2020 Strategic Plan: A look at the City's goals and plans
The City of Lawrence adopted its first strategic plan in March of 2017. That plan includes seven critical success factors and eight priority initiatives. The goal was to complete each of the priority initiatives within two or three years of the plan's adoption. As that work is nearing completion, it is now time for the City to once again look at its strategic plan.
The City hired The Novak Consulting Group to help facilitate the revisioning of the strategic plan. There are five steps to completing this update:
- Initiate Project — Completed
- Conduct Public Outreach — Completed
- Facilitate City Commission Retreat — Completed
- Draft Strategic Plan — Completed
Public Outreach
Round One
There were four key ways we received community input during our initial outreach efforts in February and March:
- Large community meetings: These were the primary public meetings for soliciting feedback on the strategic plan. The sessions were held in the Carnegie Building.
- Smaller satellite meetings: Also open to the public, these meetings were for those unable to attend one of the larger community meetings.
- Online survey: The survey was available on Lawrence Listens through March 7.
- Small group discussions: The City created a Lawrence Listens Team, which consists of staff members trained to facilitate small group discussions with community organizations. Groups interested in hosting a discussion led by the Lawrence Listens Team were able to reach out via email (strategicplan@lawrenceks.org) to request a meeting or additional information.
The Novak Consulting Group created a summary document outlining the key findings from this initial round of engagement. That document can be viewed online, here (PDF).
Additionally, the City hired ETC Institute to conduct a satisfaction survey that was administered in December of 2019. The survey was mailed to a random sample of households and a total of 867 households returned a completed survey, which makes it statistically valid. The final results of that survey, as well as previous satisfaction surveys, can be viewed online at lawrenceks.org/cmo/community-survey.
Round Two
While the City initially wrapped its public outreach in March, after analyzing the feedback gathered, and in light of recent events, we were interested in having additional community conversations to see if there had been changes in perceptions and priorities. In order to hear from our community again, the City resumed its strategic planning activities with a series of "Community Check-ins" that were held via Zoom during the first week of July. We also offered an online survey for those unable to attend a Community Check-in meeting.
The Novak Consulting Group created a summary document outlining the key findings of the community check-in meetings that can be found here (PDF). Additionally, the results from the online survey can be found here (PDF).
Next Steps
The City Commission adopted the strategic plan framework on October 20, 2020. Now that is adopted, staff have started working on an implementation plan that will be presented to the City Commission in early 2021. This will include key performance indicators and key strategies for each outcome and commitment area.
Questions?
You can stay up-to-date on the Strategic Plan process by subscribing to the e-news list. Go to lawrenceks.org/subscriptions and check “Strategic Planning Process” to get subscribed. You can also send an email with any questions to strategicplan@lawrenceks.org.
Strategic Plan Archives
For additional information on the strategic plan, please visit our archives page at www.lawrenceks.org/strategic-plan/archive.