Managing Indigenous Organisations

Across the last 30 years that I have been working with Indigenous organisations, I have found that Indigenous organisations are the most conscious of writing strategic plans out of any other for-profit or not-for-profit organisations I have ever worked with. The way they do it also follows a trend. When you wrote your last strategic plan, did you do it in a "workshop"? That’s what most Indigenous organisations do – they clear out some time and take their team out of the workplace so they won’t be disturbed, and they spend a couple of days discussing what’s going on in the organisation and how to improve it and set goals and strategies. But here’s what’s wrong with this approach – more often than not you discuss and find solutions for problems and opportunities from inside your business, and forget that it is the external stimuli that could have serious and unpredictable effects. You probably started your planning by applying a little SWOT Analysis. You write on a whiteboard all your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. If your facilitator is on the ball he or she will explain that strengths and weaknesses are internal issues - you can use your strengths and eliminate your weaknesses with...

A business plan is an important tool for any organisation to define a roadmap to growth and to chart its progress. For an Indigenous organisation, business plans can be used in not-for-profit community-controlled organisations, as well as social enterprises and Indigenous businesses. But what goes into a business plan? Different consultants and sources seem to indicate different contents, but in reality, there are some basic details you need to include in a business plan. (more…)...