Storywall

storywallHastings Public Schools launched its Strategic Plan Development Process in partnership with TeamWorks International, Inc. and its innovative and proven “Classroom to Boardroom Planning Process”.  On April 19th, 2021, a team of approximately 50 employees engaged in the first session of the process; the Story Wall.


The StoryWall process is designed to engage employees in reflecting on what brought us here and setting our course for the path ahead with three key objectives of:

  1. To identify the current and historical stages of the School District’s lifecycle and the balance of Prime

  2. To define the multiple characteristics of the School District’s past and present peak performance and what is purposefully rewarded (or possibly abandoned) in the future.

  3. To discuss next steps and choices for Partnership Leadership as the school district prepares its strategic plan.


storywall 2The Storywall Report contains the outcomes of five (5) teams organized into time periods of employment going back to 1985 to 2021. The input and assessment of the teams demonstrate the district and community journey through continuous change, accomplishments, disappointments, learning, and growth. The stages of lifecycle describe a district and community living through times of fast change from Adolescence and Go-Go to Bureaucracy and back again, The Covid 19 pandemic of 2020 was clearly a time of upheaval and change as the team assessment was of pre-covid Early Bureaucracy/recrimination rapidly shifting to Infancy during the past year.


The group also engaged in utilizing the Leadership Choices FrameWork from TeamWorks International to assess the experiences and conditions of partnership and isolation in the district and input into a 90 Day Action Plan of what to do more of, and less of to engage in more partnership and diminish isolation.

Partnership

  • Feeling valued

  • Giving voice

  • Shared experience

  • Connections between staff

  • Coaching

  • Common goal

  • Rapid innovation

Isolation

  • Lack of follow through-not doing their job

  • Not having voice

  • Feeling of overwhelm

  • Inability to carry out action

  • Critique

  • Big Brother

  • Communication mishaps

  • Inconsistent follow through

More of

  • Clear goals for 20 closure and 21 start

  • Listening/asking

  • Check-in with colleagues

  • Social/fun

  • "Normal" activities

  • Mimic district

  • Open/respectful communication

  • Assuming positive intent

Less of

  • Assumptions

  • Top-down, assuming need to fix

  • Scattered communication

  • Judgment

  • Criticizing

The full Storywall Report can be viewed here.