Innovative and Responsive Strategies: A Powerful Strategy Often Overlooked

In the Six Building Blocks for Effective Systems and Teams, Innovative and Responsive Strategies are the “work” of the system or organization. They are the actions taken to achieve the common vision and goals informed and driven by data. In a continuous improvement model, leaders constantly seek new and innovative strategies to address the system's complex needs. 

In our work, there is one strategy we consistently observe across all systems that is often overlooked, and not always recognized as the powerful tool that it is: Meetings. “Meetings” is a broad term that describes a variety of collaborative conversations in schools and school districts. It is so commonly referred to that even students know about teacher meetings! “Meetings” include but are not limited to:

• Joint Committees

• Leadership Teams

• Team Strategy and Planning Sessions

• Problem-Solving Sessions

• Design and Implementation Development

Valuable time is allocated to meetings. The purpose of the meeting is to bring about change in the system. However, meetings themselves are not typically identified as strategies; rather, they are the place to design strategies. There is often a lack of accountability for deliverables and outcomes due to an abundance of meetings and a lack of clear direction on how the meeting itself will result in a new idea, a solution to a problem, or next steps in an action plan.

Creating Intentionality and Accountability in Meetings

If we shift the thinking that the time allocated to planning is indeed a strategy, we should expect concrete deliverables and progress toward goals as outcomes of each meeting. 

At ACB Consulting, we define collaboration as the exchange of ideas to achieve shared goals. Collaborative team time, meetings, and committees are Innovative and Responsive Strategies that should result in concrete deliverables and action, not passive compliance.

Meetings are where critical decisions are made, where Data Driven Decision Making produces action steps, and where Impact Monitoring ensures goals are being achieved. Successful collaboration, therefore, requires the active engagement and participation of all team members: listening, sharing ideas, asking questions, and taking accountability for outcomes. Accountability through Shared Commitments establishes what each member can expect of themselves and others. All of this is connected through Robust Information Systems.

Robust Information Systems play a critical role in creating a common vision of Excellence for effective meetings and creating Accountability through Shared Commitments. It is two-way communication and information sharing that ensures clarity about the meeting’s purpose and keeps all members of the organization informed of the meeting outcomes and progress toward goals.