Charting Your Organization’s Course for the Future

1. Charting Your Organization’s Course for the Future

2. This workshop is based on national museum standards from the StEPs program offered bythe American Association for State and Local History. StEPs is a self-study program created specifically for small- and mid-sized history organizations. www.aaslh.org/steps Funding to develop materials for this workshop was provided by:

3. What is StEPs? • Self-study program • No eligibility requirements • No application and no deadlines • For organizations that do not feel ready for other assessment programs George Squibb, Belfast Historical Society, Maine “We learned much about ourselves and we are confident that our organization can make effective use of the program.”

4. How Your Organization Can Benefit From StEPs • Learn more about standards • Plan for the future • Support funding requests • Justify decisions • Track accomplishments • Articulate progress • Increase credibility • Prepare for other assessment • programs • Be recognized for your success! “With the basic, good and better levels, the workbook became a valuable educational experience for us and helped us set goals for the future.” Flavia Cigliano, Nichols House Museum, Boston

7. Example Stewardship of Collections Standard: The museum legally, ethically, and effectively manages, documents, cares for, and uses the collections. Self-assessment question: Are there written procedures for acquiring, borrowing, and lending collection items?

8. Performance Indicators Basic The institution uses a written donor form for artifacts and archives items accepted into its collections. The institution uses a written loan agreement for each in-coming and out-going loan transaction that involves collection items. All loans are for a specified time period.

9. Good There are written procedures for acquiring, borrowing, and lending artifacts and archives items included in the collections policy. Better The institution reviews and updates its procedures on a regular basis. The institution requires condition reports for all in-coming and out-going loans.

10. StEPs Enrollment *Non-members pay $265, includes one-year membership **Must maintain active institutional membership to receive certificates One-time fee of $150* 320-page workbook Active ongoing enrollment Bronze, Silver and Goldcertificates** Window decal

12. More Benefits National recognition for certificates earned 20% discount on AASLH technical leaflets 10% discount on AASLH workshops Access to StEPs website offering sample forms, policies, job descriptions and other documents plus discussion forum, and calendar of training opportunities

13. www.aaslh.org/steps • Link to free info webinar • Enrollment information • Sample workbook pages • Info sheet for boards • “Are We Ready for • StEPs?” info sheet Rob Orrison, Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, Bristow, Virginia “We can demonstrate to county officials that we are following national museum standards.”

14. What We Will Cover inThis Workshop • Why is planning essential for healthy organizational development? • What is strategic planning? How does it differ from long range planning? • Planning terminology and how terms fit together and support each other • The elements and sequencing of a planning process • Strategies for making a strategic plan stick in your organization • How to establish criteria for success and evaluate their plan’s effectiveness

15. Is Your Organization… • In a malaise? • Struggling with lack of a direction? • Dealing with a bored board or one going in twenty directions at once? • Unable to stick with critical projects or decisions?

16. Is… • Staff in a rut, on a hamster wheel or going in twenty directions at once? • Burnout level is high? • Leadership weak or directionless?

17. Do… • Things get accomplished at the last minute or not at all? • You feel like your drowning in new ideas?

18. If You Answered YES to One or More of These Questions, Ask Yourself • Does our organization have a written strategic or long range plan?  • If we do, why aren’t we making it work for us?

19. Why is Planning Essential for Healthy Organizational Development? • Harness limited resources and put them to best use • Focus everyone on common goals and common directions for achieving those goals • Done well, provides opportunities for stakeholder input • Helps organization achieve greatest mission impact • Provides yardstick to measure effectiveness • Attracts support • What else?

20. Planning Can Help Organizations Address Issues of: • Survival • Achieving the mission • Reality check • Focus • Consensus & ownership • Effectiveness • Leadership review

21. What is Strategic Planning?How Does it Differ From Long Range Planning? • Terms used interchangeably, but each is different

22. They Share Basic Elements, such as: • Mission as plan’s overall driver • Strengthening internal weaknesses • Setting targets to meet over time

23. Primary Differences: • Strategic planning requires tough choices about using resources for greatest mission impact • Long range planning assumes all current activity will go forward as long as it supports some aspect of the mission

24. Planning Terms • Vision • Mission • Goals: strategic goals and business goals • Strategies: activities chosen to meet goals • Tasks: specific steps that make up each activity in a strategy

25. Elements and Sequencingof a Planning Process Step 1: Do Your Research • Internal assessment of strengths and weaknesses • External assessment involving community and stakeholders

26. Elements and Sequencingof a Planning Process Step 2: Invest in Deep Discussion • Melds your research with future hopes and dreams • Critical opportunity for outside voices to be heard • Builds momentum for the work ahead

27. The Elements and Sequencingof a Planning Process Step 3: Goal Identification

28. The Elements and Sequencingof a Planning Process Step 4: Strategy Development and Timeframing

29. Some Criteriafor Choosing Strategies(helps with goals, too!) • Is the need for this critically important and/or will continue to exist over the longer term? • We can measure this by the level of response from surveys and focus groups we regularly conduct this year.

30. Is it likely to receive full commitment from key stakeholders - are its benefits explicit and compelling? • We can measure this by the # of stakeholders who underwrite and/or volunteer for this project.

31. Does it enhance our reputation, credibility and leadership position? • We can measure this by: # of people and organizations who contact us for information, advice, opinions; the # and quality of requests we receive to be part of other organizations’ work; the # of loan requests we receive in a year.

32. Are we uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution - is this better done by us than someone else? • We can measure this by: the # and quality of partnerships we are asked to engage in.

33. Does it provide an entry point to other strategic relationships or work? We can measure this by the # and quality of new relationships started.

34. Is it consistent with or does it complement existing initiatives and/or priorities? Can we measure this by the # of existing projects that were refreshed, enhanced or expanded by new projects; was there seamless integration? Did workloads ultimately remain the same or lessen while the product got better?

35. Making Your Plan Stick • The annual work plan is the glue for making this all stick • Tasking short-term and ongoing strategies  annual work plan

36. Making Your Plan Stick Timeframe your strategies! • Short-term: strategies to be undertaken in years 1-3 of the plan • Mid-term: strategies to be undertaken in years 2-4 of the plan • Long-term: strategies to be undertaken in years 3-5 of the plan • Ongoing

37. Making Your Plan Stick • Annual Work Plan consists of only the first year of short-term and ongoing strategies • Tie Annual Work Plan to annual budget development • Review/update strategic plan at the same time

38. Making Your Plan Stick • Every planning committee member serves on or leads a committee

39. Making Your Plan Stick • Restructure standing committees; add new committees to meet plan’s needs • Job descriptions for committee and task force members mirror plan’s goals and strategies • Orient all of the organization’s committees to the plan

40. Making Your Plan Stick • Build board and staff meetingagendas around the goalsand strategies ofthe plan

41. Making Your Plan Stick • Develop easy ways to track key achievements

42. Making Your Plan Stick • For the first year, formally review the strategic plan at both the 6-month and 12-month intervals

43. Establishing Criteria for Success • Determine performance criteria in advance, then use it as the yardstick to measure how well you’re meeting criteria • Evaluating success becomes performance-based, not personal • Provides critical distance for making decisions about staff, committee and board member responsibilities • Is the need for this critically important and/or will continue to exist over the longer term?

44. We can measure this by the level of response from surveys and focus groups we regularly conduct this year • Is it likely to receive full commitment from key stakeholders - are its benefits explicit and compelling? • We can measure this by the # of stakeholders who underwrite and/or volunteer for this project

45. Does it enhance our reputation, credibility and leadership position? • We can measure this by: # of people and organizations who contact us for information, advice, opinions; the # and quality of requests we receive to be part of other organizations’ work; the # of loan requests we receive in a year.

46. Are we uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution - is this better done by us than someone else? • We can measure this by: the # and quality of partnerships we are asked to engage in.

47. Charting Your Organization’s Course for the Future