Stakeholder Interviews

e-HLbc kicked off its strategic planning process by interviewing 52 key stakeholders in late 2010. The interviews were designed to shed light on user and member needs, assess future and current environmental trends and identify strengths and opportunities. These 52 individuals included both Steering Committee members and external stakeholders, and represented post-secondary, health and affiliate sectors. The themes that emerged from these interviews were introduced at the strategic planning meeting as key topics to use as a framework for further discussion.

Strategic Planning

On February 23 and 24, 2011, representatives of full and affiliate institutions and e-HLbc staff participated in a lively planning session facilitated by Marleen Morris. Participants enthusiastically engaged in exercises designed to build upon the topics that emerged from the earlier interviews: Environmental Issues and Trends, e-HLbc Resources and Services and e-HLbc Governance and Operations. From the themes and their sub-topics, small groups developed key terms with clear definitions to describe e-HLbc’s vision and values, as well as strategic directions and actions.
A scenario planning exercise encouraged small groups to consider potential future environmental situations along several different parameters. The small groups explored e-HLbc’s position in an imagined environment with a surplus or deficit of pairs of traits such as information literacy and resources, or awareness and technology.
Following all exercises, small groups reported their findings back to the entire group, provoking discussion, and revealing shared values among e-HLbc community members.

Next Steps

The small groups’ individual strategic directions coalesced into 26 unique strategic directions, each accompanied by multiple specific actions.
Using the key terms and strategic directions developed by the e-HLbc community, a new working group developed a draft of e-HLbc’s Visions, Values and Directions. The draft was reviewed by the Steering Committee, and was approved/endorsed at the November 28th Steering Committee meeting. The next step is to present the plan for ratification at the January BCAHC Board of Directors meeting. After that, we begin implementing the strategic directions - the real work!