1.       SHAPE  \* MERGEFORMAT

Call Meeting to Order

2.      Roll Call                                                              Present       Absent (Excused)       Absent  

o       Mayor Hilliard L. Hampton, II                        

o       Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Wimberly

o       Councilman Michael Canty

o       Councilman Michael Greene

o       Councilman Marcus Hendricks

o       Councilman Courtney Owens

o       Councilman Timothy Williams

3.      Public Comment

4.      Retreat Overview and Homework Assignment – Dr. Joe Ohren

5.      Strategic Planning – Planning and Goal-Setting Retreat (Self-Assessment)

6.      Friday, August 28, 2009 (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.)

            Dinner                        6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

            Work Session            7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

7.      Recess until Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

8.      Return from Recess

9.      Presentation/Discussion – Inkster City Council’s: 

o       Discussing decision process issues

o       Identifying critical community issues

o       Articulating goals and action strategies

10.  CLOSED SESSION – Council may enter into Closed Session to discuss contract negotiations, purchase or lease of real property and/or pending litigation in accordance with MCL 15.268 (a), (c), (d), (e) and/or (f).

11. Adjournment:  4:30 p.m.

MEMO

July 17, 2009

TO:                  Mayor and Council Members, City of Inkster

Ann Capela, City Manager, City of Inkster

FROM:            Dr. Joe Ohren

RE:                   Retreat Overview and Homework Assignment for 8/28-8/29

As you are aware, I will be working with the Mayor, Council Members and Manager next month to facilitate a team building and planning process.  Our planning retreat is scheduled to begin on Friday evening August 28^th and continue through the day on Saturday August 29^th.  We will follow that weekend up later in the fall with another evening session to go over and extend the initial products of our work. 

More details on the logistics for the retreat session will be provided as we draw closer to the date but I want to give you with an overview of the sessions (see tentative agenda below) and a homework assignment to be completed individually and confidentially in advance—note that I would like your responses to my survey no later than August 24 so that I can assemble retreat materials.

As I indicated in my proposal to the city, given a relatively new manager and potentially changing dynamics in the city, the planning sessions will be devoted to:

1. Discussing decision process issues—how are we going to relate to one another?  What are our expectations about information sharing and decision-making?  What is it that we expect of the Manager in helping the Mayor and Council Members make the best decisions possible for the community? 
2. Identifying critical community issues—what are the most important issues facing the community at this time?  Which issues need to be addressed immediately, perhaps over the next year?
3. Articulating goals and action strategies—what goals should we set for ourselves as a Council and leadership team to address those most pressing issues?  What strategies should be implemented to move us toward goal accomplishment in the coming year?

As the first item suggests, we want to discuss explicitly how we are going to work together as a leadership team.  The intent is to emerge with clear expectations of one another in terms of the process by which we will identify issues, generate and share information, and set and implement policy.  This does not presume there are problems now; rather it is predicated on the notion that no matter how good you are, you can always do better.  And, one way to accomplish that is to think systematically about the process and explicitly identify ways to strengthen it even further.

The latter two items are self-evident; we need to collectively agree on the most important issues confronting the city and develop an Action Plan to guide us over the course of the next year in addressing those issues.  Following the weekend session I will summarize our discussion and present a written report and a draft Action Plan to stimulate discussion at our follow-up session.

As I have indicated in the instructions, I need your responses by the end of the day on Monday, August 24^th, in order to prepare the transcript and handouts for the weekend session.  As the instructions note you can email or mail your responses to me, and I have provided a phone number in the event you wish to discuss the planning process or the questions with me. 

I am looking forward to working with you.

City of Inkster Planning Retreat

August 28-29, 2009

Crowne Plaza

Tentative Agenda

Friday Evening, August 28, 2009

6:00 to 9:00 pm                                  Dinner, Opening Discussion

Discussing decision Process Issues—what are the barriers that get in the way of effective decision-making in the city and how do we address them?

Saturday, August 29, 2009

8:00 to 8:45 am            Continental Breakfast

9:00 am to Noon        Morning session with a break

Identifying critical issues/challenges—what are the most important issues facing the city?  Which are most important, to be addressed in the next two to three years?

12:15 to 1:00    Lunch

1:15 to 4:30 pm          Afternoon session with a break

Drafting an Action Plan—what goals and action strategies need to be put in place to address those issues that are highest priority

CITY OF INKSTER, MICHIGAN

PLANNING AND GOAL-SETTING RETREAT

A SELF-ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

Dr. Joe Ohren

ASSESSING WORKING RELATIONS AND DECISION-MAKING

In preparation for the opening segment of our planning session on Friday evening, please complete questions A through C on the attached survey instrument in the space provided about barriers to effective decision-making and strategies for overcoming those barriers.  Be honest and straightforward in answering the questions; I don’t assume there are problems but rather start with the premise that no matter how effective we are as a decision-making body there is always room for improvement.  I will assemble and transcribe the responses for distribution at the Friday evening session.

ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND ACTION PLANNING

During our Saturday work session, we will focus on "where we want to go" (goals/objectives) as a city.  To get there we need to begin by identifying the critical strategic issues facing us and then we can determine how we want to get there (action plan).  Please complete questions D and E on the attached instrument.  Return your responses to my office and I will assemble your responses for our session together.  At that time we will discuss your perceptions of the most important or strategic issues facing the city in the months ahead, and ultimately define appropriate goals and action strategies. 

Please respond to the survey no later than August 24, 2009.  As you can see from the contact information below, email your responses (this is preferable—just put Inkster in the subject line—and there is no need to repeat the questions, just number your responses appropriately), or write down your responses and mail the completed forms to me at the address below.  I have also provided my cell phone number in the event you want to discuss the questions or your thoughts further.

I will assemble and transcribe the responses for distribution at our retreat session.  At that time we will have an opportunity to analyze and discuss our perspectives on decision-making within the leadership team, focus attention on strategies for improving our effectiveness in decision-making, and begin to develop in collaborative fashion a set of goals and an action plan.

Dr. Joe Ohren

Joseph.Ohren@Emich.Edu

9640 Warren Road

Plymouth, MI 48170

734.546.0039

A.  Characteristics of effective decision-making groups--Based on your experience with this and other decision-making bodies, identify three characteristics of good or “effective” decision-making groups.  You can probably think of more than three, but what do you think are the three most important?

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B.  Barriers to effective working relationships/decision-making--Identify three barriers that you perceive are getting in the way or might get in the way of effective working relationships and decision-making here in Inkster. You can probably think of more than three, but which are the three most critical in your view?

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C.  Strategies for improving our effectiveness as a leadership team--Identify three strategies for improving our effectiveness as a Council and a leadership team.  You can probably think of more than three, but what three would you recommend to your colleagues as most critical, perhaps to be implemented later this fall?

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D.  Identifying Critical Issues/Challenges

What three issues, problems or challenges facing the city of Inkster do you perceive as most important?  Move beyond the process by which we make decisions and focus now on the problems we face as a city.  Be as specific as possible.

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E.  Strategies for addressing those issues

For each of the three critical issues you identified above, identify one or two strategies for addressing the issues.   You can probably think of more, but which ones should be implemented as soon as possible?

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