Managing todays weatherization program session overview

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Managing todays weatherization program session
overview

• Challenges
• Concepts
• A little theory
• Case study
• A couple tools
• Food for thought

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Managing Todays Weatherization Program
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bpc.oppco.org
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Dave FinetOpportunity CouncilDirector, Energy
Home Repair

• 20 years at the OC
• Started as a crew member
• Worked as auditor
• Production coordinator
• Program manager
• Service area director ( 12 years)
• Made just about every mistake possible

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Opportunity Council

• Private non-profit community action program
• Bellingham Washington
• Serving a 3 county area
• The agency just celebrated its 40 year
  anniversary

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Opportunity Council Programs

• Early Childhood Opportunities Northwest
• Childcare and Family Resources
• Community Services
• Island County Services
• Energy Home Repair Services

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Energy Home Repair Programs

• Energy Assistance (LIHEAP/PSE)
• Weatherization
• Home rehabilitation / repair program
• Indoor environmental programs
• Building Performance Center

• 30 employees
• 3 office locations
• 4.6 million budget
• 150 weatherization projects
• 75 home rehab projects
• Fee for service

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Funding

• Allocated
• Dept. of Energy
• LIHEAP
• Bonneville Power Administration
• Puget Sound Energy
• Energy Matchmakers
• Washington Community Energy Fund
• HOME

• Competitive
• CDBG
• USDA
• 2060
• HUD Lead hazard control

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Building Performance Center

• Training
• Peer Circuit Rider
• Weatherization agencies
• Systems analysis
• Contractors
• Utilities

• Building Performance
• Indoor air
• Energy retrofits
• Building failures
• Low-income weatherization
• Consulting, design
• Energy Star

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No Orphans A case study in systems thinking and
program revitalization

• Unhappy clients
• Marginal workmanship
• Not meeting production goals (closure)
• Bickering staff, finger pointing
• 100 open projects
• Vendors not getting paid
• No one taking responsibility

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Weatherization program

• Descriptors
• Messy
• Tough
• Complicated
• Challenging
• Endless change

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Technical developments of the weatherization
program

• House as a system
• Blower door diagnostics
• Combustion safety testing
• Computerized audit tools
• Ventilation
• Lead Based Paint
• Mold
• Worker safety

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Training and technical assistance investment

• Over the last 15 years there has been a lot of
  technical and field training but not much
  training or technical assistance for management.

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Where has management come from?

• The ranks
• Other social service programs
• Private sector
• Are new managers (leaders) prepared to lead
  programs as complicated as weatherization?

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Group exercise

• Introduce yourself to the person next to you
  (groups of 2 or 3)
• Where are you from?
• How is your job related to weatherization
  management?
• From your perspective what is the biggest
  challenge in managing weatherization programs?
• 10 minutes

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Challenges of management

• Limited financial resources
• Changing regulations
• Employee
• Compensation
• Training
• Retention
• Development of contractor relationships
• Budget development and tracking
• Insurance
• Risk management
• Diversity of funding sources
• Working within a larger agency

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Keys to successfully managing todays
weatherization program

• Leadership from management
• Build a team
• Understanding the work
• Developing key staff
• Create an enjoyable work environment
• Supportive personnel practices
• Tracking progress at the program level
• Emphasis on quality and customer satisfaction

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Leadership by definition

• leadership n
• 1. the office or position of the head of a
  political party or other body of people
• 2. the ability to guide, direct, or influence
  people
• 3. guidance or direction
• 4. a group of leaders (takes a singular or plural
  verb)

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Leadership

• Creating shared vision
• Guidance
• Clear expectations
• Role and responsibility
• Planning
• Long term
• Short term
• Manpower planning
• Implementation
• Appropriate delegation
• Creating shared vision

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Building a Team

• Part of being a team is being able to trust and
  rely on your teammates. Once that trust is broken
  you cease to be a team, each team member walking
  through the motions of their own responsibility
  without taking advantage of the efforts and
  talents of the others.

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Leading a team

• Successful leadership is maximizing the talent
  and resources available within the team to meet
  common goals that align with the teams values and
  vision.

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Shared vision

• Sustainable organizations rely on leadership that
  can create systems and lines of communication
  that allow for the continual adjustment of course
  to achieve established goals created by the the
  team out of shared vision.
• What is the difference between
• Conversation and Dialogue?

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Shared vision is created through conversation

• conversation n
• 1. an informal talk with somebody, especially
  about opinions, ideas, feelings, or everyday
  matters
• 2. the activity of talking to somebody informally
• 3. an informal talk about something involving
  representatives from various interested groups
• 4. an interaction with a computer carried on in
  real time
• 5. a nonverbal exchange that is perceived to have
  the qualities of conversation
• dialogue or dialog n
• 1. the words spoken by characters in a book, a
  film, or a play, or a section of a work that
  contains spoken words
• 2. a formal discussion or negotiation, especially
  between opposing sides in a political or
  international context

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Role responsibilitydefined

• role or rôle n
• 1. an individual part in a play, movie, opera, or
  other performance played by an actor, singer, or
  other performer
• 2. the usual or expected function of somebody or
  something, or the part somebody or something
  plays in a particular action or event
• 3. the part played by somebody in a given social
  context, with any characteristic or expected
  pattern of behavior that it entails

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Implementationthe responsibility of Management

• The single biggest barrier to program development
  or success is the lack of effective
  implementation.
• Why is it so difficult?
• 5 Minutes

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Implement - defined

• 1. to put something into effect or action
• 2. to provide or equip somebody with the tools or
  other means to do something (formal)

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Understanding the work

• Get into the field
• Observe staff in action
• Contact with clients
• Review projects with staff
• Knowledge of program policies and specifications

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Developing key staff

• Emphasis on learning
• Meaningful evaluation
• Involve them in planning
• Provide them with the information they need to
  make decisions
• Give them the authority equal to the
  responsibility
• Utilize and further develop their strengths
• Get to know them, find out what gets them excited

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Key

• Your No.2 is your most important hire. Pick one
  who complements your management style, shows
  loyalty without being a yes-man, and has a talent
  for working with others.
• Shackleton

John Davies Weatherization Home Repair Manager
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Create an enjoyable work environment

• Surround yourself with cheerful, optimistic
  people. They will reward you with the loyalty
  and camaraderie vital for success.
• Do your part to help create an upbeat environment
  at work. A positive and cheerful workplace is
  important to productivity.

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Personnel management

• Good hiring practices (hire based on values and
  then experience)
• Compensation
• Evaluation
• Professional development
• Mentoring
• Creating the culture

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Shackletons Wayon hiring

• Be a creative, unconventional interviewer if you
  seek creative, unconventional people. Go deeper
  than job experience and expertise. Ask questions
  that reveal a candidates personality, values,
  and perspective on work and life.
• Hire those who share your vision. Someone who
  clashes with your personality or the corporate
  culture will hinder your work.

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Supporting staff

• To help your staff do top-notch work, give them
  the best equipment you can afford. Working with
  outdated, unreliable tools creates an unnecessary
  burden.
• Always keep the door open to your staff members,
  and be generous with information that affects
  them. Well-informed employees are more eager and
  better prepared to participate.
• Shackleton

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Tracking progress at the program level

• Dont depend on grant/fund accounting to run your
  business
• Provide staff with reports that make sense to
  them
• Meet with staff and review the progress
• Take the time to analyze the data

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Emphasis on quality

• Make your standards clear
• Identify quality when you see it, praise it
• Perform in-progress inspections
• Involve staff in problem resolving quality issues
• Create feedback loops

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The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization

• Systems thinking
• Personal mastery
• Mental models
• Building shared vision
• Team learning
• Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

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No Orphans A case study in systems thinking and
program revitalization

• Unhappy clients
• Marginal workmanship
• Not meeting production goals (closure)
• Bickering staff, finger pointing
• 100 open projects
• Vendors not getting paid
• No one taking responsibility

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Orphan, defined

• orphan n
• 1. a child whose parents are both dead or who has
  been abandoned by his or her parents, especially
  a child not adopted by another family
• 2. a young animal whose mother is dead or has
  abandoned it
• an opening line of a paragraph that is also the
  last line on a page, cut off from the rest of the
  paragraph by the page break.
• what the Opportunity Council was doing to its
  client because they didnt have systems of
  accountability

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(Problem)on the surface

• To many open projects
• (No established goal for project completions)
• Lots of calls from unhappy clients in progress
• (Gaps in quality assurance, incomplete system)
• Middle management always asking for more staff
• (No routine review of production goals, unclear
  expectations)
• To many trips out to each household
• (Lack of mentoring and monitoring by the
  director)
• Development of program came to a halt
• (Systems were not thought out well enough in
  advance to implement new technology or new
  programs)

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(Problem)on the surface

• Vendors not getting paid
• (A parent agency problem that exacerbated the
  other problems)
• No one taking responsibility, people problem
• (Unclear roles and responsibilities)

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Continuity

• Everyone was running their own program
• No shared vision
• Little accountability
• Lack of discipline
• Roles and responsibilities not clear

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Power of many? or the thoughts of a few?

• As a leader I wasnt utilizing the biggest asset
  I had, the power of group thinking.
• It was my responsibility to get things fixed.
• I didnt want to go through this again.

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Nice guy or leader?Do you have to choose?

• Establish order and routine on the job so all
  workers know where they stand and what is
  expected of them. The discipline makes the staff
  feel theyre in capable hands.
• Always keep the door open to your staff members,
  and be generous with information that affects
  them. Well-informed employees are more eager and
  better prepared to participate.

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Solutions through systems thinking

• Document individual roles and responsibilities
• Consolidate contacts with clients (project
  coordinators and lead technicians)
• Develop a timeline for expected project closure
• Establish annual and monthly production goals,
  review monthly
• Meet monthly and review every open project as a
  group
• Track program expenses at the program level,
  real time accounting

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Communication loops

• Monthly
• Safety meetings
• Technician roundtable mtg.
• Project Coordinators/Inspectors mtg.
• Weatherization rehab No Orphans
• Emergency furnace repair No Orphans
• Building Performance Center No Orphans

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Communication loops

• Quarterly
• Energy Home Repair Management Team mtg.
• Every other month
• Energy Home Repair all staff mtg.
• Annual
• All day retreat with families

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Staffing rules of thumb

• Managers should supervise no more than 6
  supervisors
• Construct a progressive skill set for staff to
  achieve, so staff are ready for promotion
• Hire from within whenever possible
• Dont put staff in positions they are not ready
  for
• Schedule regular meetings, dont cancel

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Quality Assurance

• Separate quality assurance and production
• Quality assurance staff are responsible for
  training
• Their role is to not only identify quality issues
  but to work with staff and management to resolve
  them.

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Roles and Responsibilities

• Objective
• ? To communicate the team philosophy of Energy
  and Home Repair Services Management.
• ? Clarify roles and responsibilities of team
  members.
• ? Build a common vision of how we need to work
  together and interact to effectively deliver our
  services and meet our goals.

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Tools

• Spreadsheets that track monthly progress, both
  financial and individual production
• Establish a rate
• Standardize and consolidate forms

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Planning

• Agency strategic plan
• Energy Home Repair strategic plan
• Annual production plan
• Annual staff plan
• Individual staff plans
• Budget development

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Program accountability

• Every program should be able to answer.
• How many units will you do this year?
• How many units will you do this month?
• What is your average cost per unit?
• How many utility do you average per unit?
• What is your program goal or timeline for
  completing a project?
• If you have crews, on average how many days does
  it take to complete a unit?

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Dave Finet

• dave_finet_at_oppco.org

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bpc.oppco.org