10 Signs That Your Strategic Plan Needs A Review

Contributors: Andrew Johnson, David Saint, Clare Bamberger, Andrew Humphreys, Eleanor Mitchell, Andrew Middleton, Tim Jeffery and Vanessa Swann

A strategic plan is only as useful as the world it was written for – and that world rarely stands still.

Most charities invest real time and energy in developing their strategy. There are consultations, awaydays, drafts and redrafts, and finally a launch, often with some fanfare. Then the day-to-day takes over. Months turn into years, and the plan that once felt like a North Star quietly becomes a document that lives in a folder rather than in people's heads.

But all plans and strategies should be living documents, not something to put on a shelf and forget about. So how do you know when yours has drifted far enough to need a proper review rather than a quick tweak? Here are 10 tell-tale signs, drawn from our experience of guiding hundreds of charities through the strategy process.

1. The world around you has moved on
Strategy is about the future, so it has to be grounded in a realistic picture of the world you will be operating in. That means mapping the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental forces at play. If the landscape has shifted significantly since your plan was written – new legislation, a changed funding climate, a crisis nobody foresaw – your strategy is answering yesterday's questions.

2. Nobody can say clearly what you are for
Ask your trustees and senior staff to describe the charity's purpose in a sentence. If the answers vary wildly, or people hesitate, that is a red flag. We worked with one charity whose objects were so broad and outdated that neither trustees nor staff could say what it should be doing now. A good strategy gives everyone clarity of direction; without it, everything else wobbles.

3. The plan lives on a shelf
When did anyone last open the strategy document? If it was only dusted off for a funding bid, it has stopped doing its job. Too often we see strategies made to look presentable with graphics and pictures, then left untouched for five years. A strategy that isn't guiding day-to-day decisions needs refreshing – or replacing.

4. Teams are pulling in different directions
If fundraising, communications, policy and service delivery are each interpreting the strategy in their own way, the plan lacks a unifying thread. We have seen departmental plans that were ambitious in isolation but couldn't be shown to deliver the strategic goals, leaving teams frustrated because they weren't sure what the right thing to do was. Fundraising plans drawn up apart from the rest of the organisation are a common example.

5. Your goals depend on things you can't control
Laudable ambitions are not the same as achievable ones. We regularly come across organisations setting outcomes that sit outside their own remit – district councils aiming to raise educational attainment, for instance, when education is a county responsibility. If your targets rely on decisions made by others, it is time to reframe them around what you can genuinely influence.

6. You've veered off course and there's no way back
Many plans are built backwards from a fixed destination, with milestones set in stone. Once reality diverges, there is no obvious route back to the path. A related symptom is staff hearing "it's a great idea, but it's not in the plan". A better approach is to build your plan as a decision-making framework, with review points and clear criteria for choosing what to do next. If yours is rigid, it needs rethinking.

7. Your reports don't tell you whether it's working
Good monitoring should show where you are doing well, where you are struggling and where nothing is happening at all. If your reports are full of activity data but cannot tell you whether you are moving towards your strategic goals, either the reports or the strategy's objectives need attention. Our advice is simple: if a report isn't meaningful, change it or stop it.

8. Beneficiaries' needs have changed
The people you serve are the ultimate test of any strategy. We have seen an education charity cling to traditional classroom methods through the digital revolution, only to watch engagement and relevance fall away. If demand is shifting, new needs are emerging or uptake of services is declining, your strategy should be the first thing you revisit.

9. The board is stuck in the weeds
Trustees bring perspective precisely because they are not at the coal face. Yet we find many boards bogged down in operational reports, with little time for the big questions. Equally telling is tension between board and senior staff over who sets direction – a common source of conflict in the charities we work with. Either way, the strategic conversation has stalled.

10. You're too busy to think about it
Perhaps the most ironic sign of all. Overstretched charities tend to make small tweaks rather than look at the bigger picture. If your leadership team is permanently firefighting, a review is not a distraction from the day job – it is an investment that can free up capacity by clarifying what to stop doing.

What to do next
If two or three of these signs feel familiar, it is worth starting a conversation about a review. That doesn't have to mean tearing everything up. Depending on what you find, the outcome might be anything from a few adjustments to a fundamental rethink.

A few principles will help you get it right. Agree the process before you start, including the roles of trustees and staff, so nobody is presented with a finished strategy they had no part in shaping. Look outward before you look inward. Listen to a wide range of voices – staff, volunteers, funders and, above all, the people you serve. And consider bringing in an external facilitator, so that everyone, including the chief executive, can take a full part in the discussion.

Most importantly, build your new plan to be reviewed. Set decision points, choose meaningful measures and keep the strategy in front of the people who have to deliver it. That way, the next review will be a routine check-up rather than a rescue.

If you think you are ready for a strategic review and would like to discuss external facilitation, get in touch.