Learn how to use VMOSA to take a dream and make it a reality by developing a vision, setting goals, defining them, and developing action plans. Show
VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) is a practical planning process used to help community groups define a vision and develop practical ways to enact change. VMOSA helps your organization set and achieve short term goals while keeping sight of your long term vision. Implementing this planning process into your group's efforts supports developing a clear mission, building consensus, and grounding your group's dreams. This section explores how and when to implement VMOSA into your organization's planning process. What is VMOSA?One way to make that journey is through strategic planning, the process by which a group defines its own "VMOSA;" that is, its Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans. VMOSA is a practical planning process that can be used by any community organization or initiative. This comprehensive planning tool can help your organization by providing a blueprint for moving from dreams to actions to positive outcomes for your community. In this section, we will give a general overview of the process, and touch briefly on each of the individual parts. In Examples, we'll show you how an initiative to prevent adolescent pregnancy used the VMOSA process effectively. Then, in Tools, we offer you a possible agenda for a planning retreat, should your organization decide to use this process. Finally, the remaining sections in this chapter will walk you through the steps needed to fully develop each portion of the process. Why should your organization use VMOSA?Why should your organization use this planning process? There are many good reasons, including all of the following:
When should you use VMOSA?So, when should you use this strategic planning process? Of course, it always makes sense for your organization to have the direction and order it gives you, but there are some times it makes particularly good sense to use this process. These times include:
Let's look briefly at each of the individual ingredients important in this process. Then, in the next few sections we'll look at each of these in a more in-depth manner, and explain how to go about developing each step of the planning process. Vision (the dream)Your vision communicates what your organization believes are the ideal conditions for your community – how things would look if the issue important to you were perfectly addressed. This utopian dream is generally described by one or more phrases or vision statements, which are brief proclamations that convey the community's dreams for the future. By developing a vision statement, your organization makes the beliefs and governing principles of your organization clear to the greater community (as well as to your own staff, participants, and volunteers). There are certain characteristics that most vision statements have in common. In general, vision statements should be:
Here are a few vision statements which meet the above criteria:
Mission (the what and why)Developing mission statements are the next step in the action planning process. An organization's mission statement describes what the group is going to do, and why it's going to do that. Mission statements are similar to vision statements, but they're more concrete, and they are definitely more "action-oriented" than vision statements. The mission might refer to a problem, such as an inadequate housing, or a goal, such as providing access to health care for everyone. And, while they don't go into a lot of detail, they start to hint - very broadly - at how your organization might go about fixing the problems it has noted. Some general guiding principles about mission statements are that they are:
The following mission statements are examples that meet the above criteria.
Objectives (how much of what will be accomplished by when)Once an organization has developed its mission statement, its next step is to develop the specific objectives that are focused on achieving that mission. Objectives refer to specific measurable results for the initiative's broad goals. An organization's objectives generally lay out how much of what will be accomplished by when. For example, one of several objectives for a community initiative to promote care and caring for older adults might be: "By 2025 (by when), to increase by 20% (how much) those elders reporting that they are in daily contact with someone who cares about them (of what)." There are three basic types of objectives. They are:
It's important to understand that these different types of objectives aren't mutually exclusive. Most groups will develop objectives in all three categories. Examples of objectives include:
Strategies (the how)The next step in the process of VMOSA is developing your strategies. Strategies explain how the initiative will reach its objectives. Generally, organizations will have a wide variety of strategies that include people from all of the different parts, or sectors, of the community. These strategies range from the very broad, which encompass people and resources from many different parts of the community, to the very specific, which aim at carefully defined areas. Examples of broad strategies include:
Five types of specific strategies can help guide most interventions. They are:
Action plan (what change will happen; who will do what by when to make it happen)Finally, an organization's action plan describes in great detail exactly how strategies will be implemented to accomplish the objectives developed earlier in this process. The plan refers to: a) specific (community and systems) changes to be sought, and b) the specific action steps necessary to bring about changes in all of the relevant sectors, or parts, of the community. The key aspects of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought are outlined in the action plan. For example, in a program whose mission is to increase youth interest in politics, one of the strategies might be to teach students about the electoral system. Some of the action steps, then, might be to develop age-appropriate materials for students, to hold mock elections for candidates in local schools, and to include some teaching time in the curriculum. Action steps are developed for each component of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought. These include:
Here are two examples of action steps, graphed out so you can easily follow the flow:
Of course, once you have finished designing the strategic plan or "VMOSA" for your organization, you are just beginning in this work. Your action plan will need to be tried and tested and revised, then tried and tested and revised again. You'll need to obtain feedback from community members, and add and subtract elements of your plan based on that feedback. In SummaryEveryone has a dream. But the most successful individuals - and community organizations - take that dream and find a way to make it happen. VMOSA helps groups do just that. This strategic planning process helps community groups define their dream, set their goals, define ways to meet those goals, and finally, develop practical ways bring about needed changes. In this section, you've gained a general understanding of the strategic planning process. If you believe your organization might benefit from using this process, we invite you to move on to the next sections of this chapter, which explain in some depth how to design and develop your own strategic plan. Online Resources Concerns Report Handbook: Planning for Community Health The Free Management Library presents a thorough guide to strategic and action planning, plus links to online discussion groups. Imagining Our Dream Community provides guidance for visualizing your organization's ideal community. 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 Planning Guide for Improving Housing, Jobs, Education, Safety and Health Reducing Risk for Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives The Ruckus Society offers an Action Planning Manual that discusses strategies for nonviolent direct action. Strategice Plan information page from Implementation Matters. The Strategic Planning Process outlines 8 steps to developing a customized strategic plan for a coalition. Work Group Evaluation Handbook Your Action Planning Guide for Promoting Full Community Participation Among People with Disabilities, a resource for independent living centers and other community-based initiatives, from the KU Research & Training Center on Independent Living and the KU Center for Community Health and Development. Youth Development: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives Print Resources Barry, B. (1982). Strategic planning workbook for non-profit organizations. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. Bryson, J. (1988). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Coover, V., et al. (1985). Resource manual for a living revolution: a handbook of skills & tools for social change activists. Philadelphia: New Society Publisher. Fawcett, S., Paine, A., Francisco, V., Richter, K.., Lewis, R., Williams, E., Harris, K., Winter-Green, K., in collaboration with Bradley, B. & Copple, J. (1992). Preventing adolescent substance abuse: an action planning guide for community -based initiatives. Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas. Fawcett, S., Schultz, J., Francisco, V., Cyprus, J., Collie, V., Carson, V., & Bremby, R. (2001). Promoting urban neighborhood development: An action planning guide for improving housing, jobs, education, safety and health, and human development. Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development. Halfon, N., Inkelas, M., Rice, T., Sutherland, C., Tullis, E., & Uyeda, K. (2004). Building State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems. Volume 6: A Strategic Planning Guide for State-Level Early Childhood Systems-Building Initiatives: From Resources to Results for Young Children and Their Families. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities. Kansas Health Foundation. VMOSA: An approach to strategic planning. Wichita, KS: Kansas Health Foundation. Lord, R. (1989). The non-profit problem solver: a management guide. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers. Murray, E., & Richardson, P. (2002). Fast Forward: Organizational Changes in 100 Days. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Olenick, J., & Olenick, R. (1991). A non-profit organization operating manual: planning for survival and growth. New York, NY: Foundation Center. Stonich, P. J. (1982). Implementing strategy: making strategy happen. Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing Company. Unterman, I., & Davis, R. (1984). Strategic management of not-for-profit organizations. New York, NY: CBS Educational and Professional Publishing. Watson-Thompson, J., Fawcett, S.B., & Schultz, J. (2008). Differential effects of strategic planning on community change in two urban neighborhood coalitions. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 25-38. Wolff, T. (1990). Managing a non-profit organization. New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press. Wolff, T. (2010). The Power of Collaborative Solutions: Six Principles and Effective Tools for Building Healthy Communities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Which of the following is a most urgent concern for today's organizations?Hiring and keeping quality employees is one of the most urgent concerns for today's organizations.
Which of the following is the person responsible for accomplishing an organization's goals by managing the efforts of the organization's people?Manager: the person responsible for accomplishing the organization's goals, who does so by managing the efforts of the organization's people.
Which recruiting approach gives applicants all pertinent and realistic information about the organization and the job?A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a recruiting approach used by an organization to communicate the important aspects of the job prior to the offer of a position. Applicants weigh such information against their own preferences.
Which function of the management process requires a manager to establish goals and standards and to develop rules and procedures?The planning function involves establishing goals and standards, developing rules and procedures, and forecasting.
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