1. Strategic Planning for
Society Leaders
Jordan Jones
FGS 2014 – San Antonio, TX
W-103

2. What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is a process of:
• evaluating the mission and vision of an
organization and then
• designing a broad set of achievable goals
• to strive for over a course of years,
• which if achieved will support the mission and
vision.

3. Mission Statement
“a statement of the purpose of a
company, organization or person, its
reason for existing”
— “Mission Statement,” Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_stateme
nt)

4. Vision Statement
• Defines the optimal desired future state — the mental
picture — of what an organization wants to achieve over
time;
• Provides guidance and inspiration as to what an
organization is focused on achieving in five, ten, or
more years;
• Functions as the “north star” — it is what all employees
understand their work every day ultimately contributes
towards accomplishing over the long term; and,
• Is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that
makes it easy for all employees to repeat it at any given
time.
— Jennell Evans, Psychology Today, Smart@Work,

5. What is Strategic Planning
Not?
Project Planning
• A single, specific project is tactical, not
strategic
• Projects on their own might lack context

6. What is Strategic Planning
Not?
Long-Range Planning
• May not consider mission or vision
• Long-range planning is tactical, not strategic
• Without strategy, long-range planning on
subsets of the organization may miss key
aspects of the strategic direction

7. Why Do Strategic Planing?
• This is a large investment of time, and if you
pay a facilitator, also of money … so why
would you want to do this?
• It’s critical to periodically review your strategic
plans to operate effectively and to continue to
improve your offerings to members,
prospective members, and the community.

8. Race for Relevance
5 Radical Changes for
Associations
1. Overhaul the Governance
Process (for example, Overhaul
Committees)
2. Empower the CEO and Enhance
Staff Expertise
3. Rationalize the Member Market
4. Rationalize Programs, Services,
and Activities
5. Bridge the Technology Gap and
Build a Framework for the Future

9. “...The thinking was that the more an
association offers with membership,
the more value membership has.
Wrong. Unused services have no
value. Unneeded programs have no
value...”
— Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, Race for
Relevance

10. “......the traditional model for
associations doesn’t work well in
today’s environment … because of
rapid changes and the continually
shifting landscape. While most
associations … are not in immediate
danger, they will struggle as they cling
to conventional approaches and
structures.”
— Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, Race for
Relevance

11. “They will survive but they won’t grow.
They will function but without vitality.
They will have members but their
market share will decrease. They will
exist but their influence will decline....”
— Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, Race for
Relevance

12. Take-Aways for
Genealogical Societies
• We are competing for attention against:
• The Internet (Facebook)
• Video in general (TV, Netflix, YouTube)
• The Internet-of-Things and other
futurological inventions
• We can’t compete if we do not have strategic
plans or they are 20, 10, or even 5 years old.

13. Benefits of
Strategic
Planning
How can it help your
society?
Source: Flickr Commons

14. Some Benefits
• Requires stepping away from the day-to-day
• Allows for open dialog
• Allows you to back away from details and
take a long view
• Encourages creativity
• Requires people from across the
organization to look at every aspect of the
society

15. Your Key Question
“How would we run this society if we
were starting over today?”

16. Challenges of Strategic
Planning
Be Aware of These

17. Paralysis by Analysis
• It’s easy to talk something to death.
• Create time boundaries to make sure
discussions are productive and timely.
• Agree to stay at the high-level and leave the
detailed planning work for when you are closer
to actually doing it. Today, you are just looking
out 2-3 years in the future.

18. Territoriality
• By all means, respect the expertise of those
who have led your committees (publications,
events, website)
• Acknowledge, however, that anyone might
have good ideas about anything
• Make sure everything is on the table for
discussion

19. It’s Not Just a
Planning Process …
• It’s also a personal process
• Even closely knit teams will have some
challenges working through a strategic
planning process
• Strategic planning usually involves transiting
Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development

20. Tuckman’s Stages of Group
Development
• Forming — Orientation, testing, and
dependence
• Storming — Resistance to group influence
and task requirements
• Norming — Openness to other group
members
• Performing — Constructive action
• Adjourning — Disengagement

21. Case Study
The 2013 NGS Strategic
Planning Process
Source: Michael Carduus, Flickr Commons

22. What Led to the Process
• The Board was feeling that there were many
changes that presented strategic risks and
opportunities:
• Technology Changes
• Mobile apps for conferences
• Cloud-based infrastructures
• New players in the genealogy space

23. Evaluated Facilitation
Options
• In-House Facilitation — Might have been
acceptable, but would be risky, and would pull
that person away from the general process.
• Professional Facilitation — Recommended.
• As a neutral outsider, the facilitator would have
no “side” in any disagreements.
• She will also bring experience in facilitating
these kinds of discussions.

24. Decision on Facilitator
The NGS Board decided to hire Elizabeth Scott,
of Brighter Strategies in Washington, DC

25. Overall Plan

26. The Stages
• Stage 1 — Lay the
Groundwork (Half day at a
board meeting)
• Stage 2 — Stakeholder
Feedback (Surveys)
• Stage 3 — Retreat (Full
day)
• Determine the Mission,
Vision, and Values (MVV)
• Conduct a SPOT analysis
• Create Strategic Goals
• Stage 4 — Implementation
and Planning
• Set strategic measures
• Stage 5 — Develop &
Deliver Strategic Plan
• Write and communicate
the plan

27. Stage 1

28. Stage 1:
Lay the Groundwork
• The board agreed to fund the project step-wise.
At each step, we would vote whether to
continue or not.
• The facilitator joined a board meeting for half a
day to present the process, the goals, and the
projected outcomes (a key part of Stage 1).

29. Stage 2

30. Stage 2:
Stakeholder Surveys
• Under the direction of the facilitator, we
conducted two online surveys:
• External — Members, former members, and
prospective members (those who had
bought something from us or attended a
conference)
• Internal — Board members, staff,
contractors, and former board members

31. Survey Questions
The questions were a mix of:
• ranking (which is more important to you),
• rating (1-5), and
• open text field questions
about the society’s current services and
offerings, as well as where it could focus in the
future.

32. Survey Findings
• The facilitator calculated numerical scores,
and
• organized and presented verbatim comments
with them into
• a report for the board

33. Stage 3

34. Stage 3:
Board Retreat
• The NGS Board scheduled a “retreat”
• It was in a similar location to where we would have
a meeting, but regular business was not allowed
• We arranged to have this one within driving distance
of the facilitator
• We worked with the facilitator to draft a detailed
agenda beforehand
• Preparation included studying the survey report

35. Board Retreat Agenda

36. Board Retreat Agenda
• 9:30-11:00 – Review Survey Feedback (90
mins.)
• 11:15-12:00 – Clarify the Vision (45 mins.)
• 12:30-1:00 – Vision Report Out (30 mins.)
• 1:00-2:30 – SPOT Analysis (90 mins.)
• 2:45-4:30 – Identify Core Strategies (105
mins.)

37. SPOT (or SWOT) Analysis
Strengths Opportunities
Problems
(Weaknesses)
Threats

38. Result of the Retreat
• Lots of Flip Charts!
• Organization around
four major strategic
areas:
• Education
• Internal Operations
• Communications
• Conference
• Leaders and sub-committees
were
appointed for each of
the four areas

39. Areas of Strategic Focus
1. Redefine our approach to learning and
educational offerings
2. Strengthen internal operations
3. Improve overall communication
4. Enhance our conference model

40. Stage 4

41. Step 4:
Implementation Planning
• As each team reviewed the flip charts and
notes from the Board Retreat, they
considered:
• What should we do?
• How can we measure it? (Metrics)
• How will we know when we are done?
(Definition of Done)

42. Stage 5

43. Stage 5:
Develop and Deliver Strategic Plan
• Using the flip charts as a starting point, each of
the four groups held separate facilitated
meetings to define the plan in more detail,
including the measures in Stage 4.
• The plan was assembled and shared with the
whole board for further discussion review and
approval.
• The board agreed that good ideas would not
require full board approval, so some are in
place today.

44. Final Approval
• The NGS Board is nearing final approval of the
recommendations of the subcommittees

45. After Stage 5
• Execute the plan
• Review the plan
• Lather, rinse, repeat

46. Summary

47. Commit to the Process
• Everyone, even
skeptical board
members, must commit
to doing this.
• Life will intrude:
• Health,
• weather,
• conferences
• might have an impact.
• Keep going!
• It’s a process and a
mindset, not a
meeting.

48. Thank You!
These Slides will Be Posted
by Labor Day to
http://www.genealogymedia.com