Visitor Surveys
An increasingly necessary step for planning and grant writing, a visitor or customer survey can provide crucial information about how well an institution is serving its constituents and how it should respond to current conditions in its community. Joel & Sinclair constructs the survey instrument for mailing to the institution’s membership, conducts (or guides) on-site interviews, and analyzes the results. Audience surveys can be as extensive as time and resources permit.

Feasibility Studies
When contemplating such major undertakings as construction projects, master site planning, or capital campaigns, institutions are well advised to complete a feasibility study beforehand.  Mailed or electronic surveys followed by confidential interviews yield critical information concerning community readiness, leading gifts, and competitive enterprises.  Analysis and recommendations included.

Environmental Scans
Interviews to find out how the organization is meeting the current needs of the community. Interviews with 12-15 community leaders.  Research into plans and activities of similar organizations confronting similar future scenarios.

EVALUATION SYSTEM

Creating an evaluation program that is easy to use and understand takes time and effort. There are many phases that can be done separately over an extended period of time so that the staff is not diverted from the organization’s essential functions for long periods of time.

First there has to be a clear understanding of each job description and the roles and responsibilities of each staff member.  This is best accomplished through a review of existing job description documents and interviews and workshops to determine role and responsibilities.

Developing the content of the form is a collaborative task, engaging supervisors and staff representatives in a one- or two-day meeting guided by facilitators. 

The evaluation form has to be designed incorporating the information gathered from the workshops and documents review. This is a time consuming phase, but can be done by the consultants away from the library.

A system has to be created, identifying dates for initial counseling and annual evaluations. A workshop devoted to identify methods and dates for implementation takes one day.

Consultants develop a final form and instruction package based on the workshops and submit it in hard copy and electronic form for use by the staff.