Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” This “warning” also applies to associations.
“The reason associations must plan is clear: if an association doesn’t agree on what it wants to do, it will be hard to achieve desired outcomes,” said John Peacock, general manager of Associations Forum Australia, in his Associations magazine. “A documented annual plan needs to be initially developed at a face-to-face Planning Day attended by the board and CEO [executive director or secretary-general in our context], and then acted upon by the association management,” John wrote. He suggests 10 steps for a successful Association Planning Day:
1) Commit to holding and selling the concept of an annual Planning Day. This is apart from the Annual General Meeting, which will tackle the resulting plans.
2) Schedule the Planning Day months in advance to ensure full attendance of the board and CEO.
3) Engage an association-aware independent facilitator who understands association nuances, can add inputs on what other associations are doing, and can keep the group focused and on track to get results within the allocated time.
4) Let the facilitator draft the agenda for the Planning Day. While feedback from the association is needed, a facilitator has his/her own style and methodology in conducting the planning exercise.
5) Have an annual plan, including long-term targets rather than a time-limited plan. While long-term planning is important, the “master plan” needs attention each year to keep focus. A three-year plan, for example, runs the risk of a less focused attention for the latter two years of that plan.
6) Work on the plan together as a united group. The Planning Day is not an occasion to break into small working groups. It is a shared day where everyone should hear what everyone
else has to say.
7) Write one plan, with the option of having “subplans” for various activities. Preferably avoid having a “strategic plan” and then a separate “operations or business plan”. The need is to have one comprehensive plan highlighting a few activities that are considered priorities. Many activities will need a further sub-plan, such as the people responsible for the tasks, timing and measurable key performance indicators.
8) Make plans clear, logical, connected and straightforward. The Planning Day is meant for clarity and brevity, not complexity for the envisioned plans.
9) To a varying degree, share the plan with staff, committees and members. A plan needs to be written down and shared among the people tasked with the activities, as well as external stakeholders who would be impressed that the association is organized and focused on achieving results.
10) Use the plan as basis for the board’s monitoring and for staff operations.
Having a current and straightforward plan is crucial for associations to get things done. It also motivates, brings about confidence and a positive vibe for everyone in the association who may say, “Aha, now I exactly know where the association is going!”
This article was published by the Business Mirror on June 1, 2017 and may not be reproduced without prior consent from the author and Business Mirror.
The writer, Octavio ‘Bobby’ Peralta, is concurrently the secretary general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), CEO & Founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) and Pro Tem Head of Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Association Organizations (APFAO). The purpose of PCAAE — the “association of associations” — is to advance the association management profession and to make associations well-governed and sustainable. PCAAE enjoys the support of ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), and the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Email the author at: obp@adfiap.org for more details on PCAAE and on association governance and management.
Association Man 