By Richard Barron, CEO, Hampton Fund
It is a privilege to be asked to contribute a blog for ACEVO members of tips on creating a strategy, However, I am mindful that many reading this will have more experience of leading a strategic review than I have, and in more challenging circumstances. I am a new CEO of a local charitable foundation, and have only been through the process once. Nevertheless, we will be starting it again within the next year, so here are five things I will remind myself have been important.
Get everyone ‘on the bus’
I expect very few people in any charity will deny it should have a strategy. But I am equally sure that there will be different perceptions of what it is, what it’s for and why it needs everyone to be involved in creating it. I am also very aware that one of the chief barriers, particularly in smaller organisations, to creating a strategy is there isn’t the time, resources or ‘head space’ to think about something so nebulous when there is much more urgent daily work to be done.
We can all acknowledge a strategy shouldn’t be forgotten as soon as the ink dries, but how often does it set targets, timings and resource allocation for annual operational plans, and from there, staff objectives? The value of a strategy is not just that it sets direction and clarifies priorities (and just as importantly, what isn’t a priority), but that it is something the organisation can cohere around. Therefore, for it to be truly effective, staff and trustees all need to get involved in creating it, and it’s not just something the senior team comes up with and the trustees sign off. I have experienced both approaches and not only does the former one help get everyone ‘on the bus’, but there’s also a much greater chance they’ll stay on it. So, the first challenge is to convince stakeholders to commit time to the process and encourage everyone, irrespective of role, that their contribution is important but that they will get value from it themselves.
The importance of the process
From there, I realised my primary role was to set out a clear process to answer our key strategic questions: what are we trying to achieve and what changes do we need to make to get there? And not necessarily to have the answers; although I did, naturally, have some ideas.
I appreciate that not every CEO will be in the position to get someone to help them design and run this process, particularly if that involves spending money (although pro bono opportunities are available). But there is huge value in getting a good facilitator if you can. It can provide structure and help reinforce the inclusive nature of the process. However, most importantly, an independent facilitator should be helping to negotiate the disagreements and tensions that the process will, and perhaps should, throw up. Not all of my trustees were initially convinced we needed to spend the money, but did come to see the benefit. The consultants we used, Trust Impact, had a very well-designed approach, focused on how to drive more impact, but that started by identifying strategic tensions in the organisation. They gave everyone a chance to make a case for their position on these issues. Everyone was heard, and this in turn meant they were more likely to support the consensus view that the process then surfaced. I too was a participant, so also had to identify what was important to me, and what I should let go.
Find the right place to start
Our process quickly exposed that – while all the charity’s work was highly valued – there wasn’t a shared understanding of what its core purpose was. That’s obviously a problem, but I suspect a more common one than we’d like to think. So, fundamental to the whole exercise was making sure we had a shared view of: what the need is that the charity exists to address, and its role in meeting that need. We found that this is where resolving the strategic tensions really happened. A longer-term vision was then drawn from this agreement, because it is a projection of a shared sense of purpose rather than the other way around (which is how I previously believed it needed to be). Next, we worked through what actually needed to happen to be sure the charity fulfils the agreed purpose and is moving towards the vision. That is, of course, easier said than done, but developing a ‘theory of change’ at this stage really helped. From there, I proposed a set of strategic goals based on all we had discussed to that point, which we debated and finally agreed. Lastly, it was important to identify what was going to help us know we were making progress along the way.
Balance ambition with realism
Setting goals also means agreeing how far are you going to try to get, and by when. Getting a balance between ambition and realism is tricky. A previous career in fundraising has taught me that if you set an income target too high, no one really buys into it, and you feel set up to fail. But set it just beyond what is considered achievable, it can then become motivating. Plus, to fall a little short means you’ve still raised more than before. I’ve tried to apply the same principle to our strategic goals.
Keep the faith
Of course, I’m saying all this and we are only halfway through delivering our strategy. The doing is the hard bit; there are a lot of challenges ahead and sometimes making headway is frustrating. However, one practical, visible outcome of our strategy is that it is now much clearer what, as a grant maker, we will and will not fund. An early indicator of success is where the local voluntary sector has welcomed this, telling us it helps them to plan and respond. So, my role now is to keep the faith that what we have collectively agreed has set the right direction. And try to keep everyone else on the bus.
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