A strategy that no one understands is just an expensive PDF.
Too often, strategic plans get made in silos, packed with vague buzzwords, and dropped onto desks and online without context. But when done right, your strategic plan can be the ultimate alignment tool, one that connects vision to action and strategy to communication.
Where Plans Go Wrong:
- Created for funders, not internal champions
- Communicated only once (often in a boardroom and/or not to everyone)
- Written in language no one actually uses
How to Build Alignment Into the Process:
1. Co-create, don’t dictate: Involve staff, stakeholders, clients/members, and community voices from the beginning.
2. Translate into behaviours: Define what the strategy means for different teams day-to-day.
3. Tell the story, repeatedly: Reinforce goals through newsletters, town halls/presentations, webinars, social media, and other unique opportunities.
Strategy lives when it’s repeated, shared, and reflected in how people show up to work every day.
Let’s bring the big picture down to earth, where people can actually see themselves in it.
