Business Planning for the Long Haul

You all have stepped up to the plate these last couple of weeks! Thanks to Monecia for getting the conversation started, and for all of you who are writing in. Keep it coming!

A lot of you mentioned Negotiation as a session of the MAPH that taught you a lot. Dee Dee Downey wrote about an interesting concept about negotiation: “Leave something on the table.” That is, when you’re negotiating, don’t try for the winner-take-all mentality. We're in this for the long haul: relationships are more important than winning.

Public health business planning is all about the long haul. To be successful and build sustainable programs, we have to be creating on-going relationships with partners, colleagues, local politicians, other organizations, and peers across the country. Not to mention communities of people who use and care about your activities. So besides not humiliating people you are in negotiations with, how can we put “the long haul” into action?

- Make note of those things left on the table. Every time you negotiate for something, write down what you wanted but didn’t get – this time. You might get them next time. Similarly, keep a list of the things your negotiating partner wanted but didn’t get. You just might come across an opportunity where what they want works for you.

- Note what your negotiating partner likes. Say you go to a potential funding partner with an idea for a dental clinic at the health department. They say, “We don’t do dental clinics; we do X.” Don’t waste your time tweaking the dental clinic idea for this partner. But do think about coming back later with an idea for doing X with their help. They’ll be more open to a new idea that fits in with their mission or goals.

- Keep a list of ideas that came up you hadn’t thought of before. They can be part of your next brainstorming session. Remember, long term thinking means there’s always another chance to launch an initiative.

- Always, always, always consider the Exit. We devote a whole chapter in the book to planning for the intentional or unintentional exit (Chapter 11). If you’re planning for the long haul, you know that sometimes over time programs need to change or end. If you plan to spin it off to a partner’s control, you’d better keep that partnership healthy throughout your planning and implementation phases!

We hear about great partnerships among our students and alumni. What examples can you share of partnerships you’re particularly proud of or hopeful about?

Anne Menkens

From the Management Academy Director

As Anne mentioned, the Management Academy for Public Health (MAPH) teams have been working hard on their feasibility plans and the meaning of the word "teamwork" has been made clear through a variety of tasks. Working together efficiently is of utmost importance now because each team has a lot of work to do in order to complete their business plan draft by January. The business plan must include detailed project operations, a marketing strategy, potential risks and a thorough description of a first year and a five year budget. The business plan development is a continuous process that has been building since the first MAPH retreat in July/August.

In the final hours of the first retreat, each group presented their first business plan idea to the other members of the cohort. Then as a follow-up, we had an almost 3-hour session during the second retreat for each group to present their current plan to their fellow colleagues. It was amazing to hear the changes and positive transformation that the plans have gone through. The members of the cohort, the business plan coaches and the local public health experts in the room were impressed by the research done to establish the true community need in a specific area. The topics of teenage pregnancy, the uninsured, childhood obesity, childhood immunizations/vaccinations, tuberculosis testing, community recycling, public health program evaluation and medical billing are all important to the residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin and each team had the statistics to prove it. What makes the Management Academy so unique is that each team has to consider how to address the community need, while at the same time, consider how to develop a self-sustaining program that doesn't merely rely on grant funds.

I would definitely be remiss if I did not mention the other activities that took place during the most recent on-site retreat. One of the goals of the Management Academy is to prepare the participants for new management challenges in public health. The faculty members focus, not only on business plan development, but also on improving the participants' individual managerial skills. The retreat included 360 Assessments, tips on negotiation and communication skills and work towards of a plan aimed at improving managerial competencies. Let's hear from the Management Academy participants about what they found most helpful during the retreat..................

"Fun & Fit"

Last week the current Management Academy teams presented their feasibility plans in a session that includes brief presentations and Q & A. This session brings out the meaning of “teamwork” for the Management Academy – it is clear at times like this that we’re all on the team: everyone in that room was there to understand the plans and help make each a better final product. We were lucky, too, to have two special guests: Dorothy Cilenti, a former North Carolina local public health director who is currently Deputy Director for Operations and Management at the NC Institute for Public Health, and Rosemary Summers, current Orange County Health Director.

One of the teams is proposing a program called “Fun & Fit,” which will be a summer day camp created to address childhood obesity. A structured camp for children between the ages of five and 14, “Fun & Fit” will incorporate play, cooking, field trips, swimming, sports, and gardening to encourage children to be active and make healthy food choices. It will also contain evening classes for parents and children on nutrition and health. The partners include the county school system, a local aquatics center, Smart Start, the local 4-H chapter, and the local campus of the state university, which will provide student interns to work with the children. It will be an eight-week program during the summer, with follow-up during the school year. The program will be subsidized through the Department of Social Services.

What are some of the challenges for a project like this? Some questions raised had to do with medical participation. Dr. Summers asked who would provide on-site medical supervision? And, perhaps it could be a prescription program, with doctors “prescribing” it for overweight or at-risk children. Would that help it be covered by insurance? Would that help the program planners target the children who would most need it? Related to targeting children, another question was raised about the program’s marketing: how would such a program be marketed so as to avoid stigmatizing children who attend? The team answered that it plans to target all children and avoid a stigma, which led one attendee to suggest that then they might only get the concerned parents whose children are not necessarily overweight or at risk, those who are already thinking about healthy behaviors and choices. The group ended by brainstorming ideas for encouraging participation – they could use active video games to “meet the kids where they are” – even offering such games as prizes for meeting healthy eating or activity goals. That team might have to go find another partner – maybe a video game company or store – who would donate things that could be incentives for the children.

Other challenges might be regulatory issues. Studies show that regulatory issues are the second most common reason given by MAPH students for plans not getting off the ground. Also, public health planners often neglect to “think like a business” when it comes to marketing. Marketing for a program like this might target doctors, parents, children themselves, and schools, and the marketing plan would have to comprise more than just public service announcements. There are a lot of competitors for children’s time in the summer.

What do you think? Can you -- our Community of Practice -- think of other ideas that would help this team make "Fun & Fit" the best plan it could be?

-- Anne