Who We Are

The Strategic Planning committee (StratPlan) helps the OTW identify long-term goals and work toward achieving them. We do this by crafting OTW-wide Strategic Plans, checking in with committees on achieving Strategic Plan goals, and overall supporting committees in their long-term visions.

Constructing the Strategic Plan involves surveying multiple committees at once, documenting and reporting on common themes, and integrating them into a collective vision for the OTW. While we survey and solicit feedback from every committee, we work most closely with the Board of Directors for rounds of in-between revision and consulting.

We routinely check in with teams and committees on how their implementation of Strategic Plan goals are progressing. We support all committees by offering documentation templates and mentorship, both via one-on-one discussions with StratPlan members or through organizing mentorship with volunteers in other teams. Check-ins are also valuable as they allow us to iterate and re-evaluate the Strategic Plan while it’s being completed. If enough committees are struggling to complete a particular goal by its planned deadline, we may adjust the Strategic Plan accordingly. We’ll gather information from relevant parties regarding the OTW’s needs and resources at that time and propose a revision to Board if needed.

In addition to overseeing the Strategic Plan, we work individually with teams and support them in articulating and enacting long-term committee-specific goals. We also celebrate with committees on their progress and promote an encouraging atmosphere during check-ins and other internal communications.

Internal Structure

StratPlan is a close-knit and collaborative committee of typically less than ten people led by two chairs. Most volunteers hold a generalist role, and handle all types of day-to-day work.

Every two months, volunteers will rotate who is currently an Implementation Monitor. This is an informal role that takes point in running committee check-ins, updating documentation, holding office hours, and otherwise overseeing the implementation of the Strategic plan. StratPlan also highly prioritizes chair turnover, so Chair-Track Volunteers are frequently trained. This encourages healthy handover within the committee, and helps prevent responsibilities falling solely on one or two volunteers’ shoulders.

Lifecycle of a Strategic Plan

To ensure the organization’s strategic plan is thoroughly developed, supported by stakeholders, and flexible enough to evolve over time, StratPlan uses the following eight steps:

1. Visioning: We survey all committees on issues, strengths, challenges, external opportunities, external threats, and more. Our tools in this process will vary, but some examples of analysis we perform include SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) Analysis, PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) Analysis, values chains, and keyword brainstorming exercises.
2. Priorities: Based on the insights from the previous step, StratPlan works with Board to identify which issues should be prioritized: ordering based on urgency and what will most help the OTW grow and thrive.
3. Vision Statement: We then draft a vision statement outlining the mission, priorities, and aspirations of the organization. Feedback from the entire OTW is gathered to refine this statement and ensure it aligns with the perspective of volunteers at large. Here’s the OTW Vision Statement for 2022-2025.
4. Information Gathering and Analysis: StratPlan researches, interviews, and conducts user and volunteer outreach to analyze how the Vision Statement can be shaped into concrete actions. This involves analyzing what a priority may look like in practice, how to define when different goals are achieved, and what in-between steps the OTW needs to take to reach various long-term goals.
5. Goal Setting: Having collected information on various ways our Vision Statement can be implemented, we finalize a list of detailed, concretely measurable, challenging-but-achievable long-term goals. We deliver this list to Board for feedback, and then share a first draft of the Strategic Plan with committee chairs. Following the feedback period, we then create second drafts and further revisions, until we send a final Strategic Plan to Board for approval.
6. Publication: Once approved by Board, the Strategic Plan is made available to the public. The public version of the plan typically includes the vision statement and strategic goals, but not necessarily the detailed action plans. Take a look at the public 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.
7. Implementation: StratPlan follows the timeline of the Strategic Plan and supports teams in carrying out each goal. We rotate Implementation Monitors who check in routinely with committees on their progress, and to offer and provide support where we can.
8. Revisions: Annually, we submit the plan to Board for review, and we update it with necessary updates, or new visions and strategic needs. We also review and revise the plan with committees as needed and may submit revisions to Board year-round.

Contact Us

If you want to learn more about the Strategic Planning committee or if you have questions about our work, please contact us—we will be happy to hear from you.