At Rhythm, we talk to association execs every day, and they share some of their biggest concerns with us. Sometimes it’s a discussion of technology. Sometimes it’s a discussion about their overarching goals. Sometimes it’s about budgets and revenue. When we boil these conversations down to their essence, however, designing effective strategy is the outstanding concern for most association execs.
A strategic plan is your association's roadmap for the future. It defines where you want to go, why it matters, and how you intend to get there. Most association strategic plans cover a three to five year horizon and address core questions like: Who do we serve and what do they need? What programs and services are central to our mission? Where is our industry heading and how does that affect us? What does success look like and how will we measure it?
The plan itself isn't the point. The thinking that goes into it is. A good strategic planning process forces your leadership team to examine assumptions, confront uncomfortable data, and make real choices about where to focus limited resources. Done well, it becomes the filter through which you evaluate every new idea and opportunity.
Getting there requires developing both the right mindset and the right process.
It’s fair to say that everyone wants to be a strategic thinker. Some of us are by nature, but some of us aren’t. The good news is strategic leaders aren’t necessarily born that way – strategic thinking can be learned. Each of us can develop skills to increase our strategic abilities, but we need environments that foster our ability to think strategically, rather than tactically. Here are 3 suggestions to help yourself get ready to work on strategy:
Once you’ve created the bandwidth to work on developing your skills and the association’s strategies, you’ll want to focus on four areas where you can develop your strategic abilities – anticipating the future, questioning the status quo, using analytics effectively, and learning how to make key decisions.
Most associations approach strategic planning as an annual or multi-year exercise. Here's a practical framework:
Start with a member needs assessment. Before you can plan where to go, you need to understand where your members are. Surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one conversations (yes, phone calls) give you the raw material for a plan that's grounded in actual member needs rather than assumptions.
Conduct an environmental scan. Look at what's changing in your industry, your competitive landscape, and the broader world. What trends are emerging? What threats could disrupt your current model? What opportunities are others missing that you could capitalize on?
Define your strategic priorities. A strategic plan with ten priorities has no priorities. Most associations identify three to five focus areas for the planning period, each tied to a measurable goal. The discipline of narrowing down is where most of the real strategic work happens.
Build an action plan with owners and timelines. A strategy without execution is just a document. Each priority should have specific initiatives, a staff owner, a timeline, and a way to measure progress. Your AMS data can play a real role here, including member engagement trends, renewal rates, and event participation data, all of which give you baseline metrics to measure against.
Review and adjust regularly. A strategic plan isn't set in stone. Build in a quarterly review cadence with your leadership team so you can assess progress, surface problems early, and adjust as conditions change.
It’s difficult to predict the future if you work in isolation. Talking to people in your network will help you tease out potential threats and opportunities. Consider conducting market research to determine your association’s potential.
If you have a fast-growing competitor, figure out what is fueling their growth. Try to determine what sets them apart. Ask the question, “Do they see something you don’t?”
Ask members who have not renewed their memberships to find out why. Is there something your association could do better? Is there a need you aren’t meeting? Is there a shift in the industry that makes your offerings less attractive?
Make challenging your assumptions (and the assumptions of your members and staff) a regular part of your planning. Is the accepted wisdom correct? If you believe your members stay or leave for a particular reason, find out if that reason is valid.
Listen to those who hold different opinions. The nay-sayers in your association might have a point. You can assign someone to act as a nay-sayer and present opposing views.
Use a problem-solving technique developed by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, called the “5 Whys.” When something goes wrong, ask “Why?” five times. For example, if registrations are down for your annual meeting, ask why. The answer may be because the registration packets went out later than usual. Ask why. Because staff members didn’t have the information they needed to complete the packet on time. Ask why. Because speakers didn’t provide bio information early enough. Ask why. Because they didn’t receive acceptances early enough. Ask why. Because staff members were focused on other work and didn’t select speakers on time.
This technique allows you to dig down to the root cause of a problem, especially if it isn’t immediately apparent. In this example, staff members can take action early to resolve the distractions causing delays rather than assigning blame for reduced registrations. The team can work to increase registrations before the event, knowing that the problem was in delivery, not in the programming.
It’s easy to design tests that prove your point. But rather than just being right, you need to know if your proposal will create the desired results. Look at the data from a variety of perspectives – from the details up to the highest level.
Look for data that disproves your theory or that offers a different explanation for something. Companies may not sign up for training sessions because they have very lean staff and can’t afford for employees to be absent for an entire day. That’s a different problem than a lack of participation because the training topics aren’t valid.
Identify holes in your data. Do you need more information about some parts of your research? Combine your approaches to use both observation and quantitative analysis. Comparing the two can help you understand the whole.
It’s easy to reduce decisions into a binary choice – either this or that. Try to consider all the options you might have to solve a problem. In doing so, you might see how two problems are linked, even though they initially seem unrelated. One new solution might solve both problems.
And before you decide, consider unintended consequences. For example, airlines began charging for checked baggage and then seemed surprised when the quantity of free carry-on luggage surged. Be sure you’re incentivizing the behavior you want.
Include others in your decision-making process and keep them informed about the progress you’re making. Clarify who will make the final decision – you, your board, your staff, or your members. You can modify the process to accommodate both short- and long-term projects.
Strategic thinking doesn’t require a crystal ball, and the skills can be learned. However, making strategic decisions requires thoughtful consideration. If you would like to develop your strategic skills, you can find a variety of materials and courses dedicated to the topic, and demonstrating strategic skills can help supercharge your career. Planning for the future and effectively positioning your association can be your most exciting work.
The data your association needs to support strategic planning — member engagement trends, renewal rates, program participation — should all live in your AMS. If you're piecing that picture together from spreadsheets and disconnected tools, that's worth fixing before your next planning cycle. See how Rhythm helps associations make better decisions with their data.