You may have heard the phrase it is better to have a mediocre plan and execute it to perfection than to compile a brilliant plan and follow it with a lackluster implementation effort. This seems like common sense but, unfortunately, what seems like common sense isn’t always common practice.  If your credit union has spent the resources to create a strong strategic plan, you owe it to yourselves and your members to use it as a valuable tool throughout the year.  Here are three tactics to help you do just that:

1) Make sure every member of your staff has a version of the plan.

While there may be certain sections of the plan that you may not want to share with every employee, it is critical to the execution of the plan that every member of the team knows where the institution is headed.  At a minimum, every employee should be provided with a brief synopsis of the plan including the mission, the vision, and the big-picture goals of the organization.

2) Use the plan as a tool for goal setting for every level of the organization.

Immediately after the plan has been compiled and shared with all staff, goals should be set for every position.  During every goal setting meeting with each employee, the manager should explain to the staff member how his or her goals are aligned with the company goals and vision.  More important, it would be wise to ask everyone at every position to suggest two or three objectives for their job that will allow them to help their organization achieve its goals.

3) Bring the plan to all key meetings throughout the year.

As we discussed above, why would you want to put resources towards writing a plan just to have it sit in the corner of your office to collect dust?  Bring to board and management team meetings.  Use it as a tool by writing notes in the plan when the team is reviewing progress on goals.  When a meeting invariably goes off track, you can refer back to the plan to regain the proper perspective by posing a question such as this: “How will our current discussion ultimately help us to achieve our vision?”

For further assistance with your strategic plan visit BTC at http://www.btcinc.org/strategic_planning or contact us at info@btcinc.org.