Group on Institutional Planning (GIP)
Strategic Planning Toolkit
AAMC’s Group on Institutional Planning (GIP)
This document was created by a work group of the Group on Institutional Planning’s (GIP) Strategic
Planning and Management Subcommittee and is intended for the GIP. All content reflects the views of
the subgroup and does not reflect the official position or policy of the Association of American Medical
Colleges unless clearly specified.
The Association of American Medical Colleges serves and leads the academic medicine community to
improve the health of all. aamc.org
© 2023 Association of American Medical College
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction to the GIP Strategic Planning Toolkit
Page 2
II. Work Group Members
Page 3
III. Pre-Planning
Page 4
IV. Strategic Planning Process Overview
A. Strategic Planning Process at a Glance
B. Toolkit Resources
Pages 4-5
V. Phase 1: Assess
A. Internal Analysis
B. External Analysis
C. SWOT Analysis
Pages 6-7
VI. Phase 2: Develop
A. Mission, Vision, and Values
B. Strategic Plan Core Elements
C. Approvals
Pages 8-9
VII. Phase 3: Implement
A. Implementation Plan
B. Communication Plan
Page 10
VIII. Phase 4: Monitor
A. Scorecards & Dashboards
B. Ongoing Review
Page 11
IX. Conclusion
Page 12
X. Appendix
A. Appendix A: Glossary of Terms
B. Appendix B: Templates and Resources
Pages 13-14
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Introduction to the GIP Strategic Planning Toolkit
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Institutional Planning (GIP)
Strategic Planning & Management Subcommittee has developed this toolkit to assist those that hold
strategic planning roles in academic medicine.
Although the roles of strategic planners in academic medicine can vary in scope and environment, this
toolkit is designed to provide best practices and tools to support successful strategic planning across
institutions.
Learn more about the GIP Strategic Planning and Management Subcommittee.
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Work Group Members
Thank you to the members below for their time and effort in redesigning the GIP Strategic Planning
Resources webpage and the GIP Strategic Planning Toolkit.
Project Lead:
Jacqueleen Reyes Hull, EdD
Associate Vice President, Administration & Organizational Strategy
University of South Florida Health
Members:
Jaime Cerilli, PhD, MPM
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Space Planning and Management, Health Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Jeremy Franklin, PhD
Strategic Project Manager
University of Utah Health
Teresa Isbell, PhD
Assistant Dean for Continuous Quality Improvement
Texas A&M University College of Medicine
Ritu Patel, MHA, PMP
Project Director, Strategy & Reporting
Houston Methodist
Promila Rastogi, MBA, MS
Director of Transition Strategies
Office of Facilities Planning & Management
Stanford University School of Medicine
Janice Renfro, MBA
Strategic Planning Manager
BJC Healthcare
Erin Shirey, MPA
Director of Planning, Strategy, and Partnerships
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
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Pre-Planning
Prior to kicking off a strategic planning cycle, take the following pre-planning actions:
•
Ensure organizational leadership supports the planning process.
•
Establish the length of the strategic plan (e.g., 3 or 5 years).
•
Identify an appropriate timeline for plan development from kickoff to implementation.
•
Identify members of a planning team or task force that represent a wide range of organizational
stakeholders.
•
Determine whether a budget is needed to support the planning process.
Strategic Planning Process Overview
Familiarize yourself and your team with the strategic planning process and resources available in this
toolkit to help guide your strategy efforts.
Strategic Planning Process at a Glance
The strategic planning and implementation process outlined in this toolkit follows four phases. This
process is intended to help define your organization’s direction, align goals to ensure cohesive progress,
identify areas for improvement, enable competitiveness, and cultivate areas of excellence.
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Strategic Planning Process Overview, continued
Toolkit Resources
This toolkit includes the following resources:
•
Glossary: Appendix A includes a glossary of common strategic planning terms used throughout
the toolkit.
•
Templates: Downloadable and customizable strategic planning templates are provided at the end
of each toolkit section (where applicable) and the complete list of templates is available in
Appendix B.
•
Other Resources: Appendix B also contains links to key resources, webinars, recommended
reading, and examples of institutional strategic plans from academic medical centers.
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Phase 1: Assess
The purpose of the assessment phase is to collect and analyze internal and external data to understand
your organization’s current state. This is accomplished through a variety of ways, including interviews,
data and financial analysis, focus groups, surveys, and internal and/or external benchmarking. The result
of this phase should be a summary that provides an accurate representation of the present environment
while identifying issues and opportunities. Some questions to answer include:
•
What does the organization’s historical performance indicate?
•
What trends are impacting the organization?
•
What strengths or weaknesses does the service or organization possess?
•
What opportunities or threats are facing the service or organization?
There are three types of analyses to guide you through the assessment phase. Involving a business
manager and/or data analyst may be helpful in obtaining data and performing the analyses.
Internal Analysis
An internal analysis focuses on data internal to your organization.
•
Review current organizational data/analytics, core competencies, performance metrics, employee
satisfaction data, and financial records.
•
Analyze the work environment, process/operations, locations, and current resource allocations
(staff assignments, leased or owned properties, etc.).
External Analysis
An external analysis can help you determine how competitive your organization is in the market and
examine external factors that may impact your organization.
•
Evaluate your position in the market by comparing your organization to your competition.
•
Complete a PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental)
analysis to examine the macro trends in the external environment and uncover factors that may
influence new opportunities or threaten your organization’s market position.
SWOT Analysis
Using the outcomes of the internal and external analyses, conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats) analysis to identify areas for improving overall business performance,
strengthening competitiveness, and minimizing risk.
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Phase 2: Develop
The purpose of the development phase is to formulate a strategy to achieve your organization’s
envisioned future state. First, confirm or adjust your current mission, vision, and values. Next, determine
the core elements to include in your strategic plan. With your mission, vision, values, and core elements
set, you will be ready to obtain approval from leadership and share high-level information with key
stakeholders.
Mission, Vision, and Values
•
Mission Statement: A mission statement is a foundational statement defining an institution's core
purpose. It explains what an organization does, who it does it for, and why it does it. A mission
statement should be easy to remember.
•
Vision Statement: A vision statement is an inspirational statement that describes what an
organization aspires to achieve in the long term.
•
Values: Values are a set of core principles that guide and define an organization’s culture.
Strategic Plan Core Elements
Core elements are the building blocks of your strategic plan. The elements below are an example of a
common structure, but organizations may have their own unique structure or naming conventions. To
develop your core elements, begin by using your SWOT analysis from Phase 1 to determine and
prioritize strategic priorities and goals. When you have finalized your goals, use them to guide
development of the remaining elements.
•
Strategic Priorities: Strategic priorities are key aspects or categories that specify where an
organization plans to direct resources and efforts to achieve strategic goals.
•
Goals: Goals generally state what an organization aims to achieve to fulfill its mission and vision.
Goals provide a clear direction and focus efforts on key priorities. It’s advisable to rank your
goals to identify what is most important, what is feasible, and what most warrants organizational
efforts and resources.
•
Strategies: Strategies are defined approaches (the “how to”) to support an organization in
achieving goals. Each goal can have multiple strategies to reach the end state of success.
•
Actions: Actions are targeted activities to achieve a strategy. There can be multiple actions to
support a strategy. These actions will guide the development of your implementation plan in
Phase 3.
•
Outcomes: Outcomes are the intended results of a strategy and can be seen as the end point.
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Strategic Plan Core Elements, continued
•
Metrics: Metrics are specific and measurable data points to measure the outcomes of strategic
efforts. Metrics can come in many forms and from multiple sources, and should demonstrate
progress toward goals (e.g., clinical volume, quality, safety, financial, research funding, etc.).
Where data points are available, it is important to identify who owns them, where they reside, and
what the collection cycle is. Where they are not already available, you may consider creating data
points as well as associated collection cycles.
Approvals
To provide senior leadership with the information needed to approve the strategic plan at a high level
prior to implementation, develop a strategic plan overview using details associated with your core
elements. The strategic plan overview will also be helpful in communicating the plan to key stakeholders.
Phase 2 Template:
• Strategic Plan Overview Template
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Phase 3: Implement
The purpose of the implementation phase is to put your strategic plan into action to achieve desired
outcomes. In this phase, establish how you will execute and communicate the strategic plan to
stakeholders.
Implementation Plan
An implementation plan addresses and documents the responsibilities, timelines, actions, fiscal impacts,
and resources to support your strategies. Your implementation plan will build upon the strategic plan
overview you developed in Phase 2.
Communication Plan
A communication plan specifies how and when you will communicate progress and share information
with stakeholders. Identify and encourage appropriate individuals and leaders to mention the plan in
regular interactions and share how it impacts decision making, prioritization, and alignment of efforts.
Phase 3 Templates:
• Implementation Plan Template
• Communication Plan Template
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Phase 4: Monitor
The monitoring phase allows you to continually evaluate your strategic plan to address obstacles, identify
opportunities, and adjust where necessary. By measuring and monitoring performance, you’ll see how
your activities are helping achieve the desired outcomes and where you may need to make adjustments to
your timeline, strategies, or resources.
Scorecards and Dashboards
Develop a scorecard or dashboard to visually monitor and display strategic initiative progress and
outcomes, comparing actual performance to targets for key metrics. A scorecard will help facilitate clear,
concise, and compelling communication of data to key stakeholders.
Ongoing Review
Assign teams and individuals to conduct ongoing review of the strategic plan. They should determine
how frequently the plan will be re-evaluated and meet periodically to discuss progress and any factors
that mitigate the plan’s success. Regularly assessing progress:
•
helps identify what’s working, what isn’t, and where improvements are needed, allowing for
necessary adjustments and ensuring the plan remains relevant in a dynamic environment.
•
provides transparency and accountability, enabling stakeholders to track achievements and make
informed decisions.
•
allows you to advocate for financial or other resources as you identify new needs.
Phase 4 Template:
• Scorecard Template
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Conclusion
The GIP Strategic Planning Toolkit underscores the invaluable role of strategic planning in academic
medicine. As you navigate the complex landscape of education, research, and health care, the
implementation of a well-structured strategic plan is essential for achieving institutional goals and
sustaining a mission of excellence. By embracing the concepts outlined in this toolkit, you position your
organization for continued growth and the potential to deliver the highest quality of service to
stakeholders, uphold academic standards, and make lasting contributions to the future of health care.
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Appendix A: Glossary of Terms
•
Actions: Specific and targeted activities to achieve a strategy.
•
Assessment phase: Collecting and analyzing internal and external data to understand your
organization’s current state.
•
Communication plan: Specifies how and when you will communicate strategic plan progress
and share information with stakeholders.
•
Development phase: Formulating a strategy to achieve your organization’s envisioned future
state.
•
Goals: General statements that describe what an organization aims to achieve to fulfill its mission
and vision.
•
Implementation phase: Putting your strategic plan into action to achieve desired outcomes.
•
Implementation plan: Plan addressing and documenting the responsibilities, timelines, actions,
and fiscal impacts to support a successful strategic plan.
•
Metrics: Specific and measurable data points to measure the outcomes of strategic efforts.
•
Mission statement: Foundational statement defining an institution’s core purpose.
•
Monitoring phase: Continually evaluating your strategic plan to address obstacles, identify
opportunities, and make adjustments.
•
Outcomes: Intended results of a strategy and can be seen as the end point.
•
Scorecard/dashboard: Visual display and tracking of strategic planning initiatives, related
outcomes, and supporting metrics.
•
Stakeholder: Any person or entity that would be positively or negatively impacted by
organizational changes.
•
Strategic priorities: Key aspects or categories that specify where an organization plans to direct
resources and efforts to achieve strategic goals.
•
Strategies: Defined approaches to support an organization in achieving goals.
•
SWOT analysis: Exercise to help an institution define its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats.
•
Values: A set of core principles that guide and define an organization’s culture.
•
Vision statement: An inspirational statement that describes what an organization aspires to
achieve in the long term.
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Appendix B: Templates and Resources
Templates
External Analysis Template (includes Market Analysis & PESTLE)
SWOT Analysis Template
Strategic Plan Overview Template
Implementation Plan Template
Communication Plan Template
Scorecard Template
Resources
Review the Strategic Planning Resources webpage.
Access key resources, webinars, and recommended reading.
Review examples of institutional strategic plans from academic medical centers.
Questions about this toolkit or the GIP can be directed to [email protected].
