Guest Blog from John Chlarson

Each member of the IPS Leadership Academy was asked to write a blog post. Today's post comes from MTAS Consultant John Chlarson.

A worthwhile meeting: planning one, running one, following through on one.

Earlier this year, I observed a CIS Advisory Committee meeting. The meeting was chaired by a CIS client, Alan Eddington. It was an interesting and productive meeting. (Chuck Shoopman had promised me that it would be a real stem-winder, and it was.)

Last week UT was involved in daily meetings with a team of supervisors from the Memphis Public Works Department. Our team included Ronnie Neill from MTAS and Michael Codega and Keith Groves from CIS. The meetings went very well and were a great success. This can be attributed, to a great degree, to the preparation by the UT team and to the experienced facilitation by Keith and Michael.

What did these meetings have in common? They both:

• Started on time
• Showed proper preparation
• Followed the agenda
• Were focused (digressions were politely corralled and the participants brought back on task)
• Accomplished their purpose
• Ended on time

Having attended numerous meetings that failed on all or several of these accounts; I was very impressed on both occasions. What was the difference between these meetings and less successful ones? What makes a good meeting?

Is the meeting necessary? Or, does it fill a blank on a checklist? Is the meeting worth the resources it represents? There is an old expression: “The game’s not worth the candle.”

“This phrase relates to occupations, games etc. that were thought so lacking in merit that it wasn't worth the expense of a candle to create enough light to partake in them. Candles were as significant a drain on household expenses as is the electricity bill today. …” (www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/)

In this worthwhile meeting: share information and seek an exchange of ideas and to build on those ideas. You should have a checklist to plan the meeting:

• The meeting is necessary
• Why are you meeting? (if this takes more than two sentences to explain, one meeting may not meet your needs)
• Who should attend? (as few as possible, but those whose input or information is critical)

Now move to your agenda. The agenda should identify:

·        The time, date, location, and duration of the meeting

·        A summary of the purpose of the meeting, including the deliverables that you expect from the meeting

·        The sequential steps in the process that you are going to take to produce the deliverables, within the time limit that you have set (agenda items)

The participants should receive the agenda far enough in advance of the meeting so that they can prepare properly.

The agenda is an implied contract with the participants. You are contracting to:

·        Start on time

·        Finish on time

·        Be prepared

·        Cover the items that are on the agenda

·        Keep the meeting on track

·        Produce the identified deliverables

·        Follow through

Starting on time. This can impact the entire tone of the meeting. You expect the participants will be on time and they expect that you will. Respect everyone’s time.

State the purpose of the meeting, including the expected deliverables.

Go over the ground rules (e.g., this is business, not personal; don’t leave in silent disagreement; problems are opportunities for us to identify improvements; B.H.N., Be Here Now (no phone calls, texts, emails, net surfing, etc.) and any others that you might identify).

Go over the agenda. People need to know what to expect.

Re-state the deliverables. People need to know what is expected.

Make sure that someone is taking notes that can be reproduced for the group

Keep the meeting on track. Don’t allow folks to: “chase rabbits” (digress); engage in side conversations; interrupt or to talk over others. Keep the atmosphere open and respectful. In Memphis, we used a “parking lot” to help keep things on track. The validity of ideas and issues was recognized by putting them on the parking lot. This ensured they wouldn’t be lost, that they can be followed up on outside the meeting, but allowed this meeting to stay on track.

Schedule breaks at a decent interval. Once an hour may be too often, but two hours is too far apart. A 10 or 15 minute break every 90 minutes is just about right. That allows for personal needs, phone calls and emails, etc. without losing momentum.

If you notice that someone has not been participating, ask them a specific open-ended question; that is, one that requires an answer other than yes or no.

Finish the meeting on time. Honor the contract. Reward participants for a job well done and make your future meetings less of something to dread.

Show some appreciation. Remember that the participants’ regular work accrued while they were in this meeting. (No one has the shoemaker’s elves looking after them.) A sincere thank you is a good way to end on a positive note.

Following through. I love the immediate gratification I get from seeing the results when I do woodworking. Everyone likes a sense of accomplishment. Inform participants of the results.

So, to recap:

• Start on time
• Go over the purpose of the meeting, including deliverables
• Go over the ground rules
• Recognize the meeting participants
• Go over the agenda
• Re-state the deliverables
• Keep the meeting on track
• Encourage participation
• Finish the meeting on time
• Conclude the meeting on a positive note of appreciation
•  Follow through

If you follow these guidelines, you should have a worthwhile meeting.

Guest Blog from Stephanie Allen

Stephanie is a Leadership Academy participant and Legal Program Manager in MTAS.

Public Service by Day.  Community Service by Night.

 

Many people we work with at IPS spend most of their days and nights giving back to our state and their local communities. Most likely, you are one of those people. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (“CNCS”) one in four adults (or 26.5 percent) in America volunteered through an organization in 2012. In Tennessee, that percentage is a little lower at 24.8 percent, which leaves Tennessee ranked at 37^th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. While I do not have numbers to prove it, I am certain that the percentage of IPS employees’ involvement is much higher and can probably be attributed, at least in part, to our knowledge of local communities and the needs of our community. Many co-workers have spoken of leaving the world a better place than they found it or, as a more personal benefit, a way to connect to others in the community. I asked some of our colleagues to share ways that they are involved with community or charitable organizations. Some of us have joined organizations that work throughout the year for a certain cause. Others of us have developed family traditions of volunteering for events or seasons.  Here are just a few examples of how are colleagues are giving back to the community:

·         Warren Nevad, management consultant with MTAS, volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Tennessee. Warren has a little brother who he takes to movies and UT sporting events, shows him how to work out at the YMCA, and even helps him with homework. Warren has spoken on many occasions of how much his little brother has grown since they met and how much satisfaction Warren gets out of helping someone who might not otherwise have a good male influence in his life. If you’re interested in being a Big Brother or Big Sister, you may contact Warren for more information.

·         Sherri Brown, MTAS administrative specialist, and her family volunteer for the Empty Stocking Fund (“ESF”) by working Wing Fest, which raises funds for the ESF, and filling boxes during the holiday season. In addition, Sherri and her granddaughter use their crafty talents to knit “kemo caps” for the Blount Memorial Cancer Treatment Center.

·         Keith Groves, CIS resource program manager, is on the board of Area Relief Ministries of Jackson, which focuses on homeless and youth work including two after school programs for 50-75 youth. 

·         Brad Harris, financial consultant with MTAS, works with several organizations including the Civitan Club in Athens. The Civitan Club primarily serves adults with developmental disabilities.  Brad shared that “working with them is one of the greatest joys of my life and helps to keep me grounded.” Brad also works with Centers of Hope Missions International and Community Partners in Christ. If you are interested in any of these groups, Brad explained that they are all open for volunteers.

 I received numerous other examples of how our colleagues are volunteering time.  In case you are interested in getting involved in any of these organizations or in other opportunities, I have listed more examples at the bottom of this blog article.

 Recognizing that interests and abilities might be different, I wanted to make sure you were aware of a few opportunities to give back that cost you nothing and take virtually no time:

 

·         Like to shop online?  Give back *for free* through AmazonSmile and register for a charitable beneficiary instead of just plain old Amazon. According to AmazonSmile’s FAQ page, “AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.” 

·         Like to run, walk, or bike and have a smart phone? Download the free Charity Miles app and use it when you’re running, walking, or bike to earn 10-25¢ per mile. According to Charity Miles’ FAQ, “Charity Miles is a free iPhone and Android app that enables people to earn corporate sponsorships for charity while walking, running or biking. Just launch the app, choose a charity and either walk, run or bike. The selected charity then earns money for every mile covered.  Walkers and runners earn 25¢ per mile; bikers earn 10¢ per mile.

·         Like to take a mental break at least once a day for 30 seconds?  Visit First Tennessee’s 150 Days of Giving webpage and vote for your favorite charities to receive $5,000. According to the website, between March 13, 2014 and August 21, 2014, “First Tennessee will be 150 years old on March 25, 2014! To celebrate our long tradition of serving our communities, the First Tennessee Foundation will give away $5,000 to a different Nonprofit Organization every day for 150 days.”

 

For all of you who give back to your community in one way or another in addition to your role in daily public service, I want to personally thank you for giving of your time, energy, and resources to make our communities and this state a better place than it was yesterday. I found this quote very fitting for our colleagues at IPS:

“Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer.” – Author Unknown

 

 

Below are other examples of community volunteers, their organizations and information on how you can get involved (if available). If you are involved in any community service and would like to share with others how to get involved, please share that information in the comments.

 

·         Stephanie Allen, MTAS legal program manager, volunteers with the Junior League of Knoxville (“JLK”) by serving on the board, fundraising, volunteering on projects, and researching community needs, and Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity (“AOII”) by serving as an advisor and volunteer working with college students on leadership, organizational management, and crisis prevention skills. For women in the Knoxville area, you may apply for JLK membership in February and March of each year. Everyone may contribute to JLK by donating to JLK, make JLK the beneficiary of your AmazonSmile orders, and by voting for JLK on First Tennessee’s 150 Days of Giving.

 

·         Rhonda Campbell-Clay, IPS development director, volunteers with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Greater Knoxville Chapter by holding HIV/AIDS awareness workshops for African American women (aged 14- up), providing HIV/AIDS testing at community health fairs, and holding workshops on financial planning for AA women. African American women are invited by current members during open enrollment period in the spring.

 

·         Macel Ely, MTAS training program manager, volunteers with Barnabas Ministries International, which is a worldwide missions organization founded by his parents, and the Victoria Houston Memorial Foundation, which is a foundation for assisting families who have children with pediatric cancer, in memory of his 3-year-old niece who died of neuroblastoma. You can get involved by making a monetary donation, volunteer your time, or help with fundraising efforts.

 

·         Pat Hardy, MTAS municipal program manager, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity by building houses and fundraising; Interfaith Hospitality Network by housing a group of homeless three or four times per year, and special fundraising efforts (an example of which can be found here).  You can get involved by making a monetary donation, volunteering your time, or helping with fundraising efforts.

 

·         Kelley Myers, MTAS codes coordinator, volunteers through the Smoky Mountain Paralegal Association, which supports different causes throughout the year such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mission of Hope, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, etc., as well as with Graveston Baptist Church, which supports the Corryton Food Pantry, Medical Clinic, as well as other charities. 

 

·         Justin O’Hara, MTAS IT Consultant, volunteers with the Boy Scouts by helping with the Board of Reviews for scouts who are ranking up and with camping trips.

 

·         Kim Raia, CTAS GIS consultant, volunteers with Little River Watershed Association by coordinating work plans, chairing meetings, writing grants, fundraising, managing the website, managing the volunteers, etc. You can get involved by going to the website and Facebook page, joining a river clean-up or other event, participating in a paddle trip, donating through Campus Chest, or volunteering with Stream Monitoring Program. 

 

·         Susan Robertson, IPS information specialist, volunteers for Alzheimer’s Tennessee and as an Alzheimer’s Awareness Advocate in Tennessee and Southwest/Central Virginia by raising money for both organizations and participating in fundraising activities such as the awareness walks.

 

·         P.J. Snodgrass, MTAS training consultant, volunteers with the University of Tennessee Gardens with planning committees and at fundraising events. The UT Gardens is free and open to the public and hosts many educational classes such as Books and Blooms to get children in the garden and close to nature. Information on how to volunteer can be found at UT Gardens.

 

·         Dale Wolfe, MTAS business manager, volunteers with Remote Area Medical Clinic by helping with registration and crowd control, serving on the board as treasurer, producing promotion videos, and facilitating founder’s visits on UT campus. You can get involved by contacting Dale for the volunteer coordinator’s contact information.

Guest Blog from PJ Snodgrass

Each member of the IPS Leadership Academy was asked to write a blog post. Today's post comes from MTAS Training Consultant, PJ Snodgrass.

Resilience

Surely for all our professional lives we have heard about change. Change is good, change is constant, cope with change, change is stressful and on and on. But when the change knocks you off your feet, blindsides you, or you make a serious mistake what skills do you need to recover? According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, resilience is that skill.

 

Change can include a new job, office, computer, promotion, moving offices and things that sometimes we have control over, sometimes not. Resilience is a skill one might need when there is serious adversity, when you have to find a new path, when you have to start all over. These situations require more than just adjusting to change. They require resilience.

 

What are some of the traits of someone who is resilient? Humility and an authentic desire to serve are two. Resilience has attributes that cause one to draw from strength of character, provides the ability to pick oneself up because that’s what you do, and affords a willingness to admit defeat and learn from it. Powerful skills. Skills that we all need but are particularly essential for good leaders.

According to Gwen Morgan, a freelance writer, six habits of resilient people are that they:

o   Build relationships

o   Reframe past hurts

o   Accept failure

o   Have multiple identities (multiple sources of defining yourself)

o   Practice forgiveness

o   Have a sense of purpose.

 

During the Leadership Academy, we read several books on leadership. The different books espoused the attributes of good leaders such as honesty, integrity, being approachable, trustworthy, telling the truth even in difficult times.  Good leaders have to be able to bounce back, believe in their purpose, build relationships, solve seemingly unsurmountable problems and much more. These skills are also the skills of resiliency.

 

When Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16^th President of the United States, the very fabric of the young democracy was wearing thin. Before his inauguration, seven states adopted an ordinance of secession. Six of these adopted a constitution and declared themselves to be a sovereign nation. And then things got worse. But Lincoln held true to his belief that the union was worth saving and was willing to pay the price. As a leader, Lincoln exhibited courage, strength, and resilience. He came back to his core purpose after many failures and stayed true to that.

 

In our work today, our challenges don’t even come close to Lincoln’s but we can learn from his and many other leaders’ resilience and sense of purpose. As an agency that serves the people of the state of Tennessee, we see the challenges, the shortcomings and the inequities but we keep on trying. We build relationships, accept our failures when they come, and set our minds to overcoming the barriers. We continue to challenge ourselves, remain committed to our purpose and keep a positive outlook for our state and ourselves.

IPS Communications Team Update

The IPS Communications Team (Susan Robertson and Jessie Stooksbury) are busy supporting the communication needs of the agencies as well as the institute as a whole.

Susan recently provided a quarterly report to the IPS Senior Leadership Team and I thought this might be interesting information for all employees to see.

Thanks to Susan and Jessie for their excellent work!

Senior Leadership Team Presentation

The Senior Leadership Team set as one of its priorities for this year to purposefully share, on a more regular basis, the major projects we are working on as a team . That's why you hear about these projects when the VP and AVP make quarterly visits, when the IPS leadership team meeting minutes are posted, and in agency staff meetings. And, we wanted all staff to hear about them at the same time, thus the presentation time at this year's annual conference.

All staff can review the presentation by logging on to the IPS Intranet site using your NetID.

Here is a link to the senior leadership Powerpoint that accompanied the presentation at the IPS Annual Conference.

Working the Plan

• Promoting Good Government
• Strengthening Economic Vitality
• Building Capacity
• Ensuring Organizational Excellence
– Continuous Improvement
– Employer of Choice

IPS Agencies Submit TNCPE Level Three Applications

Agencies Submit Applications to TNCPE   Several years ago, the Institute for Public Service (IPS) made it a priority to strive for excellence by participating in the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence's (TNCPE) program to measure continuous improvement through a methodology based on the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.   This internationally recognition, proven methodology makes all organizations betters, but it's not an east journey. Especially in the beginning when processes and procedures have not been documented in the way Baldrige expects, the time requirement is extraordinary. However, all four IPS agencies have made it through the 35 page application and are waiting for site visits. The most valuable part of the process is the feedback report where we receive praise for the things we are doing well and suggestions for opportunities for improvement.   I am excited about this year's process. All agencies have already been recognized at Level Two and we're seeking Level Three this year. Congratulations to all staff who were involved in the application writing process.  I encourage everyone to read your agencies applications, and take the time to read a peer application. You might be surprised to learn who similar your work products are!   IPS staff can read the applications on our Intranet site by logging on with your NetID.     Find all of the applications on the intranet under the tab IPS Information.

IPS Receives $100,000 Endowment Gift for Internships

The UT Institute for Public Service is the recipient of a $100,000 endowment from the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund and the Tennessee County Services Loan Program. The endowment is earmarked for the internship programs at the Municipal Technical Advisory Service and the County Technical Assistance Service.

“We are so appreciative of this gift from both organizations,” said IPS Vice President Mary Jinks. “They clearly see the importance of developing public servants for the future.”

The public service internship was created in 2011 for the purpose of giving students interested in a career in public service the opportunity to gain real-world experience. Internships are arranged for the fall, spring, or summer. Since it was established, students from ten different universities have served as interns with city and county governments across the state in a variety of departments. Several have gone on to full-time employment with the city or county in which they worked as interns.

“I have been in local government for fifty-two years and I have supported and worked with MTAS the entire time, and I have worked with CTAS since 1990,” said Charles “Bones” Seivers, president and CEO of the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund. “When I was city manager in Clinton, I worked with MTAS to develop a comprehensive management review plan to improve government services. So, I know first-hand how the cities and counties across this state benefit from the services both MTAS and CTAS provide to local governments. I have wanted to do something for MTAS and CTAS for some time. This endowment will make it possible for both organizations to continue and possibly grow their internship programs.”

John David Clark is in the accelerated program at UT working on his bachelor’s degree in political science and his master’s degree in policy and public administration. He is serving an internship with David Folz, a professor in the political science department. His project is updating a fire mortality study conducted in 2011 by Folz, a graduate student, MTAS, CTAS, the state fire marshal’s office, and area fire departments. Clark is working with Folz and CTAS consultant Mike Meyers to update the data gathered in the initial study.

“This requires me to use several different computer programs, including Excel, Access, and ArcGIS,” Clark said. “I was given data on each incident and each death, and had to attach these to census tracts which are the level of analysis for the study. Each incident and death had an address where it occurred. Using this information I was able to input the values into ArcGIS and it geocoded each point. During my internship I’ve learned a lot about the computer programs and statistical analysis that this study is using.”

Clark is slated to receive his bachelor’s degree in August and complete his master’s program in summer 2015.