The Strategic Planning Committee is proud to announce that the 2016–2019 Strategic Plan has been approved by the Board of Directors and is ready for implementation! Strategic Planning is deeply grateful to the entire OTW for the patience, engagement and dedication they have shown throughout this process. The OTW would also like to thank our donors and supporters for making this possible.
Implementation of the plan will begin January 2016. We invite the public to peruse the Strategic Plan Visual Timeline to learn about the future of the OTW and its projects.
Organization for Transformative Works Strategic Plan Timeline
Stronger Infrastructure
The OTW needs better technology, tools, processes, procedures, and documentation.
Stronger and More Efficient Board
A strong, democratic, and efficient Board will positively impact the entire organization.
Increased Volunteer Engagement, Retention, and Development
The OTW must build skills and experience in creating a stronger OTW-wide community.
Expand Fundraising and Financial Capacity
The OTW requires funds to operate and grow, thus it must expand fundraising capacity.
Grow and Support Existing Projects
Each committee needs a clear understanding of their part in fulfilling the mission of the OTW.
Expand Inclusivity
The OTW celebrates the welcoming image it has achieved but must continue to promote representation and outreach.
6 Month Goals
Document OTW-wide chair/lead position and expectations: Committee & workgroup chairs/leads work with the Board to draft a document which describes the organization-wide expectations for chairs and leads.
Preliminary purview statements: Committees/workgroups draft a statement, outlining their purview within the OTW including potential gaps or overlap between them and other teams.
Recruitment plan: Committees/workgroups document recruitment needs, training plans, timelines, etc. for new staff (and volunteers if applicable).
Purview and roles documentation: The Board drafts, approves, and internally publishes documents clarifying how the Board functions, in actually as opposed to ideally.
Phasing out and replacement of Board liaison structure: The Board implements flexible, clear, and structurally supported systems for staying in communication with committees & workgroups.
Purview and roles documentation: As part of the Board documentation goal, the role of Treasurer is completely and accessibly documented.
1-year roadmaps for each project: Each OTW project will have a roadmap identifying the objectives and goals for the next year. This is: the Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Legal Advocacy, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, Fanhackers, and the transformativeworks.org website.
9 Month Goals
Document team-specific chair/lead position: Using the OTW-wide document outlining the roles and expectations of chairs and leads, all committees & workgroups draft their own document, adapted and elaborated for their specific leadership model.
Chair/lead succession plan: Committees/workgroups document a plan for recruiting, identifying, and training potential successors for the chair/lead position.
12 Month Goals
Procedure for regular updates on committee/workgroup work: Committees/workgroups develop procedures for publishing via the internal wiki or other OTW tool the status of current work, including projects, and their plans until the next update.
Internal wiki pages for everyday and essential processes: Committee/workgroup creates and posts internal wiki pages that document their regular processes and procedures.
Purview overlaps addressed: The Board with committees & workgroups identify places where committee duties overlap and begin discussions to a) revise the committee duties to eliminate the overlap, or b) build a plan to accommodate the overlap.
Contested elections: The OTW prepares documentation and solicits Board candidates to be ready for a contested election conducted with transparency and voting by the membership.
Ombuds dispute system in place: The Ombuds dispute resolution system is approved by the Board and is fully implemented and running.
Committee-specific external skills training: The OTW identifies non-OTW resources useful for training staffers & volunteers in necessary skills for their specific committees & workgroups.
Recruit second accountant/bookkeeper: The OTW recruits an accountant/bookkeeper to work with the current Treasurer.
Regular audits: A process is in place to conduct regular audits of the organization’s finances.
Coalition guidelines: Legal develops a guide to the OTW’s current coalitions with other organizations, and makes available on the internal wiki procedures for Legal to manage the creation of new coalitions and joint projects.
18 Month Goals
Organization-wide processes for project management: Volunteers & Recruiting standardizes organization-wide processes for cross-committee project management and publishes process documentation on the internal wiki.
Mapping organizational structure: The OTW’s organizational structure is easily describable and has been visually mapped.
Chair/lead basic training: Volunteers & Recruiting assists chairs & leads in developing and implementing training procedures for basic skills needed by all chairs/leads to be successful in the positions, such as leadership and management skills.
Revamp workflows and purviews for transformativeworks.org website: Clear and complete documentation exists regarding transformativeworks.org design, content management, support, and development.
24 Month Goals
Committee/workgroup roadmaps: Committees/workgroups have developed a roadmap describing their priorities and setting specific objectives for the future, including potential new projects they may wish to undertake.
Committee/workgroup budgets: At least 3 committees/workgroups submit a budget to the Treasurer and receive feedback on it.
Operations structure with chair participation: The Board has revised its functioning and added new positions, structures, and procedures, so that OTW operations management incorporates participation from all committee chairs and current Board of Directors.
Skills labs/workshops: The OTW creates plans for skills labs/workshops in specific areas, such as wiki code or international outreach, and at least one is conducted.
Pilot mentors for chairs/leads: At let 4 chairs/leads volunteer their services and work with Volunteers & Recruiting to create a chair/lead mentoring program for the OTW.
Committee/workgroup plans for staff/volunteer engagement: Committees & workgroups create plans for regular check-ins, tracking progress, and rewards to show appreciation.
Fanlore-dedicated design & support staff: Fanlore acquires the needed staff to maintain and grow.
Roadmaps and/or accomplishments for each project: Each OTW project develops a public roadmap identifying its objectives and goals for the next 5 years. This is: the Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Legal Advocacy, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, Fanhackers, and the transformativeworks.org website.
Security overhaul: The process to update and improve the security of our financial and operational information and accounts is complete.
Committee/workgroup budgets: At least 3 committees/workgroups submit a budget to the Treasurer and receive feedback on it.
International and inclusive roadmaps: As part of infrastructure documentation goals, all committee roadmaps include explicit plans for inclusivity and international representation.
Inclusivity trainings: The OTW holds at least 3 trainings, open to all personnel, on internationalization and how individuals enact inclusivity and reach out to their communities.
Inclusivity survey: The OTW conducts at least 2 surveys for internal and external stakeholders regarding internationalization and inclusivity.
30 Month Goals
Purviews clarified and documented: With Board’s assistance, each committee/workgroup drafts, approves, and circulates a detailed document of their purview within the OTW.
Internal tool review and research: The OTW reviews current internal tools and researches better alternatives for suboptimal tools plus new tools to fit unmet needs.
Training plan for Board in place: A training process is available that can be utilized by all newly elected Board directors and by any qualified staffer who is considering stepping up to join the Board in the future.
Organizations-wide internal skills training: Mirroring the chair/lead basic training goal, basic training procedures are developed and implemented for skills needed by all personnel.
Complete chair/lead training plan: Expanding the basic training goal, the OTW implements a standard plan for all new chairs/leads covering both general and OTW-specific skills.
Administrative support/procedures for chairs/leads: Committees & workgroups create plans for handling routine communications, scheduling, minutes, task management, etc.
Achieve 3-month reserves covering operating costs: The OTW has saved financial reserves sufficient to cover 3 months of the organization’s operating costs without any additional fundraising.
Research best practices for international organizations: The OTW researches best practices for international organizations, prioritizing research on organizations that have a non-Western and/or non-Anglophone perspective and organizations that serve marginalized populations in the western, English-speaking world.
Survey data collected and reported: The diversity workgroup reports on the results of the analysis of the inclusivity surveys and prepares recommendations for the OTW base on said results.
36 Month Goals
Organization handbook: The OTW creates and handbook which includes basic information on the OTW that every staff or volunteer needs to know, such as orientation to the committees & workgroups and how-tos for the organization’s tools.
Purview gaps addressed: Where the purview statement have identified tasks being handled by committees & workgroups outside of their purview, this overextension is addressed.
Board succession plan: The OTW implements a Board succession plan where exiting Board directors & officers feel their knowledge and responsibilities are securely preserved and new Board directors & officers feel supported and informed in their training and transition.
New operations model plan: The OTW develops a plan for revising the operations management structure of the organization.
Organization-wide self-assessment: Self-assessment is implemented at every level: individual staff and volunteers, committees & workgroups, and the OTW as a whole.
Organization-wide external skills training: All personnel have access to external training programs and courses for skills that are difficult to develop internally.
Mentoring program for chairs/leads: The individuals available to mentor other in specific areas or skill sets is well documented on the internal wiki and the mentoring program is standardized across the OTW while remaining flexible to fit each committee/workgroup.
Explore a structure for inclusive annual meeting(s) that are not Board retreats: The Board explores the possibility of holding organization-wide meetings.
Expand and revise personnel outreach and recruiting strategies: The OTW expands methods an strategies for recruiting staff and volunteers.
Annual fundraising raises annual operating costs plus 10%: The OTW’s annual fundraising consistently raises enough to cover our annual operating budget plus 10%.
Inclusivity survey structure: A procedure, set of tools, documentation, and support structure are set up for the OTW to regularly survey internal and external stakeholders on issues of diversity, inclusion, representation, and internationalization.
All icons are from The Noun Project: http://thenounproject.com
Stronger Infrastructure icon created by Yamini Chandra for The Noun Project
Stronger and More Efficient Board icon by Till Teenck for The Noun Project
Increased Volunteer Engagement, Retention, and Development icon by Joao Santos for The Noun Project
Expand Fundraising and Financial Capacity icon by Olivier Guin for The Noun Project
Grow and Support Existing Projects icon by XOXO for The Noun Project
Expand Inclusivity icon by OCHA Visualization Unit for The Noun Project