Management Institute: Overview

Working with partner districts, such as Boston Public Schools and Springfield Public Schools, DMC helps to deliver a leadership development program called the Management Institute. This program provides senior managers and leaders with formal training and coaching, while participants work on goal-oriented projects in order to support key district priorities.

The Institute is meant to strengthen management skills and change how operational services are delivered in the district. Through formal training and coaching support, the Institute builds the capacity of participants to be more effective and efficient managers.

The Institute is based on the design of Douglas K. Smith, organizational performance and learning expert and author of "Make Success Measurable!" He and Charles Baum (DMC Senior Director) have used this approach across more than 50 industries over three decades, codifying the lessons in several books as well through leadership programs that span a wide variety of sectors. Their programs have achieved positive impacts in affordable housing, journalism, social and economic development, and a wide variety of business sectors. The success rate measured by results and new skills learned (and used) typically exceeds 80% and the value of the impacts compared to costs of the programs easily exceed 25:1.

1. Formal Professional Development: Formal professional development sessions will embed a common language and understanding of practical skills that have the potential to increase managerial effectiveness. These sessions will cover such topics as: Work Planning and Goal Setting, Communications Skills, Managing Meetings, Influence Mapping, and Having Difficult Conversations.

2. Performance Challenge: One of the most powerful ways to develop leaders is to ask people to lead and achieve real performance results in their organizations. A performance challenge is a specific, measurable goal set by each participant that contributes to a priority of their department and the organization.

3. Peer group: Participants in this program will work in cross-functional peer groups of 7-10 people to define, refine, and work toward achieving each self-identified performance challenge. The peer group will meet periodically with a DMC coach to discuss participant's goals, monitor progress, provide feedback and create accountability for achieving the performance challenge.

4. One-on-one coaching: Each participant receives one-on-one feedback and support from a DMC executive coach. The peer group and coaching sessions are designed to provide real time, practical professional development to each participant to assist in achieving the performance challenges.

Formal Professional Development

Training modules include a combination of traditional classroom instruction, case studies, and small group sessions. Each module focused on a core skill or set of skills, and participating managers gain tangible takeaways that they can immediately apply to their daily work. Topics cover a range of subjects and experience levels, and include:

• Change Management

• Managing Meetings

• Communications Skills

• Having Difficult Conversations

• Giving Feedback

• Influence Mapping

• Goal Setting

• Workplanning

• Using Data

• Management vs. Leadership

Performance Challenges

The following criteria are used to help participant's select their performance challenge:

• Urgent and compelling – meaning it is important and central to your work

• Measurable and performance-focused – likely related to cost, revenue, cycle times, quality improvement, or other key metrics for your department

• Achievable within the time frame of the program (12-24 weeks)

• People are willing to give it a go

• Progress is largely achievable with existing resources and authority

• It is a “stretch” – and not just business as usual

The goal setting process stresses the importance of setting outcomes-oriented goals, as opposed to activities-oriented goals. Many managers like to describe activities that they are going to accomplish, but shy away from discussing the outcomes that define performance for an organization. The performance challenge goal-setting process forces managers to develop an performance outcome approach.

The goal setting process also stresses the importance of setting goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aggressive yet Achieveable, Relevant, and Timebound), and coaches participants on how to develop SMART goals.

Here are some examples of performance challenges from operations and finance departments:

• Food services: Reduce food cost at 10 most expensive schools by 15%, or reduce the time to submit a claim to the state from 60 days down to 45 days within 12 weeks.
• Transportation: Decrease cost per mile and number of miles driven by 10% in a given zone within 12 weeks.
• Safety/Security: Reduce incidents 30% at lunchtime at 6 high schools, or reduce officer absenteeism by 10% per month with an overall goal of 30% within a three month time period.
• Finance: Increase Medicare reimbursement rate through parental consent from 40% to 70% in 12 months.
• Human Resources: Reduce the number of daily calls on teacher certification by 10% by increasing self-service options, or increase percent of Hispanic teachers in district from 10% to 20% in 12 months.
• Labor Relations: Reduce the number of days between an investigatory meeting and decision by the Superintendent regarding discipline issues from approximately 60 days to 30 days or less.
• Athletics: Increase number of participants in winter sports at 5 middle schools.

Participants

Most Institute participants have been a part of the Operations and Finance Departments, including:

• Operations

  • Chief Operating Officer’s Office

  • Human Resources

  • Food & Nutrition Services

  • Instructional & Informational Technology

  • Enrollment Servcies

  • Athletics

  • School Safety & Security

  • Transportation

  • Labor Relations

  • Adult Education

• Finance

  • Business Services

  • Budget Office

  • Grants Management