What we’ve done
Our services
Organization Improvement:
Focusing for Success
…one biologist told me, if one doesn’t keep up for three months one will never be able to catch up again. Howard Gardner, 2008
Vitality and sustainability = learning and growing. The Canoe Group guides strategy development using and teaching the tools of the adaptive organization.
Our areas of focus include the following:
- Strategic planning – Creating clear intentions for the future
- Partnership/collaboration development – Building a strong foundation between partners
- Initiative development – Guiding innovation in support of mission
- Action planning – Moving from strategy to effective implementation
- Engagement strategy – Motivating involvement, aligning perspectives
Diagnostics & Adaptation:
Staying Real
Gathering, agreeing upon and making meaning from information: a highly critical tool for your organization. We help you ground both your understanding and your decisions in the facts that matter, and – as much as possible – anticipate future possibilities.
Our areas of focus include the following:
- Stakeholder research – Knowing what’s true for others, debunking your myths
- Organization assessments – Gathering information, analyzing strengths and weaknesses
- Communications audits – Examining impact of strategies and resource allocations
- Online metrics – Assuring you know if people are going where you want them to go, and adjusting if not
- Organizational dashboards – Clarifying success factors and measures, responding to results
Strategic Communications:
Building Relationships
Healthy, strong, sustainable relationships are based in trust. Honest organizations listen, learn and build their success on the solid foundation of regular interchange. We connect you with those who want what you offer, and help you communicate in an authentic way that strengthens bonds over time.
Our areas of focus include the following:
- Beyond branding: Story-crafting – Focusing both messages & media selection
- Public/stakeholder interaction – Deciding who and how you will dialogue with your audiences
- Web design/development – Crafting clear, purposeful websites, connecting authentically
- Online marketing/social media – Choosing priorities, employing integrated strategies for impact
- Organization redesign – Strengthening your team approach to today's communications' realities
State of Oregon:
Office of Administrative Hearings
Salem, Oregon
All-agency strategic planning and change management consultation for 120+ employee department.
Following a complex leadership transition, OAH determined strategic planning was needed to assess agency stakeholder relationships and align staff behind new strategic goals.
Project supported senior leadership transition, agency management reorganization and strategic planning facilitation and design. With an enormous stakeholder base, OAH serves Oregon citizens and a broad range of state agencies, boards, and commissions with administrative hearings. The Canoe Group designed and guided accumulation of OAH Portfolio, (an asset articulation); researched stakeholder opinions, facilitated inclusive employee involvement to analyze key concerns and opportunities. Resultant commitments to strategic stakeholder communications and three year strategic plan now under implementation.
State of Oregon:
Oregon Cultural Trust
Salem, Oregon
Design, development and implementation of a fast-track information technology-based communications strategy.
The Cultural Trust sought to extend the impact and visibility of the 2009 Day of Culture, a public relations kick-off for the statewide campaign.
Working in partnership with Trust staff, The Canoe Group customized an online, publicly accessible events calendar/database, developed and distributed strategic communications to encourage/support participation and wide-spread use. Displayed over 300 Day of Culture events statewide, built by over 180 cultural nonprofits, and sortable by multiple variables. Illuminated content with a linked map of event locations. The strategy was developed, designed, tested and launched in under four weeks, on a free open-source software platform. Through this project and others, The Canoe Group has worked closely with OCT to enhance the effectiveness and impact of OCT’s communications and information management strategies.
Willamette Valley Development Officers (WVDO)
Portland, Oregon
Strategic planning with a 900-member professional organization
A non-profit organization that provides support for development professionals through networking events and education opportunities, WVDO has enjoyed much growth over the past 5 years including the recent hire of its first full-time Executive Director in 2008.This leadership change in conjunction with a desire to deepen its service to its stakeholders, led them to initiate strategic planning.
Guided by The Canoe Group, a pre-planning team confirmed shared assumptions and essential questions facing WVDO. Facilitated discussions (and our experienced counsel) defined a research approach that gathered new facts and clarified the range of stakeholder and member perceptions. Clear themes were posed and analyzed by WVDO leaders. Perspectives were aligned as to member needs, community perspectives and current realities. The result: a thoughtful three-year strategic framework framed by engaged Board and staff. With Canoe Group consultation, Board/staff committees crafted first year action plans to begin implementing their new, integrated measurable objectives.
