[Alicia Davis] So, Stacie, we’ve been doing a lot of strategic planning support with organizations, and it’s just an interesting process. And we thought we would talk about it a little bit today and see if we could share a couple of thoughts about what’s been working really well.

[Stacie Watson] Yeah, it is an interesting process, and I think it’s maybe, I don’t know, now more than ever, organizations are really doing some deep thinking about, sort of what programming to offer and how to navigate funding challenges, and all the things that we’ve talked about, you know, in these videos over the last many months. And you know one thing that we integrate into our strategic planning process that I think could really be done anytime, and does seem to bring a different energy to organizations, is this idea of really thinking about opportunity and really going to all levels of the organization to have that conversation. And you know, we all love to have our voice heard, right?

[Alicia Davis] That’s right. And you know, part of what we’ve been really doing in supporting leaders is being what we call more “coach-like,” right? And really “coach-like” is being as present as possible and asking those more open-ended questions, and, like you said, really listening and really hearing what the even the seeds of ideas are, because that’s where you know the interest comes in… the collaboration… the how can – you know the person on the doing direct care – how does that integrate with something that a manager is talking about or seeing or needing, and you never know what comes from that, right?

[Stacie Watson] Yeah, it’s so true. You know, in many of the conversations that we’ve had throughout these processes, you know, we bring groups of people together at all levels of the organization, from different programs, different roles, and as they talk to each other about what opportunities might look like, sometimes what comes up is we could tweak our programming, or we could even consider a new program that meets a need that we weren’t even thinking about two years ago or three years ago when we did our last plan. And again, it’s not necessarily that we’re taking all the decisions and running with them, as it were, it’s just really giving folks an opportunity to have their voice be heard and to really deeply listen to people who are really in the trenches on the shop floor, as we say, you know, really doing the direct work with the clients that we’re serving to hear what are the needs, and how have those needs changed, and how can we, under the scope of our mission, maybe meet those needs.

[Alicia Davis] That’s right, and that’s where the opportunities lie. Yeah, so you know, we’d love to support you. Have a chat with you. If you’re in the process of strategic planning or thinking about doing strategic planning. Email us at info@tlstransforms.com and we would love to support you in any way we can. I’m Alicia Davis…

[Stacie Watson] I’m Stacie Watson…

[Alicia Davis] Thanks so much.

[Stacie Watson] Thank you.