One of the most important questions any organisation needs to ask itself is where they see themselves in 10 years’ time. That vision is the starting point from which a strategic plan is developed and outlines the goals that need to be achieved in order to get to where they want to be.

Many clubs will already have in their minds the approach they are taking and the direction they are travelling, but it is important that this is well documented in a forward-looking plan.

Changes in personnel are inevitable whether they be in a club's elected leaders or in key operational roles. Having a plan offers continuity to the business regardless of who is responsible for delivering the objectives, and without one it can result in an inconsistency of mission and stagnation.

The development process must have communication and transparency at its core, utilising the voices of customers to influence the most appropriate direction.

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A strategic plan can fit on a single piece of paper or it can stretch to a dozen or more pages. Its success is not dependant the size of the document or the level of detail it contains, but the sense of direction it takes. It is a master plan which maps out what success looks like for a club, framed in a document which provides how that success will be achieved.

In both member-owned and proprietary golf clubs, it is important to involve members, staff and all stakeholders in the planning process, as they will be important when it comes to the implementation of the plan.

The plan will involve the Board envisaging the future of their club, developing the structures and procedures required to get there, and then acting as custodians of the strategy on behalf of the membership.

Arguably one of the most important parts of the planning process will be to undertake a situational analysis, a process which helps you to take an in depth look at your current position to give you data which can help drive decision making.

Part of this will be identifying your competitors in areas such a memberships, visitor green fees and general club facilities. This should involve not just looking at other golf courses, but other golf businesses and even those which provide an alternative to golf and rely on the leisure pound.

It will also involve carrying out simple exercises to look at what you are good at, where you could improve, and what challenges and threats the club may have from both an internal and external perspective.

Golfers have a choice and in some parts of the country, there is a large variety of options, so a club will have to decide how it can provide a different more memorable golfing and social experience for members and visitors.

Knowing where your members and stakeholders want your club to be in the future is the next important step in the strategic planning process.  If you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to plan a route to get there? The primary task of this phase is to therefore agree and set your club’s Vison, Mission and Core Values. These will guide decision-making and provide a target to aim for.

Core values are the guiding principles which apply across the club and underpin how its work is carried out – basic beliefs about what really matters to the individuals at the club and what binds them together.

Before the detail of a strategic plan is developed, its important that there is a single shared vision that everyone at the club is aware of and will work towards – this is the long term change the club would like to see if it’s work is successful.

The last element is to define a mission statement – a short formal statement about what the club aims to do and why it is trying to do it.

With the first two stages complete, the task of establishing how the club will reach its goals can often be one of the easiest parts of the process, as most members, customers, staff & volunteers will have plenty of ideas for improving the club.

In simple terms, this involves creating a strategic statement for each of the identified core areas within the club, outlining what success will look like by setting measurable targets, and then listing initiatives and activities which will help you achieve them.

Each of these areas is generally overseen by the respective committee within a members club and at any club should also involve the staff members in the corresponding departments in order to ensure complete buy in throughout the organisation.

By remaining faithful to the overall goals established within the strategic plan, the Board can focus its attention on those priority areas.

The final stage to ensure the efforts throughout the planning process are worth it, is to convert the initiatives and objectives into an operational plan, allocating responsibility, setting budgets, and agreeing timelines. Each plan is only as good as its delivery, and this re-emphasises the importance of stakeholder engagement throughout its development.

A strategy must also be reviewed regularly and at least annually to make sure it is updated as required and always covering the next three or five years in a rolling plan. This review will also consider changing the plan from time to time if required by the economic and social circumstances prevailing at any given point to make sure the club’s planned direction continues to be relevant and appropriate for the clubs needs in the future.

You can find a list of useful resources by visiting our dedicated Club Governance Resource Hub here.

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