The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has begun the process to develop a new strategic plan to guide the Association’s priorities and activities for 2017-2022. The plan will be dynamic and rolling, and be subject to annual review and update.
The first step in the plan’s development was a workshop with TAC’s Board of Directors in April. Key findings and feedback provided by the Board at this workshop will now be used in the next step of the process – a survey of a broad range of TAC members and stakeholders.
The survey will ask for feedback and input about TAC’s current products, services, strengths, and weaknesses. It will also ask respondents to share insights about their anticipated future needs and priorities, and how TAC can help meet these as we move into the future. The survey will be open and available for responses from late May until mid-June.
Following the survey, a smaller number of interviews with a sample of respondents will be conducted to help further explore the main findings emerging from the survey.
Why Develop a Strategic Plan?
Strategic planning for a member-driven organization involves assessing the current situation, consulting with members and stakeholders to determine where the organization should focus its efforts, and planning how to get from the current state to the desired one. The plan is expected to set priorities, provide direction, focus resources, strengthen operations and gain the support of the Association’s Board, members, customers, stakeholders and staff. The process to develop the plan should yield a clear understanding of what the Association is, who it serves, what it does, why it does it and where it is going.
The following diagram illustrates TAC's strategic planning process:
Courtesy Capital Park Consulting
At the end of the process, TAC's new strategic plan will:
Planning Milestones and Timelines
In early 2016 TAC began its process by issuing a request for proposal seeking a firm with strategic planning expertise to work with the Board and staff on the development of the strategic plan. Several proposals were received, and Capital Park Consulting was selected as the successful bidder.
Working with Capital Park, the following milestones in the development of the strategic plan have been identified:
Milestone |
Timing |
Contract and background research |
March 2016 (completed) |
Host workshop session with TAC Board of Directors |
April 2016 (completed) |
Conduct stakeholder research |
May through July 2016 |
Compile and report results of stakeholder research |
July through September 2016 |
Prepare draft strategic objectives and plan |
October through December 2016 |
Prepare final strategic objectives and plan |
January and February 2017 |
Present final strategic objectives and plan to the Board of Directors for approval |
April 2017 |
TAC is excited to undertake this process, and will listen carefully to the feedback that our members and stakeholders provide about how we can best serve the needs of your organization and the transportation community. We look forward to continuing to share the findings of TAC’s strategic planning process as it progresses.