how to write a foreword for a strategic plan

A foreword is a short introductory portion of a non-fiction book, typically written by someone other than the author. This planning assures a deep consideration of the audience, the most effective structure, and persuasive content. In the tertiary education sector, it is especially important to develop a proactive approach in light of changing expectations of society, evolving professional demands, and increasing competition in the local and regional contexts. It tells you and your team where you're going as a company and how to get there. To achieve all the goals outlined in your strategic plan, you need the right people in place. If you are a member of your business's decision-making team, such as a manager or team leader, you may help create, update or implement a strategic plan. The following are illustrative examples of a strategy plan. Are you in control of the performance measure? This helps transform your goals and objectives into a reality. For some managers, this seems initially like putting the cart before the horse. Before beginning the strategic planning process, its important to make sure you have buy-in from management, a board of directors, or other leaders. She recommends coming up with a kind of glossary that defines the terms for your team. . Writing a strategic plan can be daunting, as the process includes many steps. Get in front of employees and present the plan [to get everyone involved]. Hofmeyer explains his research has shown that people stay with companies not always because of money, but often because they buy into the organizations vision and want to play a part in helping it get where it wants to go. You will learn to create a book foreword in four easy steps. 5 0 obj The following sections walk you through how to write common sections of a strategic plan. Identify Strategic Position and Goals. Many people mistake this word as forward. But the word foreword has the root the word fore, meaning before. The foreword is the section in a book that comes before the body of the book. Step 2 - Introduction. They are action items, often with start and end dates. With clarity, your organization knows exactly . Ideally, [the mission statement is] something that describes what youre about at the highest level, McNerney says. 18 0 obj And in a small business, like a convenience store, it initially is: customers, employees, suppliers, and owners. Not everyone has a vision statement, McNerney says. Goals should be precise and concise statements, not long narratives. Positioning is a fundamental step of the strategic planning process. Included on this page, you'll find details on what to include in a strategic plan, the importance of an executive summary, how to write a mission statement, how to write a vision statement, and more. We call on the continued support of the entire University community to make this plan a success. It starts with a vision statement, moves on to strategic themes (six in all) and culminates in 28 strategic goals. The latter is a list of actions interspersed with a sprinkling of desired results, all utterly useless in terms of strategy. I was buried in the enterprise.. HBR Learnings online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Strategy Planning and Execution. Before you even start writing the book, it is important that you ask the . Students are always our first priority at Lingnan as we pride ourselves on transforming young hearts and minds through a unique learning experience. This section is the bulk of your strategic plan. The idea is to pique the readers interest and get them to read the rest of the plan. Objective 1: Increase client satisfaction from 82.0% to 90.0% by December 31st. Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. Write in a style similar to that of the book. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. The same group of stakeholders can occupy more than one role. Strategic planning is often continuous for nonprofits. It establishes the direction a company is going to take by considering its goals and objectives. how they demonstrate expertise in the subject, how they have already helped other people with their knowledge, their motivation for going deep into this subject. You can take many approaches to the process and consider differing ideas about what needs to go into it, but some general concepts stand. The process of formulating a new Strategic Plan at CUHK has given us the opportunities to take stock on past successes and failures, to determine our visions and future goals in the light of challenges ahead, and to put forward strategies for our developments not only in response to changing needs but also as an active and participating agent to drive intellectual, social and economic changes. Many people confuse goals and objectives, thinking the terms are interchangeable, but many argue that the two are distinct. stream You will learn that the reader's wants and needs come first - before your need for self-promotion. If your mission statement could define many companies in your line of work, it is not a good mission statement. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. I. Strategic Plan Example: Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics. In fact, it is also possible to include what your company does for its employees in your mission statement. Values describe the behaviors you really want to advance, McNerney says. Hi Cassandra, Im glad youve found our site helpful! 4 0 obj Deliver project consistency and visibility at scale. Its purpose is to clearly define what sets your organizationand the product or services it offersapart from the competition. I am sure that, with the collaboration of our talented staff, students, alumni, friends, and supporters, the goals we aspire to accomplish will in time translate into milestones of which we can be proud. [Goals] are the higher level that contain several statements about what your priorities are, McNerney explains. Its just what works for your organization. These are the key decision-making criteria that stakeholders use when interacting with your business. Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team and adapt as those needs change. Some people might feel reluctant to give any input because they do not think it matters to the person who ultimately decides what goes into the plan. We would all like to accomplish every goal, but sometimes we do not have enough money to do so. In this example, your objectives could be: Approach three new possible clients each month. Breaking down the process further, some strategic planners use the terms strategies and tactics to label ways to achieve objectives. See how our customers are building and benefiting. I want to keep it simple, so organizations can be successful in achieving [the strategic plan], McNerney explains. The strategic planning process will differ based on your organization, but the basic concepts will stay the same. And while this may sound obvious, do not ignore what your planning process tells you. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. This exercise will help you clarify your values. Byson says the facilitator can be in-house or external, but they need experience. Think of the acronym SMART when writing objectives: Make them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and time-bound. These steps can help you with this process: 1. In a for-profit organization, the marketing department works to promote the companys product or services to bring in new revenue. That story might be about your own experiences, a funny story with the author as mentioned above, or the story of . He adds that focusing on one KPI can hurt other areas of a companys performance, so reaching a goal can be short-sided. That, if they wish, you could get a verbal foreword. As a research-led university we shall continue to engage in cutting-edge research, especially in those interdisciplinary areas identified as our strengths, not only to make an intellectual impact internationally but also to benefit humankind in addressing challenges and societal needs locally, regionally and globally. That is, what the organization wanted from employees. [1] Identify what your organization stands for, what it hopes to accomplish, what its responsibilities are, what segment of the population it wishes to cater to and work with, how it wants to be viewed and what type of growth it wants to experience. (my father passed in 2006). Writing a winning proposal means writing for the client and providing a clear, valuable solution to their problem. Fourth, figure out what you want from them. focussed on delivering the Government's strategic agenda and meeting community needs, with the agility to deliver consistently, responsively and sustainably. In general, there are four parts to any executive summary: Start with the problem or need the document is solving. Key performance indicators (KPIs) can show you how your business is progressing. Coming up with an evaluation method and KPIs can sometimes be difficult for a nonprofit, since they are often focused on goals other than financial gain. Below are questions to ask your team as you craft your vision statement: What impact do we want to have on our community and industry? Thank-you for giving pointers on writing a foreward. Who are your target customers? Instead, be honest about the strengths that you see in the author. Steps 1 Contemplate your organization's vision. Its imperative to make sure the mission statement accurately fits the organization. One of the first steps is committing to a process, then determining how you're going to do it," McNerney explains. Dont lose what makes you good, he says. The answers to this question help you outline the many routes you can take to achieve your vision and match your strengths with opportunities in the market. endobj Now that you understand how it works best, you can move forward to the next phase of your book writing: preparing the front matter and moving closer to publishing! Decide who should get a physical copy of the entire plan. Question: Is it necessary for the person writing your foreword to sate the city and state where they live? <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 720 540] /Contents 19 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 2>> Free Trial All-inclusive software features: Home Align Design Execute Report Dashboards Teams + Slack Mobile App Take a Video Tour Clients Why Us Why Choose OnStrategy In this column, let's focus on how we request Forewords, Prefaces and Endorsements from allies to complete an upcoming book. Get actionable news, articles, reports, and release notes. While this may seem basic, the company description changes as your company grows and changes. For example, instead of focusing on losing weight, concentrate on being healthier. Find tutorials, help articles & webinars. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. How will we interact with others as a company? You will learn how the foreword helps establish credibility for the author and the book. At the same time, the United States is confronting a dynamic range of national security challenges, including strategic competition, cybersecurity . For a nonprofit, however, conveying that message needs to be part of the strategic plan. Flattery has no room in the foreword. If something does not fit within your personal mission, you shouldnt do it. The foreword of the preface is to discuss the relationship between the author and his book. 3 Strategic Plan 2015 - 2020 Foreword . Part of this initiative includes leveraging our wealth of experience in liberal arts education and our research excellence to collaborate with eminent universities, offer more distinct degree programmes, provide research opportunities for outstanding students across the world, and elevate our reputation in the international arena. As mentioned, strategic planning is a process and involves a team. Download Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template. In any case, long-term thinking needs to be an essential ingredient of . FOREWORD The thesis demonstrates the student's ability to understand. Write in a style similar to that of the book. <> Foreword. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans. Strong mission statements can help differentiate your company from your competitors and keep you on track toward your goals. Think of it as your roadmap. Share the company description with everyone in your organization. The industry analysis carries a price, but also provides many benefits. It is important to be honest with yourself. It has been said that the shortest distance between two points is clarity, and this strategic planning cycle brings about clarity. Every action your company does contributes to its vision. It takes some time and money to do [a thorough industry analysis], but the lack of that understanding says a lot about the future of your organization. Deliver results faster with Smartsheet Gov. Its important for leaders to get input from the group as a whole, but they dont necessarily need approval from everyone that will slow down the process. Collect and review information to help make the upcoming strategic decisions. What do you value most in your life? One of the purposes of the foreword is to build the author up for the readers. If you are invited to write a foreword for a friend or colleagues book, consider it an honor! Check out these templates to help you get started with a financial plan. 8 0 obj Element #3: Marathon Thinking. Peer pressure can be a strong force, especially if a boss or other manager is the one making suggestions and people feel pressured to conform. This has really helped me as I have been struggling to do this for a very good friend. You cant be sure, for instance, in the case of the manufacturer of specialized air conditioners, that ramping up technical support pre- and post-sale will drive more revenue. So, while selecting a writer for a foreword, an author seeks to choose the best person to introduce them and their work. The answer (or answers) to the first question where are we now? The answers to these questions make up the meat of the planning document. You can communicate your plan to stakeholders in the following ways: Hold a meeting to present the plan in person. Thats for so called second-tier accounting firms. 2. This resource will serve as a step-by-step overview of the strategic planning process. In this book, Tim explains how to build your plan around a core (he calls it the "heart") strategic combination of market, identity, and focus. Then you could draft up their words into a foreword, and ask them to just tweak and sign off. A strategic plan is like a road map that gets you where you are aiming to be. Remember, several objectives and action steps will likely come from each goal. Thank you, Yen! The vision is the highest-ordered statement of the desired future or state of what you want your business to achieve, McNerney explains. Ive assisted a rural bank which decided that its target customer was commercial family farms. This ruled out large corporate farms and hobby farms. Happy writing :). Once youve assembled your team and defined your terms, its time to formalize your ideas by writing the strategic plan. In a three-year plan, the goals and objectives have a shorter timeframe and you need to monitor them more frequently. Tactic 1.1.2: Develop agenda. Section 10: Marketing Plan. <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 720 540] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Translate enterprise ambitions into a strategic plan your function can actually use. Many strategic plans arent strategic, or even plans. Offer a 15-minute call to ask them some questions, interview style. What do you want to do more or less? Introduce yourself. When it comes to writing a strategic plan, values represent how you'll behave as an organization as you work towards your vision. Spring 2016. Sadly, strategic plans have a tendency to fail when nobody periodically assesses progress. You can do that by sharing examples of: As you close, remind your readers why you are writing the foreword for the author. endobj Most organizations do a three- to five-year plan now because they recognize the technology and the changes in business that are pretty dynamic now, Stockmal says. endobj Vision statements should be short (a few sentences). The first step of any strategic planning starts with . The vision statement explains what your company wants to achieve in the long term and can help inspire and align your team. The values are the core of how you operate [and] how you treat your people, both internally and externally. I am happy as this was very helpful to me to write a foreward for a very close friend. When writing your performance indicators, pay attention to the following: Define how often you need to report results. Be prepared to adjust. How do we link our purposes to our capabilities? The Strategic Plan represents the concerted efforts of the University stakeholders, whose valuable input has been incorporated in this document. That said, make the effort to edit and refine your mission statement. Some specific areas that have been identified for action in the early years of this strategic plan are: Learning and Development Quickly automate repetitive tasks and processes. Package your entire business program or project into a WorkApp in minutes. <> If you distribute it outside of your company, you might want to attach a confidentiality waiver. Here are some tips to help you write an effective foreword: Here are some excerpts of forewords written by influential people for lesser-known authors: This Christian nonficiton book on prayer has a foreword written by Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer-Kansas City, a very appropriate person to comment on the subject. Your strategies have to align with your values and vice versa, she explains. Look at the positive instead of what you will give up. See how you can align global teams, build and scale business-driven solutions, and enable IT to manage risk and maintain compliance on the platform for dynamic work. For example, tracking visitors to a website, customers completing a contact form, or the number of proposals that close with deals are all performance indicators that keep you on track toward achieving your goals. If you are unsure if your book needs a foreword, then it does not. In addition to a SWOT analysis and other sections that go into any strategic plan, a nonprofit needs to keep an eye on changing factors, such as funding. Here I show you how to write the book foreword in four easy steps. Unlike other parts of your strategic plan that are designed to be reviewed and edited periodically, your companys mission statement should live as is for a while. Instead, it should cover why the book is a must-read. Franziskas book shows how that message can support you in running your life and business based on courage, love, and kindness instead of fear. Take the case of a recent client of mine, an architectural firm. The terms are all over the map. Using these terms, strategies describe an approach or method you will use to achieve an objective. For example, if a vision statement is No child goes to bed hungry, the accompanying mission would be to provide food banks within the city limits. You dont need to include the entire marketing plan in your strategic plan, but you might want to include a summary. Identify your key competitors, and define what you see as their strengths and weaknesses. Assess Industry, Competitor & Customer Trends. Were so glad you enjoyed Yens post :). Theyre so used to thinking operationally rather than strategically that putting self first seems like heresy. If you hold a meeting, make sure you and other key planners are prepared to handle the feedback and discussion that will arise. What do they have in common? In contrast,the foreword is written by someone else and is meant to endorse the author and their work. Ill let you in on the six-step technique I have developed over many years, working with clients and in teaching my public seminars on strategic planning. Automate business processes across systems. As the managing partner of a client law firm recently explained to me: Before we adopted your approach we lacked the keys to effective strategic planning. Second, identify a specific, very important key stakeholder: your target customer. Its truly have helped me a lot , Were glad you found the post helpful! How to develop a winning strategyand put it to work. Your email address will not be published. Menu State of the Service Report. If not, you may need to hire personnel. Smartsheet Contributor stream The areas above the red dotted line are the strategic parts of the plan. Promote the three key product areas on the website and in email newsletters. Were glad you found Yens post helpful, Oberlene. Instead, be honest about the strengths that you see in the author. The strategic planning process contains various steps, exercises, and opportunities to develop a culture of alignment and follow-through within your organization. Third, figure out what these stakeholders want from you. An excerpt is shown below to show you how Mike describes his relationship with Gary: It has been my pleasure to know Gary Wiens since 1985 in a friendship that has gone from mere acquaintance to partnership in ministry. Step 1: Write a letter to the reader. Business architecture is important, which Stockmal says is building the capabilities the organization needs to fulfill its strategy. He adds that nothing happens if there is no budget workers to do the work necessary to drive change. Your email address will not be published. This form of planning includes: a) Taking a wide look around at what's going on outside the organization and how it might affect the organization (an environmental scan), and identifying opportunities and threats b) Taking a hard look at what's going on inside the organization, including its strengths and weaknesses (perhaps doing a SWOT analysis) Resource identification. Configure and manage global controls and settings. Without it, the process cannot succeed. For example, at a manufacturer of specialized air conditioners for computer rooms, customer service, as youd expect, meant handling enquiries and dealing with complaints. But research showed that customer service had additional dimensions in the minds of their customers, namely technical support pre- and post-sale. Getting to grips with the full extent of the customers expectations led to insight which drove the companys strategy. Some of these effects include: A strategic plan can inspire & unite the whole school community ASPs Stockmal has some questions for you to ask yourself about picking performance indicators. How to Write a Strategic Plan (Step-by-Step) Use the following steps to build a strategic plan: 1. It is written only by someone extremely well-known and highly-regarded. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Its target customers arent mums and dads lodging their annual tax returns, or small businesses that need help with their accounts. Its really the concept of what the intention of the terms are [that is important], says Denise McNerney, President and CEO of iBossWell, Inc., and incoming president of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). If you have a failing project and need to turn it around, this article might help. However, it can be written by the author himself as well if needed. The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. As for the evaluation portion, identify how you will keep yourself accountable and on track.

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