Strategic Planning

Successful strategic plans are working documents that explain where you are going and promote the constructive change that will get you there.

Planning is setting the direction for something. Usually, we start with preferred results and work backward to identify what will produce those results.

Strategies are methods to achieve goals and objectives.

Strategic planning allows organizations to make fundamental decisions that guide them to a developed vision of the future. The result of this effort, the strategic plan, serves as the basis for action that directs all resources toward that future. The plan, which must be practical and flexible, guides daily decisions.

The purpose of strategic planning in Kentucky government is to:

• establish statewide direction in key policy or functional areas to move away from crisis-driven decision-making
• provide a basis for aligning resources in a rational manner to address the critical issues facing the state now and in the future
• make state government more responsive to the needs of Kentuckians by placing greater emphasis on benefits and results rather than just service efforts and workload
• bring focused issues to policy-makers for review and debate
• provide a context to link the budget process and other legislative processes with priority issues, and to improve accountability for the use of state resources
• establish a means of coordinating the policy concerns of public officials with agency efforts
• build interagency, intergovernmental, and public/private/nonprofit partnerships
• provide a forum for communication between service providers and the constituents they serve.

The Kentucky strategic planning statute (KRS 48.810) requires that each executive branch program cabinet and a few non-cabinet organizational entities submit a four (4) year strategic plan every two (2) years when it submits its biennial budget request (generally by November 1 of each odd-numbered fiscal year, e.g., 2011, 2013, etc).

Each agency required to submit a strategic plan also is required to prepare and submit an annual strategic plan progress report detailing the progress the agency has made in the past year toward achieving its strategic goals and objectives on or before September 1 of each even-numbered fiscal year, e.g., 2012, 2014, etc.

Process steps for strategic planning are:

• define the mission
• conduct an internal/external assessment
• create a vision
• state alignment to Governor's goals
• identify values
• identify long-range goals
• specify objectives
• identify performance indicator measures
• develop action plans
• implement
• assess
• modify
• report.

Strategic phases from vision to outcomes are:

• Phase One: Analyze
• Phase Two: Plan
• Phase Three: Implement
• Phase Four: Measure
• Phase Five: Report

To lay the foundation for a successful strategic planning process:

• Establish a planning team.
• Discuss the constructive purposes of the planning model.
• Make sure everyone understands the process and expected outcomes.
• Allow sufficient time to go through the process.
• Discuss the agency Mission and your contribution to it.
• Build a foundation of information to lead to specific outcomes and outputs.

An effective strategic process provokes answers to the following questions:

• What is our purpose for existing?
• Who are our customers and stakeholders?
• What are our strengths and weaknesses?
• What trends affect our work environment?
• What factors are critical to our success?
• What fundamental policy decisions must we make?
• What values and principles must guide our decisions?
• What actions are required to implement our decisions?
• What are our priorities; what resources will we need?
• What will be the impact on our target groups or customers?
• How will we know that it is worthwhile?
• How will we analyze and explain that we are on or off track?
• How will we make necessary corrections during implementation?