PIP Part E

The Neighborhood Association held a strategic planning meeting to determine priorities for the year. Initially, they planned for a 30-minute discussion during a monthly board meeting, but decided on a half-day event after feedback. However, there was a lack of communication and follow-up from the leader, and the in-person meeting never happened. The president suggested discussing the plan during the next monthly meeting. The lack of organization and planning left a negative impression on new board members. Finally, the meeting has been rescheduled and the importance of communication and effective leadership is highlighted. As part of the Neighborhood Association in the neighborhood I live in, our board agreed to hold a strategic planning meeting to get to know each other better and to determine our priorities for the year ahead. One of our senior members volunteered to take on the role of organizing this meeting. Her initial plan was to set aside 30 minutes of one of our monthly board meetings for this purpose. After receiving feedback from several board members that that was not enough time for us to make an effective and detailed plan, the leader decided that a half-day event was more appropriate and all board members agreed. Before leaving the meeting, we identified a specific date and time to hold an in-person strategic planning meeting and the leader was going to identify some times to hold a virtual meeting for those that could not make the proposed in-person date. A few days passed and a board member emailed the group asking if a virtual date had been decided on as her calendar was filling up. There was no response from the leader. As the date for the in-person meeting was approaching, we heard no communication about the location or a confirmation of the time or any meeting materials. There was no follow-up and our agreed-upon date came and went. Days later, the president of the board brought up the idea that we carve out an hour and a half of our next scheduled monthly meeting to discuss our strategic plan since no other action was being taken. All board members agreed and we are now set to meet this week on this. The effective qualities I saw were the initiative of the senior board member of wanting to organize and lead our strategic planning meeting in the first place and making herself available for both an in-person and a virtual meeting based on everyone's feedback. She could have improved her communication and follow-up with the group. For days, we felt left out of what was happening and received no communication that the in-person meeting was no longer happening. I don't think this was the correct way to handle the planning. I also don't think the lack of organization and planning left a good impression on our four newest board members. I am glad that the president stepped in and offered an alternative so that was effective leadership on his part. Now we do have a plan to meet for the strategic planning meeting and it is during a time when everyone can meet in person, which is optimal. If I had stepped up and said that I wanted to lead our strategic planning, I would have communicated to my team ahead of time if I experienced any issues that prevented me from continuing to lead. Whether I had an issue reserving the space or I no longer had capacity to lead, I would have asked the board for more assistance and communicated that in advance so that people were not left wondering what the meeting status was. Collective leadership requires proper communication and being responsive to questions. It means following up on one's promises and clearly communicating if any issues arise that prevent one from their responsibilities so that they can be delegated. What stays with me is also the impact this misstep might have had on our newest members. It could have been a negative and confusing experience, so I hope our actual meeting is impactful and useful and reminds them of our goals and why we joined this group to begin with.