Strategic planning is used in organizations for diagnosis, analysis, reflection, and decision-making regarding their objectives and the direction of future activities, in order to adapt to changes and demands in their environment in accordance with their mission.

As a first step, as we mentioned earlier, it is important to carry out a participatory consultative process to analyze the situation, decide in which direction we want to transform it, and use resources effectively by selecting the most appropriate option from among certain alternatives.

Once the direction to follow was clear, the Pare Manel Foundation, through strategic planning, sought not only to continue adapting to its environment but also to shape its desired future—both as an internal organization and in terms of fulfilling its social objectives.

A Journey Toward Renewal

On its journey toward renewing its strategy, the Pare Manel Foundation had to navigate several milestones, all of which were aimed at harmonizing the views of its entire staff, as well as those of the core group that served as the driving force throughout every stage of the process.

Ignition Workshop: Current Situation and Turbulence

The Ignition Workshop is the starting point—it’s the moment when we, as a foundation and a family, began to think about where we see ourselves in the future. As we began asking ourselves these questions, our various interests in change and action began to emerge. Where would we like to go? What do we want to learn along the way? How can each of us contribute our own experiences and knowledge? What do we want the Pare Manel Foundation to be like in the coming years? What goals do we want to achieve? These were some of the questions that arose.

In-Depth Workshop I: Scope of Action

This workshop built upon the preliminary work carried out during the Ignition workshop and in subsequent working meetings between the Platoniq team and the core group of the Pare Manel Foundation.

One of the goals of this process is to be able to bring out all the work being done internally and communicate it to the outside world. As part of the effort to empower the workers at the Pare Manel Foundation, the goal was always for the process to ultimately become self-managed.

In this regard, Platoniq aims to leave a legacy within the organizations and the people who are part of them, so that they can approach discussions and organizational tasks effectively and efficiently.

In addition, during the workshop, we wanted to emphasize that Strategic Plans are not static documents; rather, they must be reviewed periodically and adapted to the changing times in which we live.

In-Depth Workshop 2: Understanding Our Beneficiaries.

This workshop focused on two crucial aspects: who the Foundation’s beneficiaries were and what was the best way to organize ourselves to achieve our objectives (governance).

To this end, we reflected on the importance of a Strategic Plan for the organization, how to implement it, and how to put it into practice. We also shared the SWOT analyses for each area that had been prepared previously, which were then broken down with guidance from Platoniq.

All of this helped us prioritize and identify the most important beneficiaries for the Pare Manel Foundation and reflect on the importance of the relationship between the selected beneficiaries and the Pare Manel Foundation.

In light of the various dynamics that came into play, we ultimately gained an understanding of the dynamics and structure underlying the way the Pare Manel Foundation is currently organized, as well as the Foundation’s current model, which is based on its fundamental pillars and the participation of its various beneficiaries.

In-Depth Workshop 3: What goals do we want to achieve, how do we get there, and how do we measure the impact?

In the third workshop of the process, we discussed the importance of reliable data and how it helps guide the strategic actions we need to take. Once that data was compiled and broken down, we moved on to creating and drafting a vision that included specific actions and was measurable in terms of its impact.

We refer to this as crossing a bridge from a bold vision to the implementation of the Strategic Plan. To illustrate this, a metaphor was proposed to the members of the Padre Manel Foundation, drawing on the imagery of a garden to reinforce the narrative of the strategic process and the Foundation’s new phase.

The End of the Road

Once the diagnostic phase and the phase of analyzing the information gathered from both the organization and its environment were completed, the time came to take on the challenge of formulating the Strategic Plan. Both of these actions were fundamental to the Plan’s formulation process and were decisive for its development.

On the one hand, the systematization of the information gathered in the previous stages—which involves reading and digesting the results obtained, harmonizing them so they are comparable, and classifying and reorganizing them, if necessary.

On the other hand, making decisions regarding the organization’s objectives and strategies and formulating them in a way that reflects the organization’s own language and narrative, allowing everyone to understand them and feel recognized. Todo con la intención de dibujar las estrategias más adecuadas para la organización en concordancia y coherencia entre la fase de diagnóstico y la formalización de los objetivos.