In early 2006, we capped 11 years of grassroots discussions and made a formal Strategic Plan. We brought in a Management Consultant who had a long and intimate association with ADATS and the Coolie Sangha, and conducted a 4 month long participatory exercise involving ADATS Staff and key Coolie Sangha functionaries.
We stated our Vision and Mission, made a Situation Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis, Importance/Influence Matrix and SWOT Analysis. We then listed the Core Strategies and Strategic Priorities for implementing this Project. As a final step, we made a Problem Tree, reversed it into an Objectives Tree and then made a 4 x 4 LFA Matrix with Goal, Purpose, Objectives, Indicators, Means of Verification and Assumptions.
This long and drawn out strategic planning exercise was attended by Coolie Sangha representatives from all levels – Village, Cluster and Taluk. After that, the draft plan was translated and communicated to each and every village CSU. Feedback from grassroots discussions was used to finalise the document.