Citywide Strategic Planning
Background: An energetic leadership team for a mid-size city needed to align a range of projects and initiatives across multiple portfolios. The group had a previously defined mission statement, vision, and values but had a challenge incorporating these into the long, intermediate, and short term operations. Leaders, directors, managers, supervisors, and staff could not easily identify how these efforts fit into the mission, vision, values or align their efforts with each other. Overall there was a lack of clear direction, too many priorities for the available resources, lack of aligned effort of executive priorities, and a lack of accountability.
Process: The executive leadership team participated in offsite facilitated strategic planning sessions to identify, analyze, and articulate select priorities, develop clear, consistent goals to share throughout organizational leadership, identify roles and responsibilities for every goal-supporting action, modernize organizational structure, and create a strategy to engage relevant stakeholders (internal and external).
Solution: A strategic planning matrix, which acted as a clear map for any city effort and tied directly to the City’s performance management dashboard, which was the focus of weekly meetings with all department heads. The matrix categorizes projects and initiatives by objectives, rather than portfolios, and includes timeframes and staff assignments. This document was revisited each week by the executive team to assure the organization’s efforts aligned with the strategic plan. The plan also included a gap analysis so that needs could be addressed proactively.
Results: The executive leadership team had improved quality and time in decision making. Resources from across the organization were more effectively and efficiently allocated to projects and initiatives that aligned with the mission, vision, and values. Leaders were able to hold each other and staff accountable to clear timelines and objectives. Staff was more empowered to act with clearer direction and adequate support.
