Success for USA Diving
In preparation for the 2012 Olympics, USA Diving sought Achieve’s expertise to develop a strategic direction to win medals, increase exposure, build revenue, and strengthen their value proposition to their membership.
Achieve led the organization through four distinct phases to build consensus among the organization’s diverse membership of athletes and coaches, set priorities and chart a strategic course for the future.
Phase 1: Organizational Review
Achieve met with key staff and the Board to review the organization’s current status and strategic direction. Based on these meetings, Achieve was able to gather confidential and unbiased input from the leadership. Achieve facilitated several strategy sessions for the staff and board to define potential outcomes/ objectives. The focus was not on fixing internal challenges; but rather what opportunities lie ahead for the organization and how can resources be best utilized to accomplish such goals.
Phase 2: Input Sessions with Organizational Stakeholders
Achieve conducted interviews and surveys of USA Diving’s external stakeholders to collect input and opinion about the current and potential direction of the organization. Achieve provided USA Diving with a summary of the results as well as recommendations to help guide the strategic planning efforts based on feedback from the interviews/surveys.
Phase 3: Strategy Refinement
Utilizing information derived from the input sessions, Achieve facilitated strategic sessions for the board and key staff to set the objectives, priorities and direction of the organization for the next 4 years. The leadership participated in exercises designed to compare their perceptions and assumptions with those of external stakeholders that were interviewed and/or surveyed. Information gleaned from these sessions was used to construct the final strategic plan document.
Phase 4: Public Unveiling and Execution
Achieve advised USA Diving on key messaging, presentation, and a public unveiling of the plan. Key messages focused on what USA Diving will be in four years, the changes necessary to accomplish the goals, and the timeline the membership will see change.
Outcome
Achieve developed a strategic direction for USA Diving focused on member engagement. Through Achieve counsel, USA Diving has moved the organization from a push approach in both operations and programming to a pull engagement strategy focused on member participation in the creation, execution, and implementation of strategies. USA Diving is currently executing the strategies and during the public unveiling, has received an overwhelmingly positive response. Members are now beginning to participate in defining programming and assisting the organization in meeting its goals.