CHAPTER 2

PREPARING STRATEGIC PLAN

STEP 1 & 2:
 PREPARATORY STAGE
 SITUATION ANALYSIS
Structure of Presentation
 Objective of the session
 General issues on preparation of SP
 Situation Analysis overview
 Approaches to a Situation Analysis
 Other methods of conducting situation
analysis
 Relationship of the Situation Analysis to
other Steps
 Stakeholder Analysis
 SWOT/C Analysis
 Attributes of a Good Situation Analysis
Objective of the Session
By the end of the session participants shall be
able to:
 Explain the preparatory stage for SP
 Define situation analysis (Environment
Scan),
 Mention the tools used in situation
analysis,
 Be practical with tools used in
environmental scan.
Step 1. Preparation of SP
 The 1st step in developing SP is Preparation
of Strategic Plan.
 Preparation of SP involves many
stakeholders as regarding their priorities to
institution.
 The major step in preparation stage is to
organise a preparatory meeting of
management and key resource persons
and assign tasks and responsibilities.
Step 1: Preparation
(cont..)
The main tasks and responsibilities of the
meeting include:
 Decide the methodology to be used in the
process;
 Decide in some detail who does what;
 If workshops are to be held, decide who
attends and whether internal or external
resource persons will be needed and what
the major results should be;
Step 1. Preparation
(cont..)
 Decide which external stakeholders will
be invited, and what their roles will be;
 Prepare a schedule or work-plan and
decide on the logistics and financing;
 Disseminate the work plan to all relevant
parties.
Step 1. Preparation
(cont..)
The process of Strategic Planning should
be undertaken in a participatory manner
with clarity on roles and functions of all
players which are:
 Leader: the leadership role should be
undertaken by the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO).
Step 1. Preparation
(cont..)
 Participants:
 All heads of departments should
participate in the Strategic Planning
process.
 Higher level institutional leaders should
participate at the level of developing
mission, vision, and objectives.
Step 1. Preparation
(cont..)
 Facilitator: Facilitation should be
undertaken by an experienced and
knowledgeable person on a subject
matter.
 Secretariat: Documentation should be
done by people with good writing skills.
Situation Analysis

Exercise on Nine dot theory

Overview of Situation Analysis.
 SA is the assessment of the current situation of an
Institution.
 The institution needs to take a hard look at itself as well
as outside environment
 Situation analysis tries to answer the following
questions about the Institution
- Where it came from?
- Where is it now?
- Where is it going?
- What are its choices?
- Who are our stakeholders?
- What are stakeholders expectations?
 Establishes critical issues to be used in developing
Vision, Mission, objectives and targets
Approaches to a Situation
Analysis
 There are various approaches to be used in
situation analysis, but only two are
recommended for the purpose of Strategic
planning process
 These methods are Stakeholder Analysis and
SWOT/C,
 They assist in developing high quality Vision,
Mission, Objectives, and Targets.
 The approaches selected will depend upon the
nature of the institution, its capacity, and its
resource availability
Other methods of conducting
situation analysis:
 Brainstorming
 Opportunities and Obstacles to Development (O &
OD)
 Political, Economical, Sociological and
Technological Analysis (PEST)
 Literature Review
 Performance Review
 Service Delivery Survey
 Self Assessments
 Problem Tree or Logic Model
Review of Relevant
Information
 Review existing information and identify
lessons that are relevant to the
development of the Strategic Plan of the
institution. Do not “reinvent the wheel.”
 Some secondary sources of information
such as Policies, National Planning
Frameworks, Strategies (eg. MKUKUTA)
etc can be consulted
Relationship of the Situation
Analysis to other Steps

 The Situation Analysis is not an end in

itself, it serves as a tool to facilitate the
development of the Strategic Plan.
 Its relationship to key planning elements
is documented in the table below.
How the Situation Analysis
Affects Strategic Planning
Situation Analysis (Element) Mission Objectives Targets Method

Literature Review X X X Research

Performance Review X X Research

Service Delivery Surveys X Research

Self Assessments X Workshop

Stakeholder Analysis/Focus Groups X X X Workshop or Research

SWOT/C X Workshop

Problem Tree X X Workshop

Stakeholder Analysis
What does Stakeholder Analysis entail?
 It attempts to understand perceptions,
expectations, and priorities of all of
those who have an interest (either direct or
indirect) in an institution.
 Stakeholders’ views should result from
interactions with Stakeholders, not as an
analysis of what an institution’s employees
believe stakeholders want or think.
Stakeholder Analysis (cont..)

In conducting situation analysis we should

seek to know:
 Who are our Stakeholders (who are they?)
 What do they expect from us?
 What have we actually delivered?
 What are they satisfied with (and why?)
 What are they dissatisfied with (and why?)
 What problems do we have?
 How can we improve?
SWOT/C Analysis
What is to be done?
 The analysis is carried out through a
brainstorming session involving management
and key stakeholders
 Strengths and Weaknesses are internal to the
institution.
 Opportunities and Threats/Challenges are
external.
 The development of is facilitated by answering a
series questions that aim at reaching general
agreement and to develop potential targets.
SWOT/C Analysis (Cont..)
Suggested questions for facilitating the process
are listed below:
Strengths
 What advantages does the institution have?
 What does the institution do well?
 What relevant resources does the institution
have access to?
 What do other people perceive as the
institution’s strengths?
SWOT/C Analysis (Cont..)

Weaknesses
 What could be improved?
 What does the institution do badly?
 What should be avoided?
Opportunities
 What are the opportunities available?
 What are the positive trends?
SWOT/C Analysis (Cont..)

Challenges/Threats
 What obstacles are faced by the institution?
 What are the competitors doing?
 Are the specifications for the institution’s
functions, products or services changing?
 Are changes in technology threatening the
institution’s position?
 Does the institution have bad debtors or cash flow
problems?
 Could any of the institution’s weaknesses
seriously threaten the business?
Attributes of a Good Situation
Analysis
 The quality of a Strategic Plan is related to the
quality of the ideas which underpin it.
 Is successful at generating good ideas and
identifying fundamental issues
 Is concerned with generating results rather than
adhering to process
 Is presented in a clear fashion
 Does not state the obvious (should be
challenging to the development of the institution)
Group Work and
Presentation
 Stakeholder Analysis
 SWOT/C Analysis
END
Thanks
For
Preparing
Quality
Situation
Analysis