Lesson Plan Last week we discussed the starting points of goal development and t

Lesson Plan
Last week we discussed the starting points of goal development and the collaborative efforts in strategic planning. Input from stakeholders is an invaluable ingredient for the plan, ownership in the process belongs to the manager. This week’s discussion focusses on the person (leader/manager) and the steps used in development of the strategic plan. Our focus is not on the leadership component, we discussed that in week one, but the management of the process.
Who makes up the team?
In general, the management team or your executive staff. The collaborative team helps you develop the vision, objectives, and goals, but it is management that executes the plan.
Starting Line:
I will use my agency’s method as a guide. However, there are number of methods to accomplish the strategic plan.
Once a year, usually prior to budget time (our budget is presented in January), I bring in supervisors from the jail division, support services division (court security and communications), administrative division and operations division. First line supervisors, who I believe are the key to a successful organization, they make up the first layer of the collaborative team. Then we add line personnel from each of those divisions. The division directors, or commanders, make up the rest of the strategic planning team.
I lead the process. I have worked in an organization and I have sat on the boards of directors of other organizations, that will bring in an outsider to facilitate the meeting.
Outside Facilitators:
Pros
Has no skin in the decisions—neutral party
Can be a buffer between competing interest
Has experience in leading the discussion and keeping the meeting on task
Cons
Does not really know the agency
Often views public service through the eyes of the private sector
Costly to bring in.
I lead our agency’s planning team, because we can afford an academic.
Starting Points
Where are we now? (SWOT=Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
Successes
Failures
Strengths
Weaknesses
Where are we going?
The direction needs to align with our vision, mission, and values
Obstacles
Risk
Roadblocks
Who is the most important customer?
Interesting concept to consider in public service
Fire Department?
Office of Emergency Management?
Law Enforcement
Corrections
Communications
Internal Audit:
In the corporate world, a company’s strength, that cannot be matched or imitated by competitors is known a “distinctive competency” (Fred David). The goal often in strategic planning is to take the weakness, found in the SWOT analysis and turn the deficit into a distinctive competency.
An internal audit, conducted during the strategic planning meeting, or conducted by some other means, helps identify “distinctive competency” or identify weaknesses that can be targeted for improvement. The goal is taking the weakness and make it a “distinctive competency.”
Many organizations use surveys, or hold meetings with different members of the organizations to identify, both the distinctive competencies, or deficiencies. The most important part of the internal audit, is communication. There must be a real desire, among management, to seek out “the good, bad and ugly.”
First step in the audit, to assist with communication, is to ensure each part of the organization understands their role and the role of sections, units or departments in the organization.
Competition:
In public service/public safety we rarely think in terms of distinctive competency, as we fail to recognize, we have competitors.
I will use my organization as an example. The county in which I serve as sheriff has a population of around 36,000. Half of the population of the county resides in the city of Lebanon, the rest of the population lives outside the city limits. The sheriff’s office provides the primary response to police calls outside the city limits, and no other town or village outside of Lebanon has a police department, we provide all police service outside of the city of Lebanon. I do not compete with the Lebanon Police Department to take over police calls inside the city of Lebanon. We do not compete for funding, as the city and county have different funding sources. There is no battle for “money” but we do compete, in a day of limited human resources in law enforcement we compete in recruiting personnel. Each organization has developed strategic recruiting plans, aimed at attracting the best candidates. Each organization sells its distinctive competency to police recruits.
Most municipal public safety organization compete internally for funding. A police department’s biggest rival for funding is usually the fire department, and vice versa. My county does not have a full-time fire department, instead there are self-funded fire districts (the departments have their own tax revenue). My biggest competitor for budget dollars comes is the Road and Bridge Department. At budget time I have to compete for patrol vehicles, versus the RD desire to have a new road grater. During the budget hearings I sell my distinctive competency to the decision makers.
In public safety/public service there is internal competition as well. In law enforcement the patrol division competes for resources with criminal investigations, or the community policing unit or SWAT. In a fire department each fire house is in competition for resources, manpower equipment, or the fire house competes with search and rescue for manpower or equipment.
Within an organization it is important for each manager, chief, middle-manager to understand there is competition.
Team Thinking/Final Thoughts
We must develop our team, or lead them, to think “my success is your success.” The competition, within organizations will exist, however a good leader never lets that drive away the idea that it is a team.
Challenges and Developing Strategy
People not buying into the plan
Too many things to focus on
Employees not empowered to make changes
Information silos (not working as a team)
Identify critical needs, needs, and then wants
Your plan should start with addressing the critical needs of the agency.
Have the team develop a list of strengths, weaknesses and then address the weaknesses. How do we fix a weakness? Use your strengths.
Identify a weakness, that becomes a goal, the fixing of the weakness becomes the objective.
Here is a video that goes alone with this week discussion.