International Diploma in Language Teaching Management Centre: EF Education First (Beijing 07) Module Name: Project Management Name: Assignment Title: Growing future managers Word Length: 2,488 # Separate Documents: Gantt Chart Date Submitted: 26 January, 2015 Page 1
Project Management assignment IDLTM, January 2015 Final draft PROJECT OVERVIEW Proposal This project is a pilot project to solidify and systemize the Management Pipeline within EF so that we have a steady, predictable and controllable stream of new managers to meet the needs of our expansion plans in China. An effective Management Pipeline would be critical in developing new markets, further penetration of existing markets and also to maximize working efficiency and revenue during the often tumultuous period of management transition. Rationale Too many EF centers suffer because of the lack of managers and leaders when they were necessary. The centers have usually survived, but they took a hit on productivity, as well as staff and student retention. This loss can be avoided with the successful implementation of a Management Pipeline. Introduction and background Education First has established a very good teacher pipeline to make sure that we are bringing in new teachers as we need them. However, it has become apparent (through personal observation and conversation with others) that we do not have a very solid Management Pipeline to produce welltrained and prepared managers when we need them. The usual sequence of events does not include a smooth transition of responsibility, as most often a DOS would leave, but be replaced by a Sr. Teacher who is not prepared to take on the full responsibilities of a DOS. As EF is planning an aggressive expansion strategy in China in the coming years, it would benefit the organization greatly to have a pipeline with managers ready to step up as needed. Needs assessment When there is a change in management that is not smooth, we can see an interruption in the quality level of service provided. We have also seen a drop in employee satisfaction (and employee retention).it seems clear that this issue needs to be addressed. EF espouses that communication and the passing of responsibilities is key (i.e. our Customer Loyalty program), but very rarely is this thinking expanded to the center level in relation to management handover. This process is vital to many different people. Stakeholder Teachers Senior Teachers (ST) Director of Studies (DOS) Impact / Benefit of Smooth Transition Teachers need a smooth transition so that they feel cared for, that their needs and problems are being heard and addressed, as well as providing leadership and feedback (which is important for many of our younger teachers, some of whom will be living abroad, or even alone, for the first time). ST need to know who is responsible and whom they can go to with questions or issues. They need to know who has responsibility and power to make decisions. If the DOS is the one transitioning, then having a smooth transition will make the job of the incoming DOS much easier, and can help to establish authority, expertise and the trust of the staff. (If the CD is transitioning, then the DOS has many of the Page 2
Center Director (CD) Production Manager (PM) same concerns as the ST.) When a DOS changes, a CD will be concerned about academic quality and overall service quality (including things like admin progress reports, attendance, etc., Parent-Teacher Meetings and demo classes) (If the CD is changing, transition helps in a very similar way to DOS.) PMs are also concerned with academic quality and service quality. They need to be sure that someone is there to monitor and take any necessary corrective action regarding the teacher team. List of abbreviations In the remainder of this proposal, the following abbreviations will be used: EFEC K&T ST DOS CEM CD CGM PM RD TRT EF Education Center (Adult school) EF Kids & Teens school Senior Teacher Director of Studies Center Education Manager (DOS role for EFEC) Center Director Center General Manager (CD role for EFEC) Production Manager (Manages DOS) Regional Director (Manages CD) Teacher Recruitment & Training PROJECT DESCRIPTION Goals and objectives Goal The goal of this project is to cross-train a small number of teachers (EFEC / K&T) in management skills, soft-skills as well as training them to teach the opposite age group. Objectives Page
1. By March 25 I will have selected six teachers from EFEC and K&T (three from each) who are on track to become a new ST or DOS/By April 8, I will have cross-trained them in the basic necessary skills for the other age group. 2. By May 14 I ll have all participants teach students of other age group, and try to carry over specific teaching techniques to the other group (i.e. classroom management, creating classroom activities, etc.). By May 1 I ll provide all participants with soft-skills training that will be important/useful in their new role of ST or DOS. 4. By June 19, I will evaluate what benefit the participants have received in their respective centers. Strategy Objective # Activities Who? Time frame Done PHASE 1 Preparation 1, Create and compile initial training materials for participants (including teaching technique materials and soft-skills training). Reach out to contacts in EFEC and K&T to find suitable participants. Get permission / buy-in from DOS/CEM, CD and CGM of centers in which participants are currently working. Contact other branches of EF (TRT) to see what materials/programs they have that might be linked with this project (such as online training modules). DOS/CEM weeks 1-1, Write up a draft schedule of training sessions Schedule preliminary times for practical application in other centers (subject to change based on situation) Including observation/practice of management skills as well as teaching techniques learned. DOS/CEM week 2 PHASE 2 Training 1, Gather the participants and give them an introduction to the project and its purpose. Give participants some suggested reading about soft-skills required of a manager (such as The Leadership Pipeline, The One Minute Manager, etc.) 1 Have participants onboard the participants from the other branch (EFEC / K&T) - including SOPs and basic product knowledge Page 4 DOS / CEM / Participants Mentor Teams Week Week 4-5
1 Train participants on some basic skills needed for teaching the new age group DOS/CEM Week 6 Introduction to Management (TRT Online course) TRT Week 6-9 Management Workshop (Giving feedback) DOS/CEM Week 7 Management Workshop (The Bigger Picture) DOS /CEM Week 8 Management Workshop (Dealing with complaints) DOS/CEM Week 9 Phase Skills application 2 Teaching classes of the opposite age group (weekly) Participants Week 7-10 2 Observation of lesson by local DOS/CEM DOS/CEM Week 7 2, Weekly meetings of Mentor Teams to share experience and give feedback Mentor Teams Week 7-10 Participants join staff meeting of guest center, may have responsibility for some small, in-center project Participants Week 4-10 Mentor Teams observe a lesson and give feedback to each other Participants compile case studies of customer complaints and employee problems and how they were solved. Then discuss with Mentor Pairs any alternative methods of resolution. 2 Observation of participants teach an opposite- age group class by Project Manager Mentor Teams Mentor Teams Project Manager Week 8 Week 9-10 Week 10 2 Participants are observed in their own center by manager to assess noticeable change in teaching skills. DOS/CEM Week 11 Phase 4 Evaluation and Reporting 4 Managers of participants submit observation report with their assessment of participant s improvement as a result of the training 4 Participants will complete a survey asking about their level of satisfaction and how they will use the information learned DOS/CEM Week 11 Participants Week 11 4 Line managers of participants will complete a survey to identify which transferrable skills were gained DOS/CEM Week 1 4 CD/CGM will complete a survey detailing benefit to the center regarding academic team (participant) behavior, attitude and support. CD/CGM Week 15 Resources needed Page 5
Type of Resource People Facilities Titles / Types DOS/CEM Participants (each) EF Center (classroom) Time 8 hrs 52 hrs 14 hrs Monitoring The training phase of the project will be monitored by the trainers and local DoS/CEMs. During the duration of the project participants will be required to submit an Experience Report on a weekly basis covering topics like: how it was different from previous experience/expectations, what new things they learned, what they found frustrating, how it could have been improved (what made them frustrated). There will be a schedule of contact throughout Phase II of the program. - Local DoS/CEM will observe participant (at least once) and send me observation report. - The Project Manager will meet once with the local DoS/CEM to discuss participant progress after they ve been there for a two to three weeks. - The Project Manager will meet with participants to see how they are coming along about mid-way through their stay. - Project Manager will observe their class in the other center. Prior to that, the Project Manager will review their previous observation records to note any differences / improvements in their teaching skills. - Mentoring Teams (see below) will be required to meet weekly and share their experiences Evaluating Evaluation will be done by the participants themselves, their line managers and by the Project Manager. Evaluations will be divided into normative evaluations (those taking place prior to or during the course of the program) and summative evaluations (those taking place upon completion of the program). Participants Participants will be paired off so that a teacher from Kids & Teens will work together with an EFEC teacher (called them Mentoring Teams) so that they can provide feedback to each other regarding things like induction and training (which they will have given each other) as well as sharing ideas about class techniques during their regular meetings. Participants will complete a questionnaire before and after the project, which evaluates their feelings on: Retention (their plans for staying with EF) Job satisfaction (how satisfied they are with their current position and prospects for the future) How prepared (or qualified) they feel they are for their current position/the position they hope to attain in the future. Page 6
Procedural Training for opposite product (K&T / EFEC) will be done in Mentoring Teams (by the teacher of the pair who is native to the new center). Teaching skill training sessions will be delivered as usual (PM/DoS/ST/Mentor) and their teaching performance will be judged by the local trainers/managers Line Managers Participants line managers will complete a questionnaire regarding any changes in: Attitude of participant relating to work Displayed skill of participant Displayed motivation of participant Working effectiveness Participants execution of functions (both teaching and management-related functions). This might be more effective by comparison of a control group (which is not currently included in my plan). Project Manager The Project Manager will have a summative evaluation by taking into account participants : performance appraisals, feedback from students, student retention data, NPS score (& raw data) from before and after the program. After the project is complete, the Program Manager will create a summative report which can then be presented to higher managers to evaluate the program overall, recommend any changes, and, if appropriate, recommend that this pilot project be expanded system-wide. Page 7
Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Their interest or requirement from the project What the project needs from them Perceived attitudes and/or risks Actions to take Production Manager (PM) Centre Director / Centre General Manager CD/CGM Improving quality of upcoming managers, improve management pipeline Improving quality of upcoming managers, improve management pipeline Support for rotations, feedback Support for rotations, feedback Overly cautious, unwilling to take such a risk Unwilling to agree to rotations, for fear of service problems, also complications regarding payroll (which center would be responsible for paying) Gather data from trial and present project with details and potential benefits to encourage PM support Explain that it shouldn t cause an issue as the parents can be informed from the beginning exactly how long a teacher will be there. (Sell in a positive light) And since teachers will work only in one center at a time (not including trial) payroll shouldn t be an issue. May also be unwilling to train a manager only to send him/her off to another center to benefit. Explain that the ideal goal of the program would be to have a continuous stream of new potential managers and once the program has been running for a while they could get a DOS that had also gone through the program. / Explain that even if they do not directly benefit, EF as a whole would benefit from the things they could teach participants. Page 8
DOS/CEM TRT Dept. Participating Teachers Progress Advisor (PA) Improving quality of upcoming managers, getting better prepared Sr. Teachers, improve management pipeline, career development Improving quality of upcoming managers, improve management pipeline, improve available training for EF staff Career development into managers, chance to see another center (or city) and learn how things are different from EFEC to Kids & Teens. Rotation of staff = Teacher Changes Support of rotations, scheduling, training and support of program participants Coordination about what training sessions are already available/provided and how they might link in with the program. Cooperation, participation Support for rotation and communication with parents Possibly supportive; unsupportive DOS/CEM may not see benefit, or may view it as extra work Possibly supportive / indifferent, due to siloization, some TRT staff may not see this program as something they need to be involved in. Supportive / some teachers (EFEC) may feel that the program takes too long to reach a management position, and they could get there faster without it. Unsupportive, unwilling to have such frequent teacher change (not really an issue for EFEC) Get buy-in, present project with detail and lay out benefits, not only to EF as whole or individual centers, but for DOS/CEM as well. If they distinguish themselves while training participants, they might have more career opportunities. May require more follow-up to get information, and buyin from TRT staff to get cooperation. Make expectations clear, especially with rotations (length-time) and what criteria are used to promote to managers, not just putting your time in Also, point out that by going through the program, new managers will be better prepared than if they hadn t. It must be explained that although a teacher is coming and going, they will already be a trained teacher in the process of furthering their training. They wouldn t have as many classes as a regular full-time teacher, and as such, shouldn t have that much of an impact on the school as a whole. Page 9