How is Strategic Planning different from short-range or long-range planning? How is it different from simply visioning or developing a mission statement? Why should I take the time to create a Strategic Plan for my daycare? How can a daycare (or a corporation with several daycares) constructively use Strategic Planning?

These questions are all answered through a Strategic Planning Workshop offered by KidCentric. The workshop is specifically tailored to daycare and how strategic planning directly effects organizational function. Most daycare providers are so busy taking care of children there is no time for planning (other than lesson planning!). This is an industry-wide mistake and daycares show the lack of planning in their budgets, staffing plans, organizational growth, management structures, and quality of care.

Strategic planning is a process-through which a product (the plan) is created. The strategic plan is of no use to anyone if it is placed on a shelf in the owner or director's office and never referred to again. One of the best methods for an daycare and its principal decision-makers to step back and see the forest in spite of the trees, is strategic planning.

A sample agenda for a workshop would look something like this-although all workshops are tailored to the specific organization doing the planning.

I. Introduction of participants

II. Why plan?

III. Getting organized for planning

IV. Assessing the Environment

V. Walk through planning process

a. Vision

b. Mission

c. SWOT analysis

d. Selection of "Critical Issues"

e. Development of goals, objectives and strategies

VI. Completing and writing the plan and budget

VII. Implementation and evaluation of the plan

VIII. Wrap-up

This process can take up to 2-3 days; for smaller daycares it can be done in 1 day. Daycares that create a 3-5 year Strategic Plan, implement the plan, evaluate the progress of the plan, and make modifications as needed will be far superior in quality and organizational effectiveness.