strategic-planning-manager

What this skill does

# Strategic Planning Manager Skill

Organizational strategic planning system for K-12 school districts using a research-backed 4-stage process. Synthesizes best practices from Education Elements, Hanover Research, AASA, ThoughtExchange, and facilitation methodology.

> **Start Here:** New to this skill? Read `guides/leader-overview.md` for a full introduction to the 4-stage process, superintendent roles, team formation, and readiness assessment.

> **Note:** For personal life/work strategic planning, use the `personal-strategic-planning` skill instead.

## When to Activate

This skill activates when the user requests:

**Full Strategic Planning Process:**
- "Help me create a strategic plan for our district"
- "We need to do strategic planning"
- "Let's start the district strategic planning process"
- "Facilitate our strategic planning retreat"

**Stage-Specific Work:**
- "Analyze our survey data for strategic planning"
- "Help me process focus group transcripts"
- "Generate a SWOT analysis"
- "Help define our strategic directions"
- "Build our implementation timeline"
- "Set up progress monitoring"

**Plan Update Mode:**
- "Update our existing strategic plan"
- "It's time to refresh our strategic plan"
- "Annual strategic plan review"

## Skill Modes

### Mode 1: Full Process Guide
Walk through all 4 stages sequentially, prompting for data inputs and facilitating each step.
- Best for: New strategic plans, comprehensive planning retreats

### Mode 2: Stage-Specific Entry
Jump directly into any specific stage with appropriate inputs.
- Best for: Working on one component, picking up where you left off

### Mode 3: Data Analysis Only
Process surveys, transcripts, and documents without running the full planning process.
- Best for: Pre-work, discovery, feeding data into existing processes

### Mode 4: Plan Update
Start from an existing plan, analyze progress, update for a new cycle.
- Best for: Annual reviews, mid-cycle adjustments, refresh cycles

---

## The 4-Stage Strategic Planning Process

### Stage 1: Engage & Assess
**Key Question:** Where are we now?
**AI Role:** Data analysis, synthesis, draft preparation
**Human Role:** Data collection, stakeholder engagement, validation

**What Happens:**
- Gather and analyze data (surveys, focus groups, document review)
- Engage stakeholders across the community
- Conduct SWOT analysis with prioritization
- Identify investment opportunities and critical barriers

**Available Scripts:**
```bash
# Analyze survey data
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/analyze_surveys.py \
  --input survey_results.csv \
  --output-dir ./discovery

# Process focus group transcripts
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/process_transcripts.py \
  --input-dir ./transcripts \
  --output ./discovery/transcript-themes.json

# Generate SWOT from discovery data
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/generate_swot.py \
  --discovery-dir ./discovery \
  --output ./outputs/swot-analysis.md
```

**Outputs:**
- Discovery Report (`templates/discovery-report.md`)
- SWOT Analysis (`templates/swot-template.md`)
- Stakeholder input summary
- Key findings synthesis

**Guide:** `guides/stage1-engage-assess-guide.md`

---

### Stage 2: Set Direction
**Key Question:** Where do we want to go?
**AI Role:** Provide prompts, capture input, map alignment
**Human Role:** Visioning, decision-making, prioritization

**What Happens:**
- Define or reaffirm Mission, Vision, and Values
- Identify 3-6 district priority areas
- Define long-term outcome goals
- Develop 4-6 strategic directions

**Optional Deeper Work:**
- Deep participatory visioning exercise → `guides/appendix-a-vision-development.md`
- Organizational tension analysis → `guides/appendix-b-tension-analysis.md`
- Developing a Profile of a Graduate → `guides/appendix-c-graduate-profile.md`

**Outputs:**
- Mission/Vision/Values statements
- Priority areas with outcome goals
- Strategic Directions Framework (`templates/strategic-directions.md`)
- Direction-to-priority alignment matrix

**Guide:** `guides/stage2-set-direction-guide.md`

---

### Stage 3: Build the Plan & Align Resources
**Key Question:** How will we get there?
**AI Role:** Structure creation, timeline drafting, metric suggestions
**Human Role:** Reality testing, commitment making, ownership assignment

**What Happens:**
- Develop three-column plans (Current Reality → 1-Year → 3-Year)
- Define measurable goals and success indicators
- Choose strategies/initiatives per direction
- Assign ownership and align resources
- Build Year 1 quarterly timeline
- Cross-direction integration check

**Outputs:**
- Implementation Tables (`templates/focused-implementation.md`)
- Success indicator matrix
- First-Year Timeline (`templates/first-year-timeline.md`)
- Resource alignment plan
- Ownership chart

**Guide:** `guides/stage3-build-plan-guide.md`

---

### Stage 4: Implement, Monitor & Improve
**Key Question:** Are we making progress?
**AI Role:** Dashboard creation, report drafting, data analysis
**Human Role:** Implementation leadership, decision-making, accountability

**What Happens:**
- Develop annual action plans
- Track leading and lagging indicators
- Report to board and community on regular cadence
- Make mid-course adjustments when data warrants
- Conduct annual reviews and mid-plan refreshes

**Available Scripts:**
```bash
# Generate strategic plan document from all stage outputs
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/synthesize_plan.py \
  --work-dir ./planning \
  --output ./outputs/strategic-plan.md \
  --format full  # or 'executive', 'board', 'staff', 'community'
```

**Outputs:**
- Full Strategic Plan Document (`templates/full-strategic-plan.md`)
- Executive Summary (`templates/executive-summary.md`)
- Annual action plans
- Progress dashboards
- Board reports

**Guide:** `guides/stage4-implement-improve-guide.md`

---

## Available Scripts

### Survey Analysis
```bash
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/analyze_surveys.py \
  --input data.csv \
  --format csv \
  --output-dir ./discovery
```

**Supported formats:** CSV, JSON, Excel (.xlsx, .xls)

**Analysis includes:**
- Response distribution statistics
- Sentiment analysis per question
- Theme extraction from open-ended responses
- Stakeholder group comparisons (if demographics provided)
- Word frequency and phrase analysis

### Transcript Processing
```bash
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/process_transcripts.py \
  --input-dir ./transcripts \
  --output ./discovery/transcript-themes.json
```

**Analysis includes:**
- Theme extraction using NLP
- Sentiment patterns
- Speaker/stakeholder attribution (if labeled)
- Quote extraction for evidence
- Cross-transcript pattern identification

### SWOT Generation
```bash
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/generate_swot.py \
  --discovery-dir ./discovery \
  --output ./outputs/swot-analysis.md
```

**Generates:**
- Data-driven SWOT matrix
- Supporting evidence citations
- Investment priority recommendations
- Barrier analysis

### Plan Synthesis
```bash
uv run skills/strategic-planning-manager/scripts/synthesize_plan.py \
  --work-dir ./planning \
  --output ./outputs/strategic-plan.md \
  --format full  # or 'executive', 'board', 'staff', 'community'
```

**Generates:**
- Complete strategic plan document
- Multiple stakeholder versions
- Executive summary
- Board presentation outline

---

## Facilitator Guides

| Guide | Purpose | Duration |
|-------|---------|----------|
| `leader-overview.md` | Full process overview for superintendents | Reference |
| `stage1-engage-assess-guide.md` | Data collection + SWOT workshop | 2-6 weeks + 2.5 hrs |
| `stage2-set-direction-guide.md` | Vision, priorities, strategic directions | 3-4 hours |
| `stage3-build-plan-guide.md` | Implementation planning workshop | 3-4 hours |
| `stage4-implement-improve-guide.md` | Monitoring and continuous improvement | Ongoing |
| `appendix-a-vision-development.md` | Deep partic