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Doc. #34
Members:
Day, Coy, N5OK (Chair)
Brandenburg, David, K5RQ
Gardenias, Carl, WU6D
Heyn, Fried, WA6WZO
McInerney, Brian, N0BM
Walstrom, Wade, W0EJ
Wilson, Mark, K1RO
Woolweaver, David, K5RAV (Recorder)
Haynie, Jim, W5JBP (ex-officio)
Sumner, David, K1ZZ (ex-officio)
1. Charge to the Committee
(1) Identify missed planning opportunities within the ARRL.
(2) Prioritize missed planning opportunities as to urgency.
(3) Recommend actions to the Board of Directors/Staff to address missed opportunities.
(4) Make recommendations to the Board of Directors on how to change the organization to make planning a regular part of the Board and management process.
2. References
The ad hoc Planning Committee was authorized by minute 62 of the 2002 Second Meeting.
3. Summary of Conclusions
Although several indications of missed planning opportunities were evident, no urgent items needing immediate attention were identified. However, the committee strongly recommends that the ARRL resume active strategic planning efforts with resulting operational plans throughout the organization.
4. Formal Report
Initially I tasked the committee members with reading the following:
Considering the volume of material and the amount of time available from very busy committee members it was no surprise that it took a while to get things started.
The committee did find several items that indicated a lack of planning. The Annual Financial Plan was the only current written plan that was identified. This plan not being driven by a strategic planning effort could result in a disconnect between the Board of Directors and the plan. While several attempts were made, in-depth strategic planning had not been successfully accomplished since 1994. The last successful strategic planning effort, The 1994 Strategic Long-Range Plan, had not been updated. This prevented policy decisions by the Board of Directors from being passed along to staff in an efficient manner. It also prevented staff from having adequate input into the long range activities of the ARRL.
One item that was identified as urgent by the committee was the apparent lack of a plan to address the deficit spending that was created during the July, 2000 Board of Directors meeting. The committee considered this as the only missed planning opportunity that we could affect. However, after visiting with our CEO, it was discovered that an unpublished plan was in place that would assure deficit spending would not continue past the date set by the Board of Directors.
The committee's primary focus then shifted to strategic planning as it is essential to all other planning. Proposals were solicited from Bob McFarlane of MIRA International and Bud Crouch of Tecker Consultants to assist the ARRL with developing a strategic plan. Both proposals were evaluated by the committee with a unanimous decision to recommend to the Board of Directors that we accept the proposal from Bud Crouch (see Minutes of December 12, 2002 Teleconference). A teleconference between Bud Crouch, Coy Day, Dave Sumner, and Mark Wilson on January 2, 2003, determined that Bud is available to conduct the one-day Leadership Development Seminar on either Thursday, July 17, or Friday, July 18, prior to the 2003 Second Meeting of the Board. (The Board Meeting could be held either on its regularly scheduled days, Friday and Saturday, or on Saturday and Sunday, ending in time for most participants to leave on Sunday afternoon.) He is available to conduct the two-day Strategic Planning Meeting in the Hartford area on the weekend of September 13-14. This schedule will permit the results of the strategic planning process to be taken into account in the development of the operational budget plan for 2004, thereby addressing a concern of the committee expressed during the December 12 teleconference.
The committee feels that its work will not be completed until there is a change in the organization that makes planning a regular part of the Board and management processes.
