Strategic planning, at its core, is leadership’s expression of the future. Whether it be a private or public organization, the world in which all organizations operate continues to rapidly change and grow more complicated as witnessed by the changing dynamics of our region, our state, the nation, and the globe.

To update the Village’s Strategic Plan, NIU-CGS will facilitate a collaborative and participative process that enables the Village President, Board of Trustees, staff and community stakeholders to gain insights, share perspectives, and undertake an exploration of organizational and community dynamics generating a consensus view of the Village’s future. The result of the process will be a thorough discussion of the Village’s vision for the future, high priority goals, objectives, and organizational arrangements for both the short and long term.

The strategic planning activities include:

• Strategic Planning Readiness - Meeting with project staff designated by the village to launch process, reviewing previous planning documents
• Environmental Scanning, Listening to Stakeholders - Leadership interviews, staff working sessions, and stakeholder focus groups/input
• Strategic Planning Leadership Workshop(s) with the Village President, Board of Trustees, and senior staff (e.g., department heads) - stakeholder feedback presented, visioning, SWOC analysis, goal development.
• Online Goal Prioritization Exercise with workshop participants
• Action Planning Launch with the project staff designated by the Village
• Final report and executive summary produced in conjunction with the Comprehensive plan

Taken as a whole, the strategic planning process that is envisioned and described here can be represented in a model of the various steps and elements in a cycle of input, environmental scanning, goal setting, prioritization, action planning, and re-examination of the village’s progress (see below).