15 minutes could save your … strategic plan

W.I.G.We’ve all experienced it, or heard about it.  A team spends weeks or months developing a strategic plan, and nothing happens with it after the glossy document gets printed.  Why does this great new plan just sit on the shelf gathering dust?  Business scholars over the past two decades have been researching why plans fail to be implemented  1. The overarching theme of their conclusions: people resist change.  How do we address this challenge? Through a structured plan for execution.  Your team needs to commit to the plan, yet they are busy with their daily duties (the “whirlwind”) and they don’t take time to focus on the strategic plan.  An effective execution plan starts with committing to a series of 15-minute segments on planning and implementing the strategic plan.

Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)2 is one formula to follow. The four disciplines are:

Program Manager of The Ohio State University's Alber Enterprise Center

Program Director of The Ohio State University’s Alber Enterprise Center

1.   Select one or two “wildly important goals” (WIG) that drive your strategic plan and can be measured and tracked.
2.  Identify the activities that lead to achieving the WIG(s), ones that your team can influence.
3.  Create a compelling scoreboard: simple, visible to the team, shows the lead and lag measures, and tells immediately if you are winning.
4.  Establish a weekly cadence of accountability in which each team member commits to working on one or two of the lead activities as well as reports on the efforts toward the WIG.

This 4DX plan is easy to implement by committing to 15-minute segments for each discipline:

  1. 15 minutes to identify and establish your WIG from your strategic plan. If you need two WIGs, spend another 15 minutes on the second one.
  2. 15 minutes per WIG to list all of the leading activities required to meet your WIG.
  3. 15 minutes to determine how you will show (scoreboard) the team’s progress toward leading activities and WIG and where it will be displayed.
  4. 15 minutes per week – the same day/time each week – for the accountability meeting.

We facilitated a strategic plan for one of our clients a year ago. After following up with them to see their progress, they reported that the leadership team implemented a few goals but felt they needed our help to really drive the plan throughout their organization with all employees. They embraced 4DX and are starting to see results.

This works! Try it, and let me know how it works for you.

If you need help in setting up your 4DX plan, the Alber Enterprise Center can show you how. Call 740-725-6325.

Citations:

1:  Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2010). The other side of innovation: solving the execution challenge. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Gudmundsson, H., Ericsson, E., Tight, M., Lawler, M., Envall, P., Figueroa, M., et al. (2012). The role of decision support in the implementation of “sustainable transport” plans. European Planning Studies, 20(2), 171-191.
Hahn, W., & Powers, T. (2010). Strategic plan quality, implementation capability, and firm performance. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 9(1), 63-81.
Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Larian, L., Day, M., Backhurst, M., Berke, P., Ericksen, N., Crawford, J., et al. (2004). What drives plan implementation? Plans, planning agencies and developers. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 47(4), 555-577.
2:  McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution: achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.

Alber Enterprise Center recognizes outstanding businesses

from far left: Rev. Kenneth Daniel (United Church Homes), from center: Scot McLemore (Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.), Dave Rasor (Triumph Thermal Systems, Inc.), Mike Patrick (National Lime & Stone Company), in the back (left): Mike Giangiordano (Triumph Thermal Systems) and (right) Dan Sensel (Triumph Thermal Systems)

Ohio businesses who were recognized for outstanding achievement and excellence are (front row from left): Rev. Kenneth Daniel (President & CEO, United Church Homes), Scot McLemore (Technical Development Manager, Honda of America Manufacturing), Dave Rasor (Operations and Lean Champion, Triumph Thermal Systems), Mike Patrick (Manager of Maintenance, National Lime & Stone Company), Mike Giangiordano (President, Triumph Thermal Systems) and Dan Sensel (Director of Engineering, Triumph Thermal Systems)

Six Ohio organizations were recently recognized for outstanding milestones in business by The Ohio State University’s Alber Enterprise Center.

Those receiving awards included: Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, United Church Homes, GrafTech International, LTD, Triumph Thermal Systems, Inc., National Lime & Stone Company, and Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.

“We are honored to recognize the outstanding achievements each of these organizations has made in visioning the future of their particular industries,” explains Myra Wilson, Program Director, Alber Enterprise Center. “They are on the leading edge of leadership development, continuous improvement and innovative culture — three initiatives that form the focus of our mission.”

Each organization has collaborated with the Alber Enterprise Center to address organizational challenges and/or receive executive training tailored to their company needs.

Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, Columbus, received the Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Collaboration in Framing the Future of Long-Term Care Services. Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services and their various staff members have actively attended meetings and their vast amount of expertise have molded and encouraged the work of the Long Term Support Services & Health Care Consortium (LTSS & HCC). Their input is advantageous in aiding the group to shape the vision and future of long-term care services.

President and CEO for United Church Homes, Marion, Rev. Kenneth Daniel accepted the Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Collaboration in Framing the Future of Long-Term Care Services. Rev. Daniel’s guidance and direction led the Center to embark on the beginning stages of the long term support services path. His insights and industry knowledge was instrumental in developing a survey and gathering information that helped shape and guide the work of the Long Term Support Services & Health Care Consortium (LTSS & HCC). These continued efforts are helping AEC and the consortium take an in depth look at healthcare issues and develop solutions that will be impactful for years to come.

GrafTech International, LTD, Lakewood, received the Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Continual Commitment to Human Capital Investment. Over a 3-year period, GrafTech have trained personnel through Structured On-the-Job Training (SOJT) and developed employee portfolios that capture work experience, education, certifications and training. As of June 30, 2014, AEC has issued 223 certificates to GrafTech employees for either Task and or Job Mastery. They also are projecting 120 more Job/Task Mastery certificates that will be issued by June 30, 2015.

from left: Frank Gibson, Myra Wilson, Mike Giangiordano, from right: Dave Rasor, Dan Sensel, and John Hohn (Hardin County Chamber Business Alliance)

(from left) Frank Gibson, Program Manager, and Myra Wilson, Program Director of Alber Enterprise Center presented one of the outstanding client awards to Hardin County’s Triumph Thermal Systems.  Accepting the certificate were Mike Giangiordano, President; Dave Rasor, Operations and Lean Champion; and Dan Sensel, Director of Engineering.  John Hohn, Director of Economic Development for Hardin County Chamber Business Alliance, congratulated the Triumph team.

President of Triumph Thermal Systems, Inc., Forest, Mike Giangiordano accepted the Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Investment in Lean Six Sigma with Positive Impact on Business. Triumph Thermal Systems took an innovative approach to improving quality, efficiency and effectiveness by implementing Lean Six Sigma (LLS) follow up training to continue the initial training previously provided to their yellow belts, green belts and black belts. This past year they invested in training twelve employees in various levels of Lean Six Sigma process improvement. This training continued to enable teams to identify and implement the process, especially to increase higher product quality in two key production areas.

Manager of Maintenance for National Lime & Stone Company, Findlay, Mike Patrick accepted Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Investment in Learning Resulting in Positive Impact on Business. For over ten years, National trained personnel through classroom, hands-on or eLearning. They covered a plethora of topics including customer service, hydraulics, welding, Microsoft office software, issue analysis, customer service and electrical safety. With approximately 40 locations throughout Ohio, National has experienced significant business growth over the years.

Technical Development Manager for Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. Marysville, Scot McLemore accepted the Outstanding Achievement and Excellence Award for Positive Impact on Business from The BRIDGE: Issue Management Process. Honda’s successful utilization of AEC’s The BRIDGE: Issue Management Process laid the foundation in crafting a plan for feeding qualified workers into the employment pipeline for HAM (Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.) and HNA (Honda North America) and helped stimulate positive change for maintainable economic growth.

Client Advisory CouncilThe concluding event for AEC’s Client Advisory Council half-day meeting was the Awards Luncheon. The meeting objective for clients was to provide feedback on AEC’s past services, input on how the Center can support the business priorities of other companies, offer suggestions about new services AEC could provide and ideas for strategic direction.

 The Alber Enterprise Center applies the resources of The Ohio State University, OSU Extension, along with a team of organization development consultants to enable Ohio businesses to positively impact economic growth.   For more information, call 740-725-6325 or visit alber.osu.edu.

Learning that Lasts: The Three Secrets to High ROI Training

You believe in developing your employees.  You know that investment in annual training is the right thing to do. But you’re not seeing the change you want.  The vision of a healthy, high performing company still seems far off.

Jim Franks, Strategic Advisor/Coach for Alber Enterprise Center

Jim Franks, Strategic Advisor/Coach for Alber Enterprise Center

We’ve all experienced this.  “The workshop was great.”  “The speaker was engaging.”  You leave with a feeling of exhilaration that things are really going to change this time.  But after a few weeks you realize that things are back to the way they were before the workshop.

To address this very common problem, let’s discuss two things: 1) Why it happens and 2) What to do about it.  

Why training doesn’t stick

We are creatures of habit.  Our habits are engrained with years (sometimes decades) of repeated behaviors that have worked for us.  The conventional wisdom is that it takes three months to change a good habit and six months to change a bad one.  Change is not automatic.  Here’s the good news.  We all have the potential to change – even radical change.

Unless we constantly reinforce new skills over 3-6 months it is unlikely that the change will stick.  There needs to be a way to reinforce the desired change on a regular basis.

We are surrounded by others who are also creatures of habit.  When we come back from a workshop, ready to change, others around us are used to the old way of doing things.  They naturally resist change and impact you by virtue of their close proximity.  They will act in ways that reinforce the old habits.

These influences (your own habits and others), make up the culture of your organization.  Changing that culture begins with you.  You must intentionally persevere against this inertia until the change becomes permanent.

So how do you do this?  What follows are the three secrets to permanent change and finally getting a high ROI on your training investment.

How to drive permanent change

Start at the top.  The first key to getting a high ROI on your training is to get the buy-in and application by your senior executive team.  Otherwise the initiative will go into the category of the latest workshop of the month.  Here are some tips for executive involvement:

  • Have them kick it off with a strong statement of its importance.
  • Actions are more powerful than words. If it truly is important then they will take the time to attend.
  • There is nothing more powerful than a senior executive admitting how they are learning and growing based on the new approach learned from the workshop.

Follow-up coaching.  Visibility and examples from the top are key, but not the whole story of a successful implementation.  Each employee must have someone to remind him or her of the need to apply the new approach regularly.  This is where coaching comes in. This is the secret sauce that makes it really stick.

Over the past decade, professional coaching has quietly become the state-of-the-art method to develop professionals.  It works because it syncs up with how we are designed to change – with repetition and over time.

Here’s how it works.  A coach comes alongside the employee on a regular basis to remind them of the new skills and hold them accountable for putting them into practice.  Each attendee will inevitably face challenges applying the material and will need someone outside the organization to help them overcome these challenges.  The coach is not subject to the inertia of the old habits, but will remain steadfast and hold each employee accountable for change.

As a professional coach I’ve seen this work at organizations large and small and across many industries.  Training + Coaching works.

Peer Accountability.  Have each team member give account to their peers for their new behavior.  Do quarterly assessments that measure the new behavior to show progress – or lack of it.  Many think they are making progress only to find that others don’t agree.  Change doesn’t count unless others see it too.  The only way to know is to commit to it and measure progress.  Then act on the feedback until others agree.

There it is.  This works.  Guaranteed.  If you do these three things, the desired change will happen.  If it doesn’t, one of these three steps wasn’t done.

To learn more about this, watch for a White Paper on the OSU Alber site!

Jim Franks is a Strategic Advisor/Coach for the OSU Alber Enterprise Center (AEC).  He is passionate about helping leaders build healthy, high performing companies.  For more information about how the AEC can help your organization implement the solutions you want leading to the success you need, please call (740)725-6325 for a no-cost, no-obligation needs analysis.

Register Now for Lean Six Sigma Executive Belt Training–Deadline: Jan. 8, 2015

Norma Simons, President of Performance Innovation LLC and AEC Solution Partner

Norma Simons, President of Performance Innovation LLC and AEC Solution Partner

Executive BeltLean Six Sigma (LSS) is a methodology and way of thinking that enhances the performance of an organization.  It first was applied in the manufacturing industry but now it is being applied in healthcare, government, education and several institutions.  LSS provides a template to simultaneously reduce waste, improve the quality of products and services, improve customer satisfaction and increase profitability.

In order to transform the enterprise and leadership as well as develop and sustain a culture to support the news changes, the leaders need to have a basic understanding of the concepts of Lean Six Sigma.  This program is therefore designed for executives, leaders and managers who will lead or deploy the LSS initiative.

The Lean Six Sigma program is offered using a blended approach to learning.

What is a Blended Approach

This approach combines the traditional classroom style with online self-paced learning, using technology.  The extent to which this approach is used will vary depending on the type of technology, the organization, and the material that needs to be covered. Because Blended Learning combines several different learning styles, it allows participants to work at their own pace and at their own convenience.  Class time is then designed for discussing applications of concepts to the work environment and clarifying areas that might not have been clear.

LSS Executive Belt Banner

Components of LSS Executive Belt

  • Access to E-learning modules 24/7– Each week participants will be required to cover the assigned material prior to the live webinars.
  • On-line student guides– There are guides that can be downloaded with each video that allows participants to retain their own reference material.
  • Live weekly webinars with the instructor– Handouts that support the weekly webinars will be sent ahead of time to the participants.
  • On-line discussion sessions– Weekly webinars will allow for online discussions pertaining to the application of LSS in each facility.
  • Access to the instructor when needed– Participants will be able to gain access to the instructor at specified times to discuss or clarify issues that might not be clear in applying LSS.

Lean Six Sigma is a comprehensive systems improvement program that assists organizations in executing their strategy and establishing processes that better serves the customers.  Executives will have the opportunity to gain understanding of the concepts and discuss some of the barriers that might occur while applying these ideas in their respective organizations.  They will be able to learn on their own, learn from the instructor as well as from other class participants.

The Lean Six Sigma Executive Belt Blended Learning Program is sponsored by The Ohio State University Alber Enterprise Center and Performance Innovation LLC.

To find out more about the program, visit osutrainingtoyou.com and SIGN UP NOW. For Special Offers and Group Discounts, please contact Annette Shuster at shuster.18@osu.edu. Deadline:  January 8, 2015.