Proposed MBLC Strategic Planning Process

Introduction

At the August 2004 Board meeting in Canton, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners first discussed moving forward with a Strategic Planning process. Subsequent discussions took place at the January 2005 Board meeting. Based on these discussions, we have spoken with a number of commissioners, reviewed the results and history of the Board's last Strategic Planning effort (in 1993), read up on some of the current thinking regarding strategic plans, and worked to develop some ideas for how to best proceed.

This document presents the current state of our thinking and is presented to the Board in hopes of attaining Board approval to formally begin the strategic planning process. As you will see in the subsequent sections, the roadmap that is presented is structured in 3 Phases: (1) define and select key issues, (2) develop specific goals and objectives for the key issues, and (3) implement the goals and objectives. If we begin now, we believe that phase 1 can be completed by September and phase 2 can be completed in December or January. The length of the implementation phase will depend on the nature of the goals and objectives.

Desired Characteristics of the Strategic Planning Process

One of the characteristics of importance to all of us is the need to move forward as quickly as possible so we can begin the work that will reap the benefits of the strategic plan's outcomes.

Another characteristic that consistently arises is the desire for us to focus on this effort as a strategic plan for the agency itself. Since the agency exists to support library service in Massachusetts, the planning effort will need to address the known and expected needs for library service in Commonwealth. However, as these needs are understood, the planning process will include significant work on identifying goals and objectives that directly impact the priorities and resources of the agency and how we use state and federal funding to support individual libraries statewide. This desire for an agency-focused plan leads directly to the third desired characteristic: outcomes.

The final, high level characteristic that arises in conversations is the need for the planning process to lead to specific outcomes. The outcomes will help us, as a Board, drive the goals and priorities of the Board for years to come.

Thus, 'planning for the agency' means that the planning process will lead to outcomes that the Board and the agency can use to set priorities and allocate resources in the coming 5-10 years.

Defining a Process and Moving Forward

With this basic understanding of the high-level characteristics that will guide the process - speed, agency-focused, and outcome-based - we can address the need for us to move forward with a full realization that our current context presents us with some constraints and realities.

Some constraints are on our time. The most obvious of these is that the agency will be moving in the coming months. This activity will have some impact on the agency staff and, since the process needs to include significant time and attention from Rob, we need to plan accordingly.

Other realities reflect that the agency is a public enterprise that has less direct control and/or influence over the many organizations that deliver library services throughout the Commonwealth. If the agency were a single, private enterprise, it would be 'easy' for us to proceed like any Board of Directors and develop a small subcommittee to move forward at full speed. However, as a public agency that 'orchestrates' a set of diverse, multi-enterprise organizations, our task requires different levels of communication and consensus than would be expected in typical corporate planning processes.

Therefore, our challenge is to define a process that achieves our goals as quickly as possible within our constraints and realities. We believe these objectives can be met with a 3-step process. The following paragraphs provide a quick, high-level overview of the process.

1. Define and select key issues
   In Phase 1, the Commissioners work to define and select the key issues that need to be addressed in the Strategic Plan. Here, we gather input from ourselves, from the library community, and from the public. The outcome of Phase 1 is a framework that will guide the work in Phase 2. The outcome is a specific charge to a specific committee (or, if needed, committees) for Phase 2.
2. Develop specific goals and objectives for the key issues
   In Phase 2, the committee(s) will tackle a detailed analysis of the key issues identified by Phase 1 and develop specific goals and objectives that will drive the implementation phase. The goals and objectives that are the outcome of Phase 2 will guide the implementation in Phase 3.
3. Implement the goals and objectives
   Though the actual strategic plan will be completed at the end of Phase 2, we are fully aware that the plan can only achieve its full effect if we plan for a set of rigorous activities that will fully investigate the various ways to achieve the goals and objectives set out in the plan. At this point in the process, we expect that the analysis will result in recommendations for specific action that can be taken by the Board and by the library community.

If you look at the July 1993 Strategic Plan, you will note that the plan" encompassed all of what is, in this document, broken down into Phase 1 and Phase 2 (Key Issues, Goals, and Objectives). The rationale for this is that the development of a Strategic Plan for the Agency needs a more specific charge than was given to the 1992-1993 Strategic Planning Committee (that included creating a collective vision and developing a plan for library service for the Commonwealth). To develop a charge that is much more specific, we propose actively studying the landscape ourselves and gathering the opinions and insight of the library community, library users, and library non-users.

Just as a corporate Board of Directors is responsible for setting the direction of its enterprise and setting policy that guides the implementation of activities that move the company in the direction that has been chosen, we believe that - as Commissioners - it is our responsibility to gather the information and develop the overall framework of strategically important issues that need to be addressed. This is the essence of the Phase 1 described above.

Similarly, a corporate Board of Directors is cognizant that it cannot fully analyze and solve all of the problems that it recognizes. Thus, we must recognize that we will want and need the help of many others when it comes to analyzing the key issues and determining goals and objectives. This is the essence of the Phase 2 described above.

Finally, we will need the support and help of the entire Massachusetts library community to take the actions necessary to meet the goals and objectives that are the outcome of Phase 2. Though outside the scope of the 'planning' effort, building in an implementation phase makes it very explicit that the Board will need to carefully review the goals and objectives of Phase 2. The Board will need to set the policies and agency priorities, develop and explain the funding needs, and orchestrate an action plan so the people of Massachusetts can reap the rewards of the strategic planning efforts. This is the essence of Phase 3 described above.

Phase 1: Define Key Issues

The Commissioners should be actively involved in deciding on the key issues facing the agency and topics that affect our ability to use and the manner in which we use state and federal funding to support libraries statewide. This activity can be viewed as one of the Commissioners' main responsibilities as 'citizen stewards' of the Commonwealth's library services. In this sense, it is our obligation to listen, discuss, analyze, and describe the key issues facing the agency.

Therefore, Phase 1 concentrates our efforts to hear as many different points of view as possible on the usual components of a strategic plan's early stage analysis. In business circles, this usually entails a review of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). We propose adding "challenges" to this list since we have a somewhat unique position in that some of our extended enterprise presents political and funding challenges that do not arise in many business' strategic plans.

To accommodate a SWOT + Challenges exercise, the Phase 1 activities that are described below call for a wide array of sessions at which we will gather information and opinions about what people perceive to be the key issues that the Board's strategic plan needs to address. To help people focus on this high-level view of key issues (and not necessarily requiring that issues identified be associated with any particular solution), we will ask participants to review a list of all services provided by the Agency and to consider framing their comments in the context of one or more of the following open questions. In each case, we will ask that respondents concentrate especially on aspects that are impacted by the policies, funding, structure, approach, etc. of the agency itself and/or the other components of the library systems that are directly funded or influenced by state budget line items of federal funds that are administered by the Board. Though any comments or insights are welcome, the following starter questions are proposed:

• What services provided by the MBLC or funded by the MBLC have helped your library or organization be successful?
• What needs does your library or organization have that are not addressed by a Board service?
• What services currently provided by the MBLC would provide greater benefit to your library or organization if they were emphasized more or better implemented?
• What programs or services not currently provided by the MBLC would help your library or organization be successful if they were provided?
• What challenges do you encounter when you present the case for state funding for library services?

In the steps that are proposed for Phase 1, we balance the time constraints that, if ignored, could harm the agency's day-to-day effectiveness, the time constraints we have as Commissioners with respect to our other obligations, and our desire to gather in a timely manner as many ideas from as many different viewpoints as possible.

The outcomes of Phase 1 will include:

• An organized set of key issues that need to be addressed specifically in a complete Strategic Plan for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
• A specific charge (or set of charges) to a Committee (or set of Committees) to analyze and develop goals and recommendations for the specific key issues.
• The appointment of the appropriate Committee(s).
• The approval of a budget for professional facilitation of the development of the overall Strategic Plan.

The target completion date for Phase 1 is September 2005.

The following subsections describe the specific activities that are proposed to occur during Phase 1. A number of these activities will overlap in order to complete this phase as quickly as possible.

• Retrospective review of the 1993 Strategic Plan
  Rob will provide a narrative overview of the primary accomplishments of the current Strategic Plan (July 1993) with an emphasis on the implementation strategies that were taken and the relationship to existing budget accounts at the May Board meeting.
• Commissioner Input
  We will solicit comment from Commissioners by conducting in-person meetings with each Commissioner.
• Stakeholder Input
  We will meet with stakeholders to solicit their thoughts in individual or small group discussions. The stakeholders will include all organizations that currently receive line-item funds through the Board of Library Commissioners including the Board's management team, regional administrators, network administrators, Library of Last Recourse, the Perkins School, and the Worcester Talking Book Library.
• Community Forums
  Open meetings will be held throughout the state. We will plan and advertise meetings for library community members and for library users and non-users. Written comment will be welcomed as well. These will be posted, open meetings and everyone (including Commissioners and Stakeholders) will be invited to share their thoughts and listen to the ideas and thoughts of the other attendees.
• Compile and report the results of the input sessions and open forums
  At the conclusion of all of the input sessions and open forums, the comments that are received will be categorized and organized into a report for the Board and the library community. This report will be distributed to the Board and made available to the library community through the agency website.
• Board discussion and determination of key issues
  The Board will consider the findings of the Commissioner/stakeholder/community input and define the scope of work for a strategic planning committee. (See the Phase 1 outcomes above for a full description of the outcomes of this activity.)

With these tasks defined, the following timeline has been developed that can address these tasks as quickly as possible:

Phase 2: Develop Specific Goals and Objectives for the Key Issues

Note: this description is intentionally much less specific since the outcomes of Phase 1 will fully determine the definition of Phase 2.

Phase 2 will begin with the full set of outcomes from Phase 1: Key issues will have been identified. One or more strategic planning committees will have been appointed to fully analyze the key issues and develop specific goals and objectives that will successfully address the key issues according to a specific charge and committee composition. A budget for strategic planning facilitation will have been approved. (This phase may require a budget for strategic planning facilitation. These funds would provide trained facilitator(s) to the appointed committee(s) to help complete their work as quickly as possible.)

At this point in the Strategic Planning process, the committee's charge will focus on the key issues that have been identified to develop goals and objectives of what the Board should accomplish in order adequately address these issues. (How to accomplish these goals and objectives is left to Phase 3.) The intention of having a Strategic Planning Committee (or, if deemed necessary, Committees) focus on pre-defined key issues is that this Phase can be accomplished very quickly by a highly focused, targeted effort of the Committee members.

Assuming that the Phase 2 work can begin in September, a target completion date for Phase 2 would be set for Committee reports to be delivered to the Board in December or January.

Phase 3: Implement the Goals and Objectives

Note: this description is intentionally much less specific since the outcomes of Phase 2 will fully determine the definition of Phase 3.

Phase 3 will begin with the adoption of the Strategic Planning Committee report(s) by the Board. Where Phases 1 and 2 have specific target outcomes and schedules, Phase 3 is less well defined since Phase 3 activities will evolve over time as the Board uses the results of Phase 2 to set priorities and embark on activities that are expected to achieve the goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan. Some Phase 3 activities may be quickly realized. Others may require alignment with legislative or funding calendars. Regardless of the timeframe, the importance of recognizing Phase 3 as a distinct phase of the process is to establish the output of the Strategic Plan as a guiding force behind the agency's legislative, organizational, and funding priorities.

Conclusion

The intent of this document has been to layout a strategic planning process that is quick, agency-focused, and outcome-based. It is our hope that the Board can reach consensus on this approach and agree to begin Phase 1 as defined in this document. If we begin quickly, we should have a draft of a high quality and thorough strategic plan for the agency ready for Board discussion and action by the end of the year.

Thank you all for the comments and observations that allowed us to synthesize a large number of ideas in this document. We hope that this planning process is approved at the April meeting so we can get started. If you have any questions prior to the April meeting, please feel free to contact either of us.