Coaches Module 2 Organizational Development - Child and Family Policy Institute of California

Coaching Guide

Module Two: Organizational Development

This module is intended to develop and promote the understanding of assessing a public child welfare agency’s culture and climate. Learning is centered on how organizational culture and climate can support change and improvement over time. This module provides an opportunity for the learner to develop change strategies that improve short term outputs and long-term outcomes for children and families in the child welfare system.

Learning Objectives:

Knowledge: Understand the basics of assessment and diagnosis of agency culture and climate.
Skill: Perform informal and formal assessment of agency and external partnerships.
Attitude: Promote and practice continuous quality improvement.

Reading and Activities: 4 to 6 hours

Coaching:v3 hours

Resources

Pre reading/review:

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Change & the Roles People Play

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Get on the Balcony eLearning

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Organizational Culture and Retention

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Organizational Environment

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Organizational Leadership

National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Three Tools to Guide Change Efforts

Continuous Quality Improvement Toolkit, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families

Segment #1:

Segment #2:

Segment #3:

Drivers of Sustainable Implementation(APHSA, Phil Basso, 7,7,11)
Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams(2009), American Public Human Services Association
Core Practice Model Mapping Tools & Logic Model Templates

Other Resources:

Center for States Continuous Quality Improvement Course

Program, Practice, and Service Effectiveness, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families

Schein, E.H. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons. What are the Mechanisms to Create a Positive Organizational Climate.

Segment #1: Organizational assessment for culture and climate Time: up to 2 hours Coaching: 1 hour
Learning Objective	Director will understand the importance of conducting internal and external, formal, and informal organizational assessments to gain an understanding of the culture and climate of the organization.
Content	Organizational culture and climate consist of shared values, norms, attitudes, and perceptions that influence how people in an organization behave. An agency’s priorities, leadership commitments, and staff motivations reflect its culture and climate. For new programs and practices, an agency’s culture and climate may affect how people accept and support change. Organizational culture refers to the shared behavioral expectations and norms in a work environment. This is the collective view of “the way work is done.” Organizational climate represents staff perceptions of the impact of the work environment on the individual. This is the view of “how it feels” to work at the agency (i.e., supportive, stressful, punitive, innovative). An agency’s culture and climate influence how child welfare staff at all levels do their work and how they feel about their work. Staff with the right skills and knowledge may not achieve an agency’s objectives if the culture discourages their appropriate use. For example, case workers may receive training on family engagement skills, but they may not apply those skills unless the agency culture also emphasizes, supports and rewards working in partnership with parents in meaningful ways. Further, if the climate causes staff to feel overwhelmed and unmotivated, they may not be ready for new initiatives and may resist changing responsibilities. Finally, organizational culture and climate can influence staff morale. Low morale can result in staff turnover, which in turn, can have a negative impact on agency functioning and service delivery to children and families. The potential impact of organizational culture and climate on staff performance and retention, agency functioning, and ultimately, outcomes for children and families underscores the importance of leadership attention to this area. Agencies interested in promoting innovation and change may need to look at how their organization culture and climate support a learning organization, participatory decision-making, flexibility, and continuous improvement. Special attention should be paid to how addressing REDI will add value to the culture and climate of the organization.
Activities	Review resources and identify if an organizational culture and climate assessment is necessary and identify a resource for this. Identify if a readiness assessment for implementation of a new mandate is necessary and develop a plan for conducting the assessment.
Materials	Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment--Summary of Measures California Core Practice Model Organizational Readiness Building Assessment and Planning tools--Snapshot What are the Mechanisms to Create a Positive Organizational Climate The Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams (2009), American Public Human Services Association A Child Welfare Leader’s Desk Guide to Building a High Performing Agency Readiness Reflection Quick Tool
Preparation for next segment	Read: The Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment, Summary of Measures from the Butler Institute The Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams (2009), American Public Human Services Association The Continuous Quality Improvement Toolkit from the Child Welfare Information Gateway

Segment #2: Understanding and using organizational data for organizational change Reading and Activities: up to 2 hours Coaching: 1 hour
Learning Objective	Director will understand the importance of using organizational data to assess current organizational status. Director will understand and gain knowledge about continuous quality improvement (CQI) and how this process can be used to improve organizational effectiveness.
Content	Organizational effectiveness is a systemic approach to continuously improving an organization’s performance, capacity to change and client outcomes. “Systemic” refers to considering an entire system or an entire organization; “systematic” refers to taking a step-by-step approach. In simple terms, organizational effectiveness is a step-by-step approach to continuously improving an entire organization. APHSA has found that to improve organizational effectiveness, you must Define the priority improvements in operational terms; Assess observable, measurable strengths and gaps; Plan quick wins, mid-term, and longer-term improvements; Implement action plans while managing communication and capacity; and Monitor progress, impact, and lessons learned, impact for accountability and ongoing adjustments. This is referred to as the DAPIM model: Define, Assess, Plan, Implement and Monitor. Organizations experienced in DAPIM use it to continuously improve everything they do. No matter how big or small. At any given time, an organization may be engaged in a multi-year “big DAPIM” to make fundamental improvements to practice while simultaneously running multiple “little DAPIM’s” to eliminate inefficient processes, respond to unexpected shifts in the environment, overcome obstacles, etc. To understand the current state of the organization, the areas in which performance is good, where efficiencies are in place and working well, where performance is not good and where improvements in practice and process are needed the director must collect, review and discuss the organizational data on a regular basis. Understanding the organizational data around policies, protocols, and practice is key to knowing how effective an organization is in improving outcomes. How does your practice create disproportionate and disparate outcomes for BIPOC families? ASPHA has developed the Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams which contains user friendly tools and templates to help teams plan for and drive continuous improvement. The tools and templates used most frequently by work teams include: Continuous Improvement Plan Template Tracking Quick Wins Tool Chartering Teams Template Communication Plan Template Capacity Building Guide Team Activities to Address Areas of Particular Challenge Logic Models (2009 American Public Human Services Association).
Coaching Session	Prior to the 2nd coaching session, review the Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide from APHSA and CFSR Case Review requirements and prepare to guide the director in understanding the importance of using data to inform change processes. Coach reviews the previous assignment(s) with the director, using reflective questions. Specifically, updates on the organizational assessment process selection. In this segment the coach will: Assist the director in understanding the importance of obtaining and reviewing agency data to assist in the organizational assessment. Discuss the importance of using data to review both compliance with required mandates as well as to assess current functioning of the organization, and areas that could be lifted up to staff in which the organization is functioning well and areas in which improvement is needed. Assist director to gain an understanding of data-informed decision making and the need to use data for continuous quality improvement. Discuss the requirements for CFSR case reviews and how the information is used at a statewide level to inform statewide trends in practice. Discuss the use of the data from these reviews to gather information about local practice and to have an internal team in place that can work to develop a CQI/DAPIM process to address the findings. Discuss and review CDSS and Federal web resources to assist the director in gathering data and information about the state CFSR case review process. Wrap up reflections: What’s currently working well? What are your strengths in data collection and case reviews? What are your worries about addressing the data and the results of the case reviews? What needs to happen next so that you feel successful in this area? Coach ends the session by looking at LO for the next session and identifies any reading or activities.
Activities	Complete an inventory of what types of tools and/or templates are currently used in the organization’s structure and processes. Review the organization’s current CSFR case review process and dissemination of findings and determine what actions are occurring because of the case reviews. Do worksheet with 3 scenarios on “Setting the stage for Organizational Health-My Role In Creating Organizational Culture and Climate for Change”
Materials	Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams (2009), American Public Human Services Association Ten Drivers of Sustainable Implementation handout California Department of Social Services, Case Review Instructions and Resources Federal CFSR case review process and requirements Setting the Stage for Organizational Health
Preparation for next module	Draft list of organizational assessment tools currently being used for discussion with coach. Think about existing meetings or groups that could potentially serve as an Implementation Team. Think about potential initiatives that can be used in a mapping process Use the “Setting the Stage....” responses as material in the next coaching session

Segment #3: The nuts and bolts of change management and project management Reading and Activities: up to 2 hours Coaching: 1 hour
Learning Objective	Director will learn about change management and project management through exposure to various tools, i.e., logic model, project plan, implementation plan. Director will understand the importance of an implementation team to guide change management efforts. Director will learn to use mapping exercises to assist in integrating the work of the organization.
Content	Much of the work that needs to be done in child welfare requires knowledge of change management and the need to use a process that allows for the following: an assessment of the current environment or issue, a description of the desired change, an assessment of the current resources and what additional resources are necessary, an organized process for moving the change forward and a process for monitoring and measuring the change with an allowance for retooling if necessary. It is important when beginning a new job as a child welfare director or beginning to implement a new initiative/project that one begins with an exercise that looks at what work is currently being done within the organization, assessing what is being achieved and where improvement is needed. If a new project is starting, assess whether the new work is aligned with and can be integrated into the current work being done. To accomplish this, a leader can consider working with their leadership team to complete a mapping exercise. The mapping exercise will provide a picture of what the organization is currently doing and assist in determining whether activities are aligned and/or if they are duplicative. See mapping activity. Once a mapping exercise is completed it can serve to inform the leadership team about which current structures exist that may best serve as an implementation team for all future implementation efforts. As the organization moves various initiatives forward, the implementation team serves as the main vehicle for identifying issues that need troubleshooting or additional resources. The implementation team should consist of leadership that is able to address the issues identified. The implementation team can provide the oversight necessary to each of the separate efforts while also having a mechanism to share information across all efforts in the organization.
Coaching Session	Prior to 3rd coaching session, review the Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide from APHSA and Case Review requirements and prepare to guide the director in determining what tools and data sources are needed to build capacity for continuous improvement and identify what is needed to initiate a mapping process and establish an implementation team if not already established. In this segment the coach will: Review with the director what tools/templates are currently being used by the organization and the different models/tools available for use when implementing a new initiative or project. Assist the director to initiate a mapping process with their management team. Assist the director to identify a project or initiative that they can apply the model/tool to. Have a discussion around what the information and assessment tools indicate about specific neighborhoods and communities. Assist the director to identify a current structure that can serve as an implementation team. Wrap up reflections: What’s currently working well in this area? What are your strengths in this area? What are your worries about addressing this area? What needs to happen next so that you feel successful in this area? What information was discovered that came as a surprise? Coach ends the session by looking at the next module LOs and activities and plans with the director on activities to complete before the next session.
Activities	Director will conduct a mapping exercise with their management/leadership team. Director will identify an existing project or a new project/initiative to begin applying the models/tools/templates for implementation. Director will assess current organizational teams and meetings that operate within the organization that can serve as an implementation team for all agency efforts. Director will infuse REDI conversation during team meetings and use of tools.
Materials	Ten Drivers of Sustainable Implementation (APHSA, Phil Basso, 7,7,11) Organizational Effectiveness Quick Guide for Teams (2009), American Public Human Services Association California Core Practice Model Mapping tools & Logic Model Templates
Preparation for next module	Review your professional development plan and prepare to review with your coach.