Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Process Overview

Five Steps to Strategic Planning

Strategic planning involves the following five steps:

Here is a brief description of each of the five steps. We will explore each of the steps in more detail further in the module.

Step 1: Assessment

During the assessment phase, you are going to gather together all the information you need in order to think through the important issues and come to informed decisions for the future. In the next section, we'll provide more information about the data you need to gather. Step 1 will take the most time and demand the greatest effort. Being aware of that right from the start, however, should keep you from feeling overwhelmed as you look at the scope of information-gathering that is required. Be assured that once the assessment process is complete, all the other tasks will be easier. Altogether, the remaining steps will take less than half the time spent on assessment.

In short, what you want to accomplish through Step 1 is a complete description on paper of:

• Who you are and what you are about
• The strengths and weaknesses of your agency's internal environment
• The opportunities and threats you face, given your agency's external environment

Once the information-gathering phase is complete, you are ready to begin the very interesting work of determining what all the assessment data means for your agency. This is the task of Step 2, Evaluation.

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