Master Plan

Alan Robbins

• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781647012328
• eBook ISBN: 9781647012335
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

Text for Front Cover

MASTER PLAN

A Community Association Strategic Planning Guide for Homeowners Associations, Condominiums, and Housing Cooperatives

Text for

MASTER PLAN

A common-sense approach… Powerful results!

Alan Robbins created the CAPSERV Strategic Planning Process and wrote Master Plan to empower community association volunteers with the ability to develop well thought out strategic plans supported by pro-active communications and purposeful implementation.

Whether you live in a new or well-established community, you can put together a successful plan with clarity of purpose and goals that are within your reach.

Master Plan tells a compelling story about Forest Grove, a community that utilized CAPSERV planning solutions to implement a successful strategic plan that proactively changed the course of its future. By connecting Forest Grove's story with the step-by-step planning process outlined in this book, readers can gain a deeper understanding about how to carry out effective plans that enable their associations to accomplish their missions and fulfill the long-term aspirations for their communities.

Note from author about cover -

 if a decision is made to do artwork, icons, or pictures on the front cover, I would suggest that your designers think in terms of residential housing developments and planned communities. If they do on line research for image concepts there should be plenty of images for inspiration under community associations and planned communities... I would stay away from images of people and general strategic planning. The primary and secondary front cover titles and back cover text do enough to cover the planning side.

CHAPTER IV

THE CAPSERV SIX-POINT STRATEGIC PLAN MODEL

When we finished the planning session, everyone was elated about how well things went. The group followed process, had a good planning session, and came up with a number of great ideas, yet I could see that some of members of the group were anxious about something. It didn’t take much prompting for them to voice their concerns. Sure…they had the makings of a good plan, but there was so much information to digest. How were they going to get it all down on paper and come to an agreement about its written contents? This led to a short but spirited debate. It was obvious that they weren’t coming to a consensus about how to proceed. It was time for me to step in and clear the air.

I told them that writing the plan was a straightforward task and reminded them about the key components of the CAPSERV strategic planning model. It was all about organization. The model was a template. It was my responsibility to write the plan. I simply had to accurately transfer their decisions to that template. Our planning session was on a Friday. I indicated that I would complete a written draft and send it to the group for review and comment toward the middle of the following week.

I set some ground rules to make certain that the review process ran smoothly. The decisions about the plan’s goals and strategies that were made during the planning session were well articulated and precise. They were good decisions. Review was not supposed to be an opportunity for anyone to second-guess the group’s intent. I made it clear that its purpose was to ensure that their decisions were accurately captured in the written document. Feedback about the draft should only cover changes that would be needed to correct material misstatements. Upon receipt of everyone’s comments, I would complete a final draft that could be submitted to the board of directors for discussion and approval at their next monthly meeting. Any further revisions could only be made at the sole discretion of the board. Once approval was received, the association’s volunteers could then develop the actions steps required to carry out the plan’s strategies and achieve its long-range goals.

The planning group was comfortable with the next steps. It was time to write the plan.

The Model

A well-written strategic plan is a document that provides comprehensive information about all elements and aspects of the plan in an objective, concise, clear, and easy-to-understand manner. The CAPSERV Six-Point Strategic Plan Model serves as a template that facilitates an organized logical flow of the ideas expressed during planning discussion and accurately sets forth the planning group’s specific decisions about the plan’s goals and strategies. Its core components are the following:

1. The Community Vision Statement
2. The Association’s Mission Statement
3. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
4. Goals, Strategies, and Action Steps
5. Communications and Feedback
6. Plan Review and Modification

THE COMMUNITY VISION STATEMENT defines what a community aspires to be. It is a statement about what is most important to its homeowners and focuses on their shared values. It sets standards of excellence, inspires enthusiasm and commitment, and is likely to lead to a better future. A good vision statement has the following characteristics:

• I...

Table of contents

• Is It Time to Move Ahead?
• Linking the Budget to the Plan
• Survey Process Management
• PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION, PROGRESS MONITORING, AND PLAN MODIFICATION