Plan Together

STEP 1: Decide the objectives of the planning process.

Before beginning to plan, it can be helpful to determine the purposes of the planning process. Many teams do this informally, but it helps to be more systematic and explicit.

One way or another, planning ultimately comes down to answering six key questions. The community action plan you end up with at the conclusion of your planning together stage should clearly describe the following:

1. What you would like to achieve.
2. How you will achieve it.
3. Who will be responsible for each activity and for results.
4. What resources you will need and how you will obtain them.
5. When and where you will implement your activities.
6. How you will monitor your progress and know when you have achieved your results.

The planning process itself will also have objectives (beyond producing the plan, that is). Here are some examples of planning process objectives that program teams and communities might also want to achieve during this phase:

• Ensure that key policy and decision-makers, community leaders, and health service providers support and contribute to the program.
• Ensure that those who are most affected by the CM health issue set the agenda and have a meaningful voice in the planning process.
• Enlist technical assistance from external organizations that have desired expertise.
• Identify and leverage needed resources to carry out the strategies that are developed.
• Ensure that what was learned through the exploration and investigation of the CM health issue is applied to the planning process.
• Strengthen community individuals’ and organizations’ analysis, planning, and negotiation skills.
• Build community confidence to take collective action.
• Build community leaders’ skills to facilitate a planning process that integrates those who are most affected by the CM health issue.
• Establish new communication channels and relationships between community actors.
• Ensure that opposing points of view can be voiced and discussed in a constructive manner.

It is important to work with your team and core group members to determine planning process objectives. Additionally, at the beginning of the joint planning process with the broader community, you should ask participants how they would like the planning process to proceed, so that their expectations are clear. If some expectations cannot be met, it is important to discuss why.