Core Values Steering Committee Minutes - November 02, 2021

Reaffirm ground rules

Kim read the ground rules aloud to reaffirm them for all members.

In the future, the short form of the ground rules will be included on the agenda.

Flow of project

Chris reported that he and Kim have received questions about how the work of the Steering Committee (Steering) relates to the work of the Strategic Focus Group and the LEAP group.  The group worked to address some of these issues.

The Strategic Focus Group is working to set a direction for MLS as we move forward into the future.  It is centered on broad areas such as how we serve and relate to the community, how we support literacy, etc.  The group’s work is still ongoing.  Implementing the Core Values is a part of how we will move forward.  Making them an everyday piece of our operations will help us to reach our strategic goals, but the Core Values are not a strategic goal.

Chris reminded the group that the LEAP program was begun by one Executive Director and completed by another.  As a LEAP member, Katherine shared that that group’s Core Values project was given to them as an exercise in project management and development.  Their group created recommendations that were shared with the Leadership Team and Senior Management Group; they understood that their recommendations were more theoretical.  This group may build on the LEAP recommendations or refer to them as we develop different ideas.

It was pointed out that Larry wanted to have more staff involved in the Core Value implementation than were in the LEAP group.  Between the Steering Committee and the subcommittees, around 40 staff, approximately 10% of MLS staff, are involved.  The committees’ charge is to take the values from being words on a page to part of staff’s daily work and lives.  In some cases, this may be quick; in others, it may take years.

The Core Values should not be an activity that staff do, but part of the fabric of the organization.  How are the Core Values being used now?  There is concern that staff are inculcating core values based on their own definitions, not systemwide definitions.  A plan was presented to Leadership Team to require all staff to focus on the People First value for the upcoming performance review year; the plan focuses heavily on customer service.  Kim mentioned that there have been conversations about changing or pausing the customer service focus.  Larry wants Steering to come up with one set of definitions instead of each person relying on their own perception of what the values mean.

Interactions between Steering and Subcommittees

• Steering decides how the process works and helps direct the subcommittees toward their charge.
• Liaisons will bring ideas, including Core Value definitions, back to Steering.  Idea triage happens at the subcommittee level.
• Steering will review the information and consider what questions others, such as Senior Management Group, may have.
• Steering will send questions and requests for revisions back to the subcommittees.
• Subcommittees need to finish their work in time for Steering to complete their report with budget implications.
• Subcommittees are to create proposals, not just ideas.
• Steering will provide a template for the proposals.
• Each proposal will be one page.  The one-page limit is per idea, not per subcommittee.
• Proposals are expected to describe budgetary impact, but not necessarily exact costs.
• Proposals are to include timelines for implementation.  The timelines will be grouped as follows: Up to 1 year ; 1-5 years ; 5-10 years ; Over 10 years.
• Proposals are to contain the idea and enough background that others, such as Leadership Team, can understand what is being proposed.
• Subcommittees are to understand that not all proposals will be implemented.
• If multiple subcommittees propose the same idea, Steering may ask them to work together, or recommend that the idea be limited to one subcommittee.
• When liaisons meet with their subcommittees, they are to be clear about what their tasks are and what the Steering Committee’s expectation are.
• Subcommittees are expected to move from brainstorming and generating ideas to narrowing those ideas down.  They will refine ideas to decide which ones to bring to Steering, and will bring those recommendations.
• Subcommittees’ work will not end in February.  Proposals are due to Steering based on their timeline, but may be sent back to subcommittees for additional information, etc.
• Steering may recommend changes to proposals.
• Subcommittees may be tasked with implementing deliverables in the future.
• Steering will move the selected proposals up the ladder to Leadership Team, Senior Management Group, and Larry.

Frontline staff feel that they spend a lot of time in work groups, but that work is not recognized.  Subcommittees’ work should not be diminished by not allowing them to speak for themselves.  Subcommittees may request or be asked to present specific proposals up the chain.

Other stakeholders may carry ideas forward in the future.

The question was raised about how to balance all of this with other staff responsibilities.  Subcommittees may produce wonderful ideas, but staff are feeling overwhelmed with too much change and few breaks.  It will be better to identify one or two things to do rather than 10.

There was discussion of creating a video to explain the definitions and what they mean.

To recap:

• Subcommittees will submit one-page proposals to Steering.
• Proposals will include quick, basic budgetary information.
• Proposals will be shared with Steering in mid-January; the timeline will be updated to reflect this.
• Plans should be incremental.
• Anyone who wants to speak to the Leadership Team should have the ability to make a presentation.

Question: Is the one-page limit per idea or per subcommittee; it is per idea.

Communications

There was discussion about how Steering can communicate about its work.  Communication needs to be upward, downward, sideways, everywhere

• Chris referenced the weekly Facilities Update e-mails that Steve Butts sends each week, and recommended that Steering adopt something similar.  It was agreed that Chris and Kim will mainly be responsible for creating this update, but any Steering member who wants to create the update is welcome to do so.  Updates will be sent to Steering for review prior to sending to All Correspondents.
• Chris mentioned that Risa Jensen-Jones had created PowerPoints to be used to share information about the ED2 project, and suggested that this would be valuable for Steering as well.
• Pauline will continue to write minutes after each Steering meeting.  She will send them to members for review, and post them to MyMetroLibrary afterward.
• Video updates can be done anytime.  Steering may ask each subcommittee to do a video introduction to its work.  There was also discussion of creating a video to showcase the definitions and what they mean.
• Subcommittees will take minutes, but posting all of them onto MyMetroLibrary may lead to information overload.  Pauline will gather all subcommittee minutes, compile highlights, send them for review, and post them.  She will establish regular deadlines for minutes to be sent to her; any minutes received prior to a deadline will be included in highlights.  Pauline will send reminders that minutes are owed to subcommittee chairs, liaisons, and subcommittee notetakers.
• Steering must communicate to all subcommittees that they have skin in the game.  Subcommittees’ work should not be diminished by not allowing them to speak for themselves.

Timelines

• Kim shared a draft timeline for the project.  This timeline set the final date for subcommittees to forward proposals at February 4, 2022.  Steering agreed to move this to January 14, 2022.
• It was suggested that it would be helpful to have the full timeline available to subcommittees when they meet; everyone agreed.
• A question was raised as to whether subcommittees would be receiving feedback from the Steering Committee after submitting their proposals.  The timeline is specific about times for communication between Steering and the Leadership Team, but not so much about communication between Steering and the subcommittees.  After January 14, Steering will review the proposals and decide which ones to take up.  Some may be sent back to subcommittees for a longer proposal or more detailed plan.

Next steps

All subcommittees have scheduled their first meeting.

Action items