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Inclusive Strategic Planning

Defining Inclusive Strategic Planning

Inclusive strategic planning is a collaborative process that involves all stakeholders in developing a strategy that is based on the organization's strengths and weaknesses as well as the external environment. The goal is to create a plan that is achievable and will result in positive outcomes for the organization.

The Benefits of Inclusive Strategic Planning

There are many benefits to using an inclusive approach to strategic planning. This type of process:

  • Ensures that all voices are heard and that everyone has a stake in the outcome.
  • Results in buy-in from all stakeholders, which is essential for successful implementation.
  • Increases the likelihood that the final strategy will be achievable and able to meet the needs of the organization.

How to Create an Inclusive Strategic Plan

Oliver acts as your organization's strategic advisor, helping you to create a roadmap that takes into account all the factors affecting your organization. He does this by conducting trend analysis, team-based assessments, and leadership dialogues. The aim is to develop a plan that is responsive to the ever-changing environment and that can be implemented successfully.

The first step in inclusive strategic planning is to assess the organization's strengths and weaknesses. We can do this through internal assessments and dialogue with leaders within the organization. Next, trend analysis and foresight are used to identify external factors that could impact the organization. Based on this information, objectives and implementation plans are developed. Finally, stakeholder communication plans and implementation support are put in place to ensure successful implementation of the strategy.

Inclusive strategic planning is an essential tool for any organization that wants to develop a detailed and results-oriented strategy. By tapping into the various resources of your organization and its ecosystem, you can create a plan that meets the needs of all stakeholders. With foresight and trend analysis, team-based internal assessments, and extensive dialogue with leaders, we can develop a strategy that is achievable and will result in positive outcomes for your organization.

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Inclusive Strategic Planning

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Inclusive Strategic Planning
Collaborative Visioning
Effective Project Launch
Integrated Metrics Framework

Inclusive Strategic Planning

Inclusive strategic planning is a collaborative process that gives a voice to a broader range of stakeholders within the organization and secures the involvement of the relevant community and ecosystem.  

The Benefits of Inclusive Strategic Planning

  • Ensures that more voices are heard and minimizes biased strategic choices.
  • Results in broader buy-in, which is essential for successful implementation.
  • Makes the strategic goals more achievable and aligned with the true needs of the organization.

How to Create an Inclusive Strategic Plan

Oliver acts as your organization's strategic guide on the inclusive planning journey.  Key elements are stakeholder identification, listening tours, collaborative visioning, team-based assessments, and dialogue-based review cycles reaching beyond the leadership circle..

Strategic planning best practices are utilized throughout the process, including an assessment of the organization's core competencies and value proposition to key segments, external trend analysis, ecosystem mapping, and relevant benchmarking.  

True stakeholder engagement takes time. The timeline for an inclusive planning process is typically longer than the leadership-focused “planning exercise” which may occur in a few days or a short time span.  Input and review cycles require time for thoughtful planning and design. Expect this journey to span over several months.

Inclusive strategic planning is an essential tool for government agencies, non-profits, and progressive companies who understand the interconnected nature of strategy.  By tapping into the diverse resources of your organization and its ecosystem, you can create a plan that meets the needs of your stakeholders.

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Collaborative Visioning

Collaborative visioning is a dialogue-based, comprehensive exploration of key directional choices for an organization to develop a consensus on future objectives and pathways to achieve them

The Benefits of Collaborative Visioning

  • Structured, multi-stage process allows for broad stakeholder involvement while keeping the process moving forward.
  • Rich dialogue about directional choices creates a deep understanding of the “why” for the chosen vision and a sense of unity and common purpose.
  • Outcomes of the process are not just a “vision statement”, but guardrails for strategy formulation and definition of metrics of success.

How Collaborative Visioning Works

The heart of the process is a 1.5-2 day workshop that brings diverse stakeholders from within the organization (and in some cases from the outside) together for the essential dialogue.

To make this workshop productive, a series of initial interviews are used to identify the critical directional choices for the organization and to identify a range of “reasonable outcomes” within each choice dimension. Typically, there may be 10-12 individual choices.

The participants of the workshop have the opportunity to share their individual perspective on each choice via a survey. The survey results are tabulated graphically and key quotes are provided to support the various viewpoints. The resulting material provides a detailed view of diverging or converging views among the stakeholders and informs the conversations. Allowing diverging viewpoints to be seen often takes the controversy out of the conversation and leads the way towards consensus.

The workshop is facilitated by Oliver with a focus on broad engagement and documentation of achieved agreements. Following the workshop, a detailed outcomes document will be discussed and often provides a great starting point to inform subsequent strategic planning efforts.

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Effective Project Launch

Effective Project Launch Planning Methodology

Projects are a staple of organizational realities, yet in contrast to continuous operations, many projects suffer from delays, unclear objectives, or ineffective team dynamics. Many of these issues can be resolved with an effective project launch methodology.

Benefits of the Effective Project Launch Methodology

  • Clearly define the project objectives, stakeholders, boundary conditions, and contingencies to other efforts.
  • Creates a common base of understanding among the participating project team members.
  • Moves the project team into a productive mindset and work mode very quickly, often cutting weeks out of the process.

How the Launch Process Works

There are four key steps in the launch process:

1. Problem Definition Worksheet - Clearly articulate the lead question the project is trying to address. Evaluate key stakeholders, understand boundary conditions, and explore contingencies.

2. Issue Tree Generation - Identify the wide range of individual issues pertaining to the project (informed by the problem definition) and organize them in a cohesive tree structure.

3. Analysis Plan - Work in sub-teams to identify the pathway to the answer for each group of issues. This will help identify common methodologies and data sources.

4. Project Plan Generation - Definition of key work streams and assignment of team members based on passion and skills. Leverages the patterns identified in the Analysis Plan.

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Integrated Metrics Framework

Integrated Metrics Framework/Balanced Scorecard

Everyone understands the power of metrics. The “Integrated” part refers to the harmonization of strategic and financial outcomes, customer engagement and experiences, operational excellence, and team/cultural perspectives in a coordinated view.  

Benefits of the Integrated Perspective

  • Align the metrics to major strategic objectives.
  • Focus on a limited set of primary and related indicators rather than a vast library of individual measures.
  • Discuss performance in a strategic context.

Creating and Implementing an Integrated Metrics Framework

The starting point of the metrics framework is the outcome of a strategic plan process. Key organizational objectives and major initiatives are illustrated in a single-page “strategy map” view. The organizational view can be cascaded down to divisions or business units to illustrate their specific contribution to the overall outcome.

Key metrics for each element of the strategy map and baseline, long-term and interim targets are identified.

Some proponents of the balanced scorecard methodology place a lot of emphasis on weights and calculating an overall performance score. I have found that this can be more of a distraction than a benefit.

A much more important element is to establish a robust process (including organizational anchoring) for the ongoing collection, evaluation, and discussion of the outcomes aligned with the identified metrics.

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Inclusive Strategic Planning
Collaborative VIsioning
Effective Project Launch
Integrated Metrics Framework

Inclusive Strategic Planning

Defining Inclusive Strategic Planning

Inclusive strategic planning is a collaborative process that involves all stakeholders in developing a strategy that is based on the organization's strengths and weaknesses as well as the external environment. The goal is to create a plan that is achievable and will result in positive outcomes for the organization.

The Benefits of Inclusive Strategic Planning

There are many benefits to using an inclusive approach to strategic planning. This type of process:

  • Ensures that all voices are heard and that everyone has a stake in the outcome.
  • Results in buy-in from all stakeholders, which is essential for successful implementation.
  • Increases the likelihood that the final strategy will be achievable and able to meet the needs of the organization.

How to Create an Inclusive Strategic Plan

Oliver acts as your organization's strategic advisor, helping you to create a roadmap that takes into account all the factors affecting your organization. He does this by conducting trend analysis, team-based assessments, and leadership dialogues. The aim is to develop a plan that is responsive to the ever-changing environment and that can be implemented successfully.

The first step in inclusive strategic planning is to assess the organization's strengths and weaknesses. We can do this through internal assessments and dialogue with leaders within the organization. Next, trend analysis and foresight are used to identify external factors that could impact the organization. Based on this information, objectives and implementation plans are developed. Finally, stakeholder communication plans and implementation support are put in place to ensure successful implementation of the strategy.

Inclusive strategic planning is an essential tool for any organization that wants to develop a detailed and results-oriented strategy. By tapping into the various resources of your organization and its ecosystem, you can create a plan that meets the needs of all stakeholders. With foresight and trend analysis, team-based internal assessments, and extensive dialogue with leaders, we can develop a strategy that is achievable and will result in positive outcomes for your organization.

Print / Save

Collaborative Visioning

Defining Collaborative Visioning

Collaborative visioning is when a leadership team, board, and organization come together to create a shared vision, there are many potential outcomes. One of the most important is that everyone is aligned around a common purpose and mission. This can provide clarity and guidance for everyone involved as they move forward.

Additionally, a collaborative visioning process can help to identify opportunities and challenges that the organization may face in the future. With this information in hand, the organization can begin to develop strategies to address these issues.

Finally, a shared vision can create a sense of unity and common purpose among an organization's members. This can be incredibly motivating and inspire people to work together towards a common goal.

Collaborative visioning can have a profound impact on an organization. By bringing people together to create a shared vision, organizations can reap a host of benefits that can help them to achieve their goals.

How to Use Collaborative Visioning

The results of a collaborative visioning process can be used in many ways as the organization moves forward. One of the most important applications is in the development of strategic plans. By understanding the opportunities and challenges faced by the organization, planners can develop specific strategies to address these issues. Additionally, by having a clear vision to guide them, planners will be better able to make decisions that are in line with the organization's goals.

Collaborative visioning can help organizations to develop successful strategic plans. By bringing people together to create a shared vision, organizations can identify opportunities and challenges and develop strategies to address them. This can help them to achieve their goals and improve their performance.

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Effective Project Launch

The Value of Effective Project Launch Planning

A successful project launch is essential for ensuring that a project gets off to a good start and runs smoothly from beginning to end. By implementing a well-planned launch process, you can help ensure that your team has a clear understanding of the project scope, approach, and resource requirements. This can help minimize the risk of confusion and conflict early on, and help the team work more effectively together. Additionally, a good launch process can help reduce the likelihood of delays or problems down the road.

Oliver will partner as your project management consultant throughout the process to help ensure a successful launch. He has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, and has helped launch a wide variety of projects, initiatives, and programs.

The Launch Process

There are four key steps in the launch process:

  1. Clarify the problem or opportunity
  2. Define the team's role
  3. Develop a clear plan
  4. Build support for the project

Each of these steps is essential for ensuring a successful project launch. Let's take a closer look at each one.

  1. Clarify the problem or opportunity: The first step is to make sure that everyone on the team is clear about what the project is trying to accomplish. What problem are you trying to solve or opportunity are you trying to capitalize on? What are the goals and objectives of the project? This step is important for ensuring that everyone is on the same page from the start, and can help prevent confusion and disagreement later on.
  2. Define the team's role: The second step is to define each team member's role in the project. Who will be responsible for what? What skills and knowledge will each team member need to contribute? This step is important for ensuring that everyone knows their responsibilities and has the necessary skills and knowledge to do their job. It can also help prevent duplication of effort and confusion about who is supposed to be doing what.
  3. Develop a clear plan: The third step is to develop a clear and concise plan for the project. What are the milestones and deliverables? Who is responsible for each task? When is each task due? This step is important for ensuring that everyone knows what needs to be done and when it needs to be done. A clear and well-organized plan can help prevent delays and misunderstandings later on.
  4. Build support for the project: The fourth and final step is to build support for the project within the organization. This may involve developing marketing materials, securing funding, or obtaining approval from key stakeholders. This step is important for ensuring that the project has the resources it needs to be successful.
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Integrated Metrics Framework

Defning Integrated Metrics Framework

Integrated metrics framework refers to a system of metrics that is used to measure the success of an organization in terms of strategic/financial outcomes, excellence in customer engagement and experiences, operational excellence, and team/cultural advancement. It uses the key elements of the Balanced Scorecard methodology to create a common language and set of metrics through which progress can be tracked and communicated.

Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management system that provides a framework for organizations to measure their progress in terms of four key areas:

  • Financial outcomes
  • Customer engagement and experiences
  • Operational excellence
  • Team and cultural advancement

By tracking progress in these four areas, organizations can get a more holistic view of their performance and identify areas where they need to improve.

The Balanced Scorecard provides a common language and set of metrics through which progress can be tracked and communicated. This helps organizations to more effectively communicate their goals and objectives, as well as their successes and challenges, to stakeholders. Additionally, the Balanced Scorecard can help organizations to identify areas where they need to improve in order to more effectively achieve their goals.

Create and Implement an Integrated Metrics Framework

Creating and implementing an integrated metrics framework can be a challenging but worthwhile process. Advancing Digital can provide you with the tools and resources you need to get started.

Our Integrated Metrics Framework Checklist includes:
  1. Define the purpose of the framework.
  2. Develop a common language and set of metrics.
  3. Create a framework for tracking progress.
  4. Implement the framework.
  5. Evaluate and revise the framework as needed.

If you are interested in developing an integrated metrics framework for your organization, Oliver can help. We offer a variety of services that can assist you in this process, including visioning and strategy development, as well as implementation and tracking.

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Inclusive Strategic Planning

Create a detailed and results oriented strategy with clear objectives and detailed implementation plans by tapping into the various resources of your organization and its ecosystem.

Read moreContact Oliver

Collaborative Visioning

Align your leadership team, board, and overall organization around a shared purpose, mission, and vision.

Read MoreContact Oliver

Effective Project Launch

Empower your project and initiative teams to work effectively from day one and develop clarity around scope, approach, and resource requirements in even the most complex settings.

Read MoreContact Oliver

Integrated Metrics Framework

Enable your organization to clearly define what success looks like and how it can be assessed in terms of strategic/financial outcomes, excellence in customer engagement and experiences, operational excellence, and team/cultural advancement.

Read MoreContact Oliver

Contact us today to start your journey into the future.

If you are a company or organization that is looking for help with strategically positioning yourself, Advancing Digital can provide you with the tools and resources you need to succeed.

FREE ConsultationEMAIL Oliver

Testimonials

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We live in a world the is posing an abundance of challenges and we need visionary thinkers and leaders to help us address them. What Oliver has done with Advancing AI Wisconsin is an example of rising to the task and his vision paper on the “Digital Transformation of Wisconsin” is likely the most integrated and comprehensive evaluation of the current state and the opportunities we can pursue. It is a pleasure and an honor to be working with him on shaping the future of Wisconsin.

Paul Linzmeyer
Chairman of the Board, The Farmory
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I have been in technology and analytics throughout my entire career and spent the last decade specializing in AI. Oliver’s ability - as a non-technologist - to grasp the key concepts and make them easy to understand is remarkable. I had the opportunity to teach his seminar “Understanding AI Like Never Before” and the ability to connect with the audience and see the “lights go on” was simply amazing.

Doug Barton
Director, UW E-Business Consortium
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