Prince William County’s next Strategic Plan will be Awesome

We/PBI are honored to be leading the facilitation of Prince William County’s (PWC) 2025–28 Strategic Plan.

Not only is this the second largest County in Virginia, it’s also where I live.

Strategic planning done well is a very inclusive, aspirational, and thorough process. It is a trusted partnership between the local government and the expert vendor assisting them. In this case, the County brings history, context, and access to all the voices that need to contribute. PBI brings passion and expertise related to best practices in structuring the process, limiting excessive wording, and ensuring measurable outcomes.

Since April, we have achieved the following:

Gathering Insights:

• The Supervisors conducted Town Halls in their Magisterial District, PBI interviewed the Supervisors of those Districts, and PBI conducted focus groups with each District
• Separate focus groups were held with the business community, the cities and towns that are part of the County, and a newly created Community Advisory Committee
• Multiple employee focus groups touched all elements of the workforce

Defining the Goals:

• The Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) was provided with significant preparatory materials including a detailed summary of all the insights gained during the data collection
• A full day offsite (we never use the word “retreat”) was conducted that resulted in 8 draft overarching goals that were later finalized by the County leadership and PBI

Defining the Objectives:

• Objectives are also strategic in nature, but they are statements that address the different levers or “buckets” that are necessary to accomplish the goal
• The Executive Leadership of the County attended the Goal Drafting day, so they had a good start for Objectives drafting
• Two lengthy sessions were then facilitated with the Executive Leadership to identify and then refine
• several Objectives for each goal that would best ensure focus, resources, and Goal accomplishment
• To ensure we met their intent, these Objectives were presented back to the BOCS for discussion and their final approval

Next steps:

• We are meeting with the departments to create strategies that support the objectives
• We are committed to defining 4 year goals that are aspirational, measurable, and outcome-based
• The key audiences will have an opportunity to review and comment on the (nearly final) Draft Plan
• Departmental Workplans will be created to operationalize the finalized Strategies
• A new dashboard will facilitate ongoing measurement and conversations

This is why PBI works with local governments. Yes, there are conflicting voices and needs, but the mission is almost always the same – to provide services (Police, Fire & Rescue, Schools, Public Works, Social and Family Services, Parks & Recreation, Economic Development, and more) in an effective and fiscally responsible manner.

We believe in Organizational Excellence. Our commitment is to lead both the development of a plan that
accomplishes the jurisdiction’s unique context and situation, but also prepares them to achieve it over time via a culture of Organizational Excellence.

The finalized plan will serve as a guiding document for resourcing decisions, focusing collaboration toward community outcomes, a communication vehicle about where the County is going and its’ progress, and to stimulate engagement to make the County a great place to live, work, play, and retire.

This is MY passion. I’d enjoy talking with anyone who is interested or involved in strategic planning work.