Always plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark. - Richard Cushing
Like each of us as individuals, organizations often have big dreams and visions about goals they want to accomplish. In order to experience these dreams as reality, it is necessary to identify a plan on how we can make these dreams reality. For the most part, dreams do not just happen. We, as individuals, make plans for vacation, retirement, a family, and/or the future. Organizations are no different. Where does the American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses (ASPSN) want to be in 5 years? Ten years? Why does the ASPSN have a strategic plan? What is it anyway? How is it developed and implemented? Ultimately, we want these dreams to come true so we have to plan for the future. It is the responsibility of the Board to develop a plan for the future.
In response to a dynamic and changing environment and to plan for the future, the Board of the American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses concluded there was a need to prudently examine and update our strategic plan. We met with a professional strategic planner that enlightened the board members of the fundamentals of a successful strategic plan. So, we embarked on a journey and were determined to perform a "facelift" on our current strategic plan.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Jon Argenti says a strategic plan is a list of actions arranged in whatever sequence is thought to likely achieve an objective (Cothran & Clouser, 2009). Bryson (1995) defines strategic planning as a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it. Simply saying, strategic planning is a process to determine what your organization intends to do and how it intends to do it. Like a roadmap or, in today's times, the global positioning system (GPS) is that one would use to reach a vacation destination.
In preparation of our formal strategic planning session, each board member was asked to complete a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a useful technique for identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats pertinent to the ASPSN. Strengths are identified as advantages, resources, and performance. Weaknesses focused on what we wanted to improve and grow and what we felt was lacking to our membership. Opportunities carefully examined today's environment such as social media, social patterns, and technologies that the ASPSN could capitalize on to grow and enhance the stability of our organization. Last, but not least, were the threats including a changing culture in plastic surgery, developing technologies, declining membership, and financial challenges. Once the SWOT findings were analyzed, we were ready to proceed with the strategic planning session. It was also determined that the board members had similar findings from the SWOT analysis. Strategic planning is accomplished through a formal process that focuses on the fundamentals of an organization, the mission, the vision, and the core values.
CORE VALUES
Values are underlying principles that direct the way an organization acts. Values may be identified by observing those who formally are associated with an organization such as board members, staff, and volunteers act in conducting the organization's business. Values form the basis of ethical standards of an organization and also determine the way the ASPSN acts toward its members, sponsors, staff, and those that we do business with.
ASPSN values have always existed but were not written. The process of formally identifying them and writing them down was lacking. Identifying values is essential to the strategic planning process because these values will guide the decision-making process in carrying out the plan. As nursing leaders and members of the American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses, we are committed to promoting the following values:
Nurture: We believe in advancing professional development.
Unite: We believe in unity and teamwork.
Respect: We believe respect is the cornerstone of our profession.
Support: We believe in mentoring and encouragement.
Educate: We believe in lifelong learning.
OUR VISION
A vision is the dream, and it communicates how an organization will look when it achieves success in accomplishing its mission. A vision statement guides the organization as it implements the strategic plan. In essence, the vision statement should describe the direction and purpose of the organization and presents a picture of the future. A vision is unique to an organization and is not usually accomplished overnight. It is imperative to include the values and mission statement in the vision. The Board developed the new vision statement during the strategic planning session with the guidance of the professional strategic planner. It was recommended by the professional planner that our vision statement should be direct, short, and easy to communicate. ASPSN's new vision statement emerged: The definitive voice for the Plastic Surgical Nurse. It was believed this was all encompassing to our values, vision, and mission.
OUR MISSION
An organization's mission statement describes what an organization is going to do and why it is going to do it. It describes an organization in terms of its purpose and values and should be a summary of the what, how, and why of the work of the strategic plan. A mission should be developed on the basis of an understanding of the mandates of an organization: Why does the organization exist? What is it that our members expect? We learned that our mission statement should be concise, outcome-oriented, and able to be verbalized going from the third to fifth floors in an elevator. A mission statement should focus on the needs of the organization. Our mission should communicate the significance and meaning of the ASPSN. ASPSN's new mission statement "promoting the competency and education of the Plastic Surgical Nurse" clearly supports the purpose of our organization and has captured the true essence of the existence of the ASPSN. It clearly directs our strategic plan and our future.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
A mission describes what an organization does. A vision describes what the organization aspires to be. A goal describes what the organization must do in order to carry out the mission to achieve the vision. After we developed our core values and mission and vision statements, the next step was to develop goals and objectives that allowed us to focus on achieving our mission. After a brainstorming session, setting clear achievable goals was accomplished.
Objectives are measureable and result from the goals, which are broader in focus. Objectives usually lay how what will be done, by whom and by when. The following objectives were developed during the planning session:
Education: Enhance member value and increase opportunities to advance our nursing practice
Member engagement: Create and promote awareness of opportunities for member participation
Financial stability: Increase and maintain reserves by broadening our revenue sources
Collaboration: Build, identify, and strengthen relationships with all stakeholders.
After developing the above goals, initiatives were established. These initiatives are measureable and obtainable and must be obtainable to have a successful strategic plan.
IMPLEMENT THE PLAN
There was much energy and rejuvenation for our organization that went into the process of developing our new values, mission and vision statements, and the strategic plan. ASPSN's new and condensed strategic plan is posted on our website. I encourage you to read it, familiar yourself with it, know the intent, and hold leadership accountable. The purpose was to provide organizational vision, direction into the future, and accountability. It will take time to implement the plan, and ongoing evaluation will be mandatory. In so doing, we hope it will create new energy, new ideas, and even more teamwork. Everyone can be a team member.
Respectfully,
Marcia Spear, DNP, ACNP-BC, CWS, CPSN
President, ASPSN
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