Pre-Strategic Planning Checklist
- Dr Estelle McDonald
- Jan 23
- 2 min read
At this time of year, many are thinking about developing or reviewing their strategy and placed it on their to-do list for next year.
Here is a checklist of six basic questions you may want to consider in scoping your strategic planning process, whether you are thinking of doing it be yourself or having an external organisation assist you.
Why now - What’s the biggest driver to have this strategic discussion now?
Desired outcome - What do we hope to achieve out of the strategy?
Organisational readiness – Do we have the capabilities and capacity internally? What else is happening for us and how much energy can be focused on this?
Learnings - What have we learned from our past strategy development and implementation experiences that we need to consider going forward?
Change impact - How much change might this strategy bring and by extension, what might we need to put in place as part of this process to engage the organisation?
Opening the mind sets - How might we spark different perspectives and challenge our thinking?
The answers to these questions are likely to impact:
o Who you need to involve internally and externally
o The type of strategy approach, analysis, fact base and other materials you need
o Whether you have the capabilities and capacity in house and how you might create sufficient energy or focus
o Timing
o What outputs the strategy needs to deliver
o What other practices, processes, collaborations you might want to seed as part of this strategy development to deliver on your outcomes
In summary, keep the desired impact at the forefront and prepare for its effective implementation as part of its development.
Strategies are only as good as their ability to create real, sustainable change for your organisation and the communities you serve.
Dr Estelle McDonald is the Founder and Principal at Growth Seeds Consulting and specialises in growth, strategy and execution for nonprofit organisations.
