UNIT II STUDY GUIDE How Communication Techniques Increase the Effectiveness of Strategic Planning Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 2. Employ communication techniques for effective strategic planning. 2.1. Detail how communication affects strategic planning. Course/Unit Learning Outcomes 2 2.1 Learning Activity Unit Lesson Unit II Presentation Article: “The new world reality of benefits communication” Article: “The secret weapon of modern benefits: A strategic plan” Article: “Here’s the plan” Unit Lesson Article: “The "Ottawa way" thrives” Unit II Article Review Reading Assignment In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below: Alexander, S. (2014). The new world reality of benefits communication. Employee Benefit Review, 68(11), 1314. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.c olumbiasouthern.edu/docview/1527318778?accountid=33337 Alexander, S. (2015). The secret weapon of modern benefits: A strategic plan. Employee Benefit Review, 69(9). 12-13. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.c olumbiasouthern.edu/docview/1658883157?accountid=33337 Vanderberg, A., & Capodagli, B. (2015). The "Ottawa way" thrives. Public Management, 97(6), 14-18. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.c olumbiasouthern.edu/docview/1702634016?accountid=33337 Bernstal, J. B. (2004). Here’s the plan. ABA Bank Marketing, 36(7), 18-22. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=14402320&site=ehost-live&scope=site Click here to view the Unit II Presentation. Click here to view the Unit II Presentation transcript. Unit Lesson Introduction As Sheri Alexander (2015) discusses in “The Secret Weapon of Modern Benefits: A Strategic Plan,” organizations that use strategic planning tend to deal with it in two ways. Some organizations schedule meetings and create a report that is rarely referenced in day-to-day operations. The work is formulaic and BBA 2026, Organizational Communication 1 only completed because it is something that organizations are expected to do.UNIT Otherx organizations take the STUDY GUIDE opposite approach and use the strategic plan as a crucial element in the day-to-day Title decision-making process; it is important in the stability and sustainability of the company and helps to set priorities and goals. What is the key difference between these types of organizational outlooks? Why will one company embrace strategic planning while another ignores the process or treats it as a yearly obligation that offers little to no benefit for an organization? First, it is important to understand the concept of a strategic plan. Such notables as Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, and Margaret Thatcher, who was the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, have stated a variation of the adage “plan your work, and work your plan.” This phrase is an effective nutshell statement as it includes two of the three fundamental aspects of strategy—planning and execution. It does not include the third fundamental aspect of communication, but it is still a good place to start. The plan itself is a document that is used to communicate the organizational goals and the actions needed to achieve these goals. There are many different frameworks and methodologies for creating a strategic plan. While there are no absolute rules, most strategic plans follow a similar pattern and have common attributes. Plan Your Work 1. Analysis or Assessment: Alexander (2015) suggests beginning with a review of past and current organizational values, including any mission statements. It is important to understand how the company arrived to its current position and how the current system is functioning. Management needs to make choices about what the organization wants to achieve and how to best achieve those goals. In “Here’s the Plan,” Mary Baker describes a four-step process to bring a troubled organization back into focus (as cited in Bernstal, 2004). The first step is collecting and analyzing external and internal data. Look into customer satisfaction. Gather numbers, check trends, and also review employee satisfaction (Bernstal, 2004). Know where the organization currently stands and where leaders want to take it. 2. Strategy Formulation In this stage, it can be helpful to create a clear organizational mission statement. Cover the key steps that need to be taken that are critical to achieve the required changes. Alexander (2015) recommends creating a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). Work from a blank slate, Alexander (2015) advocates, which will give a team the ability to consider all possibilities and ideas. Determine the priorities for the organization in this phase. Evaluate how to focus on the strengths of the organization. A common criticism of the SWOT analysis technique is that organizations can use the technique to justify remaining in the same place rather than changing and growing. However, this is not an issue of the strategy tool itself, but rather, this is an issue of how an organization applies the tool. If the focus is on aspirations and moving forward, the SWOT analysis will be helpful in achieving these goals. A key element is to have specific indicators of success—actionable objectives with specific end points. Neil Gaiman, who is a famous author of both adult and children’s books, discusses the benefit of focusing on aspirations and moving forward in his 2012 commencement address to the University of the Arts. He visualized his goal of being a writer as a distant mountain that he would continuously walk toward. Gaiman (2012) explained to the graduating class that as long as he kept walking toward the mountain, he knew he was on the right path. He evaluated every job opportunity on the basis of whether it took him closer to his goals or pulled him further away. Even if the jobs were attractive and paid a great deal of money, the first evaluation had to be if they brought him closer to the metaphorical mountain. Although Gaiman speaks about his individual goals, this system works just as well for an organization. Bernstal (2004) encourages the same type of a system: Make assumptions from the data, and then ask how to get the organization from its current state to the new goal. Use the SWOT analysis to focus on the most important areas for change and the desired results. BBA 2026, Organizational Communication 2 Work Your Plan UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title 3. Strategy Execution Executing a strategy represents a disciplined process or a logical set of connected activities that enables an organization to make it work. When the strategy is complete, recognize the fact that the document is not set in stone; it can be adjusted. 4. Evaluation or Sustainment Results of the implementation process need to be evaluated: This is a continuous process. As Alexander (2015) explains, no one can anticipate every situation, but an organization can be proactive and make decisions that react to changing conditions. If the company is missing the target, Baker explains, employees first need to find out what has caused the diversion and then decide what they need to do about the situation (as cited in Bernstal, 2004). Steps for planning your work Employee Engagement—The Key Difference Employee participation is vital when an organization decides to embark on a program of change. Whatever aspect provides the eventual impetus, one aspect is clear; the old way is not working, and a new framework of operation is needed. When that happens, companies need to include employees in the process; this is a key part of communicating with people during a change. Employees who understand the strategy will be able to make day-to-day decisions that support it. 5. Develop a Strategy for Communication How information is presented to employees—the channel that is used for communication—is an essential step in the process. Alexander (2014) explains that it is important to use the right channel for communication and to focus messages on actionable information, as listed below:    Corporate Intranet: Note that many organizational intranets are stale and out of date. You will have better luck if this is cared for, updated, and kept relevant to be a successful employee communication tool. Mobile: The rise of mobile is the most recent significant change in communications. There are now very few barriers to staying connected in or out of the office. Social Media: This has changed the way businesses communicate with their customers, but it has BBA 2026, Organizational Communication 3  done little to change the way people within the business communicateUNIT with each other. Facebook, x STUDY GUIDE Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube are primarily business-to-consumer Title and consumer-toconsumer networks. They offer immense customer reach, but they are not great places to have meaningful conversations with employees and their families. E-mail: Love it or hate it, e-mail forms a major part of most workers' communication. It is increasingly difficult to separate signal from noise, and it lacks accountability. “Read receipts" are notoriously unreliable, and you often do not know if the recipient is going to do what you requested, or whether he or she even received the message (pp. 13-14). Each type of channel has both positive and negative aspects. Depending on the audience, the purpose of the communication, and the situation, one channel may be better than another. A corporate intranet has the advantage of privacy. It is generally only accessible to those within the company. Management can control which employees have access to areas within the intranet, and, with the addition of cloud computing, it can often be accessed from anywhere. This brings in the advantage of a mobile channel, as well, and is ideal if a company wants a more flexible workforce. On the negative side, a corporate intranet is an additional expense and may not be feasible for all organizations. Social media accounts have the advantage of being relatively inexpensive. Many of the accounts are free to create. However, these accounts are often less secure, lack privacy, and, as Alexander (2014) notes, may not be the best platform to develop meaningful conversations between employees. E-mail can also be relatively private and secure, but response time is an issue in many organizations. 6. Create a Process for Feedback The Unit I Lesson stated that the desired outcome of any communication process is to have the receiver (or receivers) understand the message. Creating a system of feedback for employees to address concerns and make suggestions about the strategic plan is a good way to check if the “receivers” understood the message. Whatever channel is employed, an organization must be prepared to work with employees and provide guidance until they become familiar with their new responsibilities and the changes in the culture of the organization. Many organizations also request feedback from their clients/customers and use this to evaluate the effectiveness of their strategic plan. It is a way to check if the goals are being met for customer satisfaction and, in the case of continuing evaluation, it indicates the areas where the organization should concentrate its efforts. References Alexander, S. (2014). The new world reality of benefits communication. Employee Benefit Review, 68(11), 1314. Alexander, S. (2015). The secret weapon of modern benefits: A strategic plan. Employee Benefit Review, 69(9). 12-13. Bernstal, J. B. (2004). Here’s the plan. ABA Bank Marketing, 36(7), 18-22. Gaiman, N. (2012). Keynote address 2012: 134th commencement. Retrieved from http://www.uarts.edu/neilgaiman-keynote-address-2012 Suggested Reading The article below highlights some of the issues discussed in the Unit II Lesson. Gaiman, N. (2012). Keynote address 2012: 134th commencement. Retrieved from http://www.uarts.edu/neilgaiman-keynote-address-2012 BBA 2026, Organizational Communication 4 Learning Activities (Non-Graded) UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Apply What You Have Learned Consider what type of communication channels are used in the place where you currently work or in a place where you were formerly employed. What channels did you find to be effective? What channels did not work as well? Non-graded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. BBA 2026, Organizational Communication 5 14 P U B LIC MANAG E M E NT | J U LY 20 1 5 icma.org/pm By Al Vanderberg and Bill Capodagli The “Ottawa Way” A Michigan county adopts a customer-centric culture D oes it really make a difference if a local government adopts a customer-centric culture? Yes, say government officials in Ottawa County, Michigan, who have undergone training to learn “The Disney Way” of providing quality customer service. Ottawa County, Michigan, is located in the southwestern section of the state. Located 174 miles west of Detroit and 150 miles northeast of Chicago, the county includes six cities, 17 townships, and one village within 565 square miles. More than 272,000 residents enjoy famous Lake Michigan beaches and 7,000 acres of county parks. Ottawa County is also a vacation destination with Holland, Michigan’s Tulip Time festival and Grand Haven’s Coast Guard Festival held during the summer. icma.org/pm : online and mobile accessible Some may wonder about a possible disconnect between the public sector and a Disney-like customer-centric culture. At least in the private sector, competitive forces provide an incentive to emulate outstanding customer service icons like Disney, Starbucks, or Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Surely, counties already have a monopoly on their services, many of which are regulatory in nature, and Ottawa County is no exception. Given its assets, why should the county be concerned with customer service? Responding to this question, a county official noted that the county has earned its reputation largely due to the people who live, visit, and do business with it. As such, it owes great service to visitors, residents, and employees. Besides, it’s just good business. When a new business locates within a region, for example, the effect on employment is: 1) a direct impact from the jobs provided by the business itself; 2) an indirect impact if J U LY 20 1 5 | P U B LIC MANAG E M E NT 15 ‘’Ottawa Way’’ Customer Service Initiative After reading the best-selling book The Disney Way, Ottawa County officials contacted the company created by the book’s authors to help the county develop a Disney-like customer service culture. Training began in fall 2012 with the customer service steering team. This group continues to meet monthly to oversee the customer service initiative and to review accomplishments and next steps. The steering team included key leaders from the 33 departments, offices, courts, and agencies that make up Ottawa County. The first step was total immersion in the Disney Way experience through a series of three, one-half-day workshops over a period of two weeks (see Figure 1). During initial workshops, the county team came to realize that although the 33 areas ranged from law enforcement to social services, the same Disney Way experience should drive them all. From that point on, Ottawa County’s customer-centric culture would be known as the “Ottawa Way.” 16 FIGURE 1. Disney Way Experience. Dream/Vision Values Disney Way Customer-Centric Culture Show • Story • Setting • Roles • Backstage Casting • Hiring • Orientation • Feedback • Development Plans Here are the steering team accomplishments from its initial workshops: • Developed preliminary dream and vision. Here is the last paragraph of The Ottawa County Customer Service Story: “Imagine a team with a variety of skills—collaborating, engaging one another, and having fun. . .that work to improve, protect and serve their citizens and the environment. This is Ottawa County and you are the Ottawa Way!” • Identified preliminary values. The customer service value statement reads: “Empowered to Solve Problems with Integrity and Empathy to Inspire Trust.” • Established preliminary codes of conduct. Examples of Ottawa County codes: “We live the Golden Rule.” “We take accountability for our actions and decisions.” “We create a culture of service in which every customer is valued!” • Storyboarded potential barriers to the implementation. A storyboard is a visual display and problem-solving technique that captures, organizes, and prioritizes the thoughts and ideas of everyone on the team. This tool was developed by Walt Disney. P U B LIC MANAG E M E NT | J U LY 20 1 5 Reviews • Moments of Truth • What to Measure • How to Measure COPYRIGHT BY CAPODAGLI JACKSON CONSULTING the business buys production materials and services locally; and 3) an induced impact or multiplier effect from the flow of wages spent by new employees, which may provide new jobs in other businesses, and in turn, the spending of those wages. The Michigan Multiplier 2013 (Montgomery Consulting, spring 2013, http://is0.gaslightmedia.com/northernlakeseconomicalliance/_ORIGINAL_/ fs27-1370442191-27000.pdf) reports that Ottawa County’s employment multiplier is 2.12. This means that if a business locates within a county and provides 100 new jobs, 212 additional jobs will be created to support the new business. If a visiting executive who is searching for a new location within a county has a good customer service experience, it certainly may help his or her decision to locate there. A terrible customer service experience, however, could result in a search for another location. • Developed a road map for change. One of the main tasks was the commitment for everyone in the organization to experience the three-day, customercentric culture training. Management Buy-in The next step to implementing the Ottawa Way was a three-day leadership workshop for 100 front-line leaders. Becoming customer-centric is not an activity to be checked off during an annual strategic planning process or a performance review, or briefly communicated in a retreat setting. An organization-wide cultural change driven by top management is required for success. Front-line leaders must not only embrace the new culture, they must also believe they have ownership in its development and results. This was the main focus of the leadership workshop. Here are the front-line leaders’ accomplishments from the three-day workshop: • Finalized dream and vision. • Finalized values. • Finalized codes of conduct. icma.org/pm • Storyboarded potential barriers to the implementation. • Understood road map for change. • Understood the Disney Way experience, which means beginning to live the dream, believe, dare, and implement principles. The Rollout Upon completion of the leadership workshop, the steering team planned a three-day “Ottawa Way” experience for all employees. For the ensuing year, approximately 60 to 100 employees per session participated in the training that was facilitated on a monthly basis, with a total of 973 employees completing the training. Local government managers might question why the training needed to be conducted for three days. Couldn’t the principles required for any new culture be communicated in less than a day? If it was that simple, however, countless organizations would be as magical as Disney. When employees arrive at the threeday training, they do so with a set of values that has been ingrained in them over the course of their careers. Now they are expected to embrace a new set of values, yet they need time to realize that the old values are no longer the best for the organization as a whole. Here are the employee accomplishments from the three-day training: • Participated in the Disney Way Experience. • Storyboarded potential barriers to the implementation. • Storyboarded solutions to eliminate key barriers. The Hot Seat During the afternoon of the second day of training, participants experienced the “Hot Seat” segment. The county administrator and two of the steering team department heads were members of the Hot Seat panel. Participants were invited to ask the panel any questions pertaining to the Ottawa Way or to County operations. How the “Hot Seat” benefits the staff: 1) top leaders being available, displaying candor, and demonstrating support to employees; and 2) trust and open communication established between management staff and the workforce. A question asked at every session was “How can we provide excellent customer service when in government the answer is not and cannot always be yes?” The answer: It is all about how you treat someone. We use the Golden Rule that stresses that people treat others as they wish to be treated. Storyboard Treasure Trove Something of extraordinary and unanticipated benefit resulted from the training. As many as 480 storyboards provided a wealth of information about what county employees think; 452 storyboards displayed concerns that pertained to management and leadership. Lack of Front-line leaders must not only embrace the new culture, they must also believe they have ownership in its development and results. icma.org/pm : online and mobile accessible trust in management, poor communication, and little coaching and feedback were a few of the topics of concern. Participants, by way of 1,406 storyboard response cards, communicated that improvements in leadership, empowerment, accountability, encouragement, and setting clear expectations and direction were needed. Lead by example, live the Golden Rule, and provide more feedback were some of the ideas for improvement. The Leadership Challenge The storyboard process is an ideal way for leaders to gain anonymous feedback and to engage their entire teams. A powerful way to begin helping leaders to become more effective, which was one of the concerns that emerged through county employee storyboards, is to conduct a leadership storyboard. As an author of this article and the workshop trainer, I challenged Al to allow his direct reports to participate in this exercise in which they answered the question, “What is the ultimate leader?” After an initial briefing with staff, Al left the room so that they would have total freedom to continue the process by ranking what is most important to them, what Al “does best,” and which areas are “opportunities for improvement.” Al admitted being a little nervous with the process, but he saw great value in the results. As a next step, both elected and appointed county leaders completed the leadership storyboard process within their own departments. Brain Trust Follow-up and Next Steps Ed Catmull, president of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, was quoted in the book as saying that “A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas.” One of the best ways to produce this type of environment is by establishing a brain trust, which is a group of people who assist, advise, and support one another but do not have authority to make decisions for each other’s teams or departments. In J U LY 20 1 5 | P U B LIC MANAG E M E NT 17 • Find ways of providing more services to residents with the use of technology. • Implement customer service best practices. • Implement an ambassador program to assist new employees with on-boarding as they transition to county employment and to create a network, which provides a resource to all employees seeking information on programs, departments, people, buildings, and more. One of the 480 storyboard sessions held with Ottawa County employees. A quarterly Outstanding Customer Service Award that began in January 2014 has netted an average of 70 employee nominations each quarter. general, the members also help each other become more effective leaders. The county is on the verge of creating a leadership brain trust, which will be seven groups composed of 15 to 20 middle-management leaders and one facilitator, along with one group of upper management with a facilitator. Like the leadership storyboard, the brain trust is intended to improve county leaders’ effectiveness. Each leader will complete a self-assessment customer service implementation questionnaire by rating teams in these categories: • Constant purpose and improvement and forever using the system of customer service. • Institute training in codes of conduct, customer service values, and quality. • Believe in elements of the show or customer experience. • Eliminate fear. • Break down barriers between departments. 18 • Remove barriers to pride of workmanship. Every 10 weeks after the initial meeting, brain trust meetings will be held to provide updates on the progress of implementing Ottawa Way and to help leaders identify and solve problems. The Future After the Ottawa Way training sessions were completed in the fall of 2014, the county created an 18-member customer service team with representation from county department operations. With the same lead facilitator, the team can coordinate with the brain trust. Here are team initiatives: • Determine next steps to customer service training. • Determine ways to help customers better navigate county buildings and the phone system. P U B LIC MANAG E M E NT | J U LY 20 1 5 Early successes have been amazing, particularly considering that the Ottawa Way is still relatively new. A quarterly Outstanding Customer Service Award that began in January 2014 has netted an average of 70 employee nominations each quarter. A sheriff’s deputy was nominated for a customer service award after issuing a traffic ticket to a motorist. The Public Health Department’s restaurant inspection division, heavily criticized by many restaurants just three years ago, has received 87 customer service nominations from the private businesses they serve. Businesses praised the transition from a highly regulatory “gotcha” attitude to more of an attitude of educating and coaching, thus becoming a valued partner. These are just a few examples of great stories emerging that celebrate county employees going above and beyond the call of duty. The county references achievements on its website at http://miottawa.org/CustomerService/ outstanding_current.htm. A few years ago, the notion of having the 33 different areas of the county singing the same customer service tune seemed like an impossible dream; however, as Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” That is the Disney Way, and now it is the Ottawa Way, too. AL VANDERBERG is county administrator, Ottawa County, Michigan (avanderberg@miottawa. org). BILL CAPODAGLI is president, Capodagli Jackson Consulting, Winter Garden, Florida (dreamovations@aol.com) and coauthor of The Disney Way (2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2006). icma.org/pm Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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