This is Part 1 of an ongoing series on strategic planning.
wHAT cHALLENGES dO aRTS oRGANIZATIONS fACE?
In our discussions with myriad institutions, we’re often asked the high-level question, “What are the greatest challenges facing arts organizations today?”
Of course, the first things that come to mind are those universal challenges faced by all arts organizations — financial solubility and sustainability, DEI, and the perception of dwindling audiences and cultural relevance. However, without context, the process of defining these challenges is rather meaningless.
Any attempt to define organizational challenges must be examined within the context of an organization’s goals, which should be clearly defined in a well articulated strategic plan. Only with a strategic plan born of an understanding of organizational objectives, goals, and tactics to achieve those goals can organizational challenges be defined and conquered.
uSING sTRATEGIC tOOLS
The use of strategic processes such as OGSM (objectives, goals, strategy, measures) and SWOT analyses (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) helps to address challenges with a strategic plan. For example, rather than identifying “relevance” as a challenge, such broad concern could be framed as
- Our objective is to present the finest arts programming in the region (objective)
- The goal is to be able to create programming relevant to the community (goal)
- Relevance will be determined through marketing data analysis (strategy)
- The measure is for earned income to comprise 50% of the budget (measure)
Within this strategic framework, strategic planning should also guide operational planning, which is of course the operational management or executional aspect of strategy within OGSM.
So, perhaps the greatest “challenge” facing an organization is not the challenge itself but rather the need to create an effective strategy and then referring to it when problems arise.
Does your organization need guidance in the strategic planning process? That’s why we’re here!
