NEWSLETTER
Strategic Planning: The Best Future is the One You Create
Who Are You? 3 Strategies for Establishing a Successful Organizational Identity
by Lea Griggs
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s theme song, “Who Are You” rings out every Thursday evening on CBS. What a clever and ironic theme that is, considering that is the very question posed every episode to a team of forensic scientists who miraculously solve complicated murder cases within 60 minutes! Unlike television, though, establishing or in most cases, discovering, who you are as an organization is not a feat that can be accomplished in one hour.
You may think the question, who are you is a silly one, but do you really know who you are as a ministry or organization? Is this whole business of organizational identity even important? Every organization has a company or corporate image, whether it wants one or not. Considering your success or failure is contingent upon that image, it is more than safe to say that is it extremely important. Unfortunately, the process of outlining and defining the image of organizations has been swallowed up by industry terms such as “brand management” and “corporate identity” thus diminished in definition to merely color schemes, logos and company stationery.
All too often, Managers, VP’s, CEO’s and Pastors sit down with their staff, scratch their heads, and ask why they seem to be engulfed in a perpetual cycle. Year after year, they find the need to “reinvent themselves” - brainstorming and implementing “creative ideas” for marketing campaigns and advertising strategies. But these “creative ideas" they just don’t seem to last, and before you know it, they’re right back to doing things the way they always have. This perpetual cycle of cat and mouse marketing and years of unsuccessful strategies is due to the absence of an established organizational identity.
How do you know if your identity is weak? Let’s take a brief Identity Quiz:
- Can you describe in less than a paragraph what differentiates you from your main rivals? (And yes churches and ministries have competition, too!)
- Is your logo entirely original without borrowed elements from other successful ventures? (i.e. swooshes similar to Nike? Doves, crosses and Bibles for ministries?
- Can you sum up your mission, vision and values in one sentence? Or better yet, do you even have a mission, vision and core values?
- Do people only know the name of your organization’s founder or do they actually know what you do?
If you answered anything other than yes to these questions, your organization has an identity challenge. Here are three strategies to establishing a successful organizational identity.
1) Perform an Identity Audit
This is a three prong process that requires you to know yourself, know your competition and know your target. Like a fingerprint, your identity should be unique. That does not mean that you are the only organization that does what you do, but there should be something about how or what you do that is authentic and original. In order to determine your specific niche, you have to know what your competition is doing so that you can take steps to stand out from them. This is why it is absolutely imperative that you know your target audience. Your success lies in your ability to establish your organization as a stable and reliable source of expertise in your particular area. Without a clear understanding of who your consumers are, you run the risk of offering services and products that do not live up to their expectations. More than likely, you will lose their support.
2) Develop an Identity Road Map
Establishing a successful identity doesn’t happen overnight. It requires a well defined process and a strategic plan. These are the blueprints that will lead you through the adjustment phase, define transition periods and create with built-in checkpoints and success metrics to keep everyone involved focused and accountable. Without an Identity Road Map you take a gamble of straying off course, which often translates into a compromised, unfocused identity.
3) Make Continuous Adjustments
In order to remain relevant to your target audience, your identity must evolve with time. Despite the changing tides, make sure that your identity continues to be authentic, original and consistent. Feedback is essential to the management of your organization’s identity and is a necessary measuring tool. Continuous feedback will provide the basis for modifications that need to be made to your processes and plan . In addition, regular reviews of your organization’s identity plan are critical in order to implement pro-active strategic adjustments that will lead you along the one clear path to success.
Your organization’s identity is just as important as the product or service that you provide. Investing in maintaining that identity is invaluable to your success. It is critical that organizational identity be a serious concern for every ministry and business - one deserving the same attention and commitment by leadership and senior management as any other vital issue.
Copyright 2006-2007 ©Lea M. Griggs
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Lea M. Griggs is the VP, Communications of Total Ministry Makeover and specializes in corporate and organizational identity development, brand creation and management and creative design consultation.
To find out more about her services, write her at info@totalministrymakeover.com
Strategic Planning: The Best Future is the One You Create
by Karen Hosey
If you don’t know where you’re going anywhere is OK.
“Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” she asked.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” was the reply.
“I don’t much care where --” she said.
“Then, it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
That excerpt comes from Alice in Wonderland. It’s from the scene when Alice comes to a crossroads and discovers the Cheshire cat perched in a tree. It’s a poignant reminder that the path we take will determine our destination. Whether it’s a personal path that we are taking for ourselves, or one we want to lead our organization down, it really does matter where we want to go.
Planning or goal setting is an integral component to reaching our destination. Some people often spend weeks or months planning a two week vacation, yet spend no time at all planning the other 50 weeks in the year. Others plan every moment of their day, yet they are no closer to their destination at the end of 52 weeks than those who don’t plan at all. What is the common denominator for these two groups? What is it that is the root cause of “ending up somewhere else”?
There is a saying that goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got”. There’s a similar phrase also - “doing the same thing but expecting different results”- that has been said to be another way to describe insanity. If these sayings seem uncomfortably familiar to you or if you’ve ever looked back and said, “How did we let this happen?” or “How did we get here?” keep reading we have some invaluable information for you.
There are five basic elements of the Strategic Planning Process:
- As a leader, you must fully commit to the process. If you are committed, then great results are possible. If you are not totally committed, you will not only get nowhere, but may actually cause great harm. You set the tone for your organization, and if you are not 100% vested in your own success, how can you expect your team to be?
- Select a team. You don’t need everyone on the team, just be sure you have an equal balance of strategists and tacticians (though you should be the only visionary). Don’t let titles get in the way of a good team. Team participation must be based on mindset and skills, not position. Every team member must also be committed to the planning, execution and the time commitment necessary to see the plan all the way through.
- Establish monthly meetings. The team must meet regularly and consistently to assess your organization’s current status so that any adjustments or changes can be made in a timely manner – before you are completely off your path.
- Communicate the plan. Everyone in the company must understand the plan and their role in its success. The Board, top executives, managers, maintenance, warehouse and everyone in between must understand the plan. Create a set communication process to keep everyone informed of successes, failures and adjustments – and use it regularly.
- Hold people accountable. Every person has to be held accountable for fulfilling their role in achieving your organization’s plan. There must be no exceptions! Responsibility without accountability can result in mediocrity, critically damaging lost time and costly misdirection.
Above all, maintain the PROCESS. Strategic Planning is not an event, it is an ongoing process. Studies have shown that organizations that implement strategic planning can expect, at minimum, a 12% increase in profits. What could you do if your ministry had an increase in net revenue of 12%? How many more people could you serve? How many more souls could be saved? Keep in mind that the greater your commitment to the process is, the greater your net increase is likely to be. How high do you want to go? How committed are you to helping your ministry grow and succeed? Your future results depend on what you do today, so why not get started planning for success?
Copyright 2006-2007 ©Karen Hosey
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President of Total Ministry Makeover and specializes in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, write her at info@totalministrymakeover.com
|
OUR MISSION
