VISION…TO PLAN…TO ACCOMPLISHMENT, THE NEXT STEP!
 
1. Decide which topics to address and make an action plan or strategies to accomplish the Vision and which topics to put on hold and for how long a period. Set a date to go back and put topics “on hold” back into the process.  OR...DECIDE to address all of the topics.
 
2.  Who: Who will be involved to do the “work” of organizing the chosen topics? A committee? A Chair to head up each topic chosen for creating action plans?
 
3. When: When will he/she, and or team start that process; set a date to get started. That team will set time lines for the action plans that they develop.
 
4. Take a closer look at each Topic: Apply SMART goals
     S  Specific and Shared
     M  Measurable
     A  Attainabale
     R  Relevant
     T  Time specific
 
There are 3-4 top Visions/goals in each topic.
Are any of those Visions that are similar within a topic such that they can be combined into one Vision?  Prioritize the Visions in a topic according to how the teams see importance and relevance for accomplishment. Start with the top priority Vision.
 
5. SPECIFIC: Rewrite a specific, clear concise measurable Vision/goal.
   Break that Vision/goal down into short term clear, concise measurable Intermediate Goals.
        Questions to ask yourselves in this process:
              “What do I want to accomplish?”
              “Why: Specific reasons or purpose of accomplishing this goal?”
 
6. MEASURABLE: How will you measure progress toward the Vision? Is the Vision and Intermediate Goal(s) written such that it can be measured? Measuring progress keeps you on track, creates excitement, and keeps you moving forward that goal.  (see Developing Smart Goals)
 
7. Establish action plans for that Vision using the same process as in the Visioning event. Brainstorm the possible ways/action plans/strategies  to achieve that goal utilizing a scribe to write them down.  Then prioritize and or eliminate the action plans deemed less efficient to achieve that goal.
ATTAINABLE short term goals and action plans rally folks to action toward achievement of the Vision.
RELEVANT goals are goals one is willing, able, and excited to work toward.
TIME LINES are established for intermediate goals and completion of Vision goal
 
8. Define a METHOD OF REPORTING (Communication): A specific, clear, concise goal, with a time line, that is shared has the greatest chance of being accepted. and accomplished, and promotes buy-in from the members.
I recommend each topic and short term goal(s), action plans/strategies, and time lines be reported back to the Board and/or Club. This keeps everyone in the “know”, and not caught by surprise, before action plans are implemented.
     Decision:
        How often does the Board/Club want up dates?
        By what means? face to face meetings with Board or Club? email? Club Bulletin?  Other?
        Who are you communicating to? Board? Club? A newspaper Rotary page? Other?
 
9. The next step is IMPLEMENTATION, once The Topic/ and Vision with short term goals, action plans/strategies
are in place and approved if necessary.
      Things to consider in setting up a Time Frame for Implementation:
             What can I do 6 months from now? six weeks from now? What can I do starting today?
 
10. Develop a means of CELEBRATING. “Thank you’s” need to be often to all involved. Accomplishment of individual actions/strategies should be celebrated. Accomplishment of short term goals need to be celebrated and communicated regularly!
 
Odds and Ends to consider:
Ask: Do we have our 2-3 sentence elevator speech about our club that is easy to remember?
Do we have a very short, 3 to 8 word, tag line/motto for our club that says who we are and what we do?
 
Problems will arise along the way. Don’t get stuck, call a meeting, look for solutions and move on.  “A pessimist see the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist see the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill
 
Look at the words or phrases in the Vision/goal and explore what those words, phrases mean to you, to your team members. You may even ask others outside your team what those words mean. This usually helps you to start to formulate the short term goals and then the strategies/action plans as well as your Club slogan and/or elevator speech.
 
Consider resending the Vision Questionnaire to see where your organization is perceived to be. This will give you an idea of your accomplishments as well. Consider doing the Visioning event again in 2-3 years.
 
Develop a mind set that allows the organization to change.
  “Change is the law of life. Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”  JFK
 
 
Jan Grack
720-684-8085