In the planning arena, our facilitation services are available at whatever level you want, from creating strategic plans with over-the-horizon visions, to annual goal setting. We can help you gather competitive intelligence so you are capable of continually possessing the information that should inform your plans: gather it, share it, collaborate on it. You prioritize the essential knowledge from which to create winning strategies.

Results come from actions. Actions require priorities because no organization has unlimited resources. Therefore, planning is one of the most important tasks the leaders of any organization perform to continue their record of success, and to advance into the next era. Your organization can gain greater control and attain greater success by identifying and anticipating uncontrollable aspects of the world in which you operate, clarifying meaning and purpose, and detailing controllable aspects. We can assist you in one or more tiers of planning in program choices defined or based on your current circumstances.

A major study by the Filene Research Institute confirmed what our
experience was telling us. Planning and evaluating progress against
the plan is the priority activity for a board of directors.

Review our planning model

Our model is just that, one of many ways to develop stimulating ideas and executable plans. See how your process matches up. We will adapt to your proven, desirable process to produce that plans that make sense to you.

Assess Your Planning Process

Does your current planning process measure up? Answer six questions and find out in two minutes:

Take Our Planning Process Questionnaire

Here are some questions to help you determine if your planning process addresses all the things, and contains all the kinds of ingredients, that will assure your continued success against all odds.

1. Do you have core values, 3 to 5 single words that define your culture, the principles that your organization would care about no matter what the plans are, no matter what business you are in?

2. Does your mission statement answer the question, “Why are we in business?” in a single sentence that focuses on the major things you do to produce a positive outcome for all whom you serve?

3. Is your corporate vision statement focused on the communities you serve, ideals you want to see manifested in several decades:  e.g.  improved qualities of life, wrongs righted, prevent the end of something good?

4. Have you developed one or a few statements of strategy, enterprise strategies, ’behaviors’ that guide management: geography, niche market, brand, market creation … things that set you apart from all the others?

5. Does management have the job of developing measurable ‘ends’ to achieve from 1 to 10 years in the future?

6. Does management involve all the employees in developing the operational goals that foster execution?

If you can answered “Yes” to each of these, your planning has the best chance of helping your credit union or other organization continue its success for future generations.

If you had two or more “No” answers, and want to address your process, review our Strategic Planning Model or call now 850-559-7094 to discuss how to have the most “strategic” process ever.

Your Results Are Yours Alone

The art of facilitation is drawing out of your people what they believe to be right for your organization. We facilitate the process of bringing ideas and information to the surface in a safe setting.

For example, we are advocates for Financial Coaching and believe that credit unions should take the lead in offering it across the US. However, even when a client’s plans suggest that it would be a perfect place to provide Financial Coaching as a “blue ocean” strategy, we do not bring it up while facilitating.

Customized to Suit Your Needs

Here’s one more reason Dan Clark Associates LLC ensures an effective planning success. We understand that no two organizations are alike. We celebrate and respect your uniqueness. The fact is, we help you define and clarify what makes you unique as we help you move through your process. Although we have a planning model, we do not push a “cookie-cutter” approach or give “we-know-best” lectures.

Because we believe that a knowledge or perception or intuition about the future needs to be held by your leaders, it is not our practice to be your data source. Our stand is that your leaders need a combination of information collected themselves and bought from full-time environmental scanners and futurists. We are happy to share our learned  perceptions to enhance your own research. We will guide you through information-gathering that will serve our upcoming project. That information-gathering process can and should become a matter of routine for your leaders. Scanning for what could happen in the next ten years is as important, maybe more  important than reviewing what’s happend to your organization in the last couple years.