|
Recent experiences with solicited proposals have presented the issue of
consultant hiring anew for me. So, who selects the strategic planning
consultant? Most boards seem comfortable letting the ED/CEO hire a person
for a one day gig, sometimes called a "retreat" or even, a
"strategic planning retreat." Can meaningful strategic planning
occur in one day (or even, one half day, as many recent inquires have
suggested) - sorry, that is a question for another day.
If a multi-session or multi-month strategic planning process is being
initiated with discussions within a one or two day weekend retreat, then I
think that the comfort of the people doing most of the work should be a
preeminent consideration. This means that even if the Board is setting
policy (yeah, including goals, priorities, values, etc.), if the staff are
doing most of the heaving lifting (scanning research, fleshing out of
alternatives and detailed follow up items for say, an "action plan"
or "operations plan" flowing from the strategic plan), then I would
hope that the staff would be very comfortable with the consultant that they
will be working with.
However, if the major purpose of using a consultant is to help the Board do
its part of setting policy and, in some cases, doing a lot of the strategic
planning work through its committees, then I think that the Board should hold
sway in consultant selection, if there is a clash of values/priorities between
board and staff. Also, if the Board members are pitching in funds from
their own pockets or twisting funders' arms for this project OR, they have low
confidence in the ED/CEO, could they be blamed for wanting at least 51% of the
influence on this type of decision?
|
Board Tech Blog 
