Building Capacity for Cross-Functional Synergy. Associates of COLR assisted functional managers of a local bank to improve how their team interacts in the context of critical process issues. Action mapping was used to organize and create meaning around interview data, and to highlight barriers to learning and developmental opportunities for the team. Through an introductory workshop, the managers learned about systems thinking as it relates to their core business process and to their team dynamics, and about productive dialogue as a way of managing in complexity. The workshop emphasized self-assessment and reflection on group processes. A follow-up workshop focusing on building skills in productive dialogue was also developed.

In partnership with the Chief Lending Officer of the bank, we wrote an article describing parts of this intervention entitled "Bridging Organizational Learning Theory and Practice: Case Study of the Action Map Process."

Article
Poster

Contact: Vicki Tardino and Kimberlee Einspahr

Formative Program Evaluation. We worked with a group of 15 partnerships who interact collaboratively to support each other's learning. Each partnership represents a cooperative effort between a school and a university. Each partnership engaged in enhancing the professional development of preserve teachers, school and university faculty. The role COLR fills is two fold: to help each partnership conduct their own evaluation, and to assist the Collaborative as a whole to better understand its impact on the partnerships. We are now in our fifth year of work with the Collaborative. In a major intervention we introduced the Balanced Scorecard approach to strategic planning and evaluation to all partnerships. This has resulted in a marked increase in the quality of the action plans and the evaluation reports for almost all of the partnerships. The Balanced Scorecard approach is easily adapted to strategic planning.

Contact Richard Harvey or Tom Kramer for more information about this project.

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How do Partnerships Learn? We recently conducted interviews of members of most of the partnerships referred to above. The interviews focused on how partnerships learn within their own team, from other partnerships within and outside the Collaborative, and from the Collaborative as a whole. Major findings suggest that partnerships have learned a great deal about have to implement the professional development model for teacher education. To achieve this outcome collaboration between the school and university partners is essential. "Sharing" and "reflection" were frequently mentioned as means of solidifying learning, both within a partnership and across partnerships. An unexpected finding was the extent of "spillover" from partnerships to their schools and universities. Finally, the Collaborative itself was seen as an important source of both direct and indirect support to the partnerships for learning and in "spreading the word" about PDSs. Contact Tom Kramer for more information about this project.

Contact Tom Kramer or Merrie Miller for more information about this project.

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Characteristics of Effective Collaboration. We worked with a local social service organization that is organized as a collection of 18 individual agencies. These agencies are arranged within the overall organization under the expectation that they will work collaboratively with each other to deliver services, and that collaboration is an effective model. COLR conducted an assessment of the collaboration activities, their characteristics, supports and barriers to effective implementation.

Contact Ed Sabin or Christine Luebbert for more information about this project.

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Facilitating a Reflective Learning Process with Faith-based Organizations. We assisted a partnership of approximately 25 different faith groups throughout the metropolitan area. The Partnership requested assistance from COLR to facilitate the interactions of the membership in a learning and reflective process as they respond to challenges and plan for the future. The initial phase included guiding the process of gathering information and perspectives within the group, including conducting interviews with the leaders of major faith groups. Subsequent phases included facilitation of discussions and reflection throughout the yearlong process. Outcomes include the development of a common vision, building capacity for change within their organization to deal with their rapidly evolving environment, and building capacity for effective actions to take to meet their common goals.

Contact Merrie Miller or Ed Sabin for more information about this project.

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Application of Learning Histories. A community-based project completed six years of activity supported through external funding. COLR is working with a planning group to assist the project to accomplish three outcomes:

1. through a reflection process, to understand what has made the project successful,
2. to question assumptions that were the basis for the operation of the project, and
3. use these results to revitalize the project through the acquisition of additional funding. This effort is focusing more specifically on learning about the interdisciplinary nature of the project, the learning process itself, and how to impact sustainability. A key methodology employed is learning histories supplemented by focus groups and possibly one open space meeting.
   

Contact Vicki Tardino or Christine Luebbert for more information about this project.

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Learning from an Employee Survey-Feedback Process. A local benefits firm completed an employee climate survey and will be feeding the data back to their associates. COLR designed a process to not only feed back the information, but to create constructive dialogue between supervisors and associates to 1) assist the organization to achieve a deeper understanding of core processes, and 2) build the capacity of the organization to stand back, reflect on action, and develop alternative actions.

Contact Christine Luebbert or Vicki Tardino for more information about this project.

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Board Development, Strategic Management, Financial Operations. COLR is working in partnership with the Center for Social Justice Education and Research at St. Louis University to provide assistance to a small number of agencies funded through a local umbrella social service agency. By combining resources both Centers can more effectively assist a small number of agencies in more effective board development, strategic planning, and financial/operational management. A significant issue in this effort is for the two centers to learn how to develop effective partnering arrangements.

Contact Steve Wernet or Tom Kramer for more information about this project.

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Organizational Learning Development Plan - Saint Louis University. COLR is currently working through the Department of Human Resources to work with University divisions over the next 12 months. The primary goal COLR has is to assist various divisions to build their own knowledge and internal capacity to use organizational learning principles and practices as part of how they operate in achieving their own objectives. In so doing the effect of reaching our primary goal would be to move the University as a whole toward becoming an organization that more effectively learns, adapts and renews itself.

Our plan incorporates four levels of activity:

• Offering introductory "awareness building" workshops
• Planning with interested division Vice Presidents/Directors to create a developmental strategy for building their division's capability to incorporate organizational learning principles and practices into the functioning of their operation
• Offering one or more workshops for division personnel to build deeper and more advanced skills within interested divisions
• Organizational change consulting with the division to imbed organizational learning principles and practices into the fabric of the division.

Contact Tom Kramer or Dave Munz for more information about this project.

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Workshops. The members of COLR have delivered a number of different workshops over the past two years. A sample of these includes:

• OL 101 Learning for a Change: Core Concepts and Tools for Organizations
• Learning to Manage Change: Strategies to Impact Organizational Success. Jointly sponsored by COLR and the St. Louis Area EAPA Chapter.
• Organizing the Learning Organization
• Using Teams to Manage the Impact of Change
• Data Driven Strategy Development for School Improvement Planning
• Using a Balanced Scorecard to Measure and Plan for School Improvement
• Advancing the Balanced Scorecard: A Spectrum of Practice