Knowledge, Skills and Strategies
for Professionals

Course:

Strategic Planning (4 days)
How to create and put into practice successfully a strategic plan for an organisation

Course overview

Strategic planning helps an organisation to formulate a strategy how to best achieve its goals and how to define an operational plan to get there. It looks into the future and provides direction for the entire organisation. Strategic planning helps non-government and non-profit organizations to determine the process to achieve results and goals over several years. As a management tool, strategic planning aids the organisation in its quest for excellence in attaining its goals.

In the past, the term "long-term planning" was most often used in this context. However, the two are different: Strategic planning is responsive to a dynamic and changing environment. Long-range planning is based on the assumption that an extrapolation from the past and present circumstances into the future is sufficient to define a plan and to ensure its implementation. It is based on a stable environment.

In this four-day course, participants first learn how to assess their organisation's internal factors and external circumstances - where are you now. The next step - where do you want to go - is to define organisational goals and to determine strategic options to achieve these goals. Vision and mission statements are reviewed and goals and objectives are set. The strategic plan - how to get there - is formulated based on the selected strategic option. Afterwards, participants translate strategic plans into operational plans by defining appropriate programs and projects, by establishing a plan of action and formulating performance indicators in key result areas. The last step is to identify and budget the resources needed and to examine external support mechanisms for this process.

The training consists of structured learning exercises, case studies, workshops, lecturettes and discussions.

Click here to download the course leaflet (PDF format).

Who should attend

All managers and leaders involved in the development of an organisation's strategy and strategic plans, in particular:
  • Executive directors
  • Department directors
  • Programme coordinators
  • Heads of office
  • Heads of Administration
  • Senior project Managers
  • Board members
How you and your organisation will benefit - Learning Objectives
  • Trace the origin of strategic planning
  • Explain the relevance and advantages of strategic planning in development work
  • Assess an organisation's:
    • Strengths and weaknesses
    • External opportunities and threats
  • Define an organisations' goals and its strategic options
  • Formulate a strategic plan
  • Translate the formulated plan into an operational plan and create an efficient plan of action
  • Define necessary resources and outline a budget for the successful implementation of the operational plan
  • Design an effective mechanism to monitor its implementation

Course programme

Day 1
Strategic Planning as a Management Tool
  • Purpose and Benefits
  • Framework of Strategic Planning: Defining the steps from the planning board to the action plan
Where Are You Now? Assessing Internal and External Circumstances
  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses of your organization (SWOT analysis)
  • Detecting opportunities and threats in your external environment
  • Mapping stakeholders' needs

Day 2
Where Do You Want To Go?
Upstream Planning: Formulating a Strategic Plan
  • Revisit your vision and mission statements
  • Goals-Objectives setting
  • Identifying strategic options
  • Formulating your strategic plan

Day 3
How Do You Get There? Downstream Planning Towards an Operational Plan
  • Key result areas
  • From strategy to action: Defining programs and projects
  • Designing the plan of action and establishing milestones
  • Monitoring: Measurable performance indicators

Day 4
How Do You Get There?
Downstream Planning (continued)
  • Defining human resources needed
  • Budgetary planning
  • Generating external support
  • Internal and external communication


Individual consultations

Participants obtain an individual consultation from the trainer during or after the course on how to further develop a project of your own, or on another subject of their choice.

Course venue

Check the course dates at the NMS website for the updated list of courses. If there is no course in your country yet, your and your organisation can bring courses on NGO management directly to NGOs in your country rapidly and easily. For information about the partnership approach, the benefits for partner organisations and the three simple steps which are necessary to organize the first training course for NGOs in your community, please refer to the NMS website.

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