A Direct Line Blog

By Gerry Singleton, VP of Credit Union System Relations for CUNA Mutual Group

Strategic planning is both an obligation and an opportunity. Credit unions who plan well, execute well and employ innovation are the ones you read about today … growing faster, staying more relevant and becoming financially stronger. What makes one credit union’s plan better than another? Often, it is about how you plan as much as what you plan. Achieve more out of your planning by:

• Staying Strategic! Comfort lies in tactics over strategy. As a result, efforts drive to shorter-term results. The key to great strategy is to stay strategic. Drive planning efforts at true long-term initiatives (at least three years out) before focusing on short-term tactics to achieve those goals.
• Focusing on fewer strategic initiatives. Don’t take on too much. You will achieve far more with 3-5 strong initiatives and your resources (talent, time and money) will achieve a greater return on their investment with a few strong, high-impact initiatives, too.
• Prioritizing tough. Create a simple scoring system to prioritize activities and to be consistent with measuring their importance. This allows you to make tough decisions when resources become tight.
• Executing well. Develop a solid plan with clear timelines, roles and responsibilities. Make managers and leaders accountable for continuous progress to milestones and results through a cadence of review meetings and reporting.

Remember the right actions help lead to your desired results. Effort alone doesn’t guarantee results. Tie strategic activities to measures and focus on the following for true balance and strength in the future:

• Create magic for your members (and future members): Member experience is crucial. Not all financial institutions, nor members, are alike. Create strategies to connect segments of members together. Deliver products in non-traditional ways or with special features. Understand what will appeal to your various segments and deliver.
• Increase efficiencies to optimize effectiveness: Technology is a key driver for your credit union and provides an opportunity to increase efficiency. Optimize and integrate your technology to help both your members and employees be more productive. Don’t overlook your basic processes – steps in every channel should be quick and easy.
• Don’t forget your people: Your talent on the front line creates your member experience. Your talent in the back office creates productivity and operational effectiveness. Your leaders create the culture. Every person in your organization matters, even in a world of digital delivery and interactive teller machines. Build a strong plan for the development of your people, including skill building, knowledge sharing and leadership training.
• Build innovation into your plan: Disruption happens. By building innovation into your plan, you can manage changing technology and delivery systems proactively. For example, harnessing the power of data and analytics will help you make better decisions in many areas of your operations, including all of those listed above.

Want to learn more? Attend CUNA Mutual Group’s Online Discovery Conference on Thursday, August 16. The conference will bring together innovation experts and credit union leaders to help credit unions prepare for upcoming strategic planning sessions. The virtual, no-cost event is open to all credit union and league employees. Register at www.cunamutual.com/discovery.

Gerry Singleton is the Vice President, Credit Union System Relations for CUNA Mutual Group, the leading provider of insurance and financial services to credit unions and their members. In this role, Gerry is responsible for leveraging CUNA Mutual Group’s relationships with the credit union movement—including national and state trade associations— to help credit unions fulfill their mission with their members and communities. Contact him at gerry.singleton@cunamutual.com, or connect on LinkedIn.