Bike farm went through a super low key planning meeting of sorts in September 2014.

We got together with the specific intention of talking about the future of bike farm. We discussed what we do well, what we'd like to see ourselves do more of and imagined what the collective might look like in two years. We then looked at our brainstorming and pulled out 5 or so distinct themes. (ex: shop improvements, work shops, out reach, specific events...) Then we broke out into groups of people who were particularly interested in any of these themes.

The objective of the groups were to determine the details of how to accomplish the various goals, discuss if they align with our mission, and all the nitty gritty of whether or not we ought to pursue the idea. We set dates as targets for achieving, and listed resources we would need. We then put all the info on a calendar and tried to ensure that we were not piling on too much.

Given that we are an all volunteer run collective, i.e. no paid staff and people participating as they please, we did not accomplish all we set out to do. The benefit of the exercise is not what you accomplish, but rather getting on the same page and creating focus in the group. Also, when you set goals, you create metrics by which to gauge what you have done.

I'd say it was worth the energy spent (about 2.5 hours of meeting and $40 for pizza). It becomes more and more important as you have a larger collective, say 15 people or more. All these moving parts can get out of sink pretty easily.

good luck! -momoko

On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 3:00 PM, Deb Salls deb@bikeworks.org wrote:

Bike Works in Seattle went thru a pretty complete Strategic Planning process a few years back. I would be happy to share the process if you want to email me. And here is our Strategic plan http://bikeworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Bike-Works-Strategic-Plan.pd... This plan is for 2012- 2016 so we are starting the next Strategic plan process later this year.

Deb

Deb Salls

Executive Director

Bike Works Program Classrooms and Offices

3715 S. Hudson Ave Suite #111 (Lower level)

Seattle, WA 98118

206-695-2522 Main line

206-695-2607 Direct line

Bike Works Community Bike Shop 3709 S. Ferdinand St. Seattle, WA 98118 206-725-8867

http://www.bikeworks.org

Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/BikeWorksSeattle and Twitter http://twitter.com/bikeworks206

"Building sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling."

*From:* Thethinktank [mailto: thethinktank-bounces@lists.bikecollectives.org] *On Behalf Of *Stephen Andruski *Sent:* Thursday, May 21, 2015 2:42 PM *To:* The Think Tank *Subject:* Re: [TheThinkTank] Strategic Planning

I found an eBook called "How to Start a Bike Repair Shop - A Complete Bicycle Repair Shop Business Plan" from InDemand Business Plans. I used this to help me put together the structure of the plan and get an idea of the content. Our financials still need to be better fleshed out, but other than that I found it a valuable exercise. It was very helpful when I did our 501(c)(3) filing.

Steve Andruski

The Rockville Bike Hub

On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 4:16 PM, Marissa Pherson marissapherson@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Think Tankers,

Has anyone done a Strategic Plan, and do you have advice on the process or the result?

Our organization is working to get started on that process and looking for examples and advice.

Thanks!

Marissa Pherson

Columbus Bike Co-op

Columbus, IN

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