Setting and Achieving Goals

Develop a Strategic Map.

Research and practice suggests that the single most critical element in the design and implementation of a regional collaborative initiative is a strategy of action. In other words, what is a regional initiative trying to achieve and how will it go about it? The basic idea is quite simple and includes two components:

Developing a Strategy of Action

• Specify desired outcomes.
• Identify the strategies to achieve the outcomes.

A strategy of action begins with the compelling issue that brought people together. The purpose of the strategy is to map out how that issue will be resolved. Articulating a strategy of action also helps participants justify their involvement to the rest of their organization or constituency, and helps them assess, improve, and adapt their tools and techniques as the strategy moves forward, depending on their needs, interests, and accomplishments.

Given the site-specific conditions of a particular regional initiative (and the unique needs and interests of the participants), the most effective strategies of action are homegrown – they are developed by and for the people concerned about a particular region. One tool that may be helpful in crafting a strategy of action is a "situation map." An example is presented below:

The following tool is designed to help practitioners articulate a regional strategy of action by presenting some common goals (i.e., what needs to be done or what you are trying to achieve) along with some common strategies (i.e., how you might go about achieving your goals). This chart is meant to be suggestive and provocative, not comprehensive.