Adaptive Strategic Planning

We navigate planning.

Whether The Canoe Group is navigating strategic or business planning, staff restructuring or leadership succession, we help you understand the heart of your opportunities and challenges, to vision with passion and align the intentions of all involved.

Planning-To-Plan Discussions

…with your key leaders begins the process.  Each client situation is unique, and your planning discussions will determine or undermine your success.  We guide and inform your decision-making:

1. Who must or should be involved in planning;
2. What information/opinion research is critical;
3. How much outside input is needed and what would be valuable.  Who else wants you to succeed (and why);
4. Who are the best and brightest minds in your organization and how to empower their creativity;
5. Which individuals or groups must have input and where and when;
6. What’s the approval process, critical to define for every step of the planning process.

The Key To Effective Planning

By the time your plan is complete, your team must understand and actually feel invested in achieving the results.  This investment builds over time, beginning with how you communicate the planning timeline, roles and responsibilities, and who will be involved and when.

The Canoe Group has navigated planning for more than 80 clients – non-profits of all sizes, shapes and colors; schools and colleges; large corporations and start-up businesses;  government agencies; family foundations.  We’ve banked a wealth of experience.  Our over-flowing toolkit of planning practices and our passion for innovation allows us to help you custom-tailor your planning. All Canoe Group planning work includes these three phases:

Gather And Analyze Facts, Reveal Perceptions

We assure that you start from the facts:  We help gather documents, data, input and information.  We conduct interviews and focus groups, do web research, secure comparative data where needed.  Then we facilitate discussions that help you and your team sort fact from perception.

Our goal: You and your team are aligned about the core assumptions that will ground your vision of the future.

Move Vision Into Concrete Details

A strategic framework of mission, vision, values and strategic objectives is developed or reconfirmed.  Goals and strategies are crafted.  Our planning methods bring out practical wisdom and creativity as we support your assessment of new ideas against “what’s reasonable risk.”  High-level timelines, budgets and other documents describe the organization’s plans.

Align Allegiance To Your Plan

Along the way, The Canoe Group offers you a full array of external services:  We do research, gather opinions and collect feedback.  We can help you engage your community as you plan. And our innovative communications strategies can help you secure support for new plans from staff and board, the community, funders and key stakeholders.

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• Other Services

  Initiative development
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• Marta Mellinger facilitates a new initiative process meeting for The Ford Family Foundation of Roseburg, Oregon.