Connecting to Values and Mission
By Antonia Genao, Director of Operations, Make The Road New York
In the beginning of 2023, I found myself in a very daunting moment, surrounded by a lot of potential. My organization, Make the Road New York (MRNY), was in the midst of a lot of change and hitting a number of milestones. We were at the end of a five-year strategic plan, celebrating our 25th anniversary. We were embarking on the design of a new strategic plan with the guidance of relatively new leadership and returning to in-person community support. My department, Operations, was beginning a complete restructure, resulting in a lot of turnover. This situation, mixed with other cultural changes, was at times isolating and could feel disempowering.
I found myself with a new team, and a new team of department leaders in a strategic planning process, which requires knowledge of the organization, passion for the work, and a lot of teamwork. This new team had a mix of experience; some had been with us for a long time and others were very green. I decided to start from the beginning by designing a series of meetings to help my team connect to the Organizational Mission statement and feel connected to the work that I was asking them to complete day in and day out.
Below I share the agendas of these meetings for you to adapt and use at your organization.
Meeting I: Values Chart
Who:
Operations Team (e.g., Receptionist, IT department, Scheduling Team and Operations Team Managers)
Key Guiding Principle:
It is important to start this meeting in a light manner and give each section enough time, so everyone can be heard in their fullness. In this section I invited guest speakers, but always opened, and started by focusing on the main team.
Final Outcome:
Each person will be able to identify their values and understand how they connect to decision making.
Materials:
Makers, pens, paper and pencils
Duration:
2-4 hours
Proposed Agenda:
Ice Breaker
Two truths and a lie (or any icebreaker that gets people to laugh and talk about themselves).
Personal Reflection
For three minutes, write about a time you felt good about yourself. What feelings came up for you? Who was there? Why is that feeling memorable? Some values will come up naturally.
If two or three people want, they can share.
Introduction of Values
Ask the team:
Can anyone name a value, or define what it is?
Why do values matter?
Would you say that there are key values for you in the moments you just reflected on? What were they?
Does this organization have values?
Creation of Personal Values Chart
Today we will begin the process of creating, or, for some, revisiting our values chart.
Ask the team: Does anyone know what a values chart is?
A values chart is a chart that clearly names and ranks the values that make up who you are and what matters to you in your core. So, for example, for me my top value is Wellbeing; this means that behind the decisions and actions that feel good to me there will likely be a Wellbeing component present. There is no right way to make a values chart; there are no wrong values, and there are no charts that are better than others. This is a personal and unique process for each person.
Sometimes it is hard to remember values and think of them, so here is a sample sheet to help us think about values.
You will all engage in the process of naming and arranging your values. There are no wrong values and the same value can mean different things to different people. It is important to be honest with yourself and feel comfortable and own the values that you know are your own.
People will work on picking and beginning to arrange their values for 20-25 minutes.
Once that is done, stop the group and ask the team:
What feelings came up?
What did you learn about yourself?
People will share for a few minutes as the activity comes to a close.
5. Next Steps
Now that everyone has seen a glimpse of what their values are and how they rate, ask the team: Think about how you use these values to guide your everyday decisions. Have a few individuals share their responses and then ask the whole group to discuss together.
Usually the decisions we make that reflect our values sit well with us. When we make decisions or are placed in situations that go against our values, that is typically when we feel disconnected and excluded from processes and outcomes.
Next time we come together, we will finalize our charts.
6. Wrap Up
Ask people to observe, over the next few weeks, how these values came into play while they were at work, or in their personal lives. Pay particular attention to how the values are used in making decisions and which values could have been used to aid the decision-making process. These observations will inform the next meeting to make the charts final.
Collect all values charts. You will need them for the next meeting. People can take pictures of their work if they want.
Meeting II: Finalizing Values Chart
When:
Should happen at least three months from Meeting I.
Who:
Operations Team (e.g., Receptionist, IT department, Scheduling Team and Operations Team Managers)
Key Guiding Principle:
For this meeting you will also want a light schedule. Inform people in advance that in this session they will be expected to finalize and present their charts. The space needs to feel very safe and free of judgment. Play music if possible as people work.
Final Outcome:
Staff will share charts with the full group and begin to find connection between their values and the values of their organization and the work they do.
Materials:
Construction paper, markers, scissors, pencils, crayons, glue, and general art supplies
Values charts from Meeting I
Job descriptions for each person
List of organizational goals or other type of document that reviews organizational progress
Duration:
2-4 hours
Proposed Agenda:
Icebreaker
Tell us one thing you have accomplished that you were pleasantly surprised by.
2. Finalize Charts
Using the art supplies and the charts you initially started, make any final changes to values, layout, and overall look of the chart.
If you have folks that missed the first session, they should begin to work on their charts. It is helpful to share with them the lists of values and the details of the previous activity before they come into the meeting so they are mentally prepared. They will not have to present unless they feel ready.
Each person will present their chart to the full group and speak to what their values signify for them. You can time each person; just note that sometimes people get emotional and it can be uncomfortable to cut them off.
3. Break (10-15 min)
4. Review of Existing Organizational Goals
You can either review organizational goals from the last time you met till now, or longer periods of time, depending on what makes sense for your organizational norms related to reflecting on goals. Mark any progress and adjust any future goals if needed. This is intended to get people to start shifting from the personal lens to the professional, in order to begin establishing connections between both in the next activity.
5. Creation of Dream Spheres (45 minutes)
Divide the team into groups of 3-5 people. They should do very similar work. For operations, we had a couple groups of receptionists, schedulers, IT and support staff. Hand each group a large paper with two spheres (see sample image below) and four different color post-its.
Ask each group to think about their individual and team goals and tasks in relation to their personal values charts and individual job descriptions. Some organizational goals and tasks may speak to one specific team or individual; if so, they should be included in this activity. Also, for some organizations, the team is one department, and for other organizations, the teams are groups within a department.
They will do this by collectively filling out their Dream Sphere, as follows:
In the middle of the sphere, place goals and tasks that align with their own personal values.
In the job description sphere, place tasks and goals that are core to their job description, even if they don't necessarily reflect their own personal values.
In the personal sphere, place things that they bring to the job that are core to who they are and they simply bring to work regardless of their position. Someone who is artistic in IT might add Art to the sphere for example, or someone who is funny might add laughter/funny to their receptionist role.
On the outside of the spheres, where it says “Unclear,” they will add things that they do because they have to but don't really understand why. For example, helping with someone else’s expense report.
As people are posting tasks and goals, there may be disagreements about where a goal or task should be placed. When that happens, people should explain where they placed a task or goal and negotiate with others about where to put it. The full group should collectively decide where the goal or task should be placed. For instance, managers may explain why something in the “Unclear” section belongs to a specific sphere and, once all staff understand the relationship, the post-it would be moved to that sphere.
6. Shared Understanding of Dream Spheres
Each group will present their spheres and why things landed where they did. The full staff will ask questions and persuade the presenters to move things in the sphere as they see fit. For example, if a receptionist were to place “membership past dues collection” outside of all spheres, I would explain that it is core to their job description because it is part of membership support.
When everyone is done presenting, hopefully they are surprised by how much of their personal self overlaps or is welcomed by their role in the organization.
7. Wrap Up
Save the spheres for leadership or management team meeting if applicable.
Meeting III: Leadership Connection
When:
1-2 months after Meeting II
Who:
Operations managers (e.g., Administration Manager, Events Manager, Facilities Manager, Special Projects Manager, IT Manager)
(Applicable if you have a leadership or management team within your department.)
Key Guiding Principle:
To make sure the leadership or management team understands that part of leading is helping people to understand the reasons and values behind the work that they do. For the connection to be well established, the bulk of the work we assign should connect to the organization’s mission and/or strategy. Where disconnects exist as leaders, they should at the very least have awareness around the disconnection.
Final Outcome:
The leadership or management team will understand their role in the decision-making process of the organization.
Materials:
Dream Spheres, butcher paper, markers and tape
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Proposed Agenda:
Icebreaker
What is your favorite part of your job and why?
2. Decision Making Diagram
Place all of the spheres up on the wall, since these show tasks/goals and personal connections. Explain to them that each person will have to design the way they understand how their team makes decisions and assigns tasks.
Have people walk around and make note of what stands out from the spheres. Then have them individually focus on the sphere they lead in order to design how they make decisions and move projects and tasks with the people they supervise and/or work with. Their design should be presented visually with graphics and words.
Once people are done, have each person present their visual design back to the group. Potential prompts for these presentations include:
Talk through your design.
How did you pick where things would land?
What was easiest to place?
What was difficult to place?
Did any questions come up for you?
Do you feel anything is missing?
3. Connecting Decision-Making Diagrams and Dream Spheres
Once the presentations are done, on a completely blank wall have people work together to connect all the decision-making diagrams and dream spheres to reflect how these visuals work with each other. See the example below for a final visual of the connections.
As a team, they should work to identify what fell into place naturally, what was obvious, what was less apparent, where there are gaps in the system, and how they think that they can fill these gaps.
After the team discussion, each person should individually reflect on their own thoughts as well as the ideas shared by other team members.
Hand each person a small stack of post-its and ask them to place two things on each area of work that they feel should be added or were missing.
Then people should walk around and look at the spheres, identifying any gaps between the decision-making diagrams and the spheres, and why that may be.
4. Next Steps
Close it out and explain to them that in the next full team meeting the mission and values work will be completed, and that as a team we will work to find connections between values, mission, and the organization's new strategic plan.
Meeting IV: Connection to Organizational Mission and Strategic Planning
When:
1-2 months after leadership meeting / 3-4 months after Meeting II
Who:
Operations Team (e.g., Receptionist, IT department, Scheduling Team and Operations Team Managers)
Key Guiding Principle:
This is more reading heavy than all the other activities. Share materials with folks in advance for those who need to sit with materials for longer. Make enough time for them to review the written materials before you start activities.
Final Outcome:
Tie in values to mission. Present the strategic plan as a guide to help us set goals that will continue to grow the work without losing sight of our values and mission.
Materials (pre work for presenter):
Print department goals for 2023 in the following table format:
Each goal should be a separate row.
Add five columns titled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. In our case, the strategic plan has five buckets or sections. If your strategic plan has a different number of sections, change the number of columns to match your plan.
Add another column titled “Mission.”
Print copies of your strategic plan and organization’s mission.
Duration:
1-1.5 hours
Proposed Agenda:
Framing & Orientation
Hand out a copy of the strategic plan with the organization's mission on top. In my case, the strategic planning was still in a draft version, which I made clear.
It is very important to highlight the objective of the meeting and set boundaries. I made clear that we were not there to change the strategic plan, just there to better understand it and ask clarifying questions.
2. Individual Reflection on Mission Column Only
Look through the goals. For each goal, ask, “Does this goal reflect the mission of the organization?” Write yes, no, maybe, or I don't know on the mission column.
I also asked them to add if any goal was missing and to write down any questions.
If you are asked, “What about the other columns?” (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), tell them you will give instructions for that column in a minute.
Tell them you will debrief the individual work after they work on the remaining columns as a group.
3. Group Work on Columns 1 through 5 (20-25 minutes)
Ask people to get in groups of three or four. (If you do more than four, some people will likely not get to talk much or even at all). Tell everyone that the strongest teams have representation from all their department goals, so they should get in a group and work with people who move work different from their own.
Example: If all of scheduling were in one team, that group would be really weak in answering goals for Operations that were IT-related or member-related. A stronger group would have some scheduling, IT and some Admin.
Once they are in groups, read out loud to all the groups the five buckets or sections of the strategic plan. Then instruct the smaller groups to work on the columns labeled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. For each goal, the group should decide whether a goal fits into each of the buckets. Goals can fit into more than one bucket, and some goals may not fit into any buckets. Put “Yes” in each column where a goal fits.
When folks are done, ask all the groups together:
How did that feel?
What was surprising?
Did any specific bucket show up a lot, or not at all?
In the end, what my team said was that the five buckets or sections of the strategic plan are really good, because most of what we do fits into one of them, so we can see how our work contributes to the strategic plan. It also forced them to work really closely with people they normally did not work with, and learn about the work that other people do. We had a pool party after this, and by then they were all really comfortable with each other.
Return to the main page to see more highlights from “Navigating Change: Toward Equitable, Democratic Organizations,” a series on bridging generations, expanding leadership, and envisioning the future of work by ten Content Fellows.