NACo EDGE Excellence in Strategic Planning Award

The plan should include a letter from the agency’s executive or committee lead that summarizes the plan for the reader. The Introductory Letter should outline major initiatives and communicate general timeframes. It is important to note that the plan is subject to change as the plan is put into practice.

The plan should include a mission statement that provides a broad but clear statement of purpose for the entire organization. One of the critical uses of a mission statement is to help an organization decide what it should do and, importantly, what it should not be doing. The organization's goals, strategies, programs and activities should logically cascade from the mission statement.

The plan should include a thorough analysis of the government's internal and external environment in order to set the stage for an effective strategic plan. A frequently used methodology for conducting an environmental assessment is a "SWOT" (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Strengths and weaknesses relate to the internal environment, while analysis of opportunities and threats focuses on the environment external to the organization.

Local, regional, national, and global factors affecting the county should be analyzed, including (a) economic and financial factors, (b) demographic trends, (c) legal or regulatory issues, (d) social and cultural trends, (e) physical (e.g., community development), (f) intergovernmental issues, (g) technological change, et. al.
 

The plan should outline the process that was undertaken to decide upon the plan’s priorities. Ideally, this process should be inclusive of public input and consider a wide range of views from differing perspectives (age, gender, ethnicity, income, etc.).

Each county should employ mechanisms to identify stakeholder concerns, needs and priorities. Among the mechanisms that might be employed to gather such information are (a) public hearings, (b) surveys, (c) meetings of community leaders and citizens interest groups, (d) meetings with government employees and (e) workshops for government administrative staff and the legislative body. Visual aids that depict the planning process are helpful in communicating the different stages of plan establishment.

The plan should highlight any and all individuals that were involved in the planning process, as well the leaders who are responsible for executing each component of the plan on an ongoing basis. Personal photos of the team members help humanize the plan and make it more relatable.

The Action Plan is the meat of the Strategic Plan and should describe how strategic initiatives will be implemented, including the activities required, associated costs, designation of responsibilities, priority order and timeframes involved for the organization to reach its strategic goals.

The plan structure should be simple by nature and easily digestible to the average consumer. NACo’s recommended best practice is a three-tiered structure, as follows:

Tier 1: Focus Areas

Reflect the major themes and/or strategic initiatives included in the plan. Most plans will have multiple Focus Areas, but there is no specific requirement for the number of Focus Areas.

Focus Area Example: Public Safety and Health

Tier 2: Goals

Identify the specific objectives that are intended to be achieved within each Focus Area. Each Focus Area can have multiple Goals, but there is no specific number requirement or limit.

Goal Example: Enhance Community Trust in Public Safety

Tier 3: Action Items

Outline the specific task required to accomplish the applicable goal. Each Goal can have multiple Action Items, but there is no specific number requirement or limit.

Action Item Example: Product Police Department videos focused on core values.

Focus Areas should include a description of its intent and strategic value. Each Goal and Action Item should also include a description as well as designate a priority, an owner(s) and a target completion date.

NOTE: Counties may use whatever terminology for the three tiers that they prefer. For example, if a county prefers to call the tiers Strategic Initiatives, Objectives and Tasks, that is fine.

Performance measures provide an important link between the goals, strategies, actions and objectives stated in the strategic plan and the programs and activities funded in the budget. Performance measures also provide information on whether goals and objectives are being met.

Wherever possible, the plan should identify specific performance measures to be monitored in connection with the execution of the plan.

Ultimately, in order to impact the community, a plan must be put into action. An award-worthy plan is one that enables the County to monitor its progress, and if necessary update its plan, on a regular basis.

The plan must demonstrate a systematic process that will be utilized by the County to review progress, update plan status and communicate progress through web-based analytics for both internal and external stakeholders.

Communicating the agency's financial commitment to each priority identified in the plan is an emerging best practice. The plan should highlight the amount of budget dedicated to each area of the plan.

NOTE: It is not necessary to align the County’s entire budget with the plan. In other words, it will likely be the case that only a portion of the overall County budget will be utilized specifically to achieve the Strategic Plan objectives.

The plan should be made available via several channels to suit various stakeholders’ needs. In today’s digital age, a regularly updated website to communicate the plan details and the ongoing performance against the plan is a minimum requirement. This website should also be mobile friendly. In addition, a printable/.PDF version of the plan should also be made available to constituents who prefer these options.