First, ensure that the departmental review committee has been consulted prior to the application. Require that a departmental written guidance is submitted before beginning the Strategic Planning Processes. The departmental guidance will provide an overview of the processes that must be followed in order to successfully complete a strategic plan.
Secondly, in accordance with the departmental guidance, there must be consultation on the strategic plan with all appropriate staff members. This includes but is not limited to, your students, faculty, and staff. Without the support of these key employees, a strategic plan cannot be a success.
Thirdly, consult with your departmental guidance. Seek advice on any aspect of the strategic plan, and seek clarification of the process when it appears unclear. It is always helpful to receive clarification as early as possible, in order to properly implement the recommendations contained within the written guidance.
Fourthly, if you have a faculty member or departmental staff member who does not subscribe to your proposed strategic plan, take them aside and have a discussion about it. Listen carefully to their concerns, and answer their questions. Do not let anyone feel unheard and unappreciated.
Fifthly, if you are operating under the departmental guidance of a departmental guidance, explain that you must follow the direction of the guidance. Do not become distracted by the new “Idea Man” Problem Solvers. Do not accept concepts that contradict the departmental guidance.
Sixthly, have a meeting, either online or in person, to talk through the issues that you are facing, and the plan you have made. Discussing the issues together will help you better understand how you can best address each issue. During the meeting, you may agree on areas where further exploration is required or disagree on other areas.
You may even want to include specific goals in your strategic plan. Discuss those goals at your meeting, and ensure that you’ve set them out clearly, so that you can track your progress towards them. Do not wait until your meeting to discuss your goals. A simple email to your team can begin this process.
On the first day of class, we recommend reviewing the course material as you normally would, with a focus on what are the current, leading and critical topics in the course. You should review this material in order to develop the plan that will serve your objectives. You should avoid reviewing it again until you have the plan developed.
As soon as you have a firm plan in place, review it again, and make sure that you have covered the same material and chapters as you would if you were reviewing the material during the first day of class. If there are any differences, review them again in the second class.
A final assessment of the material that you review for your course will help you to evaluate if you are moving in the direction of the course objectives and will help you to determine if the Strategic Planning Failure Exhibit is going to be a problem. This final assessment will allow you to move forward, confidently and with confidence.
We hope that the information we provided in this article has been helpful to you in developing your Effective Classroom Management Tools. While you cannot totally eliminate the Strategic Planning Failure Exhibit, you can create a Strategic Plan that is focused on the goals that you are setting for your university.
