Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/08/2015

Home

Strategies to I mprove Communities Envision Are revisited (progress agai nst goals are regularly monitored and considered). Every organization plans. Some plans happen on the fly when meetings seem to beveering off track but in most local governments, managers aretrained to plan. Most plan to plan, by scheduling and distributing relevant materials in advance of meetingsto create plans. Strategic, master, comprehensive or long range plans most often are created out of discussionswith elected boards, councilsor commissions. I n an analysisof strategic plan success, it wasfound that morethan 70 %of plansfail. The research also found that a critical key to success in strategic planning was understanding stakeholder opinions: Without an objective and unbiased understanding of "what's going on here," you're not likely to come up with strategies that will be very effective. Take hard look at what's happening externally and internally and pay special attention to the needs of your stakeholders. As John Dewey once said, `A problem well defined is a problem halfsolved. " These plans always benefit from starting with credible information about the status of the community and issuesthat resonatewith residents. We often Ii ken the use of citizen survey results i n the planning context as building a platform on which all stakeholders can stand and look at the same horizon. This way, there will be much less opportunity for individualsto claim they speak for the entire community when they offer the perspectives of a vocal minority or merely claim to know what all taxpayers are thinking. Although strategic planning can vary significantly in terms of time and resources, there are a number of characteristics that help create more successful strategic plans in local governments. Characteristics of Successful Strategic Plans Set an appropriate scope, timeframeand resource allotment Play to organizational strengths Align with your organizational culture Has actionable, tangible steps List expected outputs and outcomes Assign responsibility 2 Leo Bottary. Top 10 Attributes Of Successful Strategic Plans https://www.openforum.com/articles/top-1 0-attributes-of- successful-strategic-plans/ Two case studies highlight the use of survey data i n strategic planning. Winter Garden, Florida used The NCS data, first to help develop its strategic plan, and now continuesto usesurvey data as performance measureswhen revisiting the strategic plan. Case Studies in Strategic Planning Winter Garden, FL In Winter Garden, Florida, elected commission and senior staff identified the need to create a budget that reflects the values of the community. Winter Garden, with a previous tagli ne, "a charming little city with a juicy past" (referring to its history in the orange industry), has a historic downtown with bike and pedestrian connections to surrounding towns via its 22 mile West Orange Trail. A city west of Orlando, thisgem of asmall community relieson resident perspectives to assure that the community issteering in the right direction. The experiences and preferences of stakeholder groups were collected through a survey of residents, focusgroups, atown hall meeting and interviews. With a mission of becoming the best small city in Florida, staff then augmented findingswith other sources of data and observations. Results were synthesized to describethe community's vision, values and goals. Research results and the strategic plan help guide the City in decision- making, budget allocation performance measurement. 3 Colorado Trust OCA 4 Leo Bottary. Top 10 Attributes Of Successful Strategic Plans. August 2011. https://www.openforum.com/articles/top-1 0- attributes-of-successful-strategic-plans/ © 2014, National Research Center, I nc. Page 9