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BenRamsden

Is your sport struggling for officials?

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Officials
In 2015 Swimming NSW were concerned about the diminishing number of technical officials in their sport. Now only two years later they are successfully turning the tide and encouraging a new wave of volunteers to get involved.

This has been a fantastic result for Swimming NSW

Mark Heathcote, CEO, Swimming NSW

 

Retirees and hobbyists

Swimming NSW has 31,000 athletes in 300 clubs spread over 800,000 square kms, administered through 12 Area organisations. Their core competition program relies on a small band of technical officials, many of whom are retirees and hobbyists.

Whilst it had long been recognised that recruitment, succession planning and knowledge management were major challenges, the problem wasn’t large enough to warrant attention.

Two years ago it became clear that unless something changed, it was going to become increasingly difficult to run their competitions.
 

Reducing Barriers

The CEO and newly invigorated technical committee committed themselves to leading the response. A detailed consultation process identified that many potential volunteers did not have the time to attend formal training.

A plan was established to reduce barriers to participation. The suite of actions included the launch of a new online training portal.
 

officials

Old wine in new bottles

Most of the seeds of the solution were already in place. Swimming rules and operational procedures already existed. The challenge was to re-format and re-present them in an engaging way using modern digital technology to target a willing yet time poor audience.

Whilst many online training platforms are available, a heavy amount of customisation was required to create a user experience focussed on volunteers rather than employees. The need to manage assessment documentation and effectively integrate with the geographically dispersed network of administrators also presented unique challenges.
 

Success

Since its launch 12 months ago, Swimming NSW now has 4 courses online with over 730 unique candidates registered, with 650 course completions. That’s an average success rate of over 50 passes per month.

Mark Heathcote, CEO, commented, “This has been a fantastic result for Swimming NSW and has assisted many volunteers to get involved in our sport, who otherwise wouldn’t have without these Online Training Courses”.

 
Mensard is proud of its involvement in this project.

 

Information webinar replay

Here is the recording of our 40 min webinar held on Friday 10th March 2017. Contents include:

  • Segmenting the volunteer base, their different needs and motivations.
  • Differences between teaching adults and kids.
  • The problems we found with some popular online training platforms.
  • Support required.
  • The most popular times to study (which were not what we expected).

 

 
Learn more now

How bad before you fix your IT?

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ComputerSaysNo
Our second car is now 16 years old, the maintenance bills are mounting, it doesn’t have bluetooth, but it does for us. Is your IT strategy built on a similar logic?

Organisations with an IT spend of less than $1m pa often do not employ specialist managers. Instead they opt for an outsourced model reporting into HR, Finance or Corporate Services. It’s not perfect, but it does for them. People complain about IT, but don’t we all. How bad do things need to get before you decide to fix things?

Here are 4 indicators that your IT maybe holding back your organisation:

1. Where are your canaries in the coal mine?

Of course Dorothy the CEO’s secretary has you on speed dial whenever there is a problem. But what about Michael in Wop Wop? We spoke to him and he said “I come in at 8:30am and sometimes it’s not working til 10”. That’s his reality, he’s used to it, he doesn’t complain.

Who knows about the knock on revenue leakage and productivity shortfall? And that’s just in Wop Wop… multiply that across all the sites.

2. What’s the ownership : blame ratio?

Good people usually know what’s happening and why. Average people become victims. Great people take ownership. What are people saying?

We spoke to the IT team, they were proud of their work but complained about the supplier. We spoke to the supplier and they complained about the customer. Zero ownership has significant business consequences.

3. How standardised is your operating environment?

Do you have a ‘Standard Operating Environment’? We ran some diagnostics and identified 10 different versions of Windows, 3 of which are no longer supported. This is great if you are in the ‘fix-it’ business, but not if you want a reliable, efficient and cost effective operation.

4. When was the last time you reviewed your IT?

If you haven’t looked at it for 3 years then you are possibly missing opportunities. We had a prod around and found an overloaded network, outdated design and extremely uncompetitive pricing.

Future Transport Summit – the 5 issues that will determine success or failure

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Steve_Wozniak
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak defines successful design as “being compelling – people see it and gasp – this is so great”. This was exactly my reaction to Transport for NSW (TfNSW) today.

Only a few years ago this government department was suing App developers for exposing the late running of its trains. Today they are actively canvassing the support of external innovators to help them create the future of transport.

Today TfNSW gathered 300 public servants and external experts for a two day innovation fest. The fact that it was happening at all, was far more significant than the content.

Here are the 5 issues that will determine future success or failure:

1. Customers expect extreme convenience

To its absolute credit, TfNSW has for some time sought to put customers at the centre of everything it does. There is widespread evidence of success, especially when interacting with the super helpful staff across the rail network.

Lyn McGrath, who runs a massive swathe of one of Australia’s largest retail banks, framed the pathway ahead. Although her vision represents a significant stretch goal today, TfNSW is well anchored and heading in the right direction.

Next step is to start segmenting the customer base so that they are no longer considered as a single group. I particularly look forward to hearing more about business customers and tax payers.

2. Transformation begins with leadership

The first speaker was the Minister, Andrew Constance, leading from the front with vigour and confidence. Next came the Secretary, Tim Reardon, clearly with his eyes wide open “we must enable, and then get out of the way”.

The intent is clearly there. In transformation, the how is always far more difficult than the what. And experts in the latter are often poor in enabling the former. TfNSW now needs to create and embed the internal capability to create and sustain the required change.

3. Failure is forbidden yet a pre-requisite for success

Innovation is risky. Most innovation fails. Admitting repeated failures is not good for your career in government, especially when your masters are looking to be re-elected!

“Do it in secret is the best option”, suggested one speaker, using the GPS satellite system development in the USA as an example. Clearly that won’t wash here. Public / private partnerships based on a procurement process more orientated towards innovation than pure compliance will be part of the solution. The Secretary’s mindset shift towards enablement and away from provision is also pivotal.

4. Technology alone is not the answer

Microsoft Australia’s boss Pip Marlow and Intel’s Global Managing Director Val Stoyanov exposed the elephant in the room – technology alone is not the answer. Here was a massive event, organised around 6 predominantly technology enablers, overseen by a Technology Leaders Panel. At times it felt as if the event was a celebration of solutions hunting for problems to solve.

The 5 “Pillars of Digital Transformation” were presented as Leadership, Culture, People and Competency, Organisation and Governance, and Partnerships (i.e. not technology). Technology is a great place to start, but beware the seduction of shiny object syndrome. It’s now time to swing the pendulum of focus inside the organisation.

5. Only James Bond has silver bullets

Creating big bangs was an unspoken sub text. But let’s not forget the power of incremental improvement to make an enduring and significant difference (with less risk). Empowering and motivating those doing the job today is essential, regardless of the strategy.

The future is bright

TfNSW today proved that an old dog can at least be determined to learn new tricks, even if the magic is yet to happen. It’s obsession with the customer, enablement mindset and leadership are in great shape. It now needs to focus less on external technology and more on internal capability.

Ben Ramsden was a guest of TfNSW at their ‘Future Transport Summit 2016’ on Monday 18th April 2016.

Related articles

90 seconds to the right online Learning Management System

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Learning Management System
Engage, educate and entertain your people on the move
 

Wear their shoes

Fit into your audience’s life and they will fit into yours.

Start small

Making a small difference today will open the door to making a larger difference tomorrow.

Keep it simple

Complexity will kill you, your audience, budget, timeline and credibility.

Avoid choice overload

You don’t research every restaurant before deciding where to eat. Why do that with a Learning Management System?

Steal with pride!

If you see something that you like then copy it! Check this out if you are short of ideas – it’s one of ours 🙂

Template for writing a business case for transformation

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Office worker
You want to make a compelling case to senior management to support your business transformation proposal. Here is a template for writing a killer document.

Some considerations before you put finger to keyboard

Call to action

Begin with the end in mind*. Who is the audience for your document, and what do you want them to do as a result of reading it? Your document is going to pack a big punch, and you need to ensure that it is well aimed to achieve your desired result. Great business cases do two things – they bring something into very sharp focus, and motivate decisive action.

Beyond understanding the issue, what do you want the audience to do? For example: assign $25,000 budget to employ consultants to produce a full proposal by 15th June, re-assign 3 staff for 6 weeks to re-engineer an existing product for a new market segment to be launched in Q4, or hire a specific external agency for $15,000 to run a new sales and marketing campaign to sell 120,000 units by Christmas Day. The action should be solution rather than problem focussed.

Continue or change?

Anticipate how it will land for the audience and others that may be consulted. It is human nature to resist change, and change increases risk. There are always winners and losers in any change, including at senior levels, so anticipate and mitigate risks at this level. A great way to awaken people out of their comfort zone is to demonstrate the risks of continuing the status quo. For example, paint a picture of two alternative futures – keep going as we are for the next 18 months vs. make the proposed transformation.

Glass half-full or half-empty?

Decide whether to frame your proposal as solving a problem, or seizing an opportunity. Solving problems is better for creating immediate action, but often doesn’t generate sufficient stamina to follow through to the end. Seizing opportunities is a far more energising and positive message, but can lack urgency of action.

How long?

Senior managers are busy people with little time. If you don’t already know the most effective persuasion approach for your target audience, a coffee chat with someone who does, or a friendly chat with their personal assistant, should give you vital clues. What format do they like to receive these things in, verbally, in writing, via a Powerpoint slide deck or written Word document, etc.? Are they a visual or detail person? How long do they focus for and hence what length is best? When will they next have time to consider it?

Template

1. Executive Summary

Short, sharp and to the point. Explain the WHAT, WHY, and immediate next step, but not the HOW. Key purpose is to entice the audience to read the full document. Personally I like to write a very rough Executive Summary before anything else to get the storyline clear, next write the rest of the document, and then return to the Executive Summary to substantially revise and improve it.

2. The Opportunity or Solution

State the size of the prize, in numbers, especially $ and dates. Ensure your proposal will make a significant improvement to the KPIs that the organisation or department uses. The impact needs to be sufficiently large to demand attention.

3. Context

This is the first part of the WHY in the document. What is going on to create this opportunity, or why the problem needs solving. Why now? This section should contain key messages, if necessary put additional details an appendix. Focus on the current and future, not past. There is often a temptation to write extensively about the past, which can often turn into a defensive apology for the current situation. Best to accept we are where we are, and discuss what can be changed (the future) not what cannot (the past).

4. Options

This is the completion of the WHY. What options are there? Their pros and cons, ideally backed by numeric analysis, and considering the underlying assumptions and risks. The recommended option or options.

5. Recommendation

This is the HOW which should move the audience from analysis and into action. Spell out by area the actions by area including People, Process and Technology. Financial and resource implications should be covered, including recommendations about how these will be satisfied.

6. Actions

Next steps and timeline: Who, What, and by When. Greatest traction will occur when these are allocated to specific individuals and small enough to be easily actionable. For example, ‘Operations Director to obtain decision ready proposal for converting widget production to sprout technology from Deloitte by Friday 16th’, not ‘Sales to consider this proposal and provide feedback’.

Propose who is Responsible, Accountable, to be Consulted or Informed (RACI).

7. Appendices

Include some or all of the following:

  • Sources and opinions: list key sources and opinions of those who have been consulted. Savvy executives always consider the organisational appetite for transformation. This appendix will show whether the proposal is realistically achievable vs. theoretically correct.
  • Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis.
  • Political, Environmental, Social, Technology (PEST) analysis.
  • Assumptions: call out the key assumptions upon which the recommendation is built.
  • Financials: full breakdown, line by line, to support KPIs in the main document.
  • Risk analysis: risks, their impact if happens, their likelihood of occurring, mitigation plan, owner.
  • Market analysis: customers, markets, segments, competitors, market shares, etc.
  • Organisation chart showing responsibilities or impacts.
  • Legal / Regulatory / other specialist opinions: large organisations often have specialist teams responsible for key areas that need and want to be involved in decision making.

Other relevant Mensard resources

What is business strategy and why invest in it (video).
Smart Business Transformation (audio podcast) also available on Apple iTunes and Android Stitcher
Right is Wrong: 8 essential steps to avoid the pitfalls that smart people make when transforming their organisation (Free book)

 
*source: 7 habits of highly effective people, Stephen R. Covey.

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