Based on what I can see of the Municipal Act and my observation, the head of council (in our case the mayor) has little formal power granted to him. He promotes and represents the City. The mayor only gets one vote, and while he chairs the council meetings that only gives him limited influence over the decision making power of council. Mayors (and honestly any elected politician) need to use influencing skills. Our mayor derives a certain amount of power from the fact that he was elected to that office but officially no "special" powers are granted to him as mayor. He has to work with Council to get things done. It seems to me to bit a delicate balance because the public perception, I think, is that a mayor has power to make decisions and control council. The reality is not as clear cut. Definitely not an easy job.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Thursday, 10 October 2013
I believe that the relationship is working reasonably well between the City's administrative structure and the Library's administrative structure. This is something that the previous CEO set out to improve and the current CEO has continued to work hard to make things work smoothly. The most obvious evidence that this is working is that the Library CEO is invited to the City Management meetings and is therefore included in these discussions. This is helpful in terms of both keeping the Library informed about high level issues and plans at the municipal level and keeping the administrative level of the City informed about what the Library is doing and in some cases, how the Library can assist with various departments plans or events. While the two administrative structures are quite separate in terms of personnel, the library is quite integrated in terms of many processes that happen at the City. For instance the Library participates like the rest of the departments in the budget process and meets all City deadlines and directives (although the Library Board approves the budget before it goes to Council unlike other City departments). We have been working hard to develop relationships that benefit both City and Library so that services are not duplicated and understanding between various departments is clear. For example the CEO meets regularly with the Director of Culture and Recreation. This has meant that relationships can be improved with other levels of staff in the Culture and Recreation department which has benefitted both parties. This has meant more joint events and mutual support of various initiatives. Of course this is not to say that the relationship between the Administrative structure in the Library and that of the City is without problems. Sometimes the Library is forgotten when all other City Departments are consulted and sometimes the Library forgets to share information with City admin that would be useful to them, but overall the relationship is generally one of mutual respect and benefit and this makes both the City and the Library function more smoothly.
Monday, 10 June 2013
Genoa Public Library Case Study
Nicki has quite a challenge set out for her. I don't envy her the task of improving the organizational culture of the Genoa Public Library which she is taking on along with a whole new position (a promotion!). Of course the project has great possibilities for making a huge difference in Genoa PL which overall sounds like a forward thinking organization and has a bright future ahead. So in that way it is pretty exciting.
1. How would you proceed with managing the culture project? What would you do first?
Nicki has a big and important project to oversee. I suggest her first step is to do some reading and research about change management and specifically about leading cultural change. Unless she has taken the APLL course her education and experience may not have led her to look at Kotter's 8 steps or other organized and valuable ways of approaching organizational change. Once she has some understanding of the topic she needs to formulate a strategy of how she wants to proceed with this project. She can't plan out everything but it would be best to have an overall plan with the buy in of the CEO, since he is the sponsor of the project.
Once Nicki's overall plan is established she needs to have a clear explanation of why the change in organizational culture is necessary. She needs to have a picture in her mind (and be able to clearly explain it to others) of what, in general, the changed workplace will accomplish. Why does the library want to go there? The "vision" needs to look attractive for everyone (or at least most) so that Nicki can get most to support the changes necessary. It is unlikely that Nicki can develop this by herself so I suggest she work with a couple other people to find a compelling vision and of course she needs the buy in of the CEO.
Now that Nicki's compelling and urgent vision for change is established Nicki needs to "take her show on the road". It appears from the case study that she has credibility within the organization and she may need to cash some of that in. It will help her that she has worked in several areas and levels within the library. Hopefully she can enlist the help of the CEO and possibly other credible members of management to share her compelling and urgent vision for organizational change.
2. How would you select the participants for the team?
Selecting the right team members is very important to accomplishing the goals of this project. Nicki needs to identify people within the organization who are leaders and have influence with other staff members. She will need people who can "sign on" to the vision of a new organizational culture and are willing to actively support that vision.
Since the Genoa Public Library has no less that ten (10) major projects being undertaken at this time the need for leaders within the organization is going to be very high. It would be sensible for the leaders of those ten projects and other senior leaders to get together and identify which staff members might fit best within the various projects. Otherwise some staff may be inundated with committee requests and others may be overlooked who may well have been valuable committee members. Hopefully people would be able to volunteer for committees that interest them but this could be a bit tricky since not all individuals might be suitable. Perhaps a combination of the identification and volunteer models could be used to ensure the best fit and a successful committee.
It would be essential to include a staff member from the department that struggles with change. Nicki will need to work hard with that group to ensure that someone can be involved and contribute to the success of the committee. With a positive role model in their midst (someone with credibility within their group) the team will hopefully be able to see the positives that will come with this change. It will be easier to tailor the message to this group by including someone from it but Nicki will have to be careful she doesn't add a toxic element to her committee that has a big enough job ahead of it already. Nicki also needs to include someone from the Milverton branch on the committee. She may need to get creative to find them some assistance to free up some staff time to participate. It seems to me that Milverton will be an easy sell if they can see how a culture change will help their situation (and I think that argument could easily be made) but someone who knows the current difficulties would definitely be an asset to the team.
3. How would you diagnose the cultural and organizational issues?
Apparently the culture of Genoa Library needs to change from reactive to proactive, from conservative to innovative, from library focused to customer focused and from process and transaction oriented to library experience oriented.
Given that Nicky has experience in various parts and levels of the organization she may already have a pretty good idea of some of the issues that are underlying that list of needed changes. She can try a variety of methods to gather data such as informal discussions with employees in small groups or department meetings, or more formal anonymous surveys of employees. She should have discussions with supervisors and managers as well to gather information. She should especially try to consult the influencers of the organization even if they are not on side with the change plan as yet. Even if this information doesn't pinpoint issues it can give Nicki valuable insight into how staff are feeling about the culture and will help her shape the roll out plan in the future.
Once the committee is organized, functioning and onside with the vision they can sort through the data that has been collected and provide more of their own. This will allow the committee to identify and prioritize key areas to address that could result in "quick wins" while the overall plan moves forward.
Nicki has quite a challenge set out for her. I don't envy her the task of improving the organizational culture of the Genoa Public Library which she is taking on along with a whole new position (a promotion!). Of course the project has great possibilities for making a huge difference in Genoa PL which overall sounds like a forward thinking organization and has a bright future ahead. So in that way it is pretty exciting.
1. How would you proceed with managing the culture project? What would you do first?
Nicki has a big and important project to oversee. I suggest her first step is to do some reading and research about change management and specifically about leading cultural change. Unless she has taken the APLL course her education and experience may not have led her to look at Kotter's 8 steps or other organized and valuable ways of approaching organizational change. Once she has some understanding of the topic she needs to formulate a strategy of how she wants to proceed with this project. She can't plan out everything but it would be best to have an overall plan with the buy in of the CEO, since he is the sponsor of the project.
Once Nicki's overall plan is established she needs to have a clear explanation of why the change in organizational culture is necessary. She needs to have a picture in her mind (and be able to clearly explain it to others) of what, in general, the changed workplace will accomplish. Why does the library want to go there? The "vision" needs to look attractive for everyone (or at least most) so that Nicki can get most to support the changes necessary. It is unlikely that Nicki can develop this by herself so I suggest she work with a couple other people to find a compelling vision and of course she needs the buy in of the CEO.
Now that Nicki's compelling and urgent vision for change is established Nicki needs to "take her show on the road". It appears from the case study that she has credibility within the organization and she may need to cash some of that in. It will help her that she has worked in several areas and levels within the library. Hopefully she can enlist the help of the CEO and possibly other credible members of management to share her compelling and urgent vision for organizational change.
2. How would you select the participants for the team?
Selecting the right team members is very important to accomplishing the goals of this project. Nicki needs to identify people within the organization who are leaders and have influence with other staff members. She will need people who can "sign on" to the vision of a new organizational culture and are willing to actively support that vision.
Since the Genoa Public Library has no less that ten (10) major projects being undertaken at this time the need for leaders within the organization is going to be very high. It would be sensible for the leaders of those ten projects and other senior leaders to get together and identify which staff members might fit best within the various projects. Otherwise some staff may be inundated with committee requests and others may be overlooked who may well have been valuable committee members. Hopefully people would be able to volunteer for committees that interest them but this could be a bit tricky since not all individuals might be suitable. Perhaps a combination of the identification and volunteer models could be used to ensure the best fit and a successful committee.
It would be essential to include a staff member from the department that struggles with change. Nicki will need to work hard with that group to ensure that someone can be involved and contribute to the success of the committee. With a positive role model in their midst (someone with credibility within their group) the team will hopefully be able to see the positives that will come with this change. It will be easier to tailor the message to this group by including someone from it but Nicki will have to be careful she doesn't add a toxic element to her committee that has a big enough job ahead of it already. Nicki also needs to include someone from the Milverton branch on the committee. She may need to get creative to find them some assistance to free up some staff time to participate. It seems to me that Milverton will be an easy sell if they can see how a culture change will help their situation (and I think that argument could easily be made) but someone who knows the current difficulties would definitely be an asset to the team.
3. How would you diagnose the cultural and organizational issues?
Apparently the culture of Genoa Library needs to change from reactive to proactive, from conservative to innovative, from library focused to customer focused and from process and transaction oriented to library experience oriented.
Given that Nicky has experience in various parts and levels of the organization she may already have a pretty good idea of some of the issues that are underlying that list of needed changes. She can try a variety of methods to gather data such as informal discussions with employees in small groups or department meetings, or more formal anonymous surveys of employees. She should have discussions with supervisors and managers as well to gather information. She should especially try to consult the influencers of the organization even if they are not on side with the change plan as yet. Even if this information doesn't pinpoint issues it can give Nicki valuable insight into how staff are feeling about the culture and will help her shape the roll out plan in the future.
Once the committee is organized, functioning and onside with the vision they can sort through the data that has been collected and provide more of their own. This will allow the committee to identify and prioritize key areas to address that could result in "quick wins" while the overall plan moves forward.
Saturday, 8 June 2013
The perfect workplace environment with the ideal organizational culture is a tantalizing prospect. This environment would have a high degree of trust. If you trust that your fellow employees are working for the best of the organization then it is much easier to function as a team. My ideal organization would allow input from all staff and assign budget based on the priorities of the organization. Ideally there would be frequent opportunities for staff to interact and debate, eventually coming to a consensus on decisions. This requires a staff with listening skills, a common understanding of values and goals, and leaders that are open and willing to learn. Staff would need to have diverse skills, outlooks and backgrounds but share a clear understanding of the goals and values that the organization supports. The leadership team needs to be open to a variety of different ideas and approaches adept at making changes as necessary. The ideal organizational culture would be one that embraces change when it is the best path forward and understands that an organization is a dynamic thing that will continue to change but hold on to the core values that it has defined.
This organization is appealing because discussion, debate and consensus should lead to better decisions if done correctly. With a variety of input issues and concerns can be worked out before implementation. All staff would be energized to work at this organization because their input is valued and they have a stake in what the organization accomplishes. If all staff have a healthy attitude to change, understand the core values and trust the organization to be doing what is best then moving ahead and adapting will be much less painful. A culture of learning and growing gives staff an idea that they are valued and can continue to grow with the organization and contribute. Everyone wants to contribute and feel that there is value in what they do and an organization such as the one described above would help every employee to have that sense when they come to work each day.
Friday, 10 May 2013
To reflect on my family culture I have chosen to focus on my family of origin since it is difficult to generalize about all aspects of ones family (in-laws, nuclear family, extended family including cousins - of which I have many -etc).
My family of origin is small (I am an only child) and close knit. Although not demonstrative (not much hugging and kissing like I think of, in say a stereotypical Italian family, expressions of caring are demonstrated by your actions. I think the story of my mother's family set the tone for this culture. When my mother was 10 her father died. This was 1930s Toronto so things were tough. Grandma took in borders to help make ends meet. My mom had to help with cleaning and cooking. Her older brothers (she had 6 siblings) had to go out to work to support the family. They had to all pitch in and help. The culture was always one of hard work and self sufficiency (though there was lots of fun too - I don't want to give the impression the family was boring - in fact quite the opposite). As a child I was always expected to work hard at school and whatever else I did and contribute to the family by doing chores and helping out. Although the economic situation was not the same growing up in the 1960s with two working parents with decent jobs, the work ethic was ingrained in our family culture.
My family of origin is small (I am an only child) and close knit. Although not demonstrative (not much hugging and kissing like I think of, in say a stereotypical Italian family, expressions of caring are demonstrated by your actions. I think the story of my mother's family set the tone for this culture. When my mother was 10 her father died. This was 1930s Toronto so things were tough. Grandma took in borders to help make ends meet. My mom had to help with cleaning and cooking. Her older brothers (she had 6 siblings) had to go out to work to support the family. They had to all pitch in and help. The culture was always one of hard work and self sufficiency (though there was lots of fun too - I don't want to give the impression the family was boring - in fact quite the opposite). As a child I was always expected to work hard at school and whatever else I did and contribute to the family by doing chores and helping out. Although the economic situation was not the same growing up in the 1960s with two working parents with decent jobs, the work ethic was ingrained in our family culture.
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Community Development and the Ontario Healthy Community Coalition
I found it really interesting and encouraging to read so many stories of Community Development. It was fascinating to see the diverse approaches and structures all focusing on the same ends - a healthy community. I easily found 5 examples of activities that met one or more of the values of community development.
This is why I chose inclusive as the most important value in Community Development. I also found the value "upstream" quite interesting. Though the concept is not hard to grasp it was an idea that I hadn't really grappled with before in this context. I think it is a good addition to the list because activities that are aimed at the symptoms rather than the problem will inevitably need to be sustained or increased to continue to deal with the symptoms of an issue. If you can design an activity to deal with the root issue then your community will benefit much more.
I found it really interesting and encouraging to read so many stories of Community Development. It was fascinating to see the diverse approaches and structures all focusing on the same ends - a healthy community. I easily found 5 examples of activities that met one or more of the values of community development.
- Thunder Bay Public Library - social justice and equity
- Christie Lake Stewardship Plan - community ownership
- Durham's Child Nutrition Project - upstream
- MovingON (Perth) - enhancement of natural capacities & networks
- Community Capacity Building (Chatham-Kent) - service integration
This is why I chose inclusive as the most important value in Community Development. I also found the value "upstream" quite interesting. Though the concept is not hard to grasp it was an idea that I hadn't really grappled with before in this context. I think it is a good addition to the list because activities that are aimed at the symptoms rather than the problem will inevitably need to be sustained or increased to continue to deal with the symptoms of an issue. If you can design an activity to deal with the root issue then your community will benefit much more.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Connecting with Community Planning
I found this assignment a bit difficult as our City does not have a Strategic Plan. There is an Official Plan but it concentrates on Planning in the official sense - not the general sense. The library is mentioned only in the area of the new development of Seaton which is slated to have two libraries eventually.
Other than the Official Plan the City of Pickering has 5 Corporate priorities. They are Community Engagement, Corporate Best Practices, Human Resource Development, Financial Management, and Sustainable Placemaking. I think that these Corporate Priorities provide the best opportunities for the Library to engage effectively with our Municipal Partners. If the Library can be seen to participate and assist the municipality in achieving some of these priorities it will go a long way to positioning the Library as a good partner and community leader. The three priorities I think the Library should focuse on are:
1. Community Engagement: our CEO has been working with City staff on this project. As the project moves forward the Library can contribute time, participation and expertise to this priority. It will also benefit the library in general to move towards being a more engaged community partner.
2. Financial Management: Our financial processes and procedures are closely linked to the City's and the Library always works hard to meet City financial targets and procedures. As the City makes more changes and improves its practices, it will be important for the Library to continue to work closely with the Financial Services staff and the Treasurer to ensure that we follow the same processes and procedures.
3. Sustainable Placemaking: Sustainability is an important concept in Pickering and the Library must be seen to participate and lead when possible in this area. A close relationship with the Planning group and the Building and maintenance group will assist us with identifying opportunities and taking advantage of available grants and other options.
I found this assignment a bit difficult as our City does not have a Strategic Plan. There is an Official Plan but it concentrates on Planning in the official sense - not the general sense. The library is mentioned only in the area of the new development of Seaton which is slated to have two libraries eventually.
Other than the Official Plan the City of Pickering has 5 Corporate priorities. They are Community Engagement, Corporate Best Practices, Human Resource Development, Financial Management, and Sustainable Placemaking. I think that these Corporate Priorities provide the best opportunities for the Library to engage effectively with our Municipal Partners. If the Library can be seen to participate and assist the municipality in achieving some of these priorities it will go a long way to positioning the Library as a good partner and community leader. The three priorities I think the Library should focuse on are:
1. Community Engagement: our CEO has been working with City staff on this project. As the project moves forward the Library can contribute time, participation and expertise to this priority. It will also benefit the library in general to move towards being a more engaged community partner.
2. Financial Management: Our financial processes and procedures are closely linked to the City's and the Library always works hard to meet City financial targets and procedures. As the City makes more changes and improves its practices, it will be important for the Library to continue to work closely with the Financial Services staff and the Treasurer to ensure that we follow the same processes and procedures.
3. Sustainable Placemaking: Sustainability is an important concept in Pickering and the Library must be seen to participate and lead when possible in this area. A close relationship with the Planning group and the Building and maintenance group will assist us with identifying opportunities and taking advantage of available grants and other options.
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