Strategic Planning and Visioning
Crane is a student of Lean, and employee tools and techniques from this management system to collaborate with key stakeholders in the strategic direction of the organization. This includes the Board, executive team, senior leaders and broader management structure in the formation stages. Toward the end employees should also be engaged and informed. Execution is the key to any plan. This is where companies fail. A rigorous process to follow progress and escalate issues is critical. Each strategy must have a champion who is empowered and accountable. Key performance indicators (process and outcome) are vital. Transparency is also critical for success.
Crane led this process at Salem Health. They started with broad based visioning sessions including the executives, physician leaders, middle management and a subset of employees. They were able to draw on the consistency across all groups in how they defined the visions and ultimate success. This led to the creation of five vision elements (value for the community, employee engagement, physician partnership, quality and patient experience), development of the metrics defining their “True North”, and then the strategies and tactics embracing those vision elements driving performance towards True North.