A part of any well-functioning harm reduction organization is regular organizational and strategic planning. This means a range of things including:

• Mission Creation/Re-Visiting
• Values Statements (Principles of Unity, North Star Statements etc.)
• SWOT Analyses
• Strategic Planning
• Succession Planning
• Implementation Planning

These pieces are grouped together because they are often done together during retreats or other times set aside specifically for organizational planning.

Though there are specific instructions for each, there are some general suggestions for all of them:

• Set aside the time for planning – Because harm reduction organizations are on seemingly endless treadmills of challenges, setting aside time to plan may seem like a low priority but it is actually crucial to ensuring mission success. Not only does it help to focus and motivate stakeholders, it also improves participant outcomes and quality of services.
  Make sure a variety of stakeholders help plan – The assumption is often that the primary leader or the leader and an outside facilitator will plan any large decision-making meeting. However, in harm reduction organizations, best practices indicate that other invested stakeholders (board members, employees, participants) should be encouraged to at least contribute their ideas to the planning process.
• Decide how long you’re planning for – Having both short (6mos-1year) and long (3-10years) plans is useful. For any given meeting decide in advance exactly what timeframes you will be working on. In general, it’s best to keep longer term plans more general and ambiguous and shorter-term ones more focused and detailed.
• Answer “why?” – The most important question to answer is “why”. What is the purpose of the meeting? Do you need to make a strategic plan for the coming year? Do you need to come up with a values statement to focus your work? Are you expanding and need to decide how best to scale up? Do you need to plan for succession? Whatever it is, try and identify your purpose/intention to help give your meeting focus.
• Go someplace else – It can be difficult to concentrate on planning in your regular workplace so go elsewhere for these deeper discussions.
• Have icebreakers – Though members of leadership will often know all the stakeholders, it’s important to have ways for everyone to connect at the beginning of these meetings to help ensure cohesion.
• Make sure a variety of stakeholders are represented in decision making – How stakeholders are represented is open to interpretation, some organizations hold open meetings, others have participant representatives on boards. Most use surveys or needs assessments to gather input ahead of decisions but it is important to get everyone’s buy-in, particularly regarding decisions that impact services, workplace, and motivation.
• Get an outside facilitator – It is best to have a neutral party conducting the meeting and paying attention to its logistics so, if possible, hire someone. If hiring someone is not possible, get a volunteer from outside your agency to help facilitate the meeting.
• Make an agenda – Having an agenda, and circulating it before the meeting, will save valuable time and effort. Try coming up with time limits for each agenda item to help keep meetings on track in order to complete all necessary business.
• Don’t overdo it – Don’t pack your agenda so tightly that you don’t have time for important, unscripted conversations that may arise.
• Learn formal processes – Learning about formal meeting processes like Robert’s Rules of Order or Formal Consensus can help you organize your meetings more effectively even if you don’t choose to use them.
• Make community agreements first – At the start of your meeting make some agreements about how people will conduct themselves. It is important that you go over these even if you have standing community agreements for meetings. Here are some sample community agreements:
  • Be kind.
  • Assume positive intent – everyone is here to serve the community. Give the benefit of the doubt and ask questions.
  • Be curious, open, and respectful.
  • Avoid stigmatizing language and stories about people who use drugs and other marginalized folks.
  • Call in, not out.
  • Check your privilege and check-in with your oppression.
  • No one knows everything! Together we know a lot.
  • If you don’t understand something, ask.
  • Take care of ourselves – stretch, eat, drink, use the restroom, rest, etc.
  • Confidentiality – what is said here stays here.
  • One voice at a time.
  • Speak up/hold back. (Work to make sure everyone gets a similar amount of “air time”.)
  • Avoid jargon, acronyms, and industry language – use inclusive language that is accessible for people with varying inside knowledge and levels of education. If jargon or acronyms are essential, explain them.
  • Be aware of time – it’s helpful to have at least one group member in charge of watching the agenda and the clock. This can be the facilitator but it is often helpful to have someone in addition to the facilitator minding the time.
  • ELMO- (Enough Let’s Move On) means if what you wanted to say has already been said, don’t say it.
  • Speak from your own experience and use “I” statements.
  • Challenge assumptions and stereotypes.
  • Be conscious of intent vs. impact – no matter what your intention is, you’re responsible for your impact.
• Set aside time to do – When possible, set aside time during planning sessions to do some of the tasks identified during planning. This helps ensure follow-through.
• Serve food – If possible, serve/share food. This builds community and helps keep ideas flowing and patience intact.
• Set aside time for fun – Even if it’s a few minutes, having fun together builds community and collaboration.
• Respect people’s time – Stick to the timeframes you advertised, and people agreed to, even if it means adjourning without completing every agenda item. If you have to adjourn before the agenda has been finished, be sure and schedule time to complete the agenda before the meeting is concluded.
• Have an accountability buddy – Put people in charge of holding people accountable for the tasks and responsibilities they take on individually and collectively. It is ideal if your facilitator can also fulfill this responsibility.