Creating the Future Youve Imagined

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Creating the Future Youve Imagined

• Planning That Makes a Difference

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Presentation objectives

• Provide an overview of the planning process
• Introduce 6 ways to describe your community
• Highlight the collective analysis/ sense making
  in planning
• (the crucial changeable moments)
• Identify success factors in plans that make a
  difference!

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About me

• Anne Marie Madziak, MLIS
• A public library consultant with Southern Ontario
  Library Service (SOLS) since 1994
• Part-time instructor in the MLIS program at UWOs
  Faculty of Information Media Studies currently
  teaching a course on library leadership
• Deeply committed to the practice of intentional
  conversation as the means to think together,
  access collective intelligence, learn together,
  and discover our shared responsibilities and our
  shared aspirations
• Can be reached at
• ammadziak_at_sols.org

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A SOLS publicationEvery public library in
Ontario received a copy extra copies available
for 25
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What is Essential Planning?

• A scale-able approach to the planning process
  that recognizes that planning is an essential
  board and staff responsibility, while also
  recognizing that it represents work that is in
  addition to the ongoing governance and
  operational work required for the provision of
  library service there is, therefore, a focus on
  keeping the process manageable
• An approach to planning that is focused on big
  picture thinking and the collective analysis of
  information, for purposes of achieving a shared
  understanding of the essence of the organization,
  its purpose, values, vision, and future
  direction.

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLANNING PROCESS
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BEFORE EMBARKING ON A PLANNING PROCESS

• Prepare to plan
• Board and staff buy-in commitment to process
  outcome
• Articulate what you want out of the investment in
  planning understand planning is not a license to
  expect to achieve the impossible
• Ensure resources are in place for planning
  process time money
• Agree on process (seek assistance as necessary)
  set limits
• Establish small board/staff committee to oversee
  planning

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Map out the process

• Conduct a Situational Analysis (1-3 months)
• Imagine a Compelling Future (1 day)
• Identify Strategic Directions (1-2 weeks)
• Implement the Plan. (ongoing)

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1. Conduct a Situational Analysis

• Two stages to the work of conducting a
  Situational Analysis
• Gather information about your current
  situation/where you are (the situational half of
  Situational Analysis)
• Collectively make sense of the information
  gathered (the analysis part of Situational
  Analysis).

KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AND WHY YOU EXIST YOUR
MISSION
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Situational Analysis defined

• The collective analysis of a body of information
  that describes the librarys current services and
  user feedback in relation to its intended mission
  and values, and to the community and
  environmental context in which library service is
  developed and delivered.

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2 important components of the definition

• The collective analysis (making sense together)
• A body of information coming from different
  directions

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The work of conducting a Situational Analysis
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Profile the Library

• Library Profile Worksheet
• Accessibility of library service
• Library roles and mission
• Library services
• Materials/ resources
• Staffing
• Library activity

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Gather user feedback

• Suggestion box/ feedback form
• Appeals for feedback on library website
• Roaming CEO/ manager
• Talk to us corner or table
• Observation
• Topical questionnaires
• Exit interviews
• Staff questionnaire
• Staff focus group
• Focus groups
• Key informant interviews
• Open houses/ public meetings
• Surveys

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Profile the community
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Common sources of community information

• Existing information
• Census data
• Municipal and/or school planning information
• Planning documents of local organizations
• Telephone book yellow pages
• Bulletin board notices, pamphlets, etc.
• Local directories
• Local regional newspapers, radio cable
  stations

• New information
• Conversations, interviews and/or meetings with
  municipal staff, community leaders, media
  personnel, representatives of service clubs,
  organizations, and agencies
• Public consultation (surveys, interviews, etc),
  if needed.

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Check for alignment with Municipal Council

• The librarys planning process is an excellent
  opportunity to give focused attention to
  understanding the formal and informal priorities
  of the municipal decision-makers, with a view to
  establishing important linkages between those
  priority issues and upcoming library initiatives.
  Information gathering includes
• The Municipalitys strategic plan business
  and/or service plans website media releases
  Council/ staff reports
• Engaging Municipal senior staff and elected
  officials in conversation.

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Scan the environment

• Trends and issues in the broader library world
• Trends and issues in the public/ not-for-profit
  sector
• Social and demographic factors
• Economic/ political issues
• Technological advances

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Articulate mission values

• The mission is a declaration of purpose, a
  concise statement that tells the community what
  the public library does exceptionally well that
  is unique or different from what other
  organizations do.
• Example
• London Public Library provides equitable access
• to the world of information and creative
  expression.
• The power of the statement comes from its
  simplicity, the fact that these few words make it
  absolutely clear why the library exists and what
  difference it makes to the community.

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The analysis part of Situational Analysis

• Make sense together
• Discuss, exchange perspectives impressions
• Identify Key Points
• Resolve/record questions
• Summarize and synthesize.

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Synthesize with SWOT

• A quick, effective way of synthesizing
  information about the library and the community
  is to identify the librarys
• STRENGTHS
• WEAKNESSES
• OPPORTUNITIES
• THREATS
• Strengths weaknesses are internal, things the
  library has some control over
• Opportunities threats are external, the library
  controls how it responds.
• The librarys plan will endeavour to build on
  strengths and opportunities, and eliminate or
  minimize weaknesses and threats.

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Another approach to synthesis

• Create a series of 4 lists, then prioritize
  within each list

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The Boards work in conducting a SA

• Assess type/depth of information needed for
  planning purposes
• Ensure information is gathered from different
  directions
• Participate in the information gathering process,
  especially regarding community information
  environmental scan
• Spend time agreeing on core purpose of the
  library and articulating it as a succinct mission
  statement
• Commit to reading and pondering the implications
  of the information that has been gathered
• Engage in group conversation (Board senior
  staff) aimed at summarizing and making sense of
  the information

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PROCESS RECAP

• Now that you have conducted a thorough
  Situational Analysis and, as a result, have a
  good understanding of where you are right now, it
  is time to turn your attention to the future.
• What will the community look like 10 years from
  now?
• What will the library look like 10 years from
  now?

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Process contd 2. IMAGINE A COMPELLING FUTURE

• Endorse a vision of what success will look like
• in the future
• Take the time to imagine various future
  scenarios and develop a shared one that everyone
  can buy into (board staff) the preferred
  future, describing a compelling picture of
  success

KNOW WHERE YOU WANT TO BE
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• Attractive visions of the future have great
  power. We call the organization that is
  organized around a deep sense of values, mission
  and vision the essence-driven organization. This
  kind of organization has tapped the energy that
  results from its own clarity of direction and
  focus. The essence-driven organization has a
  greater capacity to weather changes in
  marketplace and customer demand because of the
  clarity of its core purpose.
• Cynthia D. Scott

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The work of imagining success in the future

• Compelling visions work on the heart and the head
  
• By collectively imagining the best future we can
  imagine, we plant the seeds of that future we
  co-create it by describing it and believing in
  its possibility
• The work of imagining and visioning requires our
  collective creativity as well as our collective
  knowledge

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Sample vision statements

• Brampton Library will provide exceptional access
  to highly valued services through a full
  complement of contemporary facilities. Our
  customer centred service delivery and community
  partnerships are the foundation of the
  communitys support. Through superior service
  and financial stability, Brampton Librarys
  social and economic contribution to the community
  will be widely recognized and supported.

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• Lincoln Public Library is a key partner in the
  development of the economic and cultural well
  being of its community.

London Public Library is the Community Hub that
strengthens individuals, families and
neighbourhoods by connecting them to people and 
to relevant information, collections, programs
and resources.
Your destination for discovery! Woodstock
Public Library
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Process contd 4. IMPLEMENT THE PLAN

• Use the plan to create the future youve imagined
• Communicate internally as soon as the plan is
  endorsed by the Board
• Make the document short a ready reference tool!
• Develop key messages for the community and
  funders based on the plan
• Create annual operational plans and annual board
  objectives related to the plan

CREATE THE FUTURE YOUVE IMAGINED.
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• Tie strategic directions and objectives to
  individual performance give people the resources
  they need and hold them accountable
• Monitor progress report regularly at Board
  meetings
• Reference the plan in every major decision keep
  it on staff radar refer to it in reports at
  meetings
• Celebrate successes
• Revise/ update to reflect changing circumstances,
  new opportunities

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Allocate the resources needed to achieve the plan

• Advocate and budget for new funding as necessary
• Reallocate existing resources as appropriate
• Consider staff time necessary to carry out the
  activities outlined in the plan
• Plan and budget for capacity building as needed,
  eg. staff expertise, training, technology, etc.
• Be prepared with contingencies should new
  resources not become available
• Use the strategic plan to support the budget, and
  raise the librarys profile, credibility and
  accountability

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Principles of an effective (able-bodied)
strategic plan

• Futuristic responsive to emerging trends
• Desirable appealing and worth aspiring to
• Imaginable conveying a picture of the desired
  future
• Practical full of concrete tasks with timelines
  responsibility assigned
• Achievable realistic do-able and affordable
• Defensible responsive to service demands and
  external influences, (ie) the plan makes sense,
  given the circumstances
• Measurable objective language defines success
  through the use of descriptive milestones/outcomes
  and quantitative indicators
• Memorable concise and relevant easy to
  remember and apply
• Flexible adaptable to new ideas and/or changing
  circumstances

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Consulted with CEOs who have been through the
planning process

• Stephanie Stowe, CEO, Pelham Public Library
• Louise Procter-Maio, CEO, East Gwillimbury Public
  Library
• Sheila Durand, CEO, North Perth Public Library
• Deb Jackson, CEO, Haldimand County Public Library
• Rosemary Marchand, CEO, Penetanguishene Public
  Library

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Success Factors in Planningas identified by CEOs

• The right people on the planning committee mix
  of board and staff all are committed to
  improving and changing
• Some form of assessment/ Situational Analysis Do
  the bare minimum assessment creative
  brainstorming about the future
• The plan is free of jargon and relevant to the
  community
• Being realistic taking small steps
• Take it seriously dont even start if theres
  no willingness to change and faith in the process
• Shared vision is crucial Board, CEO, staff
• Council knows librarys direction no surprises
  at budget
• Engagement in the process by all involve the
  Friends
• Make sure the plan itself is aligned mission,
  vision strategic directions

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Success Factors (contd)

• Alignment with the Towns Strat Plan makes it
  harder for them to say no
• Measurable outcomes annual action plans that
  assign responsibility and deadlines linkages to
  performance evaluations
• Notice when you dont accomplish something
• Why not?
• Learn from it
• Is it still a valid goal?
• What will make it achievable?
• USE IT! USE IT! USE IT! refer to the plan
  constantly
• Revisit review the plan frequently, revise as
  needed understand it as a cycle you implement,
  monitor, revise, then start all over
• Report regularly at Board meetings

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Benefits of Planning as identified by CEOs

• Improved services, eg. additional hours, new
  services, increased materials budget
• Improved accessibility facility, services,
  programs
• Improved technology infrastructure
• Increases to staffing
• New partnerships, eg. Chamber of Commerce,
  Schools
• Better opportunities for grants, eg. Trillium
• Has led to further more focused planning, eg.
  Facilities, Technology
• Development of a marketing plan
• Staff training became a priority (focus on
  customer service)
• The planning process created a culture of ongoing
  improvement
• Clarity about where to focus efforts to improve
  service

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Benefits (contd)

• Great value in having your reality named and
  documented in the Situational Analysis/
  information gathering, eg. varying levels of
  service
• It positions the library in the eyes of the
  funders as an organization with an identified
  vision and direction
• The plan itself keeps the library on track we
  know how were doing
• Best result No one (Board or Council) is
  surprised by what comes forward

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Planning DOES Make a Difference!