Creating a GPS for your strategic plan

In an earlier blog I compared following a strategic plan to following a map on a hike.  So, how do you create what amounts to a strategic plan GPS?

In looking at a good GPS, here are some things that I like.

• User friendly

I can't use something that I don't understand.  My GPS is so easy that I figured out almost all of the functions just by using the device.  Keep your planning report card simple.  If your plan and your reporting mechanism is complex or too detailed, then you likely will not use it.  Most volunteer board members are busy.  In addition, charter school administration is busy.  No one has the time to prepare complex reports to track the strategic plan goals. 

• Allows drill down

I don't need all of the information on every screen.  It's really nice to have a basic set of information with more detail available.  On a GPS, it is right there in my hand.  In a strategic plan review, that detail may or may not need to be available right on the spot.  I've been in situations in which it is very nice to have that information handy.  However, you don't always have to have it in real time.  The key is that the detailed information is available if necessary and relevant.  You don't need to drill down if there are no problems, although someone should be combing the detail and be able to project whether or not there are problems brewing.


In addition, with my GPS, it is a one stop shop.  Board members need to have one stop.  Board members shouldn't be calling around different members of the school staff.  Their requests for additional information should be to the school leader.  Board members often forget that they as individuals do not represent the board.  Therefore, the board should have policies and procedures for how individual board members request information from school leadership.  In a large school, board members can create a free for all, especially if there is divisiveness on the board when they begin searching around for information without the larger board approval or without school leadership understanding the reason for requests. 


A charter school is a public entity so strategic planning and tracking should be done in a way that the general public can follow what is going on and not be done behind closed doors or in such a way that violates sunshine laws. 


The next step is what to do with the GPS once you've created it.