Audubon Area Community Services, Inc.

AACS Strategic Plan, 1997-2002/2004

Since August 1996, the AACS has been engaged in a strategic thinking process, an indepth, introspective review, and "external scan" of its past successes, its present challenges, and its future opportunities -- and needed adjustments in order to maximize its potential for future success. By March 1997, a committee will be formulating a Strategic Plan for the AACS for the next five years.
Following are some of the principles which represent the results of the work to date and which will provide a foundation -- and, hopefully, a "springboard" -- to enable the creation of a dynamic plan of action which will successfully position the AACS for future service.

AACS Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee, 1996-97
Organizational Development Committee, 1997-98 | AACS Strategic Marketing Committee, 1997-98
Strategic Directions Initiative | 14-slide summary | May 1998

Strategic Directions Vision 2002 - Adobe Acrobat File

Strategic Directions Publication - Adobe Acrobat File

NOTE: If you prefer to go directly to the action plan the AACS Board
approved at its February 18, 1997 meeting, click here.

Core Ideology

A combination of Core Values and Core Purpose which describes what we stand for,
why we exist...

"It is more important to know who you are than where you are going,

for where you are going will change as the world around you changes."

Core Values - three to five guiding principles which seldom (if ever) change; our fundamental beliefs, what we stand for...

Fiscal accountability

Integrity

Pursuit of Excellence

Core Purpose - why we exist, our reason for being, a "guiding star" which motivates us, our "soul"...

To foster hope

To nurture (preserve, protect, defend) individual dignity

Five years from today we have created the agency we want. What does it look like?

Who are our stakeholders? How do we work with them? What is the impact of our work?
What is our image? What do we look like? How do people treat each other?
How do we know our future is secure? What is our role in the community?

An Envisioned Future

Buoyed by a clearly defined, widely embraced, and broadly communicated sense of purpose, Audubon Area Community Services is recognized for a variety of well-integrated services that foster and nurture growth and self-sufficiency in individuals and families. It exerts a broad and positive influence on public attitudes, and is well regarded within the regional human service community as convener, partner, and collaborative leader.

The agency's professional and volunteer leaders are bold in their pursuit of creative opportunities to involve an ever-broadening circle of diverse stakeholders. They ask often and listen carefully: how can we best serve community needs?

Decision-making processes are open, participative, and easily understood. An obvious discipline characterizes the process by which programs and services are added, modified, or eliminated. The object, to produce positive, demonstrable, measurable impact on individual lives, remains clearly in focus. It is neither compromised nor obscured by institutional process.

Highly motivated and committed employees are excited about their work. Theirs is an open, accessible, and supportive environment led by a competent, interdependent senior management team. This is a culture where everyone, inside or outside the agency, is treated with respect and dignity.

Effective human resource management is reflected in the attraction, retention, and deployment of skills and experience throughout the organization. High performance standards, communicated clearly and maintained consistently, are augmented by a strong development program which emphasizes both individual and team skills.

Senior managers are creative in their use of a variety of human and financial resources. They actively seek cross-program opportunities to extend the agency's capacity to fulfill its mission. Technology is used creatively to strengthen all aspects of the agency's operation, and a growing mix of public and private funding sources is ensuring fiscal stability.

Critical Strategic Issues

Trends, conditions, or developments which are likely to impact our ability to achieve our vision and over which we may reasonably expect to exert some influence

Thinking and managing strategically requires a sort of organizational ambidexterity: the ability to maintain simultaneously two very different perspectives, one on the current reality, the other on the envisioned future. Disciplined and focused efforts are then required to exploit opportunities and/or eliminate obstacles which affect your ability to get from here to there.

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO FRAME THE 3 TO 7 MOST CRITICAL ISSUES
IN THE FORM OF ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS.

Strategic Issue Outline
From Retreat	From Interviews
Organizational Identity Lack of shared vision and focus Size and growth vs. service? Relationship between agency & programs: which exists to serve the other?	Organizational Identity Need to clarify mission and purpose 2. Need to determine public vs. private status 3. Need to understand impact of change & growth on management structure/practices
Marketing & Communication Need more external focus (too introverted) Need to be more alert to outside forces and competitors Need to strengthen relationships with elected officials and key institutions Need to redesign communication products Need to improve community awareness Need focus on needs from consumer perspct 7. Need to strengthen collaborative opport.	Marketing & Communication Need to understand outside-in perceptions & strengthen inside-out communications Need to improve public perceptions of agency priorities and values Need to strengthen relations with political leaders
Board of Directors Need to strengthen board involvement Need board development program	Board of Directors Need strong, active board to strengthen community ownership and ensure public accountability
Internal Communication Need to improve communication dynamics: top to bottom and bottom to top Need to improve ED visibility/accessibility Need to increase senior staff role in decision making to overcome departmentalization, isolation, internal competition 4. Need to change format/purpose:sr staff mtgs	Internal communications Need more open communication to foster trust, mutual support & teamwork Need equal access to all information Need to overcome departmentalization, isolation, territorialism
Human Resource Management Need to make optimal use of internal talents Need to reassess/refine mgmnt structure Need staff development program 4. Need higher performance standards (and willingness to implement/enforce)	Human Resource Management Need less theoretical training, more focus on learning practical applications Need more focused deployment of professional resources

To go to the action plan the AACS Board approved at its February 18, 1997 meeting, click here.

Other Strategic Thinking resources...


"Phase IV" Mastering Change Initiative An organizational and management capacity-building training intitative, which incorporates both regional and state-specific elements. The Audubon Area Head Start is the agency responsible for the Kentucky-focused efforts.	Empowering Head Start's local county coordinators (A related J&J Management Fellows Management Improvement Plan ["MIP"] reference)
Cabinet for Families and Children STRATEGIC PLAN

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Last updated on June 30, 2005 ||

Audubon Area Community Services, Inc.

AACS Strategic Plan, 1997-2002/2004

Strategic Directions Vision 2002 - Adobe Acrobat File

Strategic Directions Publication - Adobe Acrobat File

NOTE: If you prefer to go directly to the action plan the AACS Board approved at its February 18, 1997 meeting, click here.

To go to the action plan the AACS Board approved at its February 18, 1997 meeting, click here.

Other Strategic Thinking resources...

"Phase IV" Mastering Change Initiative An organizational and management capacity-building training intitative, which incorporates both regional and state-specific elements. The Audubon Area Head Start is the agency responsible for the Kentucky-focused efforts.

Cabinet for Families and Children STRATEGIC PLAN

NOTE: If you prefer to go directly to the action plan the AACS Board
approved at its February 18, 1997 meeting, click here.

"Phase IV" Mastering Change Initiative
An organizational and management capacity-building training intitative, which incorporates both regional and state-specific elements. The Audubon Area Head Start is the agency responsible for the Kentucky-focused efforts.