Branch Goals and Methods Process

Branch Goals and Methods Process

December 31, 2016

Document audience: Management Board and Dance Teachers and Branch Members.

This document covers guidelines for a SCD Branch Goals and Methods committee.

Outline:

·  Value Proposition

·  Goals and Methods Process

·  Issues and Questions

Value Proposition

What are the activities of the SCD Branch? Why does the Branch choose to pursue the activities? How can we confirm which existing methods continue to effectively accomplish the Branch goals, and identify a few methods that have become less effective over time? How can we consider new ideas that can better accomplish the goals? How can members learn how they can effectively contribute individually or collaboratively to the Branch goals?

We can imagine two contrasting views of the SCD Branch.

1. Management Board discussions focus on a minimum set of transactional topics with a bare essential group of collaborating partners, and prioritize to the bottom the transformational topics that explore what we are and want to be, goals and methods, etc. The Branch has no written vision or plan. There is an implied project list of dance classes and dance events, that is a rerun of what happened the prior year. The same group of members volunteers for the projects year after year. The membership is static and it is a matter of time before the Branch is dissolved as the aged group of volunteers becomes burned out.

2. The Branch has a written vision or plan with a defined project list. The Branch validates which projects continue to make sense the following year, and imagines exciting new projects that would attract more Branch members to want to participate in the planning. The dynamic and growing membership, with its diverse interests and abilities and with a varying amount of time to volunteer, buys-in to shared goals and self-leads actions how best to help.

The Success Indicator chart by MaryEllen Tribby lists contrasting factors of successful people and unsuccessful people. The table below lists the factors in a more readable form.

Successful People / Unsuccessful People
Have a sense of gratitude / Have a sense of entitlement
Compliment / Criticize
Forgive others / Hold a grudge
Give other people credit for their victories / Take all the credit for their victories
Read every day / Watch TV every day
Talk about ideas / Talk about people
Share information and data / Horde information and data
Exude joy / Exude anger
Embrace change / Fear change
Keep a "to-do/project" list / Fly by the seat of their pants
Accept responsibility for their failures / Blame others for their failures
Keep a journal / Say they keep a journal but really don't
Want others to succeed / Secretly hope others fail
Keep a "to-be" list / Don't know what they want to be
Set goals and develop life plans / Never set goals
Continuously learn / Think they know it all
Operate from a transformational perspective / Operate from a transactional perspective

We can partition the Successful People factors into two categories:

1.  Positive energy of friends working together to accomplish Branch goals and methods.

2.  Natural curiosity to test existing methods and try new ideas in order to adapt to changing conditions and member interests and abilities.

Factors that enhance process effectiveness
Positive energy of friends working together to accomplish Branch goals and methods / Natural curiosity to test existing methods and try new ideas in order to adapt to changing conditions and member interests and abilities
Set goals and develop life plans / Operate from a transformational perspective
Keep a "to-do/project" list / Keep a "to-be" list
Share information and data / Continuously learn
Keep a journal / Read every day
Exude joy / Talk about ideas
Want others to succeed / Embrace change
Have a sense of gratitude
Compliment
Give other people credit for their victories
Accept responsibility for their failures
Forgive others

We can read a set of mini articles on leadership, by beloved Granite Rock CEO Bruce Woolpert, that supports the Goals and Methods concept and is relevant in a volunteer organization.

http://www.rscds-swws.org/doc/Leadership.pdf

Key points are:

·  Communications and a clear purpose described by goals build teamwork and success.

·  Tell the truth, avoid blame, build relationships.

·  Measure performance objectives to fuel improvement.

·  Try innovative ideas to move beyond status quo, expect some failures.

·  Volunteers buy-in to shared goals, self-lead actions how best to help.

·  Use customer feedback to correct problems and strengthen satisfaction.

Goals and Methods Process

Goals and Methods

A Goal is a result that we want to make an effort to accomplish.

It is measurable, either objectively or subjectively.

A Method is an action we perform in order to accomplish the Goals.

(A Process is a series of actions or steps taken to accomplish the Goals.)

What are the SCD Branch Goals and Methods? We can record them in evolving documents and have productive discussions to agree on projects and methods, based on prioritized goals, test the methods for defects and propose solutions, and train volunteers. The exercise needs to be fun and easy in order to gain buy-in.

We can begin with Methods. The SCD Branch currently has a set of methods in order to accomplish projects having to do with supporting Scottish dance classes and events. We have learned that the dance checklist of methods is helpful to accomplish putting on a dance. We also have a combined "Annual Calendar" to remind us to perform certain actions during the calendar year in order to accomplish the checklist methods at the optimum time.

Methods are easier to document than Goals. I read a collection of Management Board meeting minutes and observed activities of the SCD Branch, and I made a list of existing methods and categorized them according to officers and committees. Each component lists interface methods that are visible by others.

http://www.rscds-swws.org/doc/BranchMethods.doc

Describing the Goals helps us understand why we are performing the Methods, and are necessary in order to gather data and measure effectiveness of methods. We mainly perform the methods because these are what the same people did the previous year. Each volunteer has an idea which goals are being accomplished by the methods. However the goals are mostly communicated nonverbally. A person performs a method and observes the behavior of partners. When a partner also performs the method or expresses approval, then we assume the partner agrees with the related goals. A partner might ignore the method, which signals there might be some misalignment of goals’ priorities, or the partner lacks the interest or ability to collaborate. Finally, a partner might disagree with the goals and take action to undo the results of the method.

Decision Analysis

The Decision Analysis process (pioneered by management consulting company Kepner-Trego http://www.kepner-tregoe.com) can be an effective tool to analyze methods in Goals and Methods discussions. We can view an example to select a newsletter publishing method. Over the years, we have transitioned from printed to email to website with historical index as the newsletter publishing method. http://www.rscds-swws.org/newsletters.htm

We can view the Branch Newsletter Decision Analysis document below or access the file.

http://www.rscds-swws.org/doc/DecisionBranchNewsletter.xls

A Decision Statement clarifies the scope of the decision.

We consider Alternatives (Methods) that have a good chance of satisfying the objectives.
We identify the list of objectives criteria which are important to making the decision.
The Must Objectives (Goals) are the minimum requirements that can be used to immediately eliminate some alternatives. The Want Objectives (Goals) are used to measure relative performance of the remaining alternatives.

We prioritize the Want Objectives by assigning Weight factors and Relative Performance Score values in the range 0-10. We observe the Weighted Score values steadily improve: printed 5.6 à email 8.2 à website 10.0.

A challenge with the process is that Want Objectives can state overlapping objectives. This can have the effect of distorting the Decision Analysis by giving an exaggerated weight to a particular objective. We can compensate by reducing the Weight of objectives that are partially represented by another objective.

A benefit of the process is the decision group can document the Want Objectives and have a deeper discussion to share opinions about the Weight factors and estimate Relative Performance Score values. Everyone understands the factors that led to a fair decision being made, even if a person’s favorite alternative is not selected.

The final step is to evaluate the consequences of the choice and assess risk among the best alternatives. We explore factors we have not considered, factors that would cause us to regret the decision. We wait until the end of the process to assess risk, in order to avoid bias during the process.

We make the decision and answer whether we can accept the risk for the best performing alternative. If not, we go to the next best alternative and repeat.

After making the decision, we can gather data and validate the Relative Performance Score values.

Branch Newsletter Decision Analysis
March 3, 2013
Decision Statement: Select a newsletter publishing method for the RSCDS Southwest Washington State Branch.
Alternatives … (Methods) / Printed / Email / Website
Must Objectives (Goals)
Y / Y / Y
Want Objectives (Goals) / Weight
Transmit the fun, social interaction, friendship, cultural elements, and health benefits to our readership. / 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
Broaden interest by including other authors with diverse styles and experiences in our contributor base. / 2 / 4 / 7 / 10
Help keep former dancer friends who have become socially or geographically distant, informed of our activities so that they will continue to be interested in visiting us when they're in our area when our classes or dances are being held. / 7 / 3 / 8 / 10
Member benefit; generates additional members and revenue. / 8 / 10 / 10 / 10
Read by a wider audience; attract and influence new dancer friends and dancers from other folk dance groups. / 7 / 2 / 4 / 10
Capture history of SCD group. / 6 / 10 / 3 / 10
Simplify publishing process; minimize printing and delivery costs. / 10 / 4 / 10 / 10
Support color photos and internet links. / 10 / 5 / 10 / 10
Simplify layout generation process. / 7 / 5 / 10 / 10
Proofread newsletter issue prior to initial publication. / 7 / 3 / 8 / 10
Make corrections to an issue after initial publication. / 7 / 3 / 6 / 10
81
Weighted Score / 5.6 / 8.2 / 10.0

Alternatives

Printed. A copy of the newsletter issue is printed for each subscriber. The copies are mailed or hand-delivered to subscribers. A copy is added to the newsletters archive.

Email. The newsletter issue is contained within an email that is electronically sent to subscribers. A few copies are printed and delivered to subscribers who cannot receive email. A printed copy is added to the newsletters archive.

Website. The newsletter issue is uploaded to the SCD Branch website. An email is sent to subscribers to announce the procedure to download and view the issue. A few copies are printed and delivered to subscribers who cannot receive email. The website provides a newsletters archive, which has the opportunity to obsolete the printed archive.
Issues and Questions

Establish a Goals and Methods standing committee that has periodic discussions. All Management Board and Dance Teachers and interested Branch Members are committee members.

Q: Why evaluate a method that seems to be working well?

A: We can test a method for defects or weakness and identify solutions to improve the method. We can try to identify superior methods, and then evaluate the risk to adopt.
We will identify inferior methods and gain confidence that the existing method is close to the best.
Existing methods that used to be effective can become less effective as the underlying conditions change. Similarly, a new method that used to be impractical can become attractive.
Brainstorm collaboration. Build on each other's ideas.
Alternative methods might not be mutually exclusive. We can test an alternative method while continuing to perform the existing method.

Q: How do we determine prioritized goals?

A: We individually determine our prioritized goals and methods, and observe our partners’ behavior to determine collaboration opportunities. Each person has a different view of what they believe the Branch prioritized goals are, so we might be collaborating inefficiently.
Partners can brainstorm a combined list of goals. Each individual assigns their own prioritized weights to the goals. For example, one person might rank a goal as 8 while another ranks 0. We can reach a consensus on prioritized goals or agree to disagree.
The Branch can record its list of prioritized goals and methods, and periodically review the list as conditions change. Newly arrived partners who are unfamiliar with the Branch goals and methods can read the document and more easily evaluate how they can contribute.
In order to identify goals, confirm that this is something we can accomplish and measure.
We can ideally begin with the three top-level Branch goals and identify methods, some of which can be goals that have their own methods. The picture might quickly become too complex to easily comprehend. It is easier to identify goals in the context of evaluating alternative methods on a smaller scale.

Q: How can partners effectively share opinions about prioritized goals?

A: I read in the book Facilitation at a Glance! that the following conditions need to be in place to ensure a successful collaboration outcome.

·  have sufficient trust among themselves to open up and be supportive of each other when necessary

·  have a positive intent to work towards a win/win solution

·  have relevant information on hand to make a sound decision

·  have the time to make this decision

·  believe the topic is important enough to warrant spending the time it will take

The Goals and Methods committee chair possesses facilitation skills and leads more on process and less on content. See introduction.
http://www.rscds-swws.org/doc/Facilitation.pdf