Strategic Planning Notes - TM
- We are defining a process for strategic planning that includes the various tools, resources, methodologies, and frameworks that have proven to be successful in our work with clients. [Paul said: I hadn’t thought of it quite this way. By this logic, if something has proven successful by at least one individual we include it, but are we then saying that anything that has proven successful by any of us should become standard practice, or simply not excluded? I’ll have to think about it some more (good fodder for discussion?).]
- Some of the projects I have been on, community engagement is a part of strategic planning so this crosses portfolios. PEAR is an example. [Paul said: Agreed. And this also goes for me, though PEAR has not been a formal consideration in the projects I’ve been on so far.]
- This will be the basis of our Strategic Planning Knowledge base. [Paul said: Agreed.]
- Since this work crosses portfolios, we are likely to also need a Community Engagement Knowledge Base which is part of the NWSI project. [Paul said: Agreed.]
- When we draft proposals, we can pull out the elements (tools, resources, etc.) to include in proposals since these will be defined through our co-creative process. [Paul said: Makes sense.]
- Some of the tools, resources, etc., can be added to the website as needed by biz-development. [Paul said: Makes sense.]
Questions: Will Athena facilitate the client's requested process or bring in our own perspectives on how to support the organization's movement toward desired outcomes? How often are these at odds with each other? [Paul said: I think a better question is when and how will we bring in our own perspectives on how to support the organization's movement toward desired outcomes? I think we should always be doing this but it’s just very context dependent, including who is the client, what the client is asking for, what is our relationship to the client, etc.]
In addition to the above, I also think it would be helpful for us to agree on answers to the following interrelated questions.
1 What’s the difference between strategic planning and equity strategic planning?
2 What makes a planning process equitable?
3 What makes a strategic plan equitable?
4 What end results will Athena be known for producing?
5 What does equity integration into strategic planning look like in practice?
6 What are the shared approaches and tools we will use?
Below are answers to these questions, based on the notes I took during our 11.1.24 meeting. If you have time to review and comment on them before we meet again on the 23rd that would be great!
1 Question: What’s the difference between strategic planning and equity strategic planning?
Answer: They are the same. Athena’s goal is to bake equity into strategic planning to the best of our ability and the extent possible based on the specific context (e.g., who is the client, what the client is asking for, what is our relationship to the client, etc.) through the processes and tools we use, regardless of whether equity is the focus of the plan itself.
2 Question: What makes a planning process equitable?
Answer:
- What Athena brings to it and how we show up, including:
o awareness of who we are designing for (e.g., who is the client, what are they looking for both in terms of process and outcome, etc.)
o awareness of what complete success looks like from our perspective, both in terms of process and outcomes (highly inclusive process; pro-equity, anti-racist approach and outcomes; designing for accountability; etc.)
o ability to meet the client’s initial definition of success while also moving them farther in terms of equitable/inclusive process and outcomes than they might have initially intended
- Highly collaborative process internally and with the client
- Participatory and equitable decision making
- Tevin: An equitable process is also about the project team itself. For example, if a client wants to initiate a project that impacts every part of their organization but only the executive team has time to do the planning - that outcome will not be equitable no matter the process. Another example, if a project has a focus on a specific community segment, people with lived experience from that community segment should be leading the work (we have done this with community facilitators in the past when our team doesn't have the lived experience).
3 Question: What makes a strategic plan equitable?
Answer:
- It goes beyond traditionally defined outcomes
- It acknowledges and accounts for harm
- It addresses accountability (What does our accountability framework look like? PEAR for state agencies. What about others? Just/equitable outcomes? Wholeness of people?)
- Whatever approaches or tools we use we’ll use them in an equitable way
- Tevin: Same as above
4 Question: What end results will Athena be known for producing?
Answer:
- Design clarity gained early in the process (ideally some prior to contracting) around what and who we’re designing for (Note: Policies and spending/budgeting and everything else defined in the planning will reflect the answer to this.)
- We achieve the traditionally defined outcomes, such as clarity around purpose, goals, objectives, strategies, metrics, etc.
- We leave the client with an accountability framework they will use.
- Specific deliverables:
o Final plan (Q: a one-page document? a 3-page document? a longer document? a multi-tab worksheet?) - Tevin: I think these could all work well. We may want to settle on a couple concepts to offer that can be adapted rather than make something new each time.
o Recommendations for completing the plan
o Recommendations for monitoring the plan and adapting it over time
o Everything is accessible.
- What else do we want them to be mindful of? A wholeness lens? Other?
- Tevin: Options for a tailored maturity model, an implementation plan or roadmap, ongoing support for implementation and loop back (Substantive check-ins years 1-3 for example)
5 Question: What does equity integration into strategic planning look like in practice?
Answer:
It starts in scoping/pre-contracting (e.g., maturity model, need/purpose, anything that assesses readiness, etc.).
- (To be further defined!)
- Tevin: Same as first comment and I agree we can explore more here.
6 Question: What are the shared approaches and tools we will use?
Answer:
- (To be defined!)
Two additional questions will also need to be answered at some point in the not too distant future.
7 What’s the difference between the two roles: Service Delivery Lead for Strategic and Tactical Planning and for IDEA+J Strategic Planning? Tevin: If we are agree that we will build a single knowledge base, I don't think we would need two roles.
8 What are the specific roles and responsibilities of the two different Service Delivery Leads? Where are there overlaps? Tevin: Will need to think about this one.