3 Common mistakes with long term planning
Strategic Plans and Business Plans are created to become “live” documents – as in they should be used to help the association grow in its development, capability, profile etc.
Often Associations, clubs or other organisations will make one of the following 3 mistakes.
1. Create a Strategic Plan but won’t create a Business plan They are missing the actual detail of “how” they are going to achieve their goals. This is like filling your car with only half the petrol you require to get to your destination.
2. Create both plans but won’t refer to them and go off on ad hoc projects, tasks or ideas. This doesn’t allow an association, club or organisation to create momentum in its development and also doesn’t allow the membership to see what its long term goals are.
So we have filled the car, we have told our friends where we are heading, but don’t turn up to our destination as we got lost along the way as we didn’t follow our road map.
3. Think that a strategic or business plan is set in stone. They are not. Like anything, sometimes our focus or areas of importance change, and these plans need to be flexible to cater for this. This doesn’t mean scrapping the whole document, but what it does mean is updating the plans (and probably more specifically the objectives or actions in some of our plan) to reflect the capability and priorities of the association, club or organisation and its members.
Often Associations, clubs or other organisations will make one of the following 3 mistakes.
1. Create a Strategic Plan but won’t create a Business plan They are missing the actual detail of “how” they are going to achieve their goals. This is like filling your car with only half the petrol you require to get to your destination.
2. Create both plans but won’t refer to them and go off on ad hoc projects, tasks or ideas. This doesn’t allow an association, club or organisation to create momentum in its development and also doesn’t allow the membership to see what its long term goals are.
So we have filled the car, we have told our friends where we are heading, but don’t turn up to our destination as we got lost along the way as we didn’t follow our road map.
3. Think that a strategic or business plan is set in stone. They are not. Like anything, sometimes our focus or areas of importance change, and these plans need to be flexible to cater for this. This doesn’t mean scrapping the whole document, but what it does mean is updating the plans (and probably more specifically the objectives or actions in some of our plan) to reflect the capability and priorities of the association, club or organisation and its members.