Learning to Plan Together
From: LEAVEN,
Vol. 37 No. 5, February-March 2002, p. 2.
Nan Jolly
LLLI Board of Directors
No one could accuse LLLI
of thinking small! We’ve taken on an enormous task. We are just over
6,000 Leaders in the whole world, with very little money, and limited
time, to do it all. Yet we know that we regularly accomplish much more
than seems possible.
It’s not surprising that
the LLLI Board of Directors takes its responsibility to plan for the
organization seriously. We must plan so that our limited resources of
energy, time, and money are directed to achieve the best results.
In
the past, we’ve made and used strategic plans. The strategic plan made
in April 1993 is Appendix 25 of the Policies and Standing Rules Notebook.
Since then, though, we have not been able to take time to think about
the long-term future of LLLI. Now the Board is resuming its leadership
role in planning for the future, and we are learning to plan together.
Vision
One of the principles we’ve learned from the Chaordic Initiative
is the value of participation in decision making by as many of those
affected as possible. Deciding on priorities for the whole of LLLI is
the responsibility of the Board, and indeed, it needs the perspective
that the Board has of all of LLLI and of its relationships with the
world outside of LLLI. At the same time, the Board needs the perspectives
and creativity of as much of the LLLI community as possible to be part
of the process.
The Board leads LLLI in initiating the vision and priorities
for the organization. However, we’re hoping everyone will participate
in this process. Working together to prioritize our goals to achieve
our purpose in a changing world will help us work together more effectively
toward our mission.
Getting It Together
To maximize participation, last
September we asked Leaders to send us their opinions of priorities that
LLLI should have in the coming years. We also took advantage of a joint
meeting with the LLLI Directors in Schaumburg, and followed this by
further organization-wide discussion.
Rapid electronic communications
and in-person meetings make participation of much of the LLLI community
easier. Our challenge is to include Leaders who are not in electronic
contact and with whom we cannot meet in person, but we are confident
that we will be able to do this. Some Areas ask Leaders in email contact
to send messages by mail and phone to those without email. While we
are far from being able to consult with every member of the LLLI community,
we have made a beginning.
Suggestions already received have placed the
most emphasis on supporting the Leader, making her job easier, providing
translations, and ensuring excellence of our resources (funding, information,
education, motivation, communication). Many wanted LLLI to increase
diversity, with broadening of the LLL community across social and economic
barriers. Marketing and publicity received particular mention, while
structural change and the need to increase the number of Applicants
and improve the application process were also mentioned.
At the joint
meeting in October 2001 with the LLLI Directors, we worked in small
groups, brainstorming, distilling, and relating ideas to come up with
priorities for LLLI activities for the next year. Priorities that were
identified were: Technology, Translations, Training (including skill
building), Funding, Team building, Broadening our community and audience,
Rapid response to media reports on breastfeeding, Leader support and
mentoring (Leader/Group/DA, Leader accreditation), Creating trust and
a culture that values self-assessment (without need to be defensive),
Public recognition of volunteers, and a Spirit of inquiry. All of these
priorities seem interrelated, with each depending on and helping the
others to be achieved.
After the October 2001 meeting, the Planning
Committee led an organization-wide discussion to further explore and
refine our priorities, enabling us to make recommendations to the Board.
When the Board meets at the Annual Session in February 2002, we will
bring a compilation of goals and priorities for the coming year that
have been shared by those who participated in the planning, which is
a wider group than ever before. The participatory process for planning
that we are learning to use forms a model for future efforts by others
in LLLI. Our priorities for 2002 will be published in the next issue
of Leaven, and will be posted on the LLLI Web site.
The budget is the
tool we use for allocating and for setting our target for the amount
of resources we plan to acquire. The budget approved in February 2002
will be based on our goals and priorities for the organization, and
those goals and priorities will also guide the activities of the Board
for the coming year.
We love it when a plan comes together!
Our Mission is to help mothers
worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement,
information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of
breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of
the baby and the mother.
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