METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR EFFICIENT STRATEGIC PLANNING

Abstract

Strategic planning is one of the most challenging and exciting exercises an organization can undertake. Strategic planning allows an organization to make fundamental decisions or choices by taking a long-range view of what it hopes to accomplish and how it will do so. A strategic plan is built on a thorough analysis of the organization’s existing structure, governance, staff, program or service mix, collaborations, and resources (financial, human, technical, and material).There is no one perfect strategic planning process, or model, to use the same way all the time with every organization. Each organization should customize the best approach to suit the culture of its members, the current situation in and around the organization, and the purpose of its planning.This research briefly describes several different models of strategic planning, along with basic guidelines for choosing each. There is no strong agreement among experts in strategic planning as to which approaches are indeed “models” or how each is best implemented. The purpose of this paper is to present different perspectives and options regarding strategic planning to help planners ensure their plans are the most relevant, realistic and flexible.Planners can select the most appropriate model and then modify it to suit the nature and needs of their organization. For example, different organizations might have different names for the different phases and emphasize certain phases more than others in the model.