Project Management: Manage Process

For school improvement, how can using a value statement, outcomes, and key deliverables help you increase clarity and actually create value?

/ mkessenburg

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For school improvement, don’t tolerate blurriness—instead, get clear in detail about the value you want to create and what “done” looks like so you can actually create value. Why?

(1) Because getting clear in detail helps you flourish. (Remember, “a smart project leader starts with the assumption that nothing is clear”—Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, loc 570).

(2) Because getting clear in detail increases the likelihood of shared understanding of what you’re working to accomplish, of good discussions and decisions, and of actually creating value in terms of increasing institutional effectiveness and getting people flourishing.

(3) Because not getting clear in detail increases the likelihood of competing views of what you’re working to accomplish, of bland discussions and mediocre decisions, and of only creating nominal change. Not good.

Note: “If members are not clear on the [value the team is to create], they will take the team where they think it is supposed to go, and that may not be the direction intended by the organization” (Fundamentals of Project Management, loc 2658). Not good.

(4) Because getting clear in detail is a best practice. Please keep in mind that “you can’t very well become something if you can’t describe and define it” (Fundamentals of Project Management, loc 650) and that “[w]ithout a clear and shared picture of the value you’re trying to create, the project is doomed” (Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, loc 561).

How clear are you actually when you use a goal, action steps, and evidence of progress? This approach is the one I have quite a bit of experience with, and it got me clear in terms of what we wanted to accomplish (goal), what we needed to do to achieve the goal (action step), and what we wanted to see as we made progress on the action steps (evidence of progress). 

And while it did work, it also seemed to put the focus on completion (and on the mistaken belief that completion of action steps = completion of goal), instead of on creating value, on making a real difference. This approach also left some questions unanswered, for example:

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What can help you get clear in detail about the value you want to create and what “done” looks like so you can actually create value? Three things that come to mind for me are (1) a value statement, (2) outcomes, and (3) key deliverables. Let me explain:

(1) Value Statement (aka: vision script): Collaboratively develop a document that answers this question: What value do we want to create? Here’s an example:

Value to be created for an improvement goal for increasing compensation and benefits:
(A) We experience increased compensation and an enhanced benefits package that includes a wellness program, a pension/401K, and more funds for professional development.
(B) We have increased retention.
(C) We are better able to attract more qualified candidates. 
(D) We are flourishing (for example, in terms of professional growth), able to stay in Christian education for our careers, and able to retire well.
(E) Feeling more valued, we experience increased passionate purpose in terms of commitment to the mission and to helping each other holistically flourish in Jesus. 
(F) We experience increased morale and unity.

(2) Outcomes answer the question, “What specific results do we need in order to create value?” Here’s an example of an outcome: “We have increased retention.” (Note: This outcome comes from the above value statement.)

(3) Key deliverables specify in detail the products we should have and what services we should be receiving for a given outcome. For example, if the outcome is increased retention, key deliverables could include:

  • A chart showing current and past retention rates.
  • Staff survey data indicating impact of new compensation and benefits package on retention.

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Bonus: An added bonus of using a value statement, outcomes, and key deliverables is more and better feedback. For me, task completion is about being done or not done. So feedback is generally “yes” or “no”—as in “Are you finished with your curriculum maps?”

 When asked for additional feedback, I’m not sure what to say because I’m unclear about the value to be created, the outcomes, and the key deliverables—as in: “Are your maps good?”

However, when using a value statement, outcomes, and key deliverables, I can provide more and better feedback to questions like: 

  • How can we help you reach proficiency in terms of using an Understanding by Design approach to mapping?
  • To what extent are you being positively impacted by the value we’re creating?
  • What best practices will help us create value as we map the curriculum?

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How about you? How important is it to you to get clear in detail about the value you want to create and what “done” looks like so you can actually create value? How clear are you actually when you use a goal, action steps, and evidence of progress? What can help you get clear in detail about the value you want to create and what “done” looks like so you can actually create value? 

Here are some related resources:

Bottom line: For each improvement goal, get clear in detail about the value you want to create and what “done” looks like so you can actually create value.

Get flourishing!

Michael

Your accreditation visit is done—so your next step is to update your improvement plan, right? Nope!

/ mkessenburg

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Nope! The next step after your accreditation visit isn’t using the major recommendations to update your improvement plan. I wish I had understood this earlier. I really wish I had. Why?

(1) Because our insufficient shared understanding of school improvement in terms of purpose slowed us down.

(2) Because we found out too late that we were getting nominal change at best because we hadn’t addressed the root causes of a given recommendation like insufficient staffing and faulty assumptions and misunderstandings regarding the improvement goal.

(3) Because our insufficient shared understanding of what helps/hinders progress resulted in us being less effective and less efficient.

(4) Because our lack of defining what “done” looked like left us pursuing a fuzzy understanding of success.

Photo by David Pisnoy on Unsplash

Instead of 2 steps (completing the visit and starting on the plan), I wish had used the following 4 steps:

Step 1: Complete accreditation visit, including an after action review.

Step 2: Collaboratively review, refine, and ensure understanding and use of our improvement engine: purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices (see also School Improvement Reflection Protocol).

Step 3: Collaboratively create a scope statement for each major recommendation. This statement defines the…

  1. Recommendation, commentary, and relevant indicators.
  2. People directly involved.
  3. User-friendly title we’re going to use to refer to this recommendation.
  4. Root causes of the recommendation, for example, unhelpful mindsets.
  5. Value to be created in terms of institutional effectiveness and in terms of people flourishing.
  6. Operating assumptions. For example, if the goal is curriculum development, this would be our operating assumptions about curriculum (see ChatGPT prompt below).
  7. Things that help/hinder us.
  8. Accountability structures.
  9. Key deliverables—these are the results/outcomes that we expect to see and that help us define what “done” looks like. 
  10. Average time investment needed per person.
  11. Who’s involved in developing the improvement plan.

Though it takes time to develop a scope statement, it will actually save you time in the long run. “[P]rojects [improvement goals/plans] seldom fail at the end. Rather, they fail during the definition phase” (Fundamentals of Project Management, loc 520). It takes far less time to develop a scope statement than to clean up and/or redo a failure.

Note: The above scope statement description is a modified version of what project managers generally use and reflects that schools create improvement plans that include things others may include in scope statements—things like timeline, budget, and milestones. To see sample templates for scope statements, click here.

ChatGPT Prompt for Step 3.A: Operating Assumptions: Act as a consultant for international Christian schools. We have an improvement plan on _____. We want to troubleshoot the assumptions our plan is based on. Give 20 possible assumptions, each of which is followed by 3 alternative assumptions and ways to address those alternative assumptions. This means a total of 20 possible assumptions and 60 alternative assumptions, OK?

Step 4: Develop an improvement plan that is aligned with the scope statement.

For Step 2, I wish that we had gathered together and discussed key questions about our improvement engine, for example:

  1. What’s our school improvement engine? 
  2. How well do staff and leaders understand and use it?
  3. What revisions might be good to make before we start working on our major recommendations?

For Step 3, I wish we had gathered together to discuss key questions about a given recommendation, for example:

  1. What’s the major recommendation? What commentary was provided?  What indicators were cited?
  2. What user-friendly title are we going to use for this?
  3. What stakeholders are directly involved?
  4. What are the root causes of this goal?
  5. What value do we want to create (in terms of institutional effectiveness and people flourishing)? How will we measure that?
  6. What are our operating assumptions about _____ (topic of the goal)?
  7. What are 5 things that will help us? What are 5 things that could hinder us?
  8. What 1-3 accountability structures will we use?
  9. Given the major recommendation, commentary, and indicators, what are 5 or more key deliverables? (What does “done” look like?)
  10. How much time will the average person involved in the plan need to invest?
  11. Who’s involved in collaboratively developing the improvement plan for this major recommendation?

If we had used these 4 steps (instead of 2 steps: complete the visit and develop the plan), we would have made more progress, been more helpful, been more likely to make an actual difference in terms of institutionally effectiveness and getting people flourishing.

Here are some related resources:

Source

And here’s what I’m learning about Step 3: Scope Statement from Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager:

  • “…a smart project leader starts with the assumption that nothing is clear” (loc 570).
  • “Without a clear and shared picture of the value you’re trying to create, the project is doomed” (loc 561).
  • “You’ve got to make sure that everybody sees the same picture of your project’s outcome. Its value must be clear and unquestionable to the people involved” (loc 567).

What about you? After your accreditation visit, what’s your next step? How might reviewing your improvement engine and establishing a scope statement increase the likelihood of your improvement goal not being part of the 70% that aren’t achieved? What will you do?

Bottom line: After your accreditation visit is done, review your improvement engine, establish a scope statement for the major recommendation, and then develop your plan.

Get flourishing!

Michael

Leaders, what 3 things can you do to be even more successful at school improvement?

/ mkessenburg

This blog post is part of a series on your improvement engine—make sure you have a great improvement engine (purpose, perspective, process, plan, and practices) before you start working on your improvement goal! (See also School Improvement Reflection Protocol).

Photo by Marcel Eberle on Unsplash

If you want to be even more successful at school improvement, (1) create value, (2) lead people, and (3) manage process (Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager, loc 273). 

Let’s explore what doing this involves:

(1) Create Value: To create even more value from school improvement, use the chart and…

(1A) Determine the current level of value (see chart below): Full disclosure—for school improvement plans I was involved in, some were completed (but late), most were completed on time, some resulted in deep change, and only a few got people flourishing. When determining your current level of value creation, round down.

Note: Be sure to check out the ChatGPT prompt at the bottom, which allows you to apply the above 4 levels to the school improvement plan of your choice.

(1B) Determine your preferred level of value (see chart above): Previous to ACSI emphasizing flourishing, I would have said I wanted deep change—real change. Now, I want to see Level 4—people flourishing and the further cultivation of a flourishing culture. Definitely don’t settle for Level 1 or Level 2, and see if you can go for Level 4!

(1C) Take action (provided there’s a gap between your current level and preferred level): Based on my involvement in school improvement, there’s a gap between my track record (often Level 2) and my preferred level (Level 4). 

To close my gap, I could…

  • Collaboratively develop a vision script to define the value we want to create—what deep change looks like (Level 3) and what flourishing looks like (Level 4) for a given improvement plan.
  • Use the vision script to remind staff of what we’re really after (which is much more than completing the plan or maintaining accreditation).
  • Use the vision script to assess the level of value actually created and determine next steps.

How about you? How can you close the gap between your current level and your preferred level? 

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(2) Lead People: To lead people so they are more inspired, engaged, and accountable…

(2A) Identify 4-5 leadership best practices you want to use: Kory Kogon (author of Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager) suggests 5 practices: listen first, clarify expectations, extend trust, practice accountability, and demonstrate respect (p. 20). Or you could use LIFE skills: listen, inquire, focus on others, and encourage.

Try this ChatGPT prompt: Act as a consultant for international Christian schools. You believe that school improvement involves leading people, meaning getting people inspired, engaged, and accountable. What are 5 specific best practices for leading people on an improvement plan on _____. For each practice, give a title, a description, an example of what that looks like, and a non-example.

Whatever practices you choose, be sure they help you get others inspired, engaged, and accountable—help you get others flourishing.

(2B) Assess how effectively you are currently using those practices, using the following scale: Poor • OK • Good • Great. When determining the current level of value, round down. 

Let’s say I want to use LIFE skills. When it comes to focusing on others, I want to rate it as Good, but I know I should say OK—because I have a tendency to want to share what I think, rather than deeply understand others.

(2C) Determine how effectively you want to use those practices: Definitely don’t settle for OK or even for Good—go for Great! 

(2D) Take action (provided there’s a gap between your current level and preferred level): For me to move from OK to Great on the LIFE skill of focusing on others, I need to listen, inquire to get others thinking, check to be sure I understand, and ask, “What are your options?” (instead of giving advice).

How about you? What practices will you use to get people inspired, engaged, and accountable?

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(3) Manage Process: To manage process even more effectively…

(3A) Determine the process you’ll use when working on a school improvement goal: Make sure the process works and is user-friendly (easy to understand, represented in graphic form). I’m considering using the process from Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager (loc 497):

  • Scope: define what the project is (aka: improvement goal), the value to be created, and who’s involved (click here to learn more)
  • Plan: develop the map for getting from here to there
  • Engage: get people engaged
  • Track & Adapt—so we keep working to create value
  • Close: celebrate and reflect

(3B) Determine the best practices you’ll use to manage the process: Two practices I like to use are scoreboards (which make progress visible) and team meetings during which team members report on progress and determine their own next steps.

How about you? What process will you use? What best practices will you use to manage the process? 

Here are some related resources:

Source

Here’s what else I’m learning from Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager:

  • “…a Harvard study shows that only 35 percent of the projects undertaken worldwide succeed—which means we’re wasting a lot of time and resources” (loc 229).
  • “It’s a strange world, but often projects are called successful if they end on time and stay on budget. Oddly enough, achieving an important, worthwhile, or useful outcome is rarely mentioned! It’s as if you were to make dinner on time and on budget but serve up lousy food nobody wants to eat. But you could still claim, ‘My project succeeded!’” (loc 279).
  • “Without a clear and shared picture of the value you’re trying to create, the project is doomed” (loc 561).
  • “What does it take to execute the project successfully as a team? How do you keep the team fixed on the goal? How do you keep them alert, absorbed, and motivated? In a word: accountability” (loc 1404).
  • “Simply put, things happen to reactive people. Proactive people make things happen” (loc 1815)

Bottom line: To be even more successful at school improvement, create value, lead people, and manage process!

Get flourishing!

Michael
P.S. Here’s the ChatGPT prompt that allows you to apply the 4 levels of value creation to a school improvement plan of your choice:

Act as an international Christian school consultant who specializes in school improvement. You believe that school improvement should create value, and you have developed a 4-level model to assess the value created. 

Heres’s the 4-level model: 

  • Level 1: The improvement plan is completed (but it’s late and/or over budget). 
  • Level 2: The improvement plan is completed within parameters for time and cost (but does not result in deep change or in people flourishing). 
  • Level 3: The improvement plan is completed within parameters and results in deep change. Deep change includes addressing 1 or more root causes of the improvement plan (such as unhelpful mindsets, insufficient staffing, inadequate policies and processes, faulty assumptions and misunderstandings, a lack of training/expertise, and insufficient shared understanding of a given facet of Christian education ), and deep change includes noticeable, lasting change, especially in terms practices that increase institutional effectiveness. 
  • Level 4: The improvement plan is completed within parameters, results in deep change, and results in people flourishing during and after the implementation of the plan, further cultivating a flourishing culture. Flourishing means that people consistently experience 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing (passionate purpose, resilient well-being, healthy relationships, transformative learning, and helpful resources) and means that people consistently help others do the same. Remember, (A) only include 1 or 2 of the 5 elements of flourishing and (B) specify what this looks like both during and after plan implementation.

Now, please apply the model to an improvement plan on _____. For each of the 4 levels, write 4 or more sentences describing the results. Use present tense verbs and give 5-15 specific descriptions for each level.