Implementing Your Strategic Plan

On February 28, 2012 SIRC hosted the latest in a series sport governance webinars entitled ‘Implementing Your Strategic Plan’ presented by Dina Bell-Laroche of the Sport Law & Strategy Group. The goal of this series of sport governance webinars, done in partnership with Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee, is to help sport organizations advance good governance within their organizations.

Ms Bell-Laroche discussed 10 ‘tips & truisms’ gathered from management science, experience and good practices in and outside of sport on strategic planning. The following are some of the highlights of the webinar:

Bringing your Strategic Plan to Life
Moving it off the shelf and into practice

Strategic Planning is …
A systematic process through which an organization agrees on – and builds commitment among key stakeholders to – priorities that are essential to its mission and which are responsive to the environment.

10 Tips for Implementing your Strategic Plan

1. Communicate – Develop a communications plan with core messages and share with key stakeholders 
2. Keep it relevant - Plans need to evolve and adapt in order to maintain relevance
3. Compass – Make sure everything you do is helping you achieve your mission, move towards your vision, reflective of your values 
4. Measure Progress - Once the plan is approved, develop indicators to demonstrate progress for the plan and activities 
5. Train and Educate – Ensure that you have the knowledge you need to implement your plan 
6. Engage – Proactively communicate and look for ways to involve your members. It doesn’t stop once the plan has been approved, it continues 
7. Budget - Integrate budgeting into your planning process. Ensure budget reflects priorities. Ensure plan meets available human/financial resources 
8. Show Early Wins – Demonstrates action. Shows progress. Creates trust. 
9. Celebrate Success - Recognize contributions in creative and impactful ways. Creates a sense of accomplishment and builds momentum 
10. ‘Can Do’ Culture - Recognize that ongoing investment is required to create the right environment that encourages the “doing” in a planned and strategic way 

 An archived version of this webinar, the PowerPoint slides, as well as resources discussed in the session are available from the SIRC governance website 

The next webinar in the Sport Governance series on Board Orientation takes place on March 28, 2012 and will be presented by Joan Duncan, JDI Consulting. Registration is free of charge. 

For more information on Sport Governance check out the SIRC Sport Governance portal