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NOAA Leadership Seminar Breakout Group Exercise March 23, 2005 Actions We Can Take to Meet SESers' Expectations of Us to Achieve the One NOAA Vision   Consolidated Results

Purpose of the Breakout Group Exercise: Identify how you currently translate and project these expectations into your everyday work environment, as well as with new and innovative ways:

• Leadership:  Think strategically and corporately, demonstrate responsibility and follow through up and down the food chain; support, respect, and mentor staffs.
  
  
• Attitude:  Be positive; show initiative; demonstrate honesty, openness, and trust; be flexible and self confident; demonstrate accountability.
  
  
• Skills/Competencies:  Team building; demonstrate being a team member; knowledge of corporate policies as well as administrative and organizational requirements; commitment to maintaining personal and staff's competencies; problem solving; good people skills.
  
  
• Management:  Own their programs/areas (plan, execute, energize staff's commitment); recognize and reward staff performance; build capabilities of staff; when executing - show better fact-based decisions making, alternative analysis, stakeholder and political analysis, and performance improvement process.
  
  
• Communications:  Communicate good and bad news fully, clearly, honestly up and down the management chain; provide solutions when presenting problems; provide management up the chain with "heads up" on potential issues (i.e., no surprises).
  
  

Leadership Think strategically and corporately. Demonstrate responsibility and follow through up and down the food chain. Support, respect, and mentor staff.

 

A. I will project leadership into my work environment by thinking strategically and corporately in the following ways:

• Participate in cross-cutting activities and help others get involved in cross-cutting projects.
• Develop action plans and goals together.
• Take a global view in developing solutions to my specific situations/problems.
• Foster communication among other groups that may have similar needs/problems.
• Acquire an understanding of management needs and positively identifying common themes resulting in more efficient use of limited resources.
• Take One NOAA approach and develop links to other parts of NOAA.
• Facilitate NOAA partnerships.
• Think strategically:  look for expertise beyond your office.
• Build a greater corporate NOAA support network.
• Use mission and program visions to describe NOAA, not the Line Offices.
• Make the "connection" to the other Line Offices across the board.
• Integrate a large cross section of staff in developing PPBES (all levels/regions).
• Develop operating plans.
• Identify priorities and execute those projects first.
• Get input from team members regarding schedule estimates.
• Understand reasons for One NOAA and budget defense.

B.  I will project leadership into my work environment by demonstrating responsibility and following through up and down the food chain in the following ways:

• Take personal responsibility for facilitating the decision-making process at upper levels.
• Tell bad news - do not be afraid to give boss bad news.
• Be proactive (make sure things are getting done - don't assume!)
• Volunteer to help out on other projects.
• Check on the status of projects on a regular basis and report issues to management.
• Take responsibility - don't pass the buck nor deflect all blame.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions.
• Be accountable and responsible.
• Communicate clear goals and expectations.

C.   I will project leadership into my work environment by supporting, respecting and mentoring my staff in the following ways:

• Guide and mentor employees by example - be willing to roll up your own sleeves to help.
• Ensure employees have what they need to succeed in the workplace.
• Widely share staff accomplishments (celebrate success).
• Institute routine and meaningful staff meetings.
• Assign actions at staff meetings and follow through to make sure those action items are accomplished.
• Develop personal relationships outside of the normal working environment.
• Communicate with the staff and gain their buy-in.
• Be accessible and open to feedback - dedicate a specific amount of time to spend with the staff each week.
• Trust and empower staff - give them responsibility, allow them to take risks, and allow them to fail.
• Respect different styles, learn flexibility and develop a variety of approaches.
• Encourage leadership, no matter what your position in the organization.
• Cross train personnel by encouraging rotational and developmental assignments.
• Overlap new employees with departing employees (i.e., 3 months training/ mentoring).
• Include a variety of employees in higher level activities.
• Discuss each person's Individual Development Plan and implement agreed-upon activities.
• Actively seek out and promote training and development for yourself and your staff.

Attitude Be positive. Show initiative. Demonstrate honesty, openness, and trust. Be flexible and self confident. Demonstrate accountability.

A.  I will improve the attitude of my work environment by being positive in the following ways:

• Create a work environment that is rewarding.
• Recognize and reward good performance and attitude.
• Make staff aware of advancement opportunities.
• Find my purpose in the work and share that enthusiasm.
• Keep criticisms and direction to employees constructive and upbeat (not personal).

B.  I will improve the attitude of my work environment by showing initiative in the following ways:

• Share the "One NOAA" vision in a variety of situations.
• Share NOAA success stories.
• Articulate the value of the NOAA Strategic Plan and the PPBES process.
• Take back to the office a willingness to educate coworkers and advocate "One NOAA" concepts as well as the need to make PPBES a successful process.
• Facilitate "One NOAA" concept by developing an action plan to work across Line Offices.
• Make resources available to other Line Offices and seek out offices that can share resources needed to accomplish NOAA's goals.
• Establish forums for sharing successes, new ideas, and lesson learned.
• Hold All-Hands meetings.
• Take time to evaluate and create.
• Meet people more than halfway; "it needed to be done" versus "it's not my job."
• Always present solutions.
• Provide and volunteer information up.
• Share examples of positive leadership behaviors by NOAA Senior Management at the NOAA Leadership Seminar - in particular, their willingness to assume accountability for problems and their willingness to take time and not force "One NOAA," but rather waiting for buy-in and culture change.

C.  I will improve the attitude of my work environment by demonstrating honesty, openness, and trust in the following ways:

• Be genuine.
• Be realistic; there are no simple answers.
• Set aside time in meetings for: "there is no such thing as a dumb question."
• Encourage sharing successes and setbacks.
• Rely on staff more.
• Allow employees to be part of the solution.
• Treat others with respect.
• Be mindful of words used.
• Share information - good and bad.
• Convey information with realism.
• Break down budget barriers using education.
• Project less cynicism toward PPBES.

D. I will improve the attitude of my work environment by being flexible and self confident in the following ways:

• Embrace change.
• Build confidence with training.
• Stress individual accountability for the end result.
• Stress the importance of visible ownership and investment in the process and its results.
  
  
  

E. I will improve the attitude of my work environment by demonstrating accountability in the following ways:

• Create a culture of ownership and empowerment.
• Focus on execution and "getting it done."
• Encourage ownership of ideas from beginning to end.
• Clarify responsibilities.
• Identify obstacles and outcomes.
• Provide constructive criticism (opportunities for improvements).
• Identify problem areas and attitude problems.
• Allow initiative even if it means taking risk.
• Keep my eye and my speech on the big picture.
• Lead by example.

Skills/Competencies Work on team building - demonstrate being a team member. Demonstrate knowledge of corporate policies as well as administrative and organizational requirements. Commit to maintaining personal and staff's competencies. Promote problem solving. Promote good people skills.

A.  I will work on team building and demonstrate being a team member in the following ways:

• Demonstrate better time management with teams.
• Establish objectives and ground rules.
• State your biases/concerns.
• Consider team composition.
• Maximize individual strengths/build on weaknesses.
• Draw out/include the quieter members of the team.
• Be assertive; supportive whenever possible.
• Use team approach to new projects.
• Ask for help.
• Encourage involvement in the PPBES process.
• Hold retreats, annual meetings, monthly conference calls, and informal after work pot- lucks.

B.  I will demonstrate knowledge of corporate policies as well as administrative and organizational requirements by:

• Working on internal communication to explain the importance of milestones and goals.
• Explaining PPBES from top-down.
• Encouraging PPBES training, leadership training, and managerial training.
• Explaining how corporate goals fit with our real world.
• Relating work to the "big" requirements.
• Creating a method to communicate daily tasks into the larger package.
• Reviewing and familiarizing myself with the NOAA Strategic Plan, the Blue Book, and the Annual Guidance Memorandum - and encourage others to do so.

C.  I will commit to maintaining personal and staff's competencies by:

• Providing training to staff.
• Building dollars for training in budget process.
• Briefing staff on information from the NOAA Leadership Seminar by using the presenter's power point presentations.
• Promoting continuing education.
• Facilitating the use of individual development plans (IDPs) and identify areas that need improvement.
• Building additional training on NOAA structure into performance plans and IDPs.
• Training myself and others to understand NOAA at a higher level and communicate the importance of NOAA-wide goals.
• Visiting stakeholders.
• Inviting other local Line Offices to provide a seminar on their technical activities.
• Leveraging the NOAA E-Learning System.
• Developing a learning library.
• Building technical competencies and problem solving skills.
• Improving recruitment capabilities.
• Leading the leaders - create a circle of influence.
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D.  I will promote problem solving by:

• Promoting inclusiveness and a "One NOAA" approach to problem solving.
• Involving people in problem solving by encouraging brainstorming.
• Encouraging free thinking as well as analytical thought processes.
  

E.  I will promote good people skills in the following ways:

• Lead by example.
• Encourage the establishment of a mentor program.
• Promote an office atmosphere of respect and open communication.
• Anticipate the needs of others.
  
  

Management Own your programs/areas (plan, execute, energize staff's commitment). Recognize and reward staff performance. Build capabilities of staff. When executing - show better fact-based decisions making, alternative analysis, stakeholder and political analysis, and performance improvement process.

A.  I will own my programs/areas (plan, execute, energize staff's commitment) by:

• Providing lots of reward potentials to my staff.
• Providing food for the midnight shift.
• Providing lunches during staff meetings.
• Building the capabilities of my staff by encouraging rotational assignments, personal development; credit hours, and training.
• Tying awards to project completion.
• Developing metrics to measure output.
• Communicating openly and candidly with individuals to build trust.
• Being open to alternative methods/solutions within and across Line Offices.
• Providing opportunities at all grade levels to discuss mutual problems and formulate solutions/work plans.
• Encouraging informal mentoring to energize and foster individual development.

B.  I will recognize and reward staff performance in the following ways:

• Institute a consistent awards program plus recognition via email, time-off, on-the-spot awards, and cash in your account awards.
• Invite staff to provide suggestions on awards and recognition.
• Offer merit based awards.
• Provide timely recognition and rewards.
• Provide increasing levels of responsibility.
• Use failures only as learning opportunities - not for punishment.
• Encourage "thinking out of the box."
• Increase outreach with staff briefings and briefings to the end-users.
• Insist on realism, know my program and my business.

C.  I will build the capabilities of my staff by:

• Giving the staff ownership.
• Recognizing individual ownership of their part of the mission to reach the common goal of entire mission.
• Thinking and running NOAA like a corporation.
• Balancing freedom and accountability.
• Being okay with making mistakes.
• Being proactive in developing and improving my skills in areas outside of my primary scientific area of expertise.
• Sharing expectations.
• Making better use of software tools.
• Spending more time with my staff to determine training needs to link the training to program requirements.
• Ensuring understanding of "One NOAA" mission and vision statements.
• Ensuring that program/project planning supports the NOAA vision and mission.
• Taking over shifts for others to allow for training and to provide opportunities to excel.
• Encouraging a sense of "team" with my staff, including both government and contractor workers.

D.  When executing, I will show: better fact-based decisions making alternative analysis stakeholder and political analyses, and performance improvement process by:

• Building trust, which is a good thing for corporate NOAA.
• Building client outreach to better understand the impact of my work and outputs on constituents.
  
• Knowing my local and regional users' needs, both within and outside the government.
• Balancing stakeholder requirements with government mandates.
  
• Understanding and recognizing local and regional stakeholder requirements, and balancing those requirements with those of nationals stakeholders, who have greater political influence.
  
• Working towards end-state outcomes while keeping management and colleagues informed.
• Delegating and following up to ensure execution according to plan.
• Setting completion dates and holding myself accountable for meeting those dates. · Conveying the need to plan and have measurable outputs.
• Establishing objectives/goals/milestones.
• Reviewing project status regularly.
• Involving everyone.
• Avoiding micro-management.
• Knowing policies and being an expert.
• Recognizing that cost, schedule and performance equals execution.
• Insisting on realism and facts.
  
  

Communications Communicate good and bad news fully, clearly, and honestly up and down the management chain. Provide solutions when presenting problems. Provide management up the chain with "heads up" on potential issues (i.e., no surprises).

A.  I will communicate good and bad news fully, clearly, and honestly up and down the management chain by:

• Scheduling regular staff and All Hands meetings and following a set agenda.
• Highlighting successes before each meeting begins (2 good examples) and end meetings on a positive note.
• Developing case studies of how difficult situations were handled well and not so well – discuss lessons learned.
  
• Use the “parking lot” concept for contentious issues so as not to sidetrack meetings.
  
• Establishing an open door policy up and down the chain. # Ensuring a two-way dialogue.
  
• Encouraging mutual respect for ideas and opinions.
  
• Clarifying roles and responsibilities within the organizational structure so employees know who to communicate with.
  
• Building a knowledge base of the organizational culture (employees and managers) to communicate good and bad news.
  
• Regularly scheduling more conference calls and video-teleconferences.
  
• Initiating a dialogue with managers to openly discuss how they want to receive certain types of information including timing and content.
  
• Managing expectations.

B.  I will provide solutions when presenting problems in the following ways:

• Always provide solutions.
• Solicit the input of my staff – encourage huddles and brainstorming sessions to generate unique and new ways to solve problems.
• Present solutions with realism.
• Use a variety of mechanisms to communicate in addition to email including video-teleconferencing, conference calls and phone calls.
• Take into account different cultural, communication and learning styles when presenting solutions.

C.  I will provide management up the chain with a “heads up” on potential issues (i.e., no surprises) by:

• Passing along information to senior leaders from meetings that I attend.   
• Soliciting opportunities to discuss what is in the “rumor mill.”
• Establishing a “one stop” shop for Line Office news.
• Setting an example of openness to receiving good and bad news by not retaliating against bearers of bad news.
•  Passing along information to more people than I think “Need to Know.” 
  
  
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