By Lynn Berling-Manuel
Strategic Plan is a fancy name for a very practical tool. It's a road map to the destination your soccer club, league, state association or other organization wants to get to. Plus the "roads" you select to get there. Here are some quick tips to get started:
1. Do it today. If you don't have a strategic plan in place, then it should be at the top of your soccer organization's to-do list. And if you do have one, but it isn't a living tool that your coaches, administrators, parents and players keep front-of-mind, then it's time to do it again.
2. Every club needs a mission. Why does your soccer club exist? To be the largest? The most competitive? The most fun? The most profitable? The winningest? The club whose players get the most college scholarships? Or sends the most players to the pros? Some combination? If you were successful, what would it look like? Whatever you decide is your mission should impact every other decision you make. Even if your club has been around for decades, it should revisit its mission at least every five years. Your reason to exist can change over time. Mission statements include a few more important elements, but why you exist is No. 1.
3. Choose aspirational goals. A realistic number of aspirational goals are what will move you toward your mission. If part of your 2012 mission is to be "the largest soccer club in the state" then goals may include: "develop divisions at U-10 to U-19 levels" or "explore mergers with other small clubs." Your goals need to be the large steps toward fulfilling your mission. You'll also select the strategies to achieve those goals.
4. Write it down. A plan that isn't in writing is just wishful thinking. Keep it clear and simple. Bigger isn't better. Your mission and your goals must be there. Other pieces include strategies to achieve the goals, resource requirements and accountabilities.
5. Every goal needs a leader. Each goal should have a board, staff or other key person in charge of it. If you can't find someone to take charge, it's probably a goal best left to the future. A goal without someone specifically in charge of it will rarely get accomplished.
Do you have questions on how your team, club, league or association can better plan for its future? Send them to Lynn@socceramerica.com. Her answers will appear in future editions of Grassroots Soccer Biz.
Lynn Berling-Manuel is CEO & Publisher of Soccer America Communications LLC. Short Passes, her monthly column, has appeared in Soccer America Magazine for over 20 years. She is on the board of directors of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She is also president of the West Berkeley Foundation, a community foundation in Berkeley, Calif. She has advised organizations on their strategic and marketing planning for over 30 years.