Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning from a Market Perspective
Schools are increasingly subject to a competitive and demand-driven model, placing unprecedented focus on developing strategic plans that lead to identification of high value identity and directions that impact. Our assessment is that the quality and inclusivity of strategic planning will increasingly be scrutinised as schools expand their services, face more competition and seek stronger relationships with stakeholders.
In our judgment, bland strategic planning processes and generic content (e.g. mission, vision, and values) is a direct source of a lack of buy in from staff and a lack of a valued differentiation in so many schools.
What do we do?
To us, strategic planning is NOT as a compliance activity, but instead a key to school wide performance, market positioning, and reputational success.
We undertake strategic planning from a market perspective. For example, our approach is to undertake competitor analysis (Relative SWOT), and engage with stakeholders (staff, parents, students, alumni, Board) in the Strategic Plan process and through this we find innovative, productive and market facing ideas come forward. A secondary benefit is that stakeholders advocate more readily when they see that planning has meaningful consultation, relevance and accountability.
Another critical element of our approach to a Strategic Plan is to set down performance measures (KPIs) of what has been achieved against what it was designed to do in the first place. In our experience, any lack of clarity or subsequent commitment to performance measures will tend to undermine everything that follows under the name of strategic planning, and reverberates on overall staff, parent and student satisfaction and advocacy.
How do we do it?
- We guide the move from compliance to a market or evidence based model of planning.
- We facilitate the development of strategic and market related objectives, performance indicators, mission, vision and the articulation of values, etc., as well as carry out a “relative SWOT analysis” to identify strengths and weaknesses in a competitive context.
- We advise on specific market data that needs to be brought to bear on the planning process, and then used to monitor progress. We can also support the initial collection and analysis of such market data.
- We train staff so that you build internal capacity in strategy and market planning, execution and evaluation processes.
- We support the internal communication and dissemination of the strategy to staff, students, parents, alumni and others who are so critical to its implementation, evaluation, and ultimate success.