CFC Strategic Planning—Helping Cooperatives Tackle Rapid Change

For almost a half-century, no-cost training, industry updates and long-term forecasting have been staples of CFC’s value-added service offerings. Recently, strategic facilitation has moved to the forefront.

“CFC regional vice presidents have been assisting our members’ with strategic planning sessions in various ways for decades,” explains CFC Senior Vice President of Strategic Services Steve Kettler. “But with the electric utility business evolving at the fastest pace I’ve ever seen, demand for this service just kept growing. As a result, in 2015 we began offering formalized facilitation services, giving our members an opportunity to develop strategic directions through meaningful discussions on long-range strategic issues and concerns.”

Since then, CFC staff have conducted nearly 300 unique sessions with electric cooperatives.

What CFC Can Do For You

“We adapt the sessions to fit each co-op’s specific needs by listening to the member’s goals during a preplanning call,” Kettler emphasizes. “We help management and boards begin a conversation about subjects of importance to the cooperative, and employ several different approaches depending on the situation.”

In most cases, Kettler and his team survey co-op leadership before arriving onsite. “We then show up with wall charts, books and survey results all tailored to the cooperative,” Kettler says. “We kick things off with an overview of industry subjects or Key Ratio Trend Analysis data and then let the co-op direct the discussion.”

As the session concludes, participants decide when management will provide directors/trustees with a draft action blueprint to meet identified goals. CFC staff then provide a summary of the session, and if requested, will hold a follow-up meeting with the cooperative to fashion a strategy execution plan.

How Long-Term Thinking Can Help

“We perform the sessions with a lead facilitator and the system’s regional vice president, Kettler points out. “CFC staff possess a deep understanding of all facets of the electric cooperative network—we have years of experience working at and for cooperatives and innately understand what our members are talking about.”

He adds: “Planning like this lets cooperatives apply resources more effectively and think farther down the road. By taking a broader view, cooperatives can better anticipate major trends and adopt tactics to deal with them earlier.”

Until recently, most electric cooperatives carried out strategic planning once every five years or so—if at all. “Today, members are holding sessions every two to three years, often with mid-cycle updates, to keep up with changes,” Kettler concludes.