A Symphony of Success in 2021

2020 pushed the world out of its comfort zone for sure.  In it’s aftermath, we’re all trying to re-establish our footing personally and professionally.  Time has accelerated exponentially and therefore requires a level of efficiency like never imagined.  Wasted time, money and effort are no longer acceptable.  One of the ways organizations can provide focus, and for the purposes of this article, is by optimizing their learning programs through establishing or maintaining Governance. 

Now, let’s be clear, don’t confuse “Governance” with bureaucracy.  In a way, “good” Governance can slice through bureaucracy and red tape.  Think of a symphony without a conductor.  Sure, the musicians can play their instruments individually, but together they need a conductor to truly ensure their harmony.  This is the same concept with Governance in a Learning Program for an Organization. 

Much like the many musicians in an orchestra, most organizations have several departments or leaders that are responsible for Learning.  If decentralized or left to their own designs for Learning, its likely there will be redundant effort or spend.  In today’s world there is no time for waste in any program. Imagine if the horns section decided to do things it’s own way versus the string section.  To establish or reassert a Governance program it helps to borrow some concepts from Project Management.   

While there has been much written on the topic of setting up a Governance Program, this blog is intended to be a primer.  It doesn’t take much in the realm of formality to have Governance, but it does require commitment to make it work.  Like all changes in life, there needs to be an established or desired goal for the formation of a Governance Program.  If conceived properly, the goal will help convince people to join the effort. 

Try to be specific and personalized with your goals for the organization.   A Governance program when done properly can; “Improve our market competitiveness with (product/service) while ensuring maximum efficiency of our development investments”  or “Cut wasteful and redundant spend while getting the most out of our development investments.”  Whatever the call, if done within the organization’s character you have the beginnings of a charter. That being said, an endorsement from Senior Leadership or an Executive Sponsor for the Governance effort is always beneficial. 

Next, for those that aren’t immediately drawn to your effort, it’s time to recruit.  Taking a page once again from Project Management, it’s time to do a Learning Stakeholder Analysis.  This is where you’ll need to look across the organization to determine which leaders have an interest, are involved in, or could impede your efforts.  Typically, a Stakeholder Analysis focuses on the list of people, their position, “advocate” or “threat,” type of communication and frequency.  This will help determine who should be on the initial Program or Governance Board. 

Now its time to consider who, if not you, will be the “Conductor” or “Rotating Conductor” of the Governance Board.  This establishes a lead for the organization of Governance Meetings, but by also rotating the Chair ensures that no one person is perceived as dominating the program.  Shared ownership of Governance Programs or Boards allows for greater buy-in to the effort.  The key is to show a positive impact from Governance versus just another meeting.  Capturing minutes to share with attendees as well as highlighting specific assigned tasks from each meeting will help keep things on track.

As you begin, one of the best ways to engage the group is to begin cataloging all the learning assets and investments.  Whether it is a one-off program, annual event, vendor or inefficient spend on a Corporate Expense Credit Card, try to get your Board Members to share as much as they can regarding their involvement and investments/spend when it comes to Learning and Development.  I’m not naive enough to believe that everyone will be open to sharing all they have.  Try to stay positive and encourage a team approach.  A picture will start to develop in regard to what the Current State of Learning is within the organization.  This will be helpful to identify a starting point that aligns with the overriding goal initially set forth.

What typically comes next will often require some diplomacy or sharing of resources in the short term.  As the pieces come together its time to start building a roadmap for the program.  This phase is often where programs can sink or swim.  If supported and endorsed by Senior Management, the alignment of Learning can have some initial benefits.  This could be through the renegotiation of a contract for a better price point or expansion of service.  Other benefits could include access to more resources and technology. 

Now it’s time to start thinking of how to operationalize the new approach.  Depending on the size and makeup of the organization and previous state of the program, it will be important to decide if moving forward Learning should be; Centralized, Decentralized or Federated.  This can also take form aligning by department, business function or technology.  This alignment begins to show the organization the impact and efficiencies that can be realized from a Governance Program. 

I admit I’m glossing over quite a bit here, but this isn’t intended to be a full-on white paper about Governance.  Once an operational plan has been determined above, it’s important to share the progress and benefits of the Governance Model.  There will likely be skeptics and those who don’t like change.  Commit to a schedule of regular communication about efforts and benefits of the Governance Model.  Leverage the goals set initially and measures that can be observed as part of the communication plan. 

My last piece of advice is to stay vigilant with the Governance Board.  Ensure that this stays a positive and constructive approach aligned to the original goal(s).  If the goal needs to be revised, great.  Just make sure it is agreed upon by the Board.  The reason I call this out is that over time Governance Boards can lose their value through diminished credibility or visibility.  I’ve also seen some fall into the trap of becoming gripe sessions as leaders vacate their positions and are backfilled by proxy members with no vested interest. 

The bottom line to Governance is ensuring it becomes a part of the organization and not a bolt-on to it.  When all the learning assets are performing in harmony like an orchestra, the “sound” is music to the ears.  However, out of tune, can be painful, inefficient and costly.  All the knowledge is out there to show organizations how to implement a program.  However, if that program does not take into account the various traits of the culture and spend enough time listening to the leaders, like any other program it will be destined to fail.  Spend the time up front identify, listening (tuning) and working with various Stakeholders to understand the needs of the organization first.  Then begin to introduce the concepts of what a Governance program can do.  In no time you’ll have a Symphony of Success!