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Describe your action plan and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.
Describe your action plan and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.
My action plan is pretty straightforward. As I have already gotten permission from the BEA President to redo the website, I will need to start by determining a structure for the website. I will also need to meet with the BEA’s tech consultant to ensure that I understand the process for how the new website will be overlaid to replace the old website. The next step, which is the largest step, will be to actually create the website. I will then meet with the BEA President and MFPE Field Consultant to get their feedback and revise it as necessary. After I make revisions, I will have the BEA’s tech consultant help me publish the site.
As I design the website, I will need to keep each of my four chosen competencies at the forefront of my plans. My leadership pathway - Association - Organizational Effectiveness: Leading with Skill will be the guiding force. As I make decisions about what to feature on the website, I will consider the Association’s needs before anything else. My overarching competencies - Communication and Technological Facility will go hand and hand as I craft messages and create a website to support the values of the BEA and encourage member recruitment and engagement engagement. Finally, I will focus on my foundational competency - Explore and Challenge Inequity - in designing an ADA-compliant website that acknowledges the influence of Native American history and culture on our work in the BEA. My number one goal is to create a website that is inviting and welcoming of all our members.
Design Artifact 2: ADA Compliance. One component of ADA compliance is "alt text" which allows people using screen readers to have descriptions of images. I made sure to add alt text to every image that would allow it. Consciously considering ADA compliance on each page of the site helped me grow in my foundational competency of "Explore and Challenge Inequity" as well as my overarching competency of "Technological Facility."
Design Artifact 3
Design Artifact 3: Land Acknowledgement. As I was considering ways to make the BEA site inviting to all BEA members, I considered the demographics of our membership as well as our school district's location. I realized that it was important to me that our union acknowledge the history of the land on which our building sits and our members work. I reached out to an Indian Ed for All coach in our district, who helped me to make sure the statement I wrote was comprehensive and accurate. I did not want to place the burden of writing the statement on her, so I made sure to write a draft before emailing her. It was more challenging than I expected, but with her approval of the statement I felt confident in adding it to the site. This process helped me grow in the areas of "Explore and Challenge Inequity" as well as "Communication."
Design Artifact 4: Emails with Tech Consultant. I had worked with Google Sites before and had a basic understanding of how to build a website using that platform. However, I did not know how to transfer the site over to the BEA's website address. I worked with a tech consultant whom the BEA had worked with in the past. Following the above email conversation, I met with him in person. He assured me that Google Sites would work, and agreed to help with the transfer of the site. This process helped me to grow in the realm of "Technological Facility", as I deepened my understanding of how the website was hosted and what the steps would be to change the website to a new platform.
Design Artifact 5
Design Artifact 5: Webpage Layout and Messaging. In creating the website, I was able to use some of the wording from the old website. However, I was conscious of the design and did not want to overwhelm members with too much text. I spent time rewording language on the site to be more concise, and formatted it in a way that would not be overwhelming to look at. The screenshot from the BEA Political Action Committee page is one example of a page that I redesigned to be more visually appealing and easier to read. Before, this information appeared on the website as a wall of text that was quite overwhelming. I also reworded some information and made sure it was all accurate and up to date. I followed a similar process on each page of the new website. This thoughtful approach helped me improve my skills in the overarching competency area of "Communication."
How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?
How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the action plan, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?
In creating a new website, I will empower members to find answers to their questions about the BEA. Additionally, BEA Building Reps will have quicker, more efficient access to necessary forms and resources that will allow them to serve their schools more effectively. My goal is to clearly communicate the values of the BEA so that Billings educators understand the importance of union membership and what the union does for them.
How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?
How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?
I plan to collaborate frequently with the BEA President and MFPE Field Consultant to get their feedback about the website as I create it. Once I have a draft created, I will allow them each to browse the site as I observe them, so that I can figure out if there are any design flaws with the website. As I create the website, I will constantly reflect on the structure and will revise it frequently.
Design Artifact 6
Design Artifact 6: Meeting with BEA President. At the start of the process, I met with the BEA President to discuss what he would like to have on the website. This was his list of ideas that he definitely wanted to have included on the website. Along with ideas I got from my Needs Assessment survey, I used his ideas to guide my process of creating the BEA website. This helped me to grow in the area of "Organization Effectiveness: Leading with Skill," as I considered the needs of the membership and made decisions about how to structure the website.
How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?
How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?
The major obstacle I expect to encounter is time. I will need to be persistent when setting up appointments with key players. If people do not respond within a few days, I will need to send follow-up emails or call them to move the process along. One step of the plan that is outside my own control is the actual publishing of the site. I am relying on the BEA’s tech consultant to migrate the site. Because he is an independent contractor with other clients, I will need to communicate clearly and efficiently, and follow up as necessary in order to make sure a reasonable timeline for implementation is followed.
How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?
How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?
I will consider the project successful if I am able to create a responsive, ADA-compliant website with all of the necessary resources for Building Reps. I hope to receive feedback from the BEA Board and Building Reps once they have had a chance to review the new site. I plan to survey Building Reps to see if they have any suggestions for improvement to the website. However, that particular piece may need to wait until the fall, when Building Reps are once again checking their school emails.
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