This year, NRCA, through its leadership, members, staff and other roofing industry stakeholders, has embarked on a strategic planning process for the association. NRCA's leadership wants to make this effort the most inclusive ever attempted. Inclusion takes time. It takes effort. And it takes a willingness to listen. NRCA's Executive Committee and board of directors are doing just that.
I have been involved in more strategic planning sessions in my lifetime than I care to admit. Many were for my own roofing company as well as a multitude of nonprofit organizations for which I served as a board member. Typically, what would happen is the board of directors would get together and after three or four hours (or, in some cases, a couple of days) come up with a plan for the organization's future. Not only is this method myopic, it often leads to well-drafted plans that end up looking good but reside on a bookshelf somewhere never to be seen or referenced again. We are determined not to let that happen.
Our new strategic planning process, led by NRCA Vice President of Enterprise Risk Management and Executive Education Tom Shanahan, is focusing on two different but interconnected parts. The first part will lead us to a vision statement, which will be inspirational and aspirational. It will speak directly to the priorities of NRCA's work and answer the question of who we are and where we are going. The idea is for NRCA's vision statement to last a decade or more, but finding the right words is challenging.
We have been asking members and stakeholders to help us find these words by telling us their NRCA stories. By listening to their stories and understanding why they are members and/or participants in what we do, we will find the words that will lead us into the future.
After the vision is cast, we will begin working on other elements of the strategic plan, including the mission statement, which will align our course of work with the vision. The vision then acts as a filter for the work we choose to undertake. This is essential to manage the hundreds of ideas that often come to us as suggestions for how to direct NRCA's work. It helps us focus the mission on NRCA's broader vision and direction.
The process of strategic planning can be cumbersome. Roofing contractors by nature are "get it done" people. But by taking the time to get it right, rather than a report on a shelf, we will have a living document to guide and direct our work for the next decade.
Stay tuned.
