Strategic planning, when done right, does not have to be frustrating, unproductive, costly, or divert the
energies of your school's
leadership. If done properly, the process will stimulate support in your
community and focus resources for continued development and provide a clear
competitive advantage aligned with your mission. The purpose of your strategic
plan is to lay out a concise and practical road map to achieve your mission and
vision -- moving away from being "reactive" -- solving today's
problems -- towards being "proactive" - eliminating problems in the
future and taking advantage of opportunities now. Your plan should provide a framework that enables your school to focus and coordinate your resources, work towards common goals, assess and adjust as you move forward, and focus your board's priorities, guide your staff, and inspire your community. The planning process addresses a series of questions that examine assumptions, incorporates information about the present, and anticipates the world in which the school will be working in, determines how you will get there, and allows you to measure and adjust and you attain your vision.
Value To Your Board
A school is most effective when
the resources of your organization are aligned by a common vision, mission,
strategies, goals, and action plans. Simply operating your school by calendar
or crisis is not acceptable. You want your organization to move from being
reactive to being proactive; rather than responding to unexpected changes, you
want to anticipate and plan for them.
HEG's planning approach provides
a practical model for mission-based leadership. Our step-by-step seamless
process provides concrete objectives and deliverables that can be implemented
and measured to dramatically improve the performance of your school, moving you
from good to great. It allows you to accurately gauge the progress of your plan
and school performance, as well as linking your governance model to the annual
operational plan. Very simply, it's the process by which your board envisions
your future, identifies a picture of the future based on current data, and
controls forces that affect you from attaining your vision, making adjustments
as you move forward. This allows your school to:
- Identify areas of operation needing consideration now and using it as a springboard to strengthen performance in the future;
- Identify and reach consensus on issues before they become a crisis (e.g., finance, funding, enrollment, marketing, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities, educational program, governance);
- Articulate a uniform, shared vision, providing a clearer focus, producing efficiency, participation, and ownership by your stakeholders;
- Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
- Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst all stakeholders;
- Create a framework to guide decision making and ensure that members are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around the school changes;
- Gain credibility and identify critical projects to focus your resources;
- Inspire your community to invest in your goals through focused fundraising campaigns;
- Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities within their committee structure; and
- Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured within your board and senior administration.
Fitting The Pieces Into Your Governance
Model
The diagram below clarifies how
the pieces come together to develop, implement, and monitor your plan. You can
see that your five-year planing document should be used annually by your board
to determine your yearly priorities and your senior administration to
break-down how they plan to measurably implement the priorities, encompassed within
their own evaluation process. This puts all key players on the same page.
Planning Approach
HEG's planning approach supports
your board and senior administration in the development and implementation of
your plan. Our approach typically encompasses a progression of stages over a
five to seven month time frame with the development of the strategic plan and
action plan for implementation in the coming school year. This is achieved
through the following steps that are customized foryour school:
Our approach results in both the
"compass" and "road map" to support your board in the
development and implementation of a measurable plan to focus school improvement
- maximizing your school's educational, operational, governance, and financial
performance while linking priorities of the board with Senior Administration's
Operational Plan.
Provided here is a link to a recent strategic plan HEG was engaged
to develop. Click on the link to open a downloadable copy of their strategic
plan for Forest
Lake Education Center Strategic Plan. HEG's President has been involved in
the development of a variety of strategic plans for a number of schools types
(International, US, Canadian, IBO, Faith-Based, Public) globally.
Next Step
If you would like to find out more about how we can help
your board to develop your school's strategic plan or advise on the review and
implementation of your current plan, please contact HEG to find out more by
sending an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com
or calling directly at +1-604-868-0002.
To your success,
Douglas Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group
P: +1-604-868-0002 | E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
4316 Arthur Drive, Delta, BC,
Canada, V4K 2W8
P.S. Don't forget to go to our
secure Online Store to invest
in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School
Toolkits. They're affordable and practical.
.
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