Strategic Planning starts with evaluating what worked and how to overcome challenges.
As 2018 comes to a close, it is time to reflect and evaluate the successes and the challenges you faced and set a course for the new year. Whether you had a banner year or experienced setbacks, it’s imperative to take the necessary time and effort to keep your tribal economy moving forward.
Your business portfolio, for example, may have exceeded all earnings expectations―which is great news! But now you have decisions to make in regards to how to put those earnings to their best and highest use for the community. Should you invest in new businesses? Build more housing? Establish a scholarship fund for your community’s students? Invest in road and infrastructure? Develop a charitable giving foundation?
These are the questions that confront all Tribal communities, says Blue Stone founder and CEO Jamie Fullmer.
“As a former tribal leader, I know that most Tribal communities, no matter how successful they are, still have vast, unmet needs and it’s tempting to want everything right now,” says Fullmer. “But when your businesses are doing well, that’s the time to think about how to re-invest your earnings in a way that will continue to stabilize and build your community for generations to come.”
But what if your businesses didn’t perform as well as you hoped?
“Even with the best of intentions, things may not go the way that the tribal council or business board anticipated. But that doesn’t mean that the Tribe’s businesses and leadership team can’t turn things around,” says Fullmer. “Sometimes, you just need to take a deep breath and take a step back, reevaluate where you are and take strategic action steps to get back on track or even start again with a clear vision.”
Blue Stone’s Two-Day Strategic Planning Sessions can help you achieve clarity and align your priorities with realistic goals and measurable outcomes. Key to this approach is a clear, well-written Strategic Plan with well-defined roles and responsibilities; comprehensive economic development priority planning; the development of performance expectations; and consensus building on the Tribe’s sovereign priorities and vision.
Led by experienced team leaders, Blue Stone’s Strategic Planning Sessions allow tribal leadership to come together through objective, facilitated discussions and exercises, where participants work together to develop top priorities for the Tribe.
Our team provides the support, expertise and tools necessary to navigate all steps of this process. Our planning sessions include identifying goals and performance objectives, developing metrics and timelines for getting and staying on track, and more!
“In our experience over the last 11 years, the two-day planning work sessions have been extremely valuable to our Tribal clients,” says Blue Stone president John Mooers. “It is a cost-efficient and highly productive process in which planning and mapping for the future is gaining traction with Tribal Leaders on key priorities across the country. It’s a process which pays dividends on many levels.”
“Creating a strategic vision is fundamental to the planning process in order to identify core values, goals, objectives and strategies that align with the vision for the future of the Tribe,” says Fullmer. “It provides direction for the Tribe as well as tribal employees and citizens by allowing them to see a bigger picture and know what the tribe is working towards. Strategic visioning is crucial when goals and objectives may change, whether for reasons of unforeseen economic opportunities or threats.”
Call us today at 949-476-8828 to schedule a Blue Stone Work Session!