Planning Together: Engaging Your Staff in Strategic Planning from Creation to Application

Please note: this session included individual or small group work so there will be breaks in the presentation.

Strategic plans give libraries clarity of direction, but are the goals of your organization clearly shared with your staff? Do frontline and support staff feel truly integrated with the goals and ideas that lead to success? In 2021 Plano Public Library developed a three-year strategic plan from design to execution using an all-staff model. Plano Public Library will share how including all library staff in the strategic planning process can improve organizational understanding of long-term goals, positively affect buy-in for initiatives, and support communication of your library’s strategic plans to patrons, community stakeholders, and administrators. Participants will explore the value of a whole-organization approach to strategic planning in place of a traditional top-down planning model through small-group exercises. Discussion will include design and planning considerations, potential challenges, managing projects, and evaluating results.