Institute for Organization Management - A Program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

  • About
    • General Information
      • Institute Policies and Procedures
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
    • Recruitment Toolkit
    • Prospective Student Toolkit
    • Media
    • Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions
    • Contact Us
  • Curriculum
    • Core Curriculum
    • Elective Curriculum
    • Webinars & Resource Center
  • Sites & Dates
    • Winter Institute
    • Midwest Institute
    • Southeast Institute
    • Northeast Institute
    • 2023 Institute Schedule
  • Registration
    • Registration
    • Deadlines and Fees
    • Scholarships
      • Enrollment Incentives
      • State Partner Scholarship
    • How To Institute
  • Who’s Who
    • Staff
    • Volunteers
    • Faculty
    • Sponsors
    • Alumni
      • IOM Alumni Database
  • Blog
A PROGRAM OF THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION
 

IOM Blog

March 23, 2017

Through the Looking Glass – Are You Measuring Your Strategic Plan Through the Right Lens?

I once heard someone say, “Your organization is only as strong as its strategic plan.” Looking into the future with purpose, priorities, and resources to get the job done is essential to all associations and chambers. A cohesive plan helps employees and stakeholders stay on common ground.

However, if you’re only looking at the plan through one lens, it may not give you the best picture. Look through three different lenses when creating and measuring your organization’s strategic plan. These three lenses will ensure you successfully articulate where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but most importantly, how to know if you’re successful. Identify your internal, external, and member lenses to set your organization up for success.

Internal: Looking through the internal lens is a great place to start, even before you bring your Board or members together to begin outlining a new plan. Collect outcome data from previous plans and analyze internal operational metrics and your financials for at least the past five years. Most importantly, interview your staff and executive committee. Go beyond the data or a survey tool and ask them about their experience or what may be missing.

External: The external lens will allow you to compare yourself to your peers. Benchmark yourself against a large number of chambers or associations. Identify 10-12 “best-in-class” organizations to conduct a deep-dive into their operations. But don’t stop there. Think about your community and collect data from peer cities, not just the chamber or association located there. Look at the socio-economic landscape of several peer cities compared to your own to help identify what is needed to increase prosperity and what role your organization could play to impact it.

Member: The member lens may be the most important for any member-based organization. When I think of member feedback, the first place my head typically goes is to a survey. Surveys are very important to help gather large amounts of feedback quickly. Go even deeper and identify at least 35-50 companies you can meet with to do an in-depth interview. These companies can primarily be members, but remember to identify 5-10 former or potential members to interview as well. This step is crucial. You cannot rely solely on the verbal feedback of your Board because they are the most engaged members you have.

The information you gather by looking through the internal, external, and member lenses will help you identify what your community needs, what your members prefer, and the capabilities your organization has to get the job done. Once you have those in focus, your strategic plan will come together as a clear, cohesive picture.

Avatar photo
Kelle Marsalis, IOM, CCE
President and CEO
Plano Chamber

Kelle serves as the President and CEO of the Plano Chamber. In this role she is responsible for the Board of Directors, public policy, the strategic plan, talent development, operations, fund development, and the Plano Culture & Inclusion Alliance.

Prior to this role, Kelle served as the Vice President and the Plano Chamber, and before that, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the Dallas Regional Chamber for nine years. In her role at the DRC, Kelle was responsible for managing relationships with the Board of Directors, organizational strategy for governance, strategic planning; as well as membership retention strategies and small business programming.

Kelle received her Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) designation in 2016. She is a 2010 graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management and currently serves on the National Board of Trustees and Curriculum Committee, after serving as Chair of the West Board of Regents in 2017. Kelle also serves as a member of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Board of Directors, and formerly held leadership positions as Vice-Chair (membership) and was an Executive Committee member for ACCE. In 2007, Kelle, while serving as Vice President, led the Stillwater (OK) Chamber of Commerce to be named Chamber of the Year by ACCE.

Kelle has worked in membership, talent and economic development roles for more than 15 years, including the Dallas (TX) Regional Chamber, Rockford (IL) Chamber of Commerce and the Stillwater (OK) Chamber of Commerce. Kelle and her husband, Van, reside in Plano, TX. They have a daughter, Tilly, and both are graduates of Oklahoma State University.

Comments

  1. Barry Copeland says

    March 31, 2017 at 11:26 am

    Outstanding analysis Kelle. I had the same job in Birmingham for a number of years. You are particularly on target regarding in-person interviews as a key component to developing an effective strategic plan. I also chaired SE Institute, so we have those things in common. Hope you don’t mind if I give you a call one of these days.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
DONATE NOW!
UPDATE CONTACT INFO
Sign-up for Emails
Consultations
Approved Provider

About

  • General Information
  • Contact Us
  • Curriculum
  • Prospective Student Toolkit

Sites & Dates

  • Winter Institute
  • Midwest Institute
  • Southeast Institute
  • Northeast Institute

Resources

  • Scholarships
  • Faculty
  • Sponsors
  • Update Contact Info
  • Volunteers

Follow IOM

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
IOM Blog

Institute for Organization Management - A program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce © 2023 | Privacy Policy