5 years. During the online sessions, the board 

• identified the significant implications of the themes from the interviews and focus groups 
• learned about nonprofit life-cycle stages - particularly the challenging shift from an all-volunteer organization to a staffed organization
• envisioned the organization's future 
• agreed on three key strategic goals that will shape their next three years.

Through these sessions the board and staff were able to recognize ways in which how they were operating was getting in their own way and make plans to adjust. They had tough conversations about what the role of the board and the staff needed to be going forward and how to make working together a more positive experience.

Results
The organization now has a new strategic plan with clear delineation of roles and responsibilities as well as action items and key performance indicators. This is the organization's first strategic plan that was developed as a shared vision.

When you are used to meeting in person, it is easy to see the disadvantages of online meetings. You are missing out on a lot of body language and other non-verbal cues. Yet the sudden shift to everything online since March has demonstrated many of the advantages of online meetings.

​Not only do your participants save time and money on travel, your organization saves money. You do not need to rent a meeting space and serve the group food. You will need to pay for an online meeting hosting service such as Zoom or Adobe Connect as well as perhaps an online collaboration tool such as Mural or Miro. These costs, however, will be substantially less than what you would have paid for in food, AV rental, printing and other costs of the meeting.

There are lots of ways that the technology itself can help you run an effective meeting.

• Lost? If you are concerned that participants are lost, you can pull everyone's attention back by sharing your screen.
• Share resources: You can immediately share resources by popping links into the chat.
• Record it! Being able to record the session makes it available to those who couldn’t attend live.
• Small Groups: When you have people separate into small groups the shift into and out of groups is pretty seamless - “no standing in front of the room saying - if I could have your attention please.”
• Mute all: You also have greater control over people’s participation with the mute and mute all options.
• The Chat: If side conversations pop up - you can watch them in the chat. With the group chat function you can hear from many more people than if you just rely on reports out from groups. Introverts may be more likely to contribute via written chat than out loud. 

Want to learn more about how to effectively facilitate online meetings? Join my four-week group coaching program. A new cohort starts in September.