Mapping Out the Future
The purpose of planning
Strategic Planning is the process by which an organization aligns its mission, priorities, resource investments, and energy with its vision. It involves building a roadmap for the journey forward, and also managing our efforts to ensure that the organization stays on course.
Journeys take time and thought. When we are on a long trip, we want to know why and where we are going. We want to know what stops we need to take on the way, and that we will have the fuel to make it to our destination. The same applies to planning. Our mission tells us why and where we are going as a team. We need to know our priorities that will help us make progress along the way, and the people and resources we need to go the distance. Finally, we need to measure and map out our work so that we know we are staying on course.
What happens when we don’t plan
When we don’t plan a trip we run the risk of running out of gas, going off course, or getting lost altogether. As leaders of organizations, when we don’t plan for the future, we run the following risks:
Lack of understanding and alignment around the vision
Loss of engagement and momentum in the work
Lack of clarity around work priorities
Loss of effectiveness in allocating staff time and resources
Poor implementation of major events, systems, and initiatives
Competing ideas and priorities across departments
Campuses drowned in change, without authority to determine priority
Truly innovative, long term ideas falling behind the everyday urgencies
1. Prepare for your journey
This fall, begin planning for next year by evaluating what has been inspired and also analyzing what has transpired by understanding our metrics. These two, in collaboration, produce a God-centered, faith-filled plan for others to follow.
ASK: What metrics, when viewed together, give an overall picture of your health?
ACTION: Review your current data. Here are examples of the data you can review together:
MINISTRY METRICS
Data collected from the weekend experience
Data collected from kids and student ministries
Data collected from guest and volunteer assimilation
Data in regards to your volunteers and leaders
Data collected from small group members and leaders
TEAM METRICS (staff)
Data helpful in understanding staff retention and engagement
Data collected from staff onboarding and exit interviews
OPERATIONS METRICS
Data in terms of your finances
Data in terms of your stewardship development
Data in terms of your expense management
ASK: What trends happening in the community and the world could impact the way we pursue our mission?
ACTION: Explore external trends. Examples of trends include:
Trends in communication, connection, and technology
Trends in your local population and their needs
Trends in the population’s faith, evangelism, and church engagement
Trends in generational needs and dynamics
Trends in social and emotional health
2. Pick your priorities
Spend time with your team reflecting on what’s happening inside and outside the organization. Use guiding questions to understand your strengths, gaps, and opportunities.
ASK: What are the areas that, if improved, could make the greatest impact in achieving our mission? What things must we do because they are critical to our mission?
List which areas you need to accomplish versus those that you want to accomplish.
Narrow the list to a few priority areas. Consider whether your team has the capacity to make meaningful change in all these areas over the next one to three years.
Plot your baseline calendar of weekly, monthly, and annual activities to help you understand your margin for working on new priorities.
3. Map out and manage the journey
A plan is only as good as your church’s connection and commitment to it. This requires organized management of the team’s time and resources.
ASK: Which leaders and team members can help us inspire and design solutions in our priority areas? What time and resources will they need to succeed? How will we support them on an ongoing basis, and communicate our progress to others?
Assign champions, team members, and reasonable target dates (spread over time). This enables the team to design and process change in a more sustainable manner.
Create a communication plan to clearly articulate your “why, what, who, how, and when” to your key audiences.
Schedule regular check-ins with champions of your priority areas to understand progress, remove barriers, and make adjustments to lessons learned along the way.
Starting the Journey
An investment in planning now will save wasted time and energy later. If you are just beginning your planning process, feel free to start simple. Just collect basic information and identify the one or two “big rocks” that you want to really commit to over the next year. Over time, you can add more detail and complexity until you find the rhythm that works best for you. Remember to celebrate the clarity, consistency, and confidence that a well-defined plan will bring to your team, and watch as you measurably improve in the areas that will bring even greater impact to the people you serve.