Village of Cimarron Strategic Plan

Phase 2: Implementation Leaders commit to learning and move the community through the stages of change, creating conditions that value learning as both an individual and a community. Leading in a culture of change means creating a culture (not just a structure) of change. It does not mean adopting innovations, one after another; it does mean producing the capacity to seek, critically assess, and selectively incorporate new ideas and practices‐‐all the time, inside and outside the Organization (Fullan, 2001).

No strategic plan is complete just because it gets written. The hard work of implementation comes next. Implementation may be the most difficult but most important phase in the community development process.

It is in this phase that the planned for resources can be lost, partnerships can become either close or distant, projects are started and then managed, and results become visible. Experience show that successful communities to the following: • Start with a smaller project that has a high chance of success, • Manage their resources wisely and get the most value for every dollar, • Act responsibly so their supporters have confidence in the community’s ability to deliver the promised results, • Keep citizens informed and constantly involved, • Set benchmarks to measure how well they are doing, • Evaluate progress regularly and publicly, • Change their plans when conditions change or new opportunities arise, always keeping in sight the long‐term vision, • Use every opportunity to learn from experience, and • Celebrate successes publicly (USDA Rural Development, Office of Community Development, 1998).

To ensure continued success of the implementation of the strategic plan, the steering committee established a monthly communication timeline for reporting to the Village Council and the Chamber of Office.

Steering committee members volunteered to be a support contact for each goal team.

In this new role, steering committee members are charged with the dual responsibility of supporting teams and gently pressuring them to continue to move forward and complete their goals. Steering committee members contact the team lead monthly, brainstorm challenges, offer support and encouragement, and remind them to fill out and turn in the monthly progress report (see table 6) which are turned into Mayor Pavletich. These forms are then reported out on at the Village Council meetings and Chamber meetings.

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