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Strategies to Improve Communities Envision Every organization plans. Some plans happen on the fly when meetings seem to be veering off track but in most local governments, managers are trained to plan. Most plan to plan, by scheduling and distributing relevant materials in advance of meetings to create plans. Strategic, master, comprehensive or long range plans most often are created out of discussions with elected boards, councils or commissions. In an analysis of strategic plan success, it was found that more than 7o % of plans fail. 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 a 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 half solved.'2 These plans always benefit from starting with credible information about the status of the community and issues that resonate with residents. We often liken the use of citizen survey results in 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 individuals to 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, timeframe and 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 httos://www.00enforum.com/a rticles/too-10-attributes-of- successful-strateaic-ola ns/ Are revisited (progress against goals are regularly monitored and considered).34 Two case studies highlight the use of survey data in strategic planning Winter Garden, Florida used The NCS data, first to help develop its strategic plan, and now continues to use survey data as performance measures when 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 tagline, "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, this gem of a small community relies on resident perspectives to assure that the community is steering in the right direction. The experiences and preferences of stakeholder groups were collected through a survey of residents, focus groups, a town hall meeting and interviews. With a mission of becoming the best small city in Florida, staff then augmented findings with other sources of data and observations. Winter Garden Strategic Plana Key Research Components ,.. t�.i,en Sur.rY�V The 11 ! • ataDden1 react t W eamenity ere abet . i siyene r.liyel ol Deno.. pwllty . Reader!. nese areas • reed ..0t,l pepp .ualtardatad eared ad readelwer • 314 ctmpletes Key Leader Inter -Ova! keeled: • Mritran e! water Garden • rmeeemenec m be rude la city • Vidor far dry ldrn and Inns term, .44,411. . Aar jdd! • 9eleehrne lntereteet • 5 Fleeted Celkl.l! • 10Ikelnee laden Rea4e9: Focus Gnc. Amsted • kttr.ctttra ar Water • .r0ro.erneres td be mare to city . Vega, leg c"'ay • ,. dhaedear I H m denu,n da l •aMeld Town Ralf Mee, armed. • Vier to ranter Gorden • K., 0•V'a.e.rerrn to to rude to r . • het tCOD •p wrtk1pam Results were synthesized to describe the 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. httos://www.00enforum.com/articles/top-10- attributes-of-successfu I-strateaic-ola ns/ © 2014 National Research Center, Inc. Page 7