Planning Processes

Planning is a systematic and organized effort to envision how to reach institutional goals. This effort includes thinking about what needs to be done (goals and activities); how progress will be measured (quantitative metrics or qualitative accomplishment statements); when the activities/tasks have to be done (timeline); and what resources are needed (budget).

Integrated planning is an approach to planning that builds on relationships, aligns the institution, and is all-inclusive. It engages all stakeholders of the institution—all areas, units/divisions, and programs; faculty, students, staff, alumni and external partners—to work together toward a common vision. Integrated planning aligns the plans of the College both vertically (from the mission/vision to on-the-ground operations) and horizontally (across areas, units, divisions, programs, and offices). It engages all of the institution’s areas of operations (academic affairs, student services, finance, HR, IT, communications, etc.).

Integrated planning will help the College achieve our mission more effectively. It builds consensus on priorities and moves the entire College towards the same vision through clear goals and objectives. It also aligns the resources necessary to achieve our goals and objectives.

In general, developing a new strategic plan involves six steps.

Step One – External landscape scan

List all of your clients/stakeholders. Who do you serve either directly or indirectly (e.g., specific demographic of students., industry partners, donors, etc). Who are the other organizations competing for the same attention of the same clients/stakeholders? After identifying clients/stakeholders/organizations/institutions, assess the external landscape in which we operate.

How have the demographics of our key stakeholders changed? How have changes in the external environment made it more difficult to achieve our mission? How have needs of your clients/stakeholders changed since the last planning cycle? How has the operations of other organizations adapted to these changes?

A comprehensive external landscape scan should have both a static and a dynamic aspect. In a static sense, what is the external environment as it exists now? In a dynamic sense, judging from historical data trends and utilizing collective expertise, how could the environment shift in the future? Analyses of the external landscape provides insight into your opportunities and threats.

Step Two – Internal context scan

List the unique roles and responsibilities of your area, division or program. Review internal performance data and reflect on the things that were done well and were some challenges that your area/division/program faced? Given what has gone well and the challenges that your area, division or program has faced, what are your strengths and what are some opportunities for improvement?

Step Three – SWOT (Strengths.Weaknesses.Opportunities.Threats)

The SWOT analysis gives an overview of our internal and external contexts. Given your strengths and the changes in the external environment, what are the new opportunities for our institution or your area, division or program? Given our weaknesses and the changes in the external environment, what additional risks, liabilities, and threats should we be mindful of? Implications drawn from the SWOT analysis will help inform new goals.

Step Four – Establishing Goals & Tracking Progress

Goals define what you would like to accomplish by the end of the plan’s implementation period. Given our internal and external contexts and framed by the SWOT analysis and the institutional goals, articulate clear and measurable goals.

A goal is a long-range, broad statement that expresses desired results. Where do we want to be in the next few years? Goals provide the framework for determining specific activities, and how to progress is measured (through quantitative metrics or qualitative accomplishment statements). Goals also guide operational decisions such as resource/budget allocation.

In addition to using a SWOT analysis to determine goals, review the progress of the last plan (see Step 6 – Assessment). Were all goals from the existing plans successfully achieved? If any of the goals have not been fully achieved yet, are they still relevant and critical given the changes to the external environment? If a goal has not been fully completed yet (either due to budget constraints or changes to the external landscape) and it is still a priority, the implementation timeline could be extended and implementation of the goal could continue through the next planning cycle.

In general, goals should be S.M.A.R.T. (Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound). A good goal should answer: What wil change? How much will it change? By when will the change happen?

To stay focused and increase the chance of success, each area, division or program should have no more than 2 to 5 goals. Having too many goals can spread time, money, and effort too thin making it harder to create measurable impact.

Progress Metrics

Each goal should also have a clear way of demonstrating progress through quantitative metrics or qualitative statements of accomplishments. Examples of the types of metrics include:

Time – e.g., a decrease in time required to provide a service
Dollars – e.g., a decrease in cost or increase in funding
Percentages – e.g., a decrease in time to fulfill a service or increase in student/staff satisfaction
Numerical Counts
A specific accomplishment. For example, installation of new software or drafting a training manual.

To clarify how completion of the goal will be measured, reflect on the:

CURRENT STATE: This is a narrative statement associated with the starting point or current reality.
END STATE: This is a narrative statement associated with an ideal future.

If progress of the goal can be quantified, the metric should be bounded by both a baseline and a target.

BASELINE: The quantitative starting point for understanding the future progress of a goal metric.
TARGET: The desired quantitative end state or expected degree of change if the goal is completed.

When articulating a metric, clarify the following:

Data –What exactly is being collected? Does it involve one measure or is it a ratio? Develop very specific definitions of the data elements required by the measure(s).
Frequency –When does measurement lend itself to more measurement, i.e. how often would you expect to see change? This leads to a natural data collection cycle.
Collection –Who is responsible for taking the measures? How do they do it? What instruments are used? How is data organized and stored?
Reporting –Who is responsible for the analytics required by the measures to turn the data into information and eventually knowledge?
Tracking –When data, information, and knowledge are created, stored, and organized, who is responsible for analyzing trends, effectiveness of progress toward the goals of the objective, holding managers accountable, etc.

Step Five – Mapping

Mapping goals ensures alignment between all plans at all levels of the institution. After a set of goals have been established by each area or unit/division or program, alignment reviews are needed to ensure that the goals of each program supports the goals of the institution. Alignment reviews also helps ensure that the metrics and targets align with the goals and objectives.

Step Six – Assessment

Progress of each goal should be assessed on an ongoing basis and at the end of a plan’s implementation period (to inform the development of a new plan in the the next planning cycle). How much progress on the goal and goal metric has been made? What has helped achieve our goals? What challenges made us fall short? Along the way, what did we learn about our internal operations and external factors influencing the college?

If the goals have not been achieved, why did this happen and what changes are needed? Were the metrics appropriate and were the targets reasonable? Were there conflicting priorities or misaligned goals? What cultural or operational changes would help achieve the goals in the future?

The ECC Planning Model emphasizes ongoing monitoring throughout a plan’s implementation to ensure goals stay on track. Progress reports uses quantitative metrics and qualitative statements, including measures related to students, employees, and administrative operations. This practice directly supports institutional effectiveness by ensuring we consistently connect assessment (seeing where we are), goals (what we want to achieve), action (doing the work), and continuous improvement (getting better).

Regularly reviewing progress of a goal’s implementation is essential as it allows college stakeholders to make adjustments as needed. When goals fall behind, teams can recalibrate timelines or reallocate resources to support the ongoing work and stay focused on desired outcomes. At the end of the implementation period, El Camino conducts a comprehensive evaluation to assess results, capture lessons learned and guide the creation of the next strategic plan.

Funding requests submitted through the Annual Resource Allocation Process should be guided by El Camino's mission and institutional goals, data, and the strategic priorities documented in each department's program review.

The following steps will help ensure that the allocation of resources are strategic and data-informed:

Review Your Department's Program Review - Reflect on your department's mission, long-term goals, and recent assessment results.
Use Data to Guide Decisions - Review key metrics and use available data to identify the areas of opportunity and need. Analyze disaggregated data for deeper insight.
Align with Institutional Priorities - Review El Camino's Comprehensive Integrated Plan Goals and 2025-28 Strategic Outcomes. Consider how your department's mission and goals contribute to these institutional priorites.
Continuously Evaluate Goals and Resource Alignment - Regularly review the department's goals in light of evolving operational needs and use insight from data to adjust goals as needed. Continuously assess how resources are allocated tp support the priorities of the department.

Relevant Resources:

Practical Guide for Choosing the Right Dashboards, Surveys, and Tools

Step-by-Step Guide for Data-Informed Decision-Making

ECC's Mission, Vision, Values and 2025-35 Comprehensive Integrated Plan

Nuventive is the online planning platform. The relationship between annual resource allocation and the strategic goals at all levels (from institutional goals to program-evel goals) are documented and mapped within Nuventive to inform the review and approval of budget requests.

More information regarding Nuventive can be found here.