Strategic Planning - Appreciative Inquiry

In March 2008, Family Service Toronto (FST) launched a new strategic planning process with a forum aimed at creating a shared understanding of the environment within which FST works. Three panels addressed how the city is changing, how services are responding and the best role for city-wide organizations. The day finished with a presentation on thriving in challenging times.

Between the panels, the 112 community partners, staff and board members attending a total of 405 opportunities for FST emerged from the presentations. Formal evaluation results and verbal feedback about the day were very positive with 98% of participants indicating they have a better understanding of what is happening in Toronto as a result of attending the forum and 99% indicating they believe the ideas presented at the forum provide a solid foundation for FSA to discuss strategic directions.

Appreciative Inquiry in a Nutshell*:

To appreciate means to value – to understand those things of value and worth valuing.

To inquire means to study, to ask questions, to search.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is therefore a collaborative search to identify and understand an organization’s strengths, its potentials, its greatest opportunities, and people's hopes for the future.

*Sue Derby and Maureen McKenna, SuMo Experience

An important part of the strategic planning process has been the use of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology which identifies what is working well in organizations and builds upon these strengths. Twenty-two board members and staff from across the organization were given an orientation to AI and how it can be used to gather input from a variety of stakeholders. These individuals then went out to interview clients, community partners, staff and board members. In total 89 individuals were interviewed and their feedback informed a second meeting of interviewers to identify themes from the interviews. (See Appreciative Inquiry Interviews below.)

The second forum in April 2008 provided 104 community partners, board and staff members with the opportunity to reflect on what we’d learned in the strategic planning process. Groups met to further develop the themes emerging from the planning process and reported back on the potential for FST to move forward on each theme. A vote by "dotmocracy" was held to prioritize themes people believed hold most potential for FST.

Now work is underway to refine a set of strategic directions to guide the organization in the next three years. Opportunities for stakeholder input on these directions are occurring over the summer, with final directions approved by the board in the fall of 2008.

Quotes from Appreciative Inquiry Interviews

During the AI interviews clients, partners, staff and board members described the essence of FST and envisioned what FST would look like in four years if all their wishes were to come true.

A client described her counsellor in the Violence Against Women program as… "a very caring person" who helped by providing insights that offered her "a whole new way of looking at something…she is very good at helping you see the other side of the coin". She reported leaving the counselling office feeling "very positive". "I was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

A community partner said… "Isee FST as a civic leader that assists individuals and families, that takes a proactive role on the public policy issues of the day—be they at city hall or at the local neighbourhood meeting—and that harnesses the power that comes from having people working together at the community level."

A staff said… "The essence of FSA is the passion that FSA staff have for their work. Staff are drawn to the work, to do the best for our communities, to be responsive to changing community needs. Staff are very hard working. They love to learn and love their work."

A board member said… "I was very proud of the position that FST took on the same sex marriage fight. We were bold in fighting for this issue and often the loudest voices were the straight voices. There was never any need to convince the agency about this issue as it reflected the definition of family which is so well held at the agency. The three parent case was also another triumph. FST had never been involved in litigation for social change before the three parent case. We won with lots of work and courage. These two examples shows that FST understands what modern families look like. Especially in an old agency (that came from labour issues and soup kitchens), it is remarkable that FST has such a modern perspective."

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