Strategic Planning for Reference in a Team Environment: the Preferred Futuring Model

Lessons Learned

By conducting three different in-house Preferred Futuring workshops, the reference coordinators learned a number of things that may be valuable for others who want to use this technique for planning services in their own institution. Clearly there is an optimum timetable for a workshop. Each workshop had a different schedule for the eight steps of Preferred Futuring. The E-Reference workshop was scheduled over two half-days and covered steps one through eight of the Preferred Futuring technique. Having the time to cover all of the steps is the advantage of a two-day format. The disadvantage, however, is that some participants may lose interest in returning to attend the second day of the workshop. The second workshop, Reference Under the Team Model, was scheduled for a two-hour session and covered only steps four through seven. Due to the brevity of the workshop, steps one through three of the eight steps were skipped, thus confusing some attendees who did not have background history and prior knowledge of the workshop. The third workshop, Reference in the Information Commons, covered steps one through eight but was conducted on a half-day schedule. Due to the newness of the Information Commons concept and to provide background history on the topic (as well as the workshop techniques), a pre-workshop orientation was offered to the participants. The last workshop seemed to be the most successful because of the half-day format and the full coverage of the eight steps of the Preferred Futuring process.

By comparing the three workshops, feedback comments showed that librarians and staff prefer to express their opinions in groups that include administrators. This was particularly apparent at the Information Commons workshop. During the Information Commons workshop, the executive library director and the three members of the leadership group attendees rotated from one group to the next during the brainstorming sessions to give the four groups a chance to speak with each administrator. Although dividing the eight steps into two sessions does not work as well as combining steps to get all discussion into one session, putting all levels of staff together to discuss common values and reference issues somewhat offsets that disadvantage.

Based on the experience gained by conducting the various format sessions, figure 3 provides best-practice tips and practical steps for planning this kind of in-house workshop.

Figure 3: Practical Steps for Setting up a Preferred Futuring Workshop in Your Library
Planning steps and preparation prior to the workshop
• Identify workshop goals and desired outcome.
• Schedule a half-day event in a pleasant, spacious, large conference room that allows small group activities.
• Invite members from different levels in your organization, including librarians, support staff, and administration.
• Prepare workshop agenda.
• Distribute information regarding the workshop process steps to the participants prior to the event.
• Designate a facilitator and a time-keeper.
• Prepare a workshop evaluation form.
Process on the workshop day
• Provide refreshments.
• Prepare registration sign up and name tags.
• Bring flip charts, markers, and easels.
• Explain the overall workshop format, time allotment for each step, and the group reporting process.
• Divide the participants into small groups to facilitate brainstorming.
• Write each workshop step on a flip chart and provide some group discussion examples for each step.
• Facilitator(s) to move around to encourage all group members participation, encourage free flow of ideas, and to answer questions.
• Ask each group to assign a recorder and a reporter to report back the group’s brainstorming results to the full audience.
• Allow a short break.
• Perform wrap-up.
• Collect workshop evaluations.
Process after completion of the workshop
• Collect the flip charts and brainstorming comments.
• Summarize, categorize, and digitize the comments.
• List the proposed action items.
• Prepare a workshop report.
• Distribute the final report to the workshop participants.
• Summarize evaluation feedback and report the suggestions.
• Offer a follow-up session to maintain continuity.

Figure 3. Practical Steps for Setting up a Preferred Futuring Workshop in Your Library
Conclusion

The Preferred Futuring process is an adaptable, flexible technique that is applicable in different settings or contexts. The results generated from the three in-house workshops on reference topics (E-reference/Chat, Reference Services under Team Model, and Information Commons Reference Services) conducted at USC formed the action plans for the reference coordinators. It is interesting to note many similarities among the three workshop action plans, such as staffing, training, assessment, outreach/marketing, and technology requirements/challenges. Use of these Preferred Futuring workshops has become a part of the reference coordination function. The USC reference coordinators believe that Preferred Futuring is a particularly appropriate tool in a multi-team service environment for identifying the desired reference future and mapping out plans of action to achieve it.

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