In the 3-4 years between strategic planning cycles, NFP Boards need strategic agility and a clear way to influence or refine strategic direction without stepping into operations. Agile tools without the costly transformation into an Agile organisation could be the answer. In this blog, we explore two Agile tools that NFPs can use to make strategic planning and governance more flexible, focused, and responsive: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
Strategic Agility Over correction – From Steering the Ship to Rowing the Boat
Strategic planning in the 21st century isn’t easy. We create a shiny plan with the best intentions, stress-test it, and set out a clear roadmap to bring it to life. Staff nod along, broadly aligned to the vision, and say they understand their role in delivering it — but often, it’s not clear. Then something shifts: a surprise election result, an unexpected funding cut, or an emergency that demands immediate attention. And what happens to the shiny plan? All too often, it’s shelved — a point-in-time document that slowly (or suddenly) loses relevance in a changing world.
When the environment moves quickly, Boards often step in to provide clarity on what matters most now. But without the right tools to revisit or adjust the strategic plan itself, they jump straight into reprioritising initiatives or reallocating funding. This is not strategic agility….The strategy slips out of view, Boards drift into the operational, and teams quickly lose sight of their role in achieving the bigger picture.
Beyond Beanbags & Ping Pong Tables: NFPs Doing Agile Their Own Way
Since the early 2000s, many corporations have been on a long journey to adopt their own version of Strategic Agility to respond to fast-paced changes and ever-evolving customer needs. At its most transformative, going Agile involves a cultural shift, a complete overhaul of operating models, and significant governance changes. It’s a costly transition, but some larger NFPs (Not-for-Profits) have made the leap—and they’ve seen great results. The Smith Family has adopted agile squads to improve donor experience and retention, while Beyond Blue has embraced a “community-first” design approach, shifting from reactive crisis support to proactive, data-driven mental health initiatives. While diving headfirst into Agile may not be practical (or necessary) for many smaller NFPs, there are simpler, impactful ways to become more responsive and adaptable.
Framework 1: Objectives and Key Results – The Board’s Tool for Providing Strategic Agility
NFPs can often paint aspirational pictures of success in words and long-tern impact. Translating this into focus areas for operational action can seem like a colossal leap, Yes, there is connection between the aspiration and the action but it’s intangible. Objectives and Key Results make that leap into a well-trodden path and provide a common language through which the Board and the team can understand how initiatives are progressing strategy. Objectives are aspirational statements that last for the entire strategic horizon, (e.g. we improve mental health for all students in our program). Key Results are the specific, measurable outcomes that show progress toward achieving the objective (e.g. 20% increase in students reporting positive mental health). Key Results can be broken into quarterly or annual targets to show progress, giving teams enough flexibility to adjust as they learn. These OKRs are the domain of the Board—set by them with the input of the team. Crucially, neither Objectives nor Key Results are initiatives. It is the team’s job to then set initiatives that will move the dial on those Key Results. All initiatives must move the dial on a Key Result and are prioritised according to effort and impact. This means that every team effort is directly aligned with the strategy, and staff can clearly see their role in delivering the strategy – and then can shift with Strategic Agility.
If external environments shift and we need to pivot strategically, the Board returns to the OKRs to refine its view of strategic success. Our Objectives should remain stable, big aspirations shouldn’t change. What may change are the Key Results planned for the upcoming quarter or year. With Executive input, the Board may indicate which priority key results for the quarter or year, or they may reset key result metrics to reflect circumstances. The output from the Board is an updated, clear view of strategic priorities and strategic focus that is filtered down through the Executive to the teams to reprioritise initiatives accordingly.
Framework 2: Quarterly Business Reviews – The Boad’s Forum for Proactive Course Correction
External change can prompt a panicked response. Often it is not because the situation demands it, but because we have not taken a proactive approach to course correct and we’ve entered reactive mode. OKRs provide a method for resetting strategic priorities and, the second framework, Quarterly Business Reviews offer the regular forum to make proactive course corrections little and often so that required strategic shifts are limited in frequency and disruption to our teams.
In many NFPs, where strategic review does happen proactively, it typically takes one of two forms: a lengthy, initiative-by-initiative performance report or an annual planning day. Both focus predominantly on looking back; what’s been delivered, what hasn’t. The time spent looking forward tends to focus on building up a wish list of initiatives that gently detaches itself from strategic priorities overtime.
Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) offer a simple, powerful alternative. They create a regular, light-touch rhythm for strategic reflection and replanning, giving the Board a structured opportunity to refine and reweight OKRs in response to (and preparation for) changes in our external environment. Again, this isn’t about the Board micromanaging or deciding on initiatives; it’s about clarifying and adjusting the broader strategy.
A typical QBR agenda includes three key parts: an organisational update, a look back, and a look forward. The organisational update is led by the Board Chair or Executive Team and covers major external updates (think PESTLE) and internal updates that may inform strategy. In the “look back”, the Executive shows progress against the OKRs and only discusses initiatives that are off-track and require Board input. For the “look forward”, the Executive may propose adjustments to the OKRs for the next quarter and may introduce new initiatives where additional funding is required. The Executive team leave this forum with clear direction on strategic priorities, targets and funding for the next quarter.
“Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast” – Peter Drucker
Combined, OKRs and QBRs can take a sizeable towards strategic agility and can drive the effectiveness of a Board but they will not work without the right organisational culture in place. Leadership can’t simply wish for a more responsive organisation—they must empower it. Empowerment comes from clarity of direction, trust in teams, and accountability. OKRs and QBRs lay the groundwork, but the Board must get comfortable and confident in stepping out of the weeds and setting clear strategic direction and allowing the organisation to respond underneath them.
You might need support in resetting Board accountabilities and culture, you may want to introduce a version OKRs and QBRs into your next strategic cycle or maybe you want to use these tools to get your current strategy back on track. Whatever the case, Spark are here to help.
Author: Hattie Knutton
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