CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN: A WORKBOOK FOR PUBLIC AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, SECOND EDITION

Creating and Implementing Your Strategic Plan is the best-selling companion to John Bryson's landmark book, Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. This new edition of the workbook is completely revised and updated and can be used as a stand-alone resource or as a companion to Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. A step-by-step guide to putting strategic planning to work in public and nonprofit organizations, this indispensable workbook includes easy-to-understand worksheets and clear instructions for creating a strategic plan tailored to the needs of the individual organization. From setting up the meeting room to establishing a vision of the future, every step of the strategic planning process is covered. The workbook shows how to:
Refine your organization’s mission and values
Assess your internal and external environment
Identify and frame strategic issues
Formulate strategies to help manage the issues
Create, review, and adopt the strategic plan
Assess the strategic planning process

John M. Bryson is a professor of planning and public affairs in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. He consults widely on leadership and strategic planning with public, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations in the United States and abroad. He is the coauthor of Leadership for the Common Good and Visible Thinking: Unlocking Causal Mapping for Practical Business Results.
Farnum Alston is the founder and president of The Crescent Company in San Anselmo, California, an international consulting firm that specializes in assisting public and private clients with strategic business and technology planning. He is a former partner of KPMG Peat Marwick and a former deputy mayor and budget director of San Francisco.

Preface to the Second Edition.
Acknowledgments.
The Authors.
PART 1: An Overview.
Introduction.
The Context and Process of Strategic Change.
Readiness Assessment Worksheets.
1 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges (or Threats).
2 Barriers to Strategic Planning.
3 Expected Costs of Strategic Planning.
4 Expected Benefits of Strategic Planning.
5 Should We Proceed with the Strategic Planning Process?
PART 2: Creating and Implementing Strategic Planning: Ten Key Steps.
Step 1: Initiate and Agree on a Strategic Planning Process.
Worksheet.
6 Plan the Planning Effort.
Step 2: Clarify Organizational Mandates.
Worksheets.
7 Review of Mandates.
8 Background for Group Discussion of Mandates.
Step 3: Identify and Understand Stakeholders, Develop and Refine Mission and Values, and Consider Developing a Vision Sketch.
Worksheets.
9 Stakeholder Identification.
10 External Stakeholder Analysis.
11 Internal Stakeholder Analysis.
12 Key External Stakeholder Involvement.
13 Key Internal Stakeholder Involvement.
14 Mission Statement.
15 Values Statement.
16 Vision Sketch.
Step 4: Assess the Environment to Identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges.
Worksheets.
17 Internal Strengths.
18 Internal Weaknesses.
19 External Opportunities.
20 External Challenges.
21 Distinctive Competencies.
Step 5: Identify and Frame Strategic Issues.
Worksheets.
22 Individual Strategic Issue Identification.
23 Master List of Key Strategic Issues.
24 Master Strategic Issue Statement.
25 Operational Versus Strategic Issues.
Step 6: Formulate Strategies to Manage the Issues.
Worksheets.
26 Key Questions for Identifying Strategies.
27 Strategy Statement.
28 Criteria for Evaluating Suggested Strategies.
29 Checklist for Deciding on Strategic Plan Contents.
Step 7: Review and Adopt the Strategic Plan.
Worksheets.
30 Plan Review and Adoption Process.
31 Plan Evaluation.
Step 8: Establish an Effective Organizational Vision for the Future.
Worksheet.
32 Vision of Success.
Step 9: Develop an Effective Implementation Process.
Worksheets.
33 Existing Programs, Services, and Projects: Evaluation.
34 Strategic Plan’s Proposed Programs, Services, and Projects: Evaluation.
35 Prioritizing Programs, Services, and Projects.
36 Action Planning.
Step 10: Reassess Strategies and the Strategic Planning Process.
Worksheets.
37 Improving Existing Strategies.
38 Improving the Strategic Planning Process.
Resources.
A Brainstorming Guidelines.
B Snow Card Guidelines.
CStrategic Planning W orkshop Equipment C hecklist.
D Conference Room Setup Checklist.
E Model External Stakeholder (or Customer) Questionnaire for XYZ Organization.
F Model Internal Stakeholder Evaluation Questionnaire for XYZ Organization.
G Analyzing and Reporting Results of Surveys.
Glossary.
Bibliography.