What should you look for when reviewing a plan for a national team in our organization? Here are the questions that I kept finding myself asking during reviews of our national plans recently. I hope that you find them useful. The questions should be asked pretty well in this order.

• What are their objectives / desired outcomes?
• Do the objectives line up with the Vision, Mission and / or strategic measurements of the global organization?
• Are the objectives described as quantitative outcomes?
• Does the SWOT analysis relate to the objectives?
• Do the main steps / actions described in the plan relate to the objectives?
• Do the main steps / actions described in the plan address the weaknesses / threats in the SWOT?
• How many staff / employees are there in the country?
• Are the objectives reasonable given the number of staff?
• Are the actions reasonable given the number of staff?
• Are there too few / too many different Mission Critical Components and or ministries for the number of staff in the country?
• Are the main resources needed to implement the actions described in the plan?
• Does it look practical to generate / obtain those resources given the history of the country?
• Does the plan show the strategic steps that will make the most progress towards the vision?
• What could go wrong to stop the desired actions from happening?
• What might need to be done to mitigate these risks?
• Is the national team on a clear path towards the Vision for their country in order to meet our Calling?