Project Management: Case Studies

Arla EmerickDirector of Technology

Raymore-Peculiar Schoolsaemerick@raypec.k12.mo.us

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

The secret of getting things

done, on time and with excellence

Stephen R. CoveyArla Emerick EDAI 640

The Challenge: Ability to Execute

Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute all other attributes of leadership become hollow”

— Larry Bossidy Chairman, Honeywell International

#1 REASON WHY LEADERS FAIL?

70% of strategic failures are due to poor execution of leadership. …It’s rarely for lack of smarts or vision.

Source: Charan, R. and Colvin, G. “Why CEOs Fail”, Fortune, June 21, 1999.

The Work environment1. Do people know what to do?

1. 44% of employees say they don’t know their company’s highest priorities

2. Do they want to do it?

1. Only 19% feel a strong sense of commitment to the company’s goals

3. Do they know how to do it?

1. 9% believe their work has a strong link to their organizations top priorities

4. Do they have the discipline?

1. People spend less than half their time (49%) on activities linked to the

organization’s key priorities

5. Do they work together?

1. Only 31% feel they can express themselves honestly and candidly at work

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Focus on the Wildly ImportantAct on the Lead MeasuresKeep a Compelling Scoreboard

Create a Cadence of Accountability

Focus on the Wildly Important

Discipline 1 – Focus on the wildly important (goals) - Work with your team to have well crafted goals that make sense and can be measured against some deadline.  At high level, goals should be aligned with your district Comprehensive School Improvement Plan.

Act on the Lead Measures

Discipline 2 – Act on the Lead Measures – What do we do all about goals to achieve them? 

To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.  It is the Goal Breakdown Structure portion

of project management: i.e. breaking the goals down to specific actions. 

We need to employ creative new and better thinking process to break goals into specific actions of weekly bite-size chunks.

Create a compelling scoreboard

Discipline 3 – Create a compelling scoreboard – People play differently when they’re keeping score.  Scoreboard should reflect three things – 1. where are we now; 2. where we want to be; 3. when do we need to be there.  These three points should be communicated

visually.  It enables us to track progress and  make corrective actions, if we get off-track.

Create a Cadence of Accountability

Discipline 4 – Hold each other accountable – all of the time – It is level of mutual accountability and knowing others are counting on you raises your level of commitment.  It requires that team stay engaged and aware of results being achieved.

Case Study : Pleasant Hill Technology DepartmentNeed

The need arises each summer to manage summer work projects in an effective manner to start school without technology disruption.

Status of departmentWork orders for the month of August average 33% of TOTAL

work orders for the year. (2008 500 work orders in this month)

3 people in the department with 3 different specific responsibilities, i.e. silos, no team atmosphere.

Recent years experience for beginning of school has been less than desirable.

Strategy: The Wildly ImportantPresented department with the concept of

creating goals and timelines for summer projects.

As a department we determined 2 specific goals.

Decrease the number of work orders between August 1st and September 1st by 50%

Decrease the time to complete work orders by 50%

Act on the Lead MeasuresEach person in the department created a list

of all the projects in the persons area of focus to be completed during the summer to eliminate work orders in August.

Each person developed a time line beginning May 18th until August 1st to ensure all projects assigned to the person are completed.

Each person reviewed the other team member’s lists for collaboration on time lines and to ensure all necessary projects were assigned and on the schedule.

Keep a compelling scoreboardAfter goals were decided, and projects

assigned we discussed how to “keep score”At the suggestion of one of the members, he

thought it should be a horse race. (he wanted to be a stallion!)

Dollar General did not have a stallion, but a princess ponies (white purple and pink) deciding this may hurt moral, I opted for the 4 wheelers.

The theme became a race track. The slogan “taking the SH out of IT”

Create a cadence of accountability

Each morning a department meeting discussing progress (20 minutes max) and the ceremony of “starting your engines” (moving your 4 wheeler to another milestone)

Talk about needed purchases, or “how to” approach an issue or problem that may have been encountered.

This process creates a team atmosphere and ensures each team member is aware of the progress of the department.

Case Study Raymore PeculiarNeed

The Raymore Peculiar school district did not have a comprehensive work order system in place from which to gather data.

The status of the department was unknown. A survey was administered to all faculty and

staff to determine The technological needs of the district The effectiveness of the technology department

Strategy: The Wildly ImportantAnalyzed the survey from district employees

and categorized into 3 main goalsDecrease mileage by 25%Put technology information the newsletter once

a monthSurvey patrons at the end of each semester

and continue to receive excellent ratings.

Act on the Lead MeasuresEach person was assigned to goals Each person was required to list out all tasks

for meeting the goals that were assignedEach person met with other team members to

ensure all tasks were adequate and not duplicated by members of the department.

Keep a Compelling ScoreboardThe department chose to create a football

field with the milestones to span the 1st semester of the school year.

As the items on the tasks sheets were completed, the “football players” moved across the field

The slogan for the department was voted on and became “Doin’ I.T. Right” this slogan is the header of the scoreboard and is part of all our email signatures.

Create a Cadence of AccountabilityEach time someone enters the department,

the scoreboard is visible. This creates an atmosphere of accountability with our peers and with other building staff members. At each milestone date it is easy to assess the

progress of the team members with a quick visual.

Any team member not at the milestone is asked about the progress and offer help to reach the milestone.

Analyzing ResultsIn January, the department met and discussed

successes from the previous semester.Using work order information, all tech work orders

were analyzed and discussed. As a department, we determined the next semester

priorities

We then began the process over again by 1. Focusing on the Wildly Important,2. Acting on the Lead Measures, 3. Designing a Compelling Scoreboard4. Creating a Cadence of Accountability

In SummaryThe 4 Disciplines of Execution has changed

the way I manage, the way I work and the way the department functions as a team.

The compelling scoreboard is visible to all staff and has created an atmosphere of accountability never before achieved both inside and outside the department.

In other words IT ROCKS!