The ministries, departments and other entities with Strategic Plans also tend to be better led and also better managed They are more accountable for their performance and results; it is difficult to obfuscate the truth of performance. Stakeholders can discern whether or not stated goals were achieved The organisations with strategic plans usually work towards establishing Performance Management Systems and in that way promote high levels of individual and unit accountability for performance Staff are usually more highly motivated in organisations that have strategic plans When strategic plans are in place, organisations have a clear directional focus. There is usually a greater emphasis on achieving results and not simply on overseeing work processes Organisations committed to strategic planning often have effective strategic partnerships. That happens because they know who the partners are and their expectations and how best to engage with them Organisations that use strategic planning also tend to have Succession Planning Frameworks in place The use of strategic planning also encourages capacity building within the organisation USING STRATEGIC PLANNING MORE EFFECTIVELY CARICAD remains convinced that public sector organisations should maintain and in some cases introduce the strategic planning process. Our experience suggests the following as recommendations: Ensure that there is not only high-level support for the process but high-level commitment to and engagement in the process Establish a Working Group of people from different units that remains intact for the duration of the process including the Operational Planning phase Create an awareness and expose staff at all levels to the SP process and what the process means for individuals and the organisation Create awareness at all levels of the links between the SP and work implementation Ensure that stakeholder opinions are sought during the plan-development process CARICAD is available to continue assisting member states with strategic plans and similar strategic documents. CARICAD’s methodology has withstood the test of time. There is a high level of expertise and experience with strategic planning among CARICAD staff. Be realistic with schedules and scheduling. It usually takes longer than was first thought to complete a strategic plan Make sure that you complete an Operational/Action Plan as a complement to the strategic plan Be realistic in goal-setting. It is probably not realistic to develop a plan that will require a 50% increase in budgetary allocations even over 3 years Franklyn Michael is Programme Specialist at CARICAD. 13
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