So much of strategic growth relies on having a shared vision of a definitive destination.
This is true for higher education institutions (HEIs) in particular because of the rate at which priorities must adapt to serve the needs of a student population that shifts every semester. Having a completely new student body every four years begets agility and flexibility that 7- and 5-year strategic plans no longer accomplish.
Having a distinct Vision that truly sets the university apart is the key to keeping on course and moving towards an end goal. Without that North Star, it’s easy to lose one’s way by responding to every exciting new opportunity and terrifying metric fluctuation with the same vehemence.
Data is important, but what’s more important is how it’s used.
Choosing Which Data Matters
As is the process with culling strategic initiatives, only 3 to 5 major data points are going to end up being tracked within a strategic plan. Best practices among HEIs are that only 20% of strategic initiatives should be tied to a major metric; the rest should be qualitative.
Just having access to data doesn’t mean that all of those metrics will help inform decisions that directly impact the success of the HEI’s overall strategy. If every number – from matriculation to course completion to graduation rates – is assigned the same significance, the decision matrix becomes increasingly complex to a point of deleteriousness.
Unfortunately, the metrics that will serve as Lead and Lag Measures for one university’s desired outcomes isn’t the same as the next one’s.
The good news is that working backwards from an end goal can help determine which numbers will be the most important decision makers for the extent of a strategic plan.
For example, if StratPlan University’s 5-Year Vision is to become the subject matter expert on plan execution strategies, and their Mission is to, in five years, be the HEI with the most student-conducted studies on business strategy execution published in scientific journals –
Major metrics that should be a part of their strategy could be along the lines of:
- Percentage increase in students claiming Business majors
- Percentage increase in research grant money earned for supporting student studies
- Increased attendance for research advising training sessions for faculty
Looking to the desired outcome, then back at the starting point will help define what needs to happen along the way to get from Point A to Point B – those are the strategic metrics.
Also read: Data-Driven Universities: Essential KPIs for Higher Education Success and Growth
Using Data to Tell the Story
In order for decision-making around data points to have an impact on where funding actually gets allocated, an organization must have full leadership buy-in.
Building a data-driven culture starts at the top.
If a strategy leader finds themselves leading from the middle however, as is usual, being able to tell stories from data is a crucial skill.
Higher Ed is blessed/plagued with so many new developments that there’s always an imminent threat of being blown off course or stalled out in pursuance of something else that just popped up.
In order to keep the attention on the university’s Vision, strategy leaders should point to hinge metrics early and often in reference to the success or failure of specific strategic initiatives. Numbers without context can cause hysteria in both positive and negative ways, so use the age-old Beginning, Middle, and End story structure when painting the picture:
E.g. We decreased spending for Southeast marketing by 19% a year ago to make room in the budget to go after new target markets with the rollout of our Virtual Campus program. Last semester, the share of incoming freshmen from Southeastern states dropped by 11%. In pursuit of our Vision to become the preferred university of the Southeast, we should increase marketing spending in that target region again. Because we’re not seeing an increase in alumni donations after initiating our Give Back Program, I propose we reallocate some of that budget to support our regional matriculation goals.
Numbers are just scary (or exciting!) figures without digging into correlating factors. Strategy leaders can increase focus on metrics by demonstrating the story behind data-driven decision-making at every opportunity.
Building a Data-Driven Culture
Long-term strategy will always fight for the limelight in the exciting world of cutting-edge innovation, scientific discoveries and publications, collegiate sports, and bright young minds.
On the other end of the spectrum, geopolitical events greatly impact HEIs and, more than ever, Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) are top of mind for these institutions as well.
Strategy leaders have an uphill battle when it comes to conducting plans in the ever-changing university environment. Fostering strategy momentum is a demanding role – one that requires unwavering commitment to the future vision of the organization.
Simplicity is the salve.
Best practice for HEIs today is to set a plan over the course of 12 or 18 months (Inside Higher Ed) instead of a number of years. The tighter deadline focuses the amount of work that can be accomplished in the given timeframe, and directly attributes outcomes to those specific activities. Even a 3-quarter plan can serve institutions – starting fresh every fall.
A 5-year Vision still serves as a guiding light, but narrowing the scope of initiatives to be accomplished over a shorter period of time can make a consolidated, impactful dent in that Vision.
Also read: How to Write an Innovation-Forward Strategy in Higher Education
Universities and Colleges Are Turning to Strategy Execution Software for Data-Driven Decision Making
With a handful of data visualization options on the market – and resident Excel wizards – it’s fathomable to be able to pull in stats from every software platform across the university to get access to data in one place. Typically however, a strategic plan lives in a separate document than the numbers themselves, which requires a lot of update chasing and manual data entry every month.
AchieveIt’s software platform helps strategy leaders at HEIs across the world automate data collection and consolidate metrics with status updates that help tell a story in which everyone in the boardroom can quickly invest – giving leaders more valuable time to discuss what to do next in order to reach their goals.
Reach out to one of our Execution Experts for a customized understanding of how AchieveIt can partner with your higher education institution to help make strategic decisions from data and build a culture of execution.
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Dalhousie University Customer Story
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