Visioning is a program created by Rotarians in the upper Midwest designed to help a Rotary club create its own vision and identify the steps necessary to achieve that vision. The result is unique to each club because it is a vision designed and endorsed by the club’s own members.
How it works:
A club visioning event must include a good cross-section of its membership from the newest to the most experienced Rotarian. The process uses the talents and life experience within the club to develop a vision and goals reflecting that club’s membership, thus providing a renewed focus on objectives. The challenge during this 2 1/2 to 3-hour process is to gather as many ideas and opportunities for the future from a group of 10-20 (absolute maximum of 25) Rotarians and then condense it down to the most important goals. To assure this can be accomplished within a limited time frame, the club visioning event is run by an outside neutral, well-trained team of Rotary facilitators who do not suggest or promote projects.
This is not a strategic planning process. However, it does provide clarity that can be used to either help in developing a strategic plan or reviewing an existing strategic plan. By the end of the process, each club will have a clear vision of the following:
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to be?
- How do we get there?
If a club starts with an effective visioning event, it leads to a long-range plan that can effectively result in enhanced programs both locally and internationally. A club vision is a living management tool that begins this process by defining a shared commitment, providing long-term direction, creating a framework to establish goals and objectives, and helping the club to optimize the use of its resources.
The key thing to remember is that this visioning process is designed to make sure that it is the club members who are providing the input and deciding the goals, objectives, and action steps that they want to take in order to realize the vision that they have created for themselves as a Rotary Club in their community.
