association by analysing the present state of the community ; addressing any critical issues ; and identify the association ’ s strengths , weaknesses , opportunities , and threats . » Determination of key result areas . Define five to 10 areas in which the association must be successful in order to accomplish its mission , based on customer expectations .
» Determine customer expectations . Determine the customer ’ s ( members , suppliers and employees ) expectations of the association as stakeholders . Group the expectations into five to 10 key result areas .
» Determine critical issues . List the critical issues that must be addressed for the association to achieve its mission and vision , based on an assessment of its strengths , weaknesses , opportunities , and threats ( SWOT ).
» Strengths . List the organisational attributes that promote the association ’ s ability to meet its mission and vision .
» Weaknesses . List those organisational attributes that hamper the association ’ s ability to meet its mission and vision . Some examples include : inadequate technology , or use of technology ; lack of core competency training ; poor service , and so forth .
» Opportunities . List those factors , internal and external , that would enable the association to meet its mission and vision . Some examples include technological advances in needed areas , consolidating functions , etc .
» Threats . List those factors , internal or external , that could prevent the association from meeting its mission and vision . Some examples include high rate of foreclosures , drawn-out worker strike , change in developer focus , etc .
• Define the roles of key players . Who will be the key people responsible for each aspect of the strategic plan ? Answer questions such as : » What level of control will the board have ? » Is the manager going to be a proactive leader or an administrator ? » Are the home owners going to be active as committee members or are they going to be less involved ? » Role definition is extremely important so that efforts are not duplicated – or neglected overall .
One way to establish a team and define specific roles is to adopt a model similar to a city council and city manager form of government . The city council ( board of directors ) sets policies , votes on contracts and bids , and is the on-site eyes and ears ( oversight ) of the community . The city manager ( management ) should be the professionally educated , proactive , paid leader who manages the day-to-day operations , brings issues and solution options to the table , and then implements the board ’ s decisions . The citizens ( home owners ) should attend meetings , serve on committees , and elect competent individuals to the board of directors . This concept of team roles goes much deeper than this discussion allows , especially in the areas of compliance , budgeting , and home owner interaction .
• Educate and communicate the plan . Without education and communication , team members can neither perform their roles effectively nor interact with each other . Make sure that every player has the necessary documents and basic knowledge to perform effectively . Further ensure that each of the players communicates with each other – provide updates as necessary and always ask for others ’ input . Better to catch a potential problem earlier rather than later . In the event that there is a change in management , association boards should also be sure to communicate their strategic plans to the new manager , and revise it , if necessary . Also , if the strategic plan calls for specific management participation , make sure it is spelled out in the management contract .
• Develop and prioritise long-range goals . Develop long-range goals to address the critical issues identified through the needs assessment , and then prioritise those goals .
• Develop short-term goals and action plans . Establish shortterm goals and specific action plans along with scheduled completion dates .
• Monitor the progress . Establish a monitoring process to assess the progress made on both short-term and long-range goals .
PLAN EXECUTION Plan execution is the second phase of strategic planning . In this step , an association puts its plan into action through the allocation of resources . This step has three components :
• Programmes . Association programmes serve as blueprints for converting objectives into realities .
• Procedures . Procedures are the specific sequence of tasks required to complete the programmes .
• Budgets . An association should prepare budgets to fund programmes . Instead , many develop programmes based on their budgets . Simply put , an association should be strategydriven , not budget-driven . If the plan development phase was put together well , then the plan execution phase is much easier . Many of the previously discussed items such as teamwork , roles , communication and education are important and apply to the plan execution phase . Hold periodic meetings to review progress on short-term goals and plans . Without periodic meetings and reviews , the community will not move forward and achieve its goals . Lastly , adaptability is crucial to the plan execution phase , since all plans will have flaws . If the team members are not adaptable , there may be simple issues that will not be resolved in a reasonable manner , and the community will suffer .
PLAN REVIEW Plan review is required constantly in order to improve the plan and ensure its execution . Part of the plan review occurs naturally when there is board turnover , a new home owner , or changes in the law . In addition , plan review needs to be scheduled to ensure that the plan is meeting the community ’ s goals . This can be achieved through surveys , management review conferences , or discussions at meetings . If the community fails to update the plan , the plan will eventually fail the community . Industry experts suggest that associations and their managers review their strategic plans annually , and completely overhaul their strategic plans every three to five years .
The Foundation for Community Association Research
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