Strategic Plan Progress Report

The strategic planning statute, KRS 48.810, requires that each program cabinet and specified administrative entity submit an annual strategic plan progress report. To see the text of the Strategic Planinng Statute.

By November 1 of each even-numbered fiscal year (FY2008, FY2010, etc.), when the agency submits its final budget request to the Office of the State Budget Director (OSBD), it is required to submit a strategic plan to the Governmental Services Center (GSC). The last section of that biennial strategic plan will be a progress report.

By September 1 of each “off year,” i.e., odd-numbered fiscal years between biennial budget/strategic plan submissions, each program cabinet and specified agency is to submit a free-standing progress report to GSC as a separate electronic document.

GSC will post each progress report along with each agency strategic plan in the online document repository Agency Strategic Plans and Progress Reports  so that it is available to OSBD, the Legislative Research Commission (LRC), other interested parties, and the public. 
 

In order to begin a progress report, it is important to obtain the current strategic plan. Once obtained, copy the strategic plan’s goals and objectives to a new document and title it, “Strategic Plan Progress Report, Agency Number and Name, Origination Date, Revision Date, and Revision Number.” The main purpose of the progress report is to quantify and describe the agency’s progress toward achieving each of the goals and objectives in the strategic plan under which the agency operated in the prior year.

Each goal in the agency’s strategic plan will have at least one quantifiable and measurable Performance Indicator (PI)* as a way to track the agency’s progress toward achieving that goal. Similarly, each strategic objective will have at least one quantifiable and measurable PI.

For each “GOAL PI” and for each “OBJECTIVE PI” the progress report should contain either a quantified statement of progress or one of the following explanatory notes:

• “The program/project has not yet begun;”
• “The program/project has begun but it is too early to see quantitative results;”
• “The program/project has been postponed and is expected to begin on _____[Insert expected start date]______;” or,
• “The program/project has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely.” 

There is no formal template for the progress report because the number of goals and objectives will vary from one agency to another. However, a progress report format is recommended for the electronic submission to GSC.

The Progress Report Steps displays steps in developing a progress report.

When submitting the electronic progress report to GSC, no charts, graphs, illustrations, or photographs should be included. The progress report should be submitted in a text-only version. Submitting a text version will simplify the process of creating the report, ensure consistency among the plans and reports submitted by the various agencies, and make the document repository more efficient.

Note:  An agency may also submit a hard copy of its strategic plan and/or its progress report with visuals, charts, graphs, illustrations, and photographs. GSC will forward a copy of that document to OSBD after the electronic copy (without graphics) has been entered into the document repository. An electronic text version of the strategic plan and the progress report should be sent to GSC even if a hard copy with visual elements is submitted.

Side note:
Sometimes the process of developing a progress report will uncover items in the agency’s strategic plan that may have changed. An agency may update its strategic plan at any time and send a revised copy to GSC. GSC will update the repository with the newest edition.

*Definition: A performance indicator (PI) is a quantified financial or non-financial metric describing some condition or aspect of an organization’s performance. It is “moment-in-time” or otherwise time-bound.