INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGIC PLANNING TRAINING MODULE WHY TRAINING FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING?
All organisations are now expected to have some form of strategic plan that guides the organisation and that external stakeholders can review. While most organisations do have some form of strategic plan, many of them end up on bookshelves and are rarely or never used or fully understood by the people that need them most – the organisation’s staff and constituents. Sometimes, strategic planning is done through a process including the whole of an organisation, in other cases, with senior management and governance bodies only. Too often, strategic planning is done as a ‘must-to requirement’ rather than a ‘want-to desire’ from the organisation. However strategic planning can and should be an extremely useful and beneficial process for an organisation, and be able to produce a useful and useable document at the end. This module aims to provide some guidance on how to approach strategic planning as a highly participatory process that engages a range of key stakeholders, especially staff and community members. It focuses on keeping people at the center of all work
and appreciating strengths and opportunities. This approach is particularly important for non-government organisations whose common goal is to contribute to positive short and long-term changes in the lives of people
with whom they are working.
WHO IS THIS MODULE FOR AND HOW CAN WE USE IT?
This module is a guide specifically for small to medium non-government organisations who wish to develop or review their strategic plans. It can be used by workshop facilitators to run a strategic planning process, facilitate
a training-of-trainers workshop with organisation staff, or by organisational staff to facilitate their own strategic planning process. The module can be used as a step-by-step process, or as separate components that can be adapted according to the situation, audience and timeframe. Each component includes:
• a brief explanation of the step
• information required and how it can be used and
• possible activities to generate the needed information.
The methodology encourages active participation and contribution from
those involved in the planning by using participatory activities to generate
ideas. You are encouraged to refine the activities as needed so they are
most appropriate for your context and purpose.