Over the past two years, much has changed about how we all work.  Many staff were thrown into the deep end of remote working, and we have all learned a lot from our experiences.  In response, MCLS staff has undertaken an internal process to discover what the future of work will look like at MCLS.  We formally kicked this off by participating in a two-part Appreciative Inquiry Summit led by our very own Jenny Kobiela-Mondor, library strategist, this past winter.  Together we discussed our strengths and discovered four core values that represent what is most important to MCLS, the way we work, and how we will continue to work in the future:

• Supportive workplace culture
• Relationship-centered
• Continuous evolution
• Integrity

You have already seen some of the results of our work as we recently moved to a cloud-based phone system that is not tied to a physical building like our previous phone system.  Our IT staff has also moved other infrastructure to the cloud, further reducing the reliance on our current physical building.  To keep us moving forward, we have established a committee to operationalize what was discussed.  We are also investigating whether our current building in Lansing is the right physical space to help us best serve our membership in Michigan and Indiana.

All organizations and systems go through many changes. Do you want to learn more about how MCLS can help you create positive and impactful change in your organization through Appreciative Inquiry? Reach out to our Engagement, Consulting, and Training team at engagement@mcls.org to start a conversation about how we might be able to help!