The Southeast’s most unique water conference is happening May 4 and 5 in Greenville, SC. Confluence goes beyond state borders and generates meaningful discussions about our water resources. The conference has brought North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia leaders together for 20 years.
JD Solomon will be speaking on a panel that discusses Communication at All Levels. Joining JD on the panel will be YoPro Know's Kamber Parker, who specializes in communications and careers of young professionals, and Spartanburg Water's Jennfier Candler who is a public relations specialist. Solomon brings the decision-making perspective of communicating with senior management and boards of directors.
Did we mention that there will be no PowerPoint presentations at this year's conference? Amen!
JD Solomon Inc provides solutions for program development, asset management, and facilitation solutions at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Sign-up for monthly updates.
Five things will keep your asset management program strong during leadership changes.
Asset management programs are unique within the larger sphere of management systems. Like all management systems, asset management programs have many interrelated parts that must work together. On the other hand, asset management is concerned with producing value over the long term, which is usually de-prioritized over periods of short-term stress. You can do five things to keep your programs strong during leadership changes.
1. Scale Back
Asset management programs involve the entire organization. It is common to find several dozen initiatives or projects in a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP). Leadership changes introduce uncertainty in everything from organization structure to funding.
In the case of Mount Pleasant Waterworks, there were several dozen active projects when the new general manager assumed his duties. The number was reduced to fourteen projects within the first six months, reduced further to ten, and then expanded to seventeen by the end of the first year. Scaling back enabled the organization to focus on the most critical aspects. It also allowed the asset management program to find its equilibrium as new, concurrent changes were being made across the organization.
An asset management program utilizes many cross-department committees as a long-term management system. Senior management's energy and time commitment usually gives way to a culture of committees after the first few years of implementation. New energy and commitment must be re-established each time a senior leadership change occurs.
For MPW, that meant re-establishing the asset management steering committee to include the general manager and his direct reports. All of the working committees were asked to wrap up their current activities. Several working committees were re-formed and re-chartered; however, many were eliminated to provide mid-level and front-line staff more time to focus on their primary job duties during the leadership transition.
3. Focus on a Problem
Asset management programs should show their greatest value during times of organizational stress. Asset management should be part of the solution and not be perceived as part of the problem.
For MPW, one of the key problems for the chief financial officer was reviewing the labor hours and inventories at audit time to ensure capital and operating expenses were properly assigned. While MPW had always had stellar audits, there was both perceived and real value in working on associated work order management, inventory processes, and monthly supervisory reports. The execution of this new project pulled the organization together and provided a valued focus for asset management.
4. Do the Fundamentals Well
Asset management requires a structured, steady approach over the long term, regardless of the short-term climate of an organization. Four primary areas of focus are constant – asset inventories, asset valuation, and asset condition assessments – plus keeping current with the associated work processes and data management systems.
MPW was in the process of a final Maximo update to prepare for fill conversion to Maximo 8.0, performing a new Customer Information System (CIS) to Maximo work order upgrade, and launching a new geospatial information system (GIS) master plan. All three major information systems improvements were kept on schedule based on their value.
5. Continue to Promote
Communication is cited by the ISO 55000 international standard and the Institute of Asset Management as critical for any asset management program. Little practical guidance is provided. Many asset management programs fail because they do not generate an appreciation for the value they provide.
A new general manager, some reorganization, and tough budget choices during an inflationary period dominated MPW’s first year of leadership transition. However, regular monthly updates were provided to the board of directors and an annual report was provided in a public forum. Asset management was a priority before the leadership transition and continued to be after it.
Moving Forward
This article provided five things – scaling back, engaging senior leadership, focusing on a problem, doing the fundamentals well, and continuing to promote – that you can do to keep your asset management program strong during leadership changes. Asset management programs are systems with many interrelated parts that must work together. While asset management is concerned with producing value over the long term, programs must continually show value in the short term to survive.
JD Solomon Inc provides solutions at the nexus of the facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Contact us for more information on our asset management ASAP approach, condition assessments, renewal & replacement forecasting, preventative maintenance programs, and reliability assessments. Sign-up for monthly updates on our solutions.
Facilitating large groups requires special attention to breakout groups, pre-session exchanges, simplified exercises, activity summaries, and group interaction.
Facilitating large groups can be intimidating. As always, successful facilitation starts with doing the basics well. Special attention in five areas – breakout groups, pre-session exchange, simplified exercises, activity summaries, and group interaction – with large groups.
Large Group Defined
A typical facilitated group is between 8 to 15 people. The ideal size is 8 to 12.
Any number of fewer than six participants is considered small and requires some different focuses for success.
Any facilitated group of over 15 people is large. I describe anything over 40 participants as extra-large because some additional facilitation practices are needed for success.
Five Areas of Focus
1. Breakout groups
Breakout groups are one of many viable facilitation techniques when the group size is between 8 and 15. In large groups, using breakouts is important to gather the full spectrum of information and make participants feel that they contributed to the effort.
An ideal size for a breakout group is six to eight participants, assuming the breakout segment time is 30 minutes (you want the groups collaborating for about 20 minutes, plus added time for a summary and room logistics). This means there will be two groups in a typical session, which is manageable by a single, experienced facilitator.
When the group size moves to as many as 40 participants, the number of breakout groups will exceed the ability of one facilitator to manage effectively. Room logistics and assuring diversity within each breakout group also increase.
Three things will make the breakout groups and the entire session better are:
Designate a participant leader and note-taker. Ideally, this is done in advance.
Standard questions/topics. The breakout groups must get simple and provide less opportunity to pivot or wander. One part of the need to standardize relates to time management, and another relates to developing concise summaries across multiple groups.
Checklist (simple) instructions. Participant-led breakout groups introduce the potential for variation and confusion. Printed checklists and instruction summaries on the whiteboard are good measures.
2. Pre-session exchanges become extremely important
Interactive communication requires feedback loops and participants with similar knowledge. Large groups add complexity (more parts) and uncertainty (unknowns).
Put an additional focus on these three items in the pre-session exchange to better manage large group complexities and uncertainties.
Consensus, majority vote, or something else. It is improbable that there will be unanimous support, so get participants comfortable with "I can live with it."
Find the “facilitator in every room.” Even the most seasoned facilitators or facilitation teams need helpers from within the participants when the groups are large.
Disperse like-minded people. Large groups usually mean greater diversity in background. Plus, like-minded people like to cluster in group environments. Explore the range of participant backgrounds before you bring everyone together.
3. Simplify Exercises
Simplifying exercises helps with managing time. Simplifying exercises also help streamline some of the over-stimulation for each participant created by big rooms and many participants.
Breakout groups are one way to create some more focused time for each participant.
Polling, either with an audience response system (ARS) or with ballots, is another powerful and simple exercise.
And while I'm not too fond of the traditional sticky dot exercise, I admit that its simplicity can be useful in large groups and dually provides the participants with an opportunity to interact.
4. Summarizes exercises
Large groups generate a lot of information. Avoid trying to develop full summaries within the session. Instead, give high-level overviews. Include full summaries in the session minutes and discuss them in more detail at the next meeting.
Two noteworthy options can be used for breakouts for large group facilitation sessions. The first is to randomly select two or three breakout groups for a flavor of the discussion but not recognize all groups for summaries. A second option is to let two groups report to each other, which provides additional interaction for participants while minimizing the time associated with each group reporting to all.
5. Interaction
Interaction usually defines the participant experience. Interaction is also the one aspect with the greatest potential for loss when facilitating large groups.
These are three tips for ensuring interaction with large groups.
More breaks. Remember, facilitating large groups takes more time and more sessions. The number or length of breaks should not be compromised in the name of efficiency. Breaks are not boring.
Avoid long introductions. I like to use trivia about the participants I gained during the pre-session exchange. Asking three or four "factoids" or "who is this?" at each meeting helps everyone get to know each other. It also avoids the lengthy (and boring) total time needed for two or three dozen people to talk about themselves.
Session evaluation. Participants should provide some evaluation of the current session. I use various styles and techniques with traditional-sized groups. However, with large groups, using a standard format for each meeting is better. Plus, invite participants to send you emails and call 10 to 15 percent of participants between meetings.
Applying It with FINESSE
I love facilitating large groups. For many facilitators, bringing large groups to solutions that are created, understood, and accepted by all can be intimidating. As always, successful facilitation starts with doing the basics well. Special attention in five areas – breakout groups, pre-session exchange, simplified exercises, activity summaries, and group interaction – with large groups.
Are you Facilitating with FINESSE?
JD Solomon Inc provides solutions at the nexus of the facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. JD's new book, Facilitating with FINESSE, will be released in May 2023. Sign-up for monthly updates from JD Solomon Solutions.
