STRATEGIC PLANNING: CREATING FUTURE EXCELLENCE, PART 3
BY MARK WALLACE
Part 1 was published in September 1998, Part 2 in November 1998.
For anyone besides the members of the planning team to understand what happened during the process and where the department is headed, a well-written document must be available. The strategic plan provides the roadmap for the department in its effort to create excellence and to convert the department into the department described in the organization`s vision for the future.
The planning team must decide how the plan will be formatted or organized. Some departments will have standard formatting policies; these should be used wherever possible. Then the actual sequence of the content of the plan must be formatted. It is suggested that the plan be organized as follows:
Values,
Mission, and
Philosophy of operations.
At this point, it is suggested that the plan be segmented into strategic plans to be developed for each division or bureau of the department. A separate segment of the department`s overall strategic plan will cover each functional division of the organization, such as fire suppression, EMS, fire prevention bureau, and so on. Each division would have the following plan segments documented:
Mandates,
Environmental assessments–SWOT analysis (an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats germane to a given organization),
–external,
–internal,
Strategic issues,
Strategies,
Vision statement,
Proactive futuring narrative,
Operational plan,
Goals,
Objectives, and
Action plans.
Another consideration in producing the written strategic planning document is how to actually write the text of the plan. Various members of the planning team should write different sections of the plan. This will help keep the process more timely and will ensure a more widespread ownership in the plan.
WHAT`S NEXT–STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Making and sustaining significant changes in the fire service will always be difficult. There are many examples of changing systems that end up being just fads with the department reverting back to conducting business the way it always has operated. Some reasons for these reversions are due to changes in the organization`s environment. Hazards exist that could result in the same fate for Fire Department Strategic Planning. Preventing this takes sustained implementation and commitment to strategic planning and strategic management. This commitment will be demonstrated by allocating resources to the process and implementing the resulting plans and actions.
Strategic management is a concept of continuous and repeated efforts to keep the organization matched to the challenges of its environment. The environment is in a constant state of change, requiring that the strategic planning process be repeated at least annually. Strategic management is designed to provide the department with the ability to act systematically and in a critical manner to create excellence in the future. Departments successful in this endeavor invariably achieve their success through mundane execution of the plans, operations, policies, and procedures. They monitor their progress constantly and continually readjust their actions to the environment as it shifts over time.
Strategic management links strategies to operations. Management decisions are made in accordance with and as a result of the strategic plan. This is only as effective as the degree to which the strategic plan and all of its components impact the daily operations of personnel. The department must always be in a simultaneous process of planning and implementing. Implementation revolves around the process of translating strategy to goal to objective to action to results.
Strategic management focuses on results. The mindset of the members of the department must be on achieving success and creating future excellence. Concentrating on obstacles instead of the desired results prevents the desired results from being reached in many cases. You get what you focus on. Departments must focus on their vision of the future, their mission, their goals, their objectives, and their future success. This will be a constant challenge for strategic managers. To do this, strategic managers must react to the changing internal and external environments. Strategic managers will recognize that there are a few critical success factors that will be key to the future creation of excellence within the department.
Strategic management is a concept as much as it is a process. There is no step-by-step system of strategic management. It is a constant process of applying strategies to actions to achieve the desired results. Some method for keeping the principles in the forefront of attention within the department will be helpful to integrate strategy with operations. This is the key to creating future excellence.
CYCLIC PLANNING
Creating excellence in a fire department will not simply happen because the department members are committed to that goal. Time and time again, the desired results are obtained after several years of implementing a course of action designed to reach the desired goal. After initially completing the Fire Department Strategic Planning Process, the next steps are to reassess the environment and then to refocus and revise the plan to adjust for movement in the target. Strategic planning is a cyclic process that must be repeated annually to create the ideal state described in the vision of the department`s future.
Coordinate the strategic planning cycle with the department`s budget cycle. The planning team and the budget committee should form a planning group that is responsible for creating an annual planning calendar. Time the completion of the strategic planning process to coincide with the date in the budget process when the strategic planning information is needed.
The fire service is changing. Changes are coming more and more rapidly as time goes by. The needs of the department are also changing in many ways. The strategic planning process must respond effectively to the changes in the environment within which the department must operate. Many of the latest management concepts are being applied to the fire service today. Excellent fire departments of today and the future must keep up with new concepts in leading an organization. Total quality management, customer service, and benchmarking are but a few of the concepts currently working their way through the administrations of fire departments today. The Fire Department Strategic Planning Process is yet another of the latest concepts and processes available to the leading-edge fire department. For excellence to be achieved or maintained, the fire department leaders must have a high level of knowledge, skill, and ability at implementing the concepts of management, leadership, and administration. Key to all of these concepts is the ability to deal with change. No matter what else occurs, the fire service will continue to change. Fire departments must have a process that allows them to deal with change. The Fire Department Strategic Planning Process is one option and is specifically designed to deal with the management of change in the fire service. Effective strategic planning is the key to creating future excellence.
Each fire department must decide where it wants to fit in with the fire service in relation to other departments. Deciding that your department will be at the leading edge of the fire service is a challenging option. It will require a large commitment to allow or expect innovations and creativity by the members. There will be a cost associated with such a decision. Most leading-edge departments are the leaders in one or just a few of the disciplines of the fire service. Few organizations can provide the sustained effort and necessary resources to be the benchmark organization in all aspects of the fire service. Departments should understand their distinctive competencies and go from there.
Other departments will decide to be a close second. This, too, has its difficulties. It is not always easy or possible to simply recreate the success of others within a different organization. These departments, however, take advantage of the work of others and limit their own development time and costs. Once a process, procedure, or tool is found to work effectively, these departments simply copy the benchmark and take advantage of the success of similar organizations. Other departments don`t care where they fit in. Some may even think they are on the leading edge but aren`t. If your neighboring department is such an organization, don`t fail to understand how that organization will affect yours or the citizens you protect.
To achieve excellence, the leaders of a department must keep the organization healthy and happy. This occurs through open communications, a recognition of interdependence, problem-centered work, management by objectives, effective decision making, encouragement of individual growth, dealing with differences openly, striving for new ideas, and providing an appropriate system of rewards. In addition, the list of ground rules for creating excellence should be followed constantly.
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE FUTURE
Excellent fire departments are willing to abandon old programs and methods to create new, more effective ones and organizations that meet more closely their vision for the future. They are innovative, imaginative, and creative. They take risks and achieve effective results. They turn traditional functions into moneymakers rather than budget busters. They eschew traditional alternatives that only support the status quo. They become partners with the private sector in their communities. They employ solid “business sense” applied to fire service functions. They privatize where possible. They create enterprises and revenue-generating operations. They are market-oriented. They focus on measurable results and then measure them. They reward for merit. They have a mindset of making things work and are not afraid to dream the great dream.1
The excellent departments of the future will shift to systems that integrate policy decisions with service delivery systems. Excellent departments are great down-board thinkers. They commit to a plan but keep refocusing their efforts as the target moves over time. Strategic planning is seen as a way to give routine attention to policy-relevant ideas so that the department can take action early in the planning cycle when it may have a greater impact on the way events unfold.2
The Fire Department Strategic Planning Process is a model for creating future excellence in the fire service. It simply won`t be effective without a commitment to create the ideal department you envision. It is not the answer. It is only part of the puzzle in the creation of excellence. n
Endnotes
1. Osborne, David and Ted Gaebler. Reinventing Government. New York City: Penguin Books, 1993, 18.
2. Bryson, John M. Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1988, 248.
Ground Rules for Creating Excellence
It is better to overinform than to underinform.
Be constructive with comments whenever talking about a team member who is not present.
It is OK and necessary to vent your frustration, but this is best done away from the immediate workplace.
Cooperate with each other, participate with each other, and communicate with each other.
Respect the time resources of each member of the organization.
The best efforts will occur after receiving and hearing input from all key stakeholders regarding an issue or a decision.
It is OK to argue, debate, and disagree, including the display of strong emotions, but never use a personal attack as part of that process.
Cooperate with all decisions as a team, even if you have a dissenting view.
As a rule, there can be no work-related secrets except those involving personnel matters.
Be mindful of who is around and the noise level being created.
All department members must do their fair share and are expected to do each job to the best of their ability.
Strive to have fun. Humor is expected. Keep it appropriate and evenly distributed.
Quality performance is sincerely recognized, communicated, and celebrated by all team members. n
n MARK WALLACE is chief of the Golden (CO) Fire Department and the sole proprietor of Fire Eagle Limited, which provides consulting, teaching, photography, and fire investigative services. He is a member of the adjunct faculty of the National Fire Academy (NFA) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He formerly was employed by the City of Sheridan, Colorado, as fire chief and chief building official and served as public safety director during a period when the city lost 30 percent of its annual revenue when a major business unexpectedly closed its doors. He is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy and has an associate`s degree in fire science technology, a bachelor`s degree in business administration, and a master`s degree in public administration. He served as president of the Denver Metro Fire Chiefs Association and the Colorado State Fire Chiefs Association. He is the author of the book Fire Department Strategic Planning: Creating Future Excellence (Fire Engineering, 1998).
