It is
necessary for organisations to have a strategy to ensure an appropriate
organisational structure, together with effective and efficient systems. A
company that has developed a strategy reduces its risk of failure and increases
its chance of success.
The objectives of developing a strategy is to develop a plan which determines
where an organisation should go in the long-term.
Several approaches to strategy exist, but most strategies involve:
- Identifying
the organisation's purpose
- Selecting
goals to be reached for the organisation to succeed
- Identifying
specific strategies to reach these goals
- Create
an action plan to implement such strategy
- Monitor
and update this plan
The
strategic plan is to create an original and rigorous-thinking
process, supported by tools, frameworks and documents. The format may vary
but contain common elements:
- Where
we wish the organisation to be
- Where
we are starting from
- How
we are going to achieve our vision
These
are combined together with milestones or achievements, responsibilities, risks
and performance measurement.
When formulating a strategic plan an organisation should ask itself:
- What
do we do?
- Who
do we do it for?
- How
do we become the best at what we do?
The
strategic plan will have to be presented to the board/trustees for a formal
review and approval. It is important that the minutes of such meeting are
recorded and approved in order to have clear evidence that the strategic plan
has been approved and can form the basis for the future work of the
organisation.
