You did it.
You took the time as a team to outline your organization’s goals, vision, and trajectory for the coming year. This strategic plan is the foundation and framework from which many other operating procedures and decisions have been established.
You’ve even gone a step further and decided to conduct a quarterly review of your strategic plan. This practice will ensure that the efforts and resources of your organization are being utilized to their fullest capacity.
The quarterly review of your strategic plan has the potential to provide incredibly valuable information and insight into your organization’s progress. BUT – that feedback is only helpful if you do something with it.
Like what?
As you go about the quarterly review process, here are a few options to put that information and feedback to good use.
- Celebrate success:
What has been going well? Are you on track to meet your goals? As you evaluate your progress, take time to “enjoy the wins.” Look for the victories (big and small) that you can highlight as a group. These may be successes achieved by a team or an individual. All examples of the positive impacts on the work of your organization. Once identified, these successes should be shared broadly across the organization.
- Identify areas to improve:
Every team has room to grow. Part of conducting an honest review of your progress is asking yourselves, “What could we have done better?” “Are there opportunities we missed out on?” and “How can we take our strengths to the next level?”
- Identify areas to put on hold:
As the months have passed and you’ve gained some clarity regarding your annual plans, are there any specific goals or projects that should be put on the back burner for now? These may be tasks that currently lack sufficient resources or projects that are somewhat disconnected from the overall mission of your organization. Once you’ve identified tasks to put a “pause” on, ask yourselves:
– Why is it necessary to put this task on hold?
– What will we be focusing on instead?
– When do we plan to revisit this project?
– Who do we need to update regarding this change of plans?
*** It’s important to note that choosing to put a specific project on hold does not mean that it will never be accomplished. It simply means that there are other endeavors that are a better use of company time and resources at the present moment.
- Keep your board members, funders, and community informed:
The feedback gathered in your quarterly review is excellent information to share with your board members, funders, and community members. It allows you to give these key players an honest “inside look” into what progress is being made. It also provides an excellent conversation starter for potentially asking individuals to partner with you in a more intentional way. - Incorporate into your communication plans:
As you prepare your organization’s communication strategy for the coming months, use the information gathered in the review as a starting place for creating content to share with your audience. Your review data could be worked into social media content, email newsletters, blog posts, etc.
Conducting a quarterly review of your organization is more than just “data gathering.” When used to its full potential, the information gleaned from this process will benefit your organization on multiple levels.
If you’re looking for additional support as you implement the quarterly review process, check out my Stress-Free Strategic Planning Jump Start Package. This six-session “do it yourself” program will give you tools and strategies for starting or refining your strategic planning process in as little as 15 minutes a day!
Looking for more?
My 4-Month Strategic Planning Course will reopen soon. This program offers the lessons, coaching, working sessions and support to guide you and your team through the strategic planning process. Click here to join the waitlist!
Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
