In Stage 3.1, we learned it’s necessary to prepare the field with prayer and fasting prior to implementing your project. We discovered three main prayer points to consider when trying to implement a Social Project.
Today, we’ll learn, in part, how to develop an implementation strategy for your project.
Implementation Strategy
What’s a strategy? It’s an action plan you design to achieve long-term objectives. It’s all about organizing or re-organizing resources in order to achieve your defined vision and strategic objectives in a sustainable manner.
With this simple definition in mind, you must clarify three things to enable you generate an effective implementation strategy:
- Your mission statement as an entity
- Your vision / goal(s)
- Your practical approach (Involves looking inside and outside your organization)
The first deals with your identity, the second with the overall orientation of your resources and the third deals with adjusting resources in the field.
Your Mission Statement
You can’t achieve much without knowing who you are. You also can’t make effective progress without a global understanding of your current situation. All these aspects are incorporated in your mission statement.
Your Mission Statement is, therefore, a statement of your identity and actions – it’s current – present-oriented. For instance, Treff-End’s mission statement two years ago was ‘‘Inspiring & Empowering The People’’. Back then, we were focused on helping those in interior communities identify their potentials. In recent times, we’ve made progress by helping people utilize their capacities. Our new Mission Statement is ‘‘Generating Innovative Ideas’’.
To define an effective mission statement, you must recognize the values which guide you. Values are social ideals and qualities which guide your actions. E.g. honesty, commitment, faith, accountability, etc. The Following values guide Treff-End’s actions – they’re all reflected in our current mission statement:
- Authenticity
- Accountability
- Humility & Respect
- Patience & Endurance
Your Vision / Goals
You can’t plan effectively against the future without a sufficient understanding of where you’re coming from – and where you’re at the moment. Your Vision, therefore, relies on the Mission Statement and findings to set targets for the future. Vision is what you plan to achieve in the long-term. Your vision is future-oriented and may require a significant amount of time to achieve – e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20-years.
To define an effective vision, you must make use of Strategic Objectives. Your Strategic Objectives must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound). E.g. Treff-End has a yearly strategic objective to plant 2,500 Cedrela trees in Woteva Village to accomplish a vision of 12,500 trees by the end of 2022.
Contrary to the vision, strategic objectives are short-time-bound – 1 to 5-years. Visions usually require a change of strategy along the way to be accomplished. Strategic objectives are useful in ensuring an effective change of strategy without disrupting the entire goal.
Your Practical Approach
You’ve clearly defined your mission statement and vision. But wait a minute – your implementation strategy isn’t complete. There’s an important piece left to clearly defined – the practical approach strategy – how well you’ll manage your resources to accomplish your strategic objectives and vision.
To determine this practical approach strategy, two things are necessary:
- Identify all your internal and external stakeholders
- Identify all your resources
In Stage 3.3, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how you determine an effective practical approach strategy to implement your project in the field.
Don’t forget to share this info with friends and entrepreneurs in your community