Knowledge + Learning = Performance

Within the technology category of the blog (note the categories on the right-hand side), I’ll be featuring the underlying technologies that can help facilitate knowledge, learning, and performance for individuals and organizations. Some of the technologies that I’ll be posting on include:
- Elearning (from rapid development to dynamic custom courses)
- Web conferencing
- Portals and portlets
- Wikis for content gathering
- Instant messaging

Some considerations and examples for how to effectively use technology will include:
- Online collaboration using web conferencing
- Impact of MBTI preferences on how to design online learning
- How to bridge the gap between system developers and users
- Cascading multiple choice for interactive elearning

Watch this category for information on these topics and more!

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

As I stated earlier in my first post of the KLP Blog, the reason to cover management considerations along with our other topics is because without both project management and change management, even the best designed performance improvement runs the risk of failure.

I’m guessing that just like me, you’ve seen and heard about examples of new corporate learning initiatives that failed miserably—and often the reason for failure is because either the team or implementation effort was poorly managed or the change efforts were not fully thought through or even addressed.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at management considerations such as:
- Project management critical success factors
- Options for automating your project management processes
- The importance of the up-front contracting phase for projects
- Project management war stories
- Change management considerations
- Change management war stories

Watch this category for information on these topics and more!

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

One of the hardest challenges of knowledge work is how to convert tacit knowledge to explicit so that it can be shared. So before we begin with a discussion of how to convert tacit knowledge to explicit, let’s first define what is meant by tacit versus explicit knowledge. Often tacit knowledge is considered knowledge that people carry in their heads or bodies and which is gained through learning or personal experience. For tacit knowledge, think of the things which you are so expert on that it’s difficult to explain them; like breathing, you just do them. On the other hand, explicit knowledge is easy to put your hands on, since it is knowledge which has already been captured and written down. For explicit knowledge, think of all the books on your shelves or the manuals and procedure documents created by your company.

Many of the examples of explicit and tacit knowledge I think of actually can be considered two sides of the same coin, e.g., cooking or repairing an automobile. One can read books and follow instructions on how to do both (explicit knowledge), but true mastery comes through the tacit knowledge built through experience. Skills that are predominantly psychomotor or kinetic (e.g., dance, massage, pottery, etc.) are something that may always remain predominantly in the realm of tacit knowledge. Yes you can read books about these subjects, but to become skilled requires practice of a physical nature. However, tacit knowledge in procedural or task based areas can be much more easily converted into explicit knowledge.

In my work as a workplace learning and performance improvement specialist, I’ve seen and led many projects that did just that—took the tacit knowledge of experts and turned it into explicit knowledge (to then ideally be turned back into tacit knowledge for the new learner). These often will involve the analysis and conversion of the expert’s knowledge into a process flow (complete with decision points), and then further delve into what the expert thinks, does, says, and feels at each step in the process.

Recently, I’ve worked on projects such as this for (1) how to make compensation decisions and (2) for how to lead the construction effort for high-rise office space. In the first case, the compensation department wanted managers to start using better judgment when deciding raises and bonuses so that they could truly differentiate their pay and reward high performers. This had previously been the tacit knowledge belonging to only compensation specialists and occasionally experienced managers. I worked with the compensation department to turn their tacit knowledge (i.e., rules of thumb, personal experience, and decision points not previously articulated) into something any manager making compensation decisions could use. This was then used to create training and an online simulation where the user made the compensation decisions for a small department of employees and received feedback on a number of factors including adherence to budget and guidelines plus how well they differentiated their pay decisions.

In the second example, we worked with the construction management function of a real estate investment trust to develop a consistent process for how they manage the construction and build-out of office space to meet their prospective and current tenant’s needs. Later, when this company chose to eliminate the construction function and train their property managers to take on these responsibilities, I worked with them to capture the remaining tacit knowledge of the experienced construction managers to create a knowledge base and training for the property managers.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Expanding on my last post regarding tacit and explicit knowledge, one of the greatest challenges is how to convert tacit knowledge into explicit. The challenge comes in how to access and document that elusive tacit knowledge—knowledge which can often be an individual’s or company’s source of competitive advantage.

Much of my knowledge capture experience to date is related to specific workplace learning and performance improvement projects—for the purpose of ensuring we have the content needed to enable the target audience to meet the desired learning objectives. As such the process often goes like this:

1. Define and confirm the training or information need (and ensure that it is something that can be solved by training), e.g., make sure that it’s not an organizational or motivation issue (because no amount of training can solve that!)

2. Define the target audience and performance expectations, i.e., what is it that you need the audience to be able to DO as a result of completing the training?

3. Work with experts to learn how they have successfully met those performance expectations in the past. This content gathering can take the form of reading the company’s existing materials on the subject, researching how other leading companies have addressed the same problem, interviewing the experts, facilitating work process or other analysis-type sessions with experts, observing the experts at work, etc.

4. Synthesize the results of the content gathering phase. Return to the experts as needed to fill in any content holes until you have adequate information to teach others what the experts know/do.

From there, with the learning objectives as a guide, you can design, develop, and test an appropriate performance improvement session and/or tool that enables the target audience to successfully accomplish the desired learning objectives. (This is where appropriate adult learning theory, interactivity/action learning, media selection, performance support/job aids, e-learning, games, help systems, etc. all come into play depending on the need.)

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Yesterday’s post addressed the key process steps for how to capture knowledge to ensure you have the content needed to enable a target audience to meet desired learning objectives. Today, let’s explore the more elusive challenges of how to capture knowledge in those situations when an experienced (expert) individual has serendipitous moments of insight (that they gain only from experience) that lead to a problem solution.

What I’ve found is that, honestly, it depends on the content expert. For example, there are times experts are very aware of their process and are happy to share what they know; gathering content from them is easy. On the other hand, there are times people are less aware of what it is they do so well that has made them the “expert” on a subject. In cases like that, I find it best to get them talking about what they do and have done, i.e., encourage them to tell stories. You can get them started by asking questions like:

- Think about some projects where you were doing XXX (like what we want our target audience to be able to do). Tell me about one of the projects that went extremely well. Why was that so successful? What did you (or others) do (or not do)?

- Now, tell me about a project that went poorly (either from your own experience or one that you observed). Why would you classify that as a being a problem project? What went wrong? What would you do different next time to not make the same mistakes?”

This will get the expert talking and help reveal not only details behind their process, but also war stories and key success factors—all very useful items when trying to teach someone how to “do as the expert does.”

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

In working with clients on numerous workplace learning and performance improvement projects over the years, I’ve carefully tracked work hours and made observations about the relative work effort involved with the different training delivery methods most often utilized. This has helped in being able to answer that most common of client questions, “Well, how much will it be or how long will it take if we use approach X versus Y?”

What I’ve developed to help answer this question is two-fold: a comparison of the pros and cons of the most common delivery methods and then a diagram that places those options on a continuum from least effort/least cost to most effort/most cost.

First, to look at the pros and cons of the different delivery options:

1. Classroom
Pros:
- Can be changed “on the fly” (i.e., the facilitator can improvise and make adjustments immediately before or even during the session in order to customize the training to meet the audience’s needs)
- Materials are easily updated
- Excellent for practicing “soft skills” such as listening, interviewing, etc. where non-verbal skills also need to be practiced and evaluated; this is also desirable when role plays or other one-on-one activities with other students and/or coaching from the facilitator is needed
Cons:
- Requires coordination and payment for instructors and space
- May require travel for facilitators and/or participants
- Does not address recurring training needs for new hires, refresher, etc.

2. Synchronous web conference
Pros:
- Easy to build and deliver (especially if content expert will also be facilitating the sessions)
- Updates can be made prior to session
- No travel required
- Some interactivity can be added
Cons:
- Requires instructors skilled in facilitating web conference sessions
- Requires coordination of instructors and session times
- Requires web conferencing capabilities
- While an option, recording a live synchronous web conference typically is not an ideal way to handle recurring training needs

3. Asynchronous / recorded session
Pros:
- Very quick to develop
- Can be completed on-demand
Cons:
- Passive learner experience (participants are merely watching and listening)

4. Interactive text and graphics elearning (from moderate to robust)
Pros:
- Can be completed on-demand
- Active learner experience through use of multiple choice, drag and drop, text entry
- Excellent for ensuring cognitive understanding of concepts and theories
Cons:
- Updates typically require some programming skill or an XML editor

5. Interactive multimedia programs
Pros:
- Can be completed on-demand
- Very active
- Able to participate in realistic job simulations / games
- Very sophisticated level of graphics and use of multimedia
Cons:
- Much more expensive and time consuming to develop

Now, when we place these main delivery options on a relative continuum from easiest to hardest we get something that looks like this:

In looking at this continuum, it’s important to remember that we’re looking at typical effort and cost per hour of training developed. For example, a 1 hour robust interactive text and graphics elearning program could require as much effort and budget as a 4 hour series of asynchronous recorded sessions. While what I’ve presented here is not meant as a hard and fast rule, this does provide an excellent way to frame conversations around delivery options and their required effort and costs so as to help clients make informed decisions for their workplace learning and performance improvement solutions.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

With so many web conferencing options available, it can be hard to know which one is the best. To try to answer this question for ourselves, my company recently completed an analysis of the current web conferencing software packages available including comparing them based on functionality and relative cost.

For the last year, we have been using a pay-for-use service with Microsoft LiveMeeting. Given our ongoing reliance on web conferencing for real-time collaboration with our typically geographically-dispersed client and project teams, having cost effective web conference software is mandatory. Unfortunately, our current LiveMeeting service does not include phone conferencing and the cost of 35¢ per minute per user has raised concerns as to the long-term cost effectiveness of this option for our web conferencing needs.

To get started, research using the Elearning Guild’s interactive research reports on satisfaction with different tools and products (2007) recommended the following four web conference vendors for companies similar to Performance Associates: Microsoft LiveMeeting, WebEx, Citrix GoToWebinar, and Adobe Acrobat Connect. In an attempt to compare apples to apples, the following matrices compare these products side-by-side.

Implementation Considerations:

Industry Recommendations:

Functionality:

Based on the above comparison and considering Performance Associates’ primary needs and usage of different web conferencing features, we are currently using the free 30-day trial period offered by Citrix Online’s GoToWebinar to test their service. If for some reason the trial period reveals that GoToWebinar does not provide the functionality and/or quality desired, then we will consider moving to Adobe’s Acrobat Connect Professional.

Preliminary testing has already revealed Citrix’s GoToWebinar to be an excellent product, especially considering the relatively low monthly cost of $99. Meeting administration functions are simple and provide the ability to easily schedule sessions, send emails to participants (including an Outlook file to add the session to the participant’s calendar), and send reminder and/or follow-up emails. One administrative function I was particularly impressed with was the ability to view real-time reports on who has registered for the conference. Additional functionality that has tested positively includes a conference bridge (where each caller pays for their own telephone charges), and so far it appears that the quality of the images during web conferencing is very high—there is none of the image degradation we’d been experiencing with Microsoft’s LiveMeeting service. The facilitator interface was also very easy to learn and use, and provided additional functionality such as more robust chat and question controls.

The only downside that we’ve identified so far is that there is a limit to the number of polls you can do during and after a session (only 8). Since some of our web conferences require more polls, what we are considering is purchasing the monthly program with Citrix’s GoToWebinar and then using Adobe’s Acrobat Connect Professional pay-per-use for any conferences requiring this additional polling functionality.

All in all, there are many web conferencing options available and there are pros and cons to each one. While this assessment shows how these services compared for my company, your company and needs may be different. However my hope is that, by sharing our assessment of these services, I have provided you with an educated first step if you are also looking to select a web conference provider.

References:

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional. (n.d.) Retrieved July 11, 2007 from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/

Elearning Guild Interactive Research (members only). (2007) Retrieved July 11, 2007 from http://www.elearningguild.com/360_reports/

GoToWebinar Features. (n.d.) Retrieved July 9, 2007 from https://www.gotowebinar.com/webinar/pre/features.tmpl

Microsoft Office Live Meeting feature comparison. (n.d.) Retrieved July 11, 2007 from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/livemeeting/HA102019871033.aspx

WebEx Meeting Center. (n.d.) Retrieved July 11, 2007 from http://www.webex.com/smb/web-meeting-center.html

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

When talking with people about workplace learning and performance improvement, I’ve often been asked what books I would recommend for someone who wants to learn more about this profession. So, here’s my list of recommended books on workplace learning and performance improvement.

- ASTD Training and Development Handbook: A Guide to Human Resource Development edited by Robert Craig

- Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels by Donald Kirkpatrick

- Games Trainers Play (any in this series of books by Edward Scannell and John Newstrom)

- Handbook of Job Aids by Allison Rossett and Jeannette Gautier-Downes

- Mager Six-Pack by Robert Mager (includes Analyzing Performance Problems, Preparing Instructional Objectives, Measuring Instructional Results, How to Turn Learners On…without turning them off, Goal Analysis, and Making Instruction Work)

- Performance Consulting by Dana and James Robinson

- Principles of Instructional Design by Robert Gagne, Walter Wager, Katherine Golas, and John Keller

- Sivasailam "Thiagi" Thiagarajan books for creative activity ideas (most recently Thiagi's 100 Favorite Games)

- Training Needs Assessment by Allison Rossett

For elearning in particular:

- Advanced Web-Based Training Strategies by Margaret Driscoll

- Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug

- Elements of User Interface Design by Theo Mandel

- Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences by Clark Aldrich

- Michael Allen’s Guide to elearning

- Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime by William Horton

- Web-Based Training: Designing e-Learning Experiences by Margaret Driscoll

And here are some excellent book recommendations that were originally recommended to me by my good friend and colleague Jule Kucera:

- Accelerated Learning Handbook: A Creative Guide to Designing and Delivering Faster, More Effective Training Programs by Dave Meier

- Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance by Jay Cross

- Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development Into Business Results by Calhoun Wick, Roy Pollock, Andrew McK. Jefferson, Richard Flanagan, and Kevin Wilde

- So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences by Harvey Silver, Richard Strong, and Matthew Perini

- Telling Ain't Training by Harold Stolovitch

I hope these lists help you to find a new book you may not have heard of before. I’m always reading through new books, so would love to hear what you have on your bookshelf!

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Fahey & Prusak (1998) argue that one of the deadliest sins of knowledge management is “substituting technological contact for human interface.” Unfortunately, many knowledge management programs rely too heavily on technology to the unfortunate minimalization or exclusion of the human side. However, to do this is to spell failure for “…although IT is a wonderful facilitator of data and information transmission and distribution…Knowledge is primarily a function and consequence of the meeting and interaction of minds” (Fahey & Prusak, 1998, p. 273). McDermott echoes this argument further stating that, “Knowing is a human act, whereas information is an object that can be filed, stored, and moved” (1999, p. 110). An important distinction is made here in both articles—that of information and data being objects that can be gathered, sorted, stored, and retrieved versus knowledge which is generated through human interaction via discussing and testing out new ideas and concepts. IT systems can do an outstanding job with information and data; however, true knowledge management is more than just information and data—it also involves elements of culture, change, community, motivation, and trust. Thus to ensure a successful knowledge management program, one must give equal or greater attention to the human component as to the technology component (Davenport & Prusak, 1998/2000).

So what is one to do to mitigate or counteract the effects of potentially relying too heavily on the technological side? First, ensure that equal or greater attention is paid to the human components of any knowledge management initiative. Be sure to consider and provide support for the human elements of culture, change, community, motivation, and trust—for without any one of these it can be difficult if not impossible to create an organization able of generating and sharing knowledge. Then, ensure that technology is considered only in context of how it can support the generation and sharing of knowledge. Do not allow the technology to lead the solution, but rather to let the desired solution lead the technology.

Two specific examples of methods an organization can use to encourage and provide structure to the very important human side of knowledge management are community/corporate yellow pages or expertise location systems and communities of practice. Corporate yellow pages or expertise location systems are quick and relatively easy to implement and can provide a first step in connecting people to the experts and knowledge they seek. Communities of practice, or CoPs, are often cross-functional teams of professionals organized around a common goal such as a problem, practice area, or process (Nickols, 2003); as such, they can be outstanding vehicles for both the creation and sharing of knowledge. In these two examples, it is important to note that technology still plays a role, but that role is a supporting one. Corporate yellow pages may use such tools as Tacit’s ActiveNet or AskMe Enterprise. CoPs can also be aided by technology (especially when it is a virtual CoP); for example, technology may provide a means for virtual meetings via web conferencing, communication via email, document sharing via a web or FTP site, or even collaboration via a Wiki or content management system.

One additional and very important method is to have corporate policy that supports the knowledge creation and sharing process. Unfortunately, too many corporate cultures do not give people the most valuable resource needed to create and share knowledge—that is, time. However, if corporate policy (and upper management) clearly state and support these processes, then greater success can be had. For example, 3M has a program called the “Fifteen-Percent Rule” that supports employees spending up to 15% of their time in individual learning and knowledge-building pursuits that benefit not only them as individuals but also the organization in innovation and new product development—and a healthy bottom line (McElroy, 2003).

References

Davenport, T. & Prusak, L. (2000). Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know (Paperback ed.). Boston: Harvard Business School Press. (Original work published 1998)

Distance Consulting. (2003). Communities of practice: A start-up kit [Brochure]. Fred Nickols.

Fahey, L. & Prusak, L. (1998). The eleven deadliest sins of knowledge management. California Management Review, 40(3), 265-276.

McDermott, R. (1999). Why information technology inspired but cannot deliver knowledge management. California Management Review, 41(4), 103-117.

McElroy, M. (2003). The new knowledge management: complexity, learning, and sustainable innovation. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Over the course of my 20-year career as a workplace learning and performance improvement professional, I’ve had the pleasure of taking on the project management responsibility for many projects—some small and involving only 1 or 2 people producing a single deliverable to some very large projects involving hundreds of people and deliverables. I’ve often also been asked many times to teach and coach others on how to effectively manage projects. Based on this experience, I’ve developed a few tried and true rules for effective project management:

1. Start with a clear understanding of scope and roles.
Many projects can derail either because of unclear expectations about what will be done and/or who will be doing what. Even if you’re managing an internal project, some form of a project agreement at the onset of the project will help to alleviate this potential issue. And if you’re an external consultant, the need for a project agreement or contract is even more important.

2. Take the time up front to define the tasks, their interdependencies, and what work needs to happen each week to meet the final deadline
It’s the old “go slow to go fast” adage—and it’s true. An investment of 12-24 hours on up front planning can save you and your team that much time (and more) over the course of the project, plus avoid any last minute scrambling in the final weeks of the project. How you do the planning is up to you. For complex projects I typically use Microsoft Project; for less complex projects Microsoft Excel and a calendar are all I need. Recently, I’ve also been investigating the use of online project management services automation software such as AutoTask.

3. Have someone assigned on the project with the responsibility to manage the project
Project plans can’t just be developed and sit on the shelf (or your hard drive). They need to be monitored along the way, and adjusted to meet the changes that occur over the course of any project. Sometimes scope will change (and if it increases, you need to negotiate for added time and money), sometimes tasks take longer or shorter than planned, sometimes unforeseen delays arise, and sometimes staffing needs to change. For these reasons, it’s important that you not only plan the work but also work the plan over the course of the project.

4. Make sure that the project manager also has the authority to manage the project
If the project manager doesn’t have the authority to manage the project, then no amount of good planning will be effective—instead, there’ll be the very real possibility that the project manager’s efforts will fall on deaf ears. To solve this, ensure that the project manager has not only positional authority but also personal authority (i.e., the respect and acceptance of all team members).

5. Hold weekly team meetings
Since so much of our project-based work is done in teams and is very dependent upon the relationships that are built, holding weekly team meetings is an excellent way to keep projects on track and ensure that everyone is communicating with each other. These meetings don’t have to be face-to-face; they can occur via conference call or (even better) via web conference. They typically cover such things as progress made that week, what’s coming up next week, and what team members need from one another to successfully accomplish the next week’s tasks.

And one more piece of advice related to meetings—keep your weekly team meetings separate from working meetings or sessions; with two different purposes, it can be very difficult to effectively accomplish the goals of both types of meetings within one session. Not impossible, mind you, but difficult to do—especially if you’re trying to keep to a good guidelines of having your meetings be no more than 60-90 minutes in length. You can certainly hold longer meetings, but people often become saturated after the 90-minute mark and need to move onto something else.

6. Track your actuals
I typically recommend that everyone on the project track their actual hours so that you can not only adjust the plan based on an analysis of planned vs. actual hours, but also so that you can build a record of the tasks and hours required to perform different types of jobs. This becomes an incredibly useful resource to help you estimate future projects with greater accuracy.

***

So with careful thought up front, and discipline applied consistently throughout, project management can be the key to not only ensuring that you get your projects done on time and on budget but that you also do it in a way that is enjoyable (and a lot less stressful) for the entire team.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Beginning in 2003, I had the distinct pleasure to work with the construction management function of a large real estate investment trust (REIT). During this time, I collaborated with the client team to not just develop training but more so to assist their team of new construction function leaders as they grappled with a position change that represented two leadership pipeline turns (from managing others to functional leader), dramatic changes to their processes, and a particularly challenging and annually changing structure. Beginning with today’s post, I’ll share some of what we learned along the way over the course of this 3-year project and relationship.

Analyze Employee Performance

Before delving into what we discovered during the performance analysis phase, it’s important to understand that in a REIT construction managers have responsibility for coordinating the construction of office space per a tenant’s specifications and the budget made available via the terms of the lease. This company’s construction management function included personnel at each of their 10 regional offices; typically, this included a Senior Construction Manager (or Director of Construction), a number of Construction Managers, and a Construction Management Administrative Assistant.

Stakeholders and Expectations

The key stakeholders for the construction management function were leasing, property management, and the corporate office. The expectations for each stakeholder group were as follows:

Leasing’s Expectations:
- Complete the construction efforts within the available budget
- Demonstrate how the tenant improvement (TI) process can help Leasing sell more space

Property Management’s Expectations:
- Ensure tenants are able to move into their space by the agreed-upon move-in date

Corporate Office’s Expectations:
- Improve performance against key value drivers of quality, cost, cycle time, and leasing success
- Reduce costs in each category (materials, services, etc.)
- Track metrics that closely tie individual performance on TIs to corporate success; in turn, use these metrics to manage and improve the construction management function in their region

Performance Indicators

Focusing specifically on the role of Senior Construction Managers (who have overall responsibility for the construction management function in each region), the existing performance indicators defined in their job description were to: (1) administer the Tenant Improvement process for the Region as well as serving as a ‘Player-Coach’ to the Construction Managers in the region; (2) find creative ways to support regional occupancy targets; (3) reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of the TI process; and (4) improve overall customer satisfaction scores on the TI process. Overall, the performance indicators outlined in the job description appeared to be consistent with stakeholder expectations. However, training and communication efforts were necessary to help clarify the detailed “how to” aspects of their performance expectations.

Performance Discrepancies

Per Mager & Pipe, an important first step in assessing performance discrepancies is to identify the “difference between what is being done versus what is supposed to be done” (1970, p. 9). When I began working with this group in 2003, their current performance levels—i.e., how people were performing—needed improvement. Late move-ins had cost the company significant dollars and was significantly hurting relationships with tenants. On average, the company had been late on move-in dates, hurting both the company’s reputation and its bottom line. In addition, there were inconsistencies in process and a need to have consistent expectations and approaches across the regions.

On the other hand, the desired performance—or what was supposed to be done—was to have them (1) follow a consistent process for each TI job; (2) use metrics to manage the construction management function; (3) handle the pressure to keep TI costs down in a way that helps the business and their role within the leadership team; and (4) manage the performance of those that report to them, identifying and appropriately addressing performance discrepancies. This comprised the specifics of what the Senior Construction Managers (SCMs) and the construction management function needed to do to close the gap between current and desired performance. Closing this gap would enable them to fulfill their stakeholders’ expectations.

Further utilizing some of Mager & Pipe’s (1970) performance analysis steps, it was further determined that resolving this performance discrepancy was very important to the company. The discrepancies were due to genuine skill deficiencies (not other organizational factors). In addition, looking to whether or not the SCMs could perform in the past, these performance expectations were not something they were doing before. However, the SCMs did possess some transferable skills that would be useful to their updated performance expectations. These transferable skills included: (1) construction and project management background/experience; (2) understanding of corporate initiatives, priorities, and overall firm direction; and (3) initial familiarity with current report suite, metrics, and compensation system.

However, in comparing desired performance with actual performance, there were a number of significant performance gaps where new skills needed to be developed. This included the need for (1) a new and consistent TI process; (2) experience with formal reporting on TI; (3) exposure to metrics that closely tie individual performance on TI to corporate success; (4) practice in performing data analysis and action planning based on data results; (5) awareness/acceptance of what made them successful before vs. what will make them successful now; and (6) a disciplined method for managing direct reports.

***

With the SCM’s performance analyzed, it was time to move on to identifying the causes of the performance gaps. My next post will explore what we did to determine the extent of the problem, how we pinpointed the reasons for the gap, and what nontraining and training strategies were selected to fill the gaps.

References:

Mager, R. & Pipe, P. (1970). Analyzing performance problems. Belmont, CA: Fearon Pitman Publishers.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

My last post introduced the work I did with the construction management function of a large real estate investment trust, beginning with analyzing their current performance. Today we’ll continue by exploring what we did to determine the extent of the problem, how we pinpointed the reasons for the gap, and what nontraining and training strategies were selected to fill the gaps.

Identifying Causes of Performance Gaps

To determine the cause of a performance gap, it is important to ask additional questions. As stated by Fisher, this helps ensure that the underlying causes of the problem are solved (rather than just the symptoms) so as to truly solve the problem (1997, p. 47).

Determining the Extent of the Problem

Looking at the SCMs’ current performance, almost all of them were experiencing the performance gap. The gap included very learnable and job-specific skills. Moreover, no one region had the gap more seriously than any other did. Looking at trends in the SCMs’ performance, the gap was holding steady (i.e., neither increasing or decreasing), but the importance of them resolving this gap was increasing due to the need for the SCMs’ to fulfill their more elevated job responsibilities given the company’s shift to managing with metrics and encouraging deeper functional expertise.

In general, the level of difficulty for the SCMs in learning and applying these new skills was moderate. Their current skill set was sufficient or readily attainable. There were no major process changes for them to learn. While there may have been limited experience following a prescribed tenant improvement (TI) process in some regions, a new process with new reports and reporting procedures would not be difficult to learn. One area that did require a paradigm shift for some employees is helping the SCMs make a connection between individual performance and corporate success.

Pinpointing the Reasons for the Gap

Based on conversations with select SCMs and senior management, the causes and specific reasons contributing to the performance gap were determined to be as follows: View image

As you can see, the performance gaps are due to factors that are knowledge/skill-based, as well as environmental and motivational. Looking at the lack of necessary knowledge and skills, the SCMs could not currently perform as desired. However, their performance was anticipated to improve as soon as they (and the key stakeholders) were trained on the new TI process and the reporting/metrics procedures. In addition to improving the SCMs’ knowledge and skills, work was needed to resolve the various environmental and motivational factors. Specifically, by assessing what may be barriers to the SCMs’ learning and performance, we discovered some (1) apprehension about their new role and responsibilities; (2) reluctance to conform to a corporate approach given the common belief that regional differences necessitate largely different processes; (3) existing concerns regarding overhead and paperwork (with the current program having a significant overload of forms); (4) anxiety over the transparency that reporting would create and uncertainty about the accuracy of metrics; (5) perceived lack of time (compounded by a lack of administrative support and incomplete tools and procedures); and (6) fear that their total compensation would be negatively impacted.

Selecting Nontraining and Training Strategies

To address the performance gaps, a variety of strategies needed to be employed. To close the knowledge and skill deficiencies, training was appropriate. To solve the environmental and motivational factors, several non-training strategies were required.

In addressing the knowledge and skill gaps, a training session plus a consistent TI process with defined roles and responsibilities were needed. So, one of the key actions undertaken was to define a consistent TI process to be used throughout the organization and conduct training for all members of the construction management team, beginning with the SCMs. Since a flowchart can be used to design and/or standardize an entirely new process, I worked with the construction management function to create a standardized Tenant Improvement process. In addition, because there were multiple stakeholders who also had a part in ensuring the success of the TI process and program, we defined roles and responsibilities corresponding to each task in the flowchart. Together, these items were used to train all the members of the construction management function as well as each of the stakeholder groups. In addition, all of the SCMs received training with extensive experiential activities to help them develop the additional desired performance abilities. The SCM training sessions were conducted centrally using an interactive classroom-based format. Additional on-the-job support was provided through job aids and a manual that outlined the TI process and corresponding roles and responsibilities. This information was also made available on the company Intranet, including best practices and electronic links to supporting forms.

To address the environmental factors of inadequate tools and resources, the company supported the addition of one construction-dedicated administrative support person per region. This, along with the consistent and streamlined TI process, alleviated much of the SCMs’ time-related concerns. Work was also completed on supporting software and establishment of construction-specific accounting procedures in time for inclusion in the training sessions.

To address the motivational concerns over making the change, we selected a multi-pronged approach. To ensure their bosses understood the changes and supported the SCMs, the CEO and COO had individual conversations with each region’s Senior Vice President (to whom the SCMs were reporting). SCMs were also trained on how best to communicate with their boss to garner their confidence and support. To eliminate the concerns related to a “corporate” TI process, the SCMs themselves were involved in the creation of the process. In addition, discussions were facilitated to address regional differences and how to follow a consistent process while meeting individual tenant needs and state construction requirements. Fears related to metrics were resolved by clearly communicating the SCMs’ performance expectations, resolving any conflicting expectations, and ensuring that appropriate rewards were in place. In particular, Human Resources was brought in to assure the SCMs that there would be no negative repercussions of “bad” metrics results—further clarifying that the metrics were intended as a management tool, not a yardstick by which compensation would be determined. Furthermore, using their own metrics results, additional training and work sessions were held to help the SCMs work with metrics as a tool to set priorities and better manage the construction function. In addition, weekly conference calls were scheduled to provide SCMs with a forum to raise concerns, identify solutions, and support one another. And, ongoing support to proactively resolve any lingering motivational issues was provided through the establishment of a corporate functional lead who acted as their spokesperson and representative with upper management.

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With the cause of the performance gaps identified and the nontraining and training strategies selected and in place, the remainder of this case study addresses what was done to facilitate successful implementation. My next post will explore what we did to manage the training resources and promote training transfer. In addition, I’ll share the training outcomes and results from this project effort.

References:

Fisher, S. (1997). The manager's pocket guide to performance management. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.