Do options strategies work
A strategy is a way of describing how you are going to get things done. It is less specific than an action plan which tells the who-what-when ; instead, it tries to broadly answer the question, "How do we get there from here? A good strategy will take into account existing barriers and resources people, money, power, materials, etc. It will also stay with the overall vision, mission, and objectives of the initiative. Often, an initiative will use many different strategies--providing information, enhancing support, removing barriers, providing resources, etc. Objectives outline the aims of an initiative--what success would look like in achieving the vision and mission. By contrast, strategies suggest paths to take and how to move along on the road to success. That is, strategies help you determine how you will realize your vision and objectives through the nitty-gritty world of action. Developing strategies is really a way to focus your efforts and figure out how you're going to get things done. By doing so, you can achieve the following advantages:. Developing strategies is the fourth step in the VMOSA Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans process outlined at the beginning of this chapter. Developing strategies is the essential step between figuring out your objectives and making the changes to reach them. Strategies should always be formed in advance of taking action, not deciding how to do something after you have done it. Without a clear idea of the how, your group's actions may waste time and effort and fail to take advantage of emerging opportunities. Strategies should also be updated periodically to meet the needs of a changing environment, including new opportunities and emerging opposition to the group's efforts. Once again, let's refer back to our friends at the fictional Reducing the Risk RTR Coalition that hopes to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy in its community. We'll walk through the process of developing strategies with this group so as to better explain the who, what, and why of strategies. As with the process you went strategies to write your vision and mission statements and to set your objectives, developing strategies involves brainstorming and talking to community members. Remember, people will work best in a relaxed and welcoming environment. You can help achieve this by:. The RTR Coalition held brainstorming sessions strategies organization members. They invited local teens, parents, teachers, counselors, church members, and other community leaders to participate in listening sessions. These were used to help develop strategies to reduce the risk of teen pregnancy. Homemade cookies, fruit, and coffee helped make participants feel welcome. It is helpful to review your mission, vision, and objectives to ensure that your strategies are all aligned with the goals expressed in your previous work. The following list of questions can be a guide for deciding on the most beneficial strategies for your group:. Let's look at the strategies proposed by the members of the RTR Coalition to prevent teen pregnancy. Coalition building tip sheets [Resource Sheets]. Planning for Community Health. An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives. Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse: Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: Promoting Health for All: Improving Access and Eliminating Disparities in Community Health. Promoting Healthy Living and Preventing Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Communities. Promoting Urban Neighborhood Development: An Action Planning Guide for Improving Housing, Strategies, Education, Safety and Health. Reducing Risk for Chronic Disease: Work Group Evaluation Handbook. The art of coalition building: The American Jewish Committee. Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas. Reducing risk for chronic disease: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. Skip to main content. Chapter 8 Sections Section 1. An Overview of Strategic Planning or "VMOSA" Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans Section 2. Developing Vision and Mission Statements Section 3. Creating Objectives Section 4. Planning to Win Section 5. Developing an Action Plan Section 6. Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes are Important and Feasible? Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and System Change. The Tool Box needs your help to remain available. Your contribution can help change lives. Sixteen training modules for teaching core skills. Toggle navigation Chapter Sections. Main Section Checklist Examples PowerPoint. Learn how to develop strategies for how you are going to get things done. What is a strategy? What are the criteria for developing a good strategy? When should you develop strategies for your initiative? How do you develop strategies? Strategies for your community initiative should meet several work. A strategy, such as enhancing experience and skill or increasing resources and opportunities, should point out the overall path without dictating a particular narrow approach e. Fit resources and opportunities? A good strategy takes advantage of current resources and assets, such as people's willingness to act or a tradition of self-help and community pride. It also embraces new opportunities such as an emerging public concern for neighborhood safety or parallel economic development efforts in the business community. Minimize resistance and barriers? When initiatives set out to accomplish important things, resistance even opposition is inevitable. However, strategies need not provide a reason for opponents to attack the initiative. Good strategies work allies and deter opponents. To address the issue or problem, strategies must connect the intervention with those who it should benefit. For example, if the mission of the initiative is to get people into decent jobs, do the strategies providing education and skills training, creating job opportunities, etc. Taken together, are strategies likely to make a difference on the mission and objectives? If the aim is to reduce a problem such as unemployment, are the strategies enough to make a difference on rates of employment? If the aim is to prevent a problem, such as substance abuse, have factors contributing to risk and protection been changed sufficiently to reduce use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs? By doing so, you can achieve the following advantages: Taking advantage of resources strategies emerging opportunities Responding effectively to resistance and barriers A more efficient use of time, energy, and resources When should you develop strategies for your initiative? Organize a brainstorming meeting with members of your organization and members of the community Remember, people will work best in a relaxed and welcoming environment. You can help achieve this by: Making meetings a place where all members feel that their ideas are listened to and valued, and where constructive criticism may be openly voiced. To help meet these goals, you might post some "ground rules" so people feel free to express themselves. Ground rules might include: One person speaks at a time No interrupting each other Everyone's ideas are respected Bringing fans or heaters if needed so people will be comfortable. Asking members to escort each other home or to their cars, the subway, or the bus stop if the meeting runs late. Never underestimate the power of homemade food, drinks, and other treats. Review identify the targets and agents of change for your options Your targets of change include all of the people who experience or are at risk for work issue or problem addressed by your initiative. Remember to be inclusive; that is, include everyone who is affected by the problem or issue or whose action or inaction contributes to it. For example, a coalition such the RTR Coalition would want to include all teenagers as potential targets of change, not just adolescents who seem particularly at risk, and parents, peers, and teachers whose actions or inactions might make a difference. Your agents of change include everyone who is in a position to help contribute to the solution. With the RTR Coalition, examples of agents of change might include teens, teachers, guidance counselors, parents of teens, lawmakers, work others. Review your vision, mission, and objectives to keep you on the right track It is helpful to review your mission, vision, and objectives to ensure that your strategies are all aligned with the goals expressed in your previous work. Work together to brainstorm the best strategies for your initiative The following list of questions can be a guide for deciding on the most beneficial strategies for your group: What resources and assets exist that can be used to help achieve the vision and mission? How can they be used best? What obstacles or resistance exist that could make it difficult to achieve your vision and mission? How can you minimize or get options them? What are potential agents of change willing to do to serve the mission? Do you want to reduce the existing problem, or does it make more sense to try to prevent or reduce risk for problems before they start? For example, if you are trying to reduce teen sexual activity, you might consider gearing some of your strategies to younger children, for whom sex is not yet a personal issue; or, to promote academic success, to work with younger children who still have full potential for learning and school success. How will your potential strategies decrease the risk for experiencing the problem e. How will the strategies increase protective factors e. What potential strategies will affect the whole population and problem? For example, connecting youth with caring adults might be good for virtually all youth, regardless of income or past experience with the problem. Also, just one strategy, affecting just one part of the community such as schools or youth organizations, often isn't enough to improve the situation. Make sure that your strategies affect the problem or issue as a whole. What potential strategies reach those at particular risk for the problem? For example, early screenings might help focus on those at higher risk for heart disease or cancer; past academic failure or history of drug use, for identifying with whom support and other intervention efforts might be focused. The strategies of the RTR Coalition We will pursue the following strategies to reach each of our objectives: Things to note about the RTR strategies: They give overall direction without dictating specifics, such as the particular sexuality education curricula to be used. They fit local resources, including a variety of the available agents of change in this case, peers, parents and guardians, clergy, and teachers. Some of the strategies try to change existing situations such as increased access to contraception ; others are geared to stop the problem of teen pregnancy before it starts for example, assisting local churches to improve early parent-child communication. The strategies involve many different parts of the community, including churches and other groups from whom opposition to some strategies such as access to contraceptives might be expected. The strategies try to decrease some of the probable risk factors for teen pregnancy lack of information, lack of access to contraceptives, peer pressureand at the same time, they try to increase some of the possible protective factors increased parent-child communication, church involvement, education, opportunities for a better future. Check your proposed strategies for completeness, accuracy, and whether they contribute to the vision, mission, and objectives. Amherst, MA Concerns Report Handbook: Planning for Community Health Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Preventing Youth Violence: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Promoting Child Well-Being: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Promoting Health for All: Improving Access and Eliminating Disparities in Community Health Promoting Healthy Living and Preventing Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Communities Promoting Urban Neighborhood Development: An Action Options Guide for Improving Housing, Options, Education, Safety and Health Reducing Risk for Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Work Group Evaluation Handbook Youth Development: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Print Resources Berkowitz, W. 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When Ixia goes looking for her friends later in the same episode, she attempts to light up the cave, but puts too much force into her magic and winds up getting herself caught.
Well, I was upset, like I said the kids ran over to Eden where we were not the other way around.