Steps in Building a Strategic Plan
The first step in formulating a strategic plan for a healthcare organization is the identification of objectives. Objectives are necessary for an organization to keep track of its performance and progress in plan implementation. Even though objectives are laid out by the governing body, they are influenced by stakeholders, organizational culture, and the values of the decision-makers. A strategic assessment or situation analysis is the next step in formulating a strategic plan. This involves gathering and evaluating information by focusing on the past and present to influence future assumptions.
Formulation of a strategic plan for a healthcare organization also requires strategy alternatives and choice. In this case, an organization can identify several strategies and implement them concurrently to achieve set organizational objectives (Rasouli et al., 2020). The next step involves strategy formulation which is a process followed to decide what an organization should do. An organization has to refine various elements that constitute the desired strategy. A healthcare organization then moves to strategy implementation, which involves performing activities necessary to achieve desired objectives. Success in strategy implementation is achieved by having clear functional strategies that can be translated into specific plans and strategies.
An organization has to perform strategic control and evaluation, which enables the identification of any deviation from a strategy’s direction. This enables a healthcare organization to develop alternative strategies necessary to adapt to changing circumstances. A step that would be most difficult is strategy implementation since an organization has to use available resources and labor to ensure that organizational objectives are met. It might be difficult to balance available resources to maximize the chances of success.
Influence from Board of Directors
One of the ways in which a board of directors can influence a strategic plan is by identifying goals and objectives. Directors help ensure that a strategic plan’s objectives align with an organization’s mission and vision (George & Sahay, 2018). This also helps to provide direction for strategy implementation, control, and evaluation. The board of directors also assists in the selection of metrics that enable monitoring of strategy implementation (Eisenstein, 2019). This helps to identify whether a strategy is performing as expected and whether there is a need for any improvements. The board of directors also helps to oversee overall strategy implementation to ensure that it follows the appropriate direction.
References
George, M., & Sahay, M. (2018). Relationship between corporate governance and board of directors in strategic planning. International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 118(1), 4503-4508.
Rasouli, A., Ketabchi Khoonsari, M., Ashja Ardalan, S., Saraee, F., & Ahmadi, F. Z. (2020). The importance of strategic planning and management in health: A systematic review. Journal of Health Management & Information Science, 7(1), 1-9.