Credit union strategic planning is a habit. And depending on when and how you do it, it could be a good habit … or a bad habit.
Boards and executives always start with the best intentions. They schedule intentional session time, take the session seriously and even intend to work on the plan after the session. However, the realities of day-to-day credit union hustle and bustle rapidly drowns out regular strategic work. Despite a leadership team's best intentions, the plan gets placed on a shelf and dies there.
As "Atomic Habits" author James Clear says, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
So, how do you set up the best planning system? There are three questions to answer.
1. When do you hold your main session?
The traditional answer to this question for many credit unions is in the fall. And if there's a solid strategic reason for scheduling in the fall, that's more than fine. But if you're doing it because "we do it like this every year," you may want to consider a change.
Fall planning sessions run up against credit union budgeting processes. The crunch creates stress and reduces the amount of time you have to build out initiatives before putting them in the budget. Not to mention, your mind is torn in two. One half in the session. Another half in the budget.
Some credit unions are now scheduling sessions in spring to avoid that crunch and focus solely on strategy. Consider what time of year helps your credit union best focus on strategy.
Because as Tony Robbins teaches: "Where focus goes, energy flows."
2. How do you continue strategic work throughout the year?
Credit union strategic planning is more than just a day on the calendar. And the best plans are not the shiniest or most complex. They're the ones that get implemented. Having a truly successful plan means strategic planning happens all the time, all year round.
Practically, this looks like a session that performs pre-work and follow up.
To get the most out of your main session, a "pre-session session" is helpful. This meeting is a place to discuss long-term relevancy or simply set the table for the main session discussion. Both SAFE Federal Credit Union ($1.9 billion, Sumter, S.C.) and Vibe Credit Union ($1.5, Novi, Mich.) perform spring pre-work sessions to make their full fall sessions more fruitful.
Of course, both your pre-work and full session won't matter without the right follow up. As executive team coach and speaker Keith Ferrazzi says, "Follow-up is the key to success in any field." So, form a tactical action plan. Assign people. Assign steps. Assign dates. Calendar milestones and hold people accountable to them. What gets calendared gets done.
According to entrepreneur and leadership coach Gino Wickman, "The ability to create accountability and discipline, and then execute, is the area of greatest weakness in most organizations."
Don't let it be yours. Get into a rhythm. Create consistent strategic planning music: Pre-work, main session, tactical action plan and follow-up accountability meetings. Play it on repeat.
3. Are you looking beyond three years?
Your credit union strategic plan (business plan) should look ahead only one to three years. The industry changes so fast that going further out would make your plan irrelevant. But that's not enough scope for remaining viable 10 or 20 years from now.
You must have a larger relevancy discussion – sometimes also called a "vision casting" meeting.
In your planning rhythm, this meeting is part of your pre-work. Bring up any world-shaking topic keeping you up at night. Some examples include AI, cryptocurrency, consolidation, fraud and regulation.
Discussing these topics helps you explore solutions and provides long-term framing for short-term business plan initiatives.
Credit Union of Texas ($2.7 billion, Allen, Texas) is a good example of a vision casting session done well. They meet early in the year to talk about their craziest ideas. Anything goes. For example: Should we replace all our call centers with AI? They are thinking way more than three years ahead to stay relevant in a competitive environment.
The Final Answer
So, when is the right time to do credit union strategic planning? The answer is "yes." Strategic planning is a constant process. Consider what time of year your team best focuses on planning, get into a planning rhythm and don't forget to discuss long-term relevancy issues.
Most of all: Do something, not nothing. Hope is not a strategy.
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