TALSAA Strategic Plan

Strategic Planning Workshop Report

Treaty and Aboriginal Land Stewards Assoc. of Alberta

Planning Methodology

The Lighthouse Framework

Strategic Levels (first four tiers)

Determined in strategic planning workshop:

GUIDING LIGHT Who you are and/or want to be in 7 words or less

VALUES How you believe you should conduct yourselves

FOCUS AREAS Your strategic focuses for the next 12 months or more

BAROMETERS Your measurements for Focus Area success

Planning Methodology

The Lighthouse Framework

Tactical Levels (last two tiers)

Determined by staff in discussion with board:

PROJECTS Tactical initiatives to achieve Barometers

Determined by individuals and small teams:

TASKS Daily activities that result in Project outcomes

Strategic Planning Outcomes

Treaty and Aboriginal Land Stewards Assoc. of Alberta

Guiding Light

Land management training and networking for thriving First Nations communities

Values

Advance our mission through membership Growth

Create and maintain Trust through open communication Build Capacity of lands departments

Commit to achieving our Goals Meet Communities ‘where they are’

Focus Areas

Grow our membership Increase positive awareness of our work

Barometers

Increase membership by 3-4 Increase outreach activities by 20% Increase meeting attendance by 30%

Increase presentation invitations by 20% Increase joint training initiatives by 2-3

Increase size of email list by 20%

5-6 positive feedback from members

Promote practices for Sustainable lands AND economies

Sustainably expand our services

Increase number of services to 2-3 Add 1-2 more funding sources for a total of $5000-10,000 and Increase staff by 2

Guiding Light

Though it was a small group some great ideas were put forth as we worked through the Service, Recipients, and Outcome that make up your Guiding Light.

We provided guidance that the Guiding Light should be able to pass through the filter set of T.R.I.M.:

• True - it must be an accurate statement

• Repeatable - easy to remember

• Instructive - indicates how you get things done

• Motivational - inspires you towards something great

The language that emerged was:

• For Service - “Training and networking”

• For Recipients - “AB First Nations land managers”

• For Outcome - “Thriving and sustainable First Nations lands and economies.”

There was some discussion about whether sustainable also meant thriving and vice-versa.

RECOMMENDATION:

“Land management training and networking for thriving First Nations communities”

It is True to what you do and why. Though 10 words not 7, it is concise and clear enough to be easily Repeatable.

It is Instructive by focusing on what you do, who you you do it for, and to what end.

And it is Motivational, especially in the use of the word “thriving”, which holds more emotion than the often overused and misinterpreted “sustainable”.

Values

In introducing Values, we emphasized that long lists of generic words do nothing to guide the behaviour of an organization. We also discussed that when you move beyond approximately 5 you diminish the overall usefulness of your Values.

Anyone in the organization should be able to easily hold the top three levels of your Lighthouse (Guiding Light, Values, and Focus Areas) in their heads. This is the only way that they consistently influence how decisions are made.

Values should be able to pass through the filter set of M.A.D.: Meaningful, Authentic, Distinctive.

Some Values and examples of how they are demonstrated were:

• Advancement of our lands association

• Helping other FNs understand the value of being a TALSAA member

• Communicating openly to members and funders

• Quarterly reporting, newsletter, website, event calendar

• Building the capacity of lands departments

• How open and supportive members are of each other - sharing information

• Goal-oriented

• How do we reach our goals?

• Supporting thriving Indigenous communities

• Meet people where they are - tell us what you need and we will do our best to support you

Values (cont.)

RECOMMENDATIONS:

“Advance our mission through membership Growth”

A frequent point of conversation was that the main way you achieve TALSAA’s purpose is by getting more First Nations to join and by supporting your members growth in turn.

“Create and maintain Trust through open communication”

You have emphasized that Trust is understandably a key challenge for many First Nations. Though you already do so with other TALSAA stakeholders, consistently demonstrating this value with First Nations will gradually earn their Trust.

“Build Capacity of lands departments”

This commitment comes back to the core of your work.

"Commit to achieving our Goals”

Setting clear goals and creating the plans to achieve them. This process began with your strategic plan.

“Meet Communities ‘where they are’”

What a beautiful way to express your Value of having First Nations tell you what they need and you doing your best to support them.

BONUS VALUE!

“Promote practices for Sustainable lands AND economies”

Though I realize this extends to 6 Values (we can break rules we we HAVE to), this Value felt extremely important to include as I heard it come up frequently in conversation but it did not make it into the final list.

Focus Areas

We turned our attention to Focus Areas for the morning of Day 2. Focus Areas are challenging as this is the level where you choose strategic imperatives. In addition, there are ideally only 3 as more than that dilutes focus. They are meant to pass the filter set of J.A.B.S.:

• Jargon-free - straightforward language

• Aligned - in step with your Guiding Light and Values

• Brief - no more than 7 words

• Strategic - bigger picture i.e., not a tactic or Project

The discussion was productive and the group came back with:

1. Grow our membership

2. Increase positive awareness of our work

3. Sustainably expand our services

“Grow our membership”

This is where you would see specific Projects that focus on having more First Nations join.

“Increase positive awareness of our work”

The addition of the word positive matters here as TALSAA is working against the perception some First Nations have of your partners.

“Sustainably expand our services”

You want to offer more, but at a pace that is responsible. Additional projects will require the diversification of funding sources and more staff.

Barometers

In introducing Barometers, we emphasized the need for quantitative metrics that clearly demonstrate Focus Area advancement. These metrics are not open to subjective interpretation - they undeniably demonstrate progress or the lack there of.

Though placed underneath specific Focus Areas in your Lighthouse, Barometers sometimes progress several areas simultaneously. During the planning process numbers are identified as X, $X, or X% as further due diligence is required before committing to specifics. Barometers should be able to pass through the filter set of M.U.S.E.:

• Measurable - include an actual number, dollar amount, or percentage

• Understandable - easily understood by anyone participating in their achievement

• Supportable - clearly connect to Focus Area progress

• Executable - balance ambition and achievability

The time-bound assumption is that you are committing to achieving these Barometers by the time you gather for your strategic plan review one year from now.

When discussed quarterly, Barometers act as early indicators you may be facing challenges and need to adjust your One Page Plan. If you achieve a particular metric, the number, dollar amount, or percentage can be increased, focus and resources can be moved to other Barometers that are still in progress, or you can replace the metric with another.

Barometers (cont.)

Under “Grow Our Membership”

Increase membership by 3-4 Annually

Increase outreach activities by 20%

-getting more First Nations to join is central to your mission

-identify what are presently classified as outreach activities, how many you do, whether there are any activities to be added, and then commit to an overall % increase

Increase meeting attendance by 30%

Under “Increase Positive Awareness of Our Work”

Increase presentation invitations by 2-3%

Increase joint training initiatives by 2-3%

Increase size of email list by 20%

5-6 positive feedback from members

Under “Sustainably expand our services”

Increase number of services to 2-3

Add 2 more funding sources for a total of $10,000

-happy and engaged members will spread the word to potential members

-directly sharing your message with more First Nations is imperative for trust-building

-leaning on the networks of your training partners to expand your audience

-a more accurate and controllable metric than social media likes or website visits

-send out survey ASAP to find out how you’re doing and then aim to improve by year-end

-this represents the “master metric” the two Barometers below are meant to help you achieve

-diversifying funding is key to TALSAA's expansion

Increase staff by 2

-you need more human resources to increase your offerings

Potential Projects

In discussions, several potential Focus Areas or Barometers were surfaced that would more accurately be Projects.

We include them here so that they are not lost.

Utilizing/promoting NALMA library/resources

Have proxies in place for board members

Technical expert on staff

Promotion tours

Create engaging communications plan

Create and maintain list of AB FN lands professionals

Include FN environment departments

Collect success stories

Tactical Planning

To implement any plan, your strategic decisions must be driven down through the Projects and Tasks levels.

If strategic alignment isn’t appearing in the daily activities of your organization, your plan isn’t being implemented.

From here, you should discuss what Projects (read: Tactics) TALSAA can undertake that will result in the success of applicable Barometers.

These Projects should be S.M.A.R.T. - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

When all Projects have been approved, this will create the opportunity for TALSAA to have a version of the Lighthouse Framework that includes the Projects level.

TALSAA staff can then ensure their Tasks align with an appropriate Project.

In this way, you have created alignment throughout your organization from day-to-day activities (Tasks) all the way up to your larger picture vision of what you are trying to accomplish (Guiding Light).

Implement & Iterate

The concept of a “Forever Plan”.

A strategic organization treats their plan as a living document that evolves in response to internal and external factors.

As you move to action, things will change. Ignoring these changes and the learning they bring by “sticking to the plan” despite evidence to the contrary is the opposite of being strategic.

Here is a process to help:

Monthly

Align monthly meeting agendas with your One Page Plan to discuss Projects and how they are or are not moving the needle on Barometers. Projects that aren’t working or are complete can be dropped or replaced with other promising candidates.

Quarterly

Every three months lift yourselves above the Tactical levels to discuss Focus Areas. Are they still true? Are they still leading us in the direction we want to go? Do we need to shift resources to a Focus Area that is struggling from one that is doing well?

Move to your Barometers. Have we achieved certain metrics already? Were any too ambitious or not ambitious enough? Do any need to be eliminated or swapped out for something new?

Annually

For most organizations their Guiding Light, Values, and even Focus Areas will stay the same for several years.

But you should never take that for granted.

Revisit all levels of your Lighthouse each year and ask if they are still relevant.

Be open to change without forcing it. Patience is also an aspect of strategy - big goals can take time to achieve.