Training and Development: Course Descriptions

2010 Sterling Criteria: An Overview for Managing for Sustainability

• Do you know the best practices used by excellent organizations to achieve exemplary results?
• Do you use a systematic approach to organizational improvement?
  

Organizations have used the Sterling/Baldrige Criteria successfully to manage and improve their performance since 1987. They have faced different challenges over the years, but have successfully addressed changing conditions by having strategies focused on their vision of the future. The Sterling Management System helps organizations ask the right questions to comprehensively look at their management of processes for today and their planning and execution for a sustainable future.

This session will focus on the seven categories of best practices upon which the system is based. Through lecture, discussion, examples from Sterling Award recipients, table exercises, and reflections, participants will be able to:

• Understand how linking vision, strategies, measures, and work at all levels enables your organization to improve communication, productivity, and effectiveness.
• Identify the most important success factors for their organizations
• Use the Criteria to determine their strengths and opportunities against research-based, sustained standards of excellence
• Engage and unite leaders and the workforce in accomplishing goals through establishing a culture of excellence, aligning processes, having the right measurement system, and focusing resource

Take-away:  Sterling Baseline Assessment Tool

One and two-day sessions available
*Prerequisite knowledge for all other courses
**Required for all new Sterling Examiners

STERLING Criteria II: Connections      

Prerequisite: Introduction to Sterling Criteria or Equivalent

Based on customer requests, this training is a more in-depth look at the Sterling Criteria. This full day will immerse participants in examining the connections between and among the Organizational Profile, six approach categories, and the results.

Through lecture, exercises, articles, and real-life examples, participants will:

• Learn, discuss, connect, and apply the deeper elements of the Criteria with a special focus on Core Competencies and Work Systems
• Better understand the concepts of Approach, Deployment, Learning, and Integration
• Learn how to target improvement opportunities through the use of the Criteria questions and data to define gaps

 Take-away: Improvement Opportunity Connections Matrix

One Day: Offered as Organizational Training 

LEADING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Prerequisite: Introduction to the Sterling Criteria or Equivalent

Based on customer requests, this updated training focuses on more practices of successful leaders as they focus on making the organization better for all stakeholders. Participants will explore linkages between Leadership and other categories and learn from great practices of other leaders.

Through lecture, exercises, leadership articles, and real-life examples, participants will:

• Learn key elements of high performing leadership systems and how to create a culture of excellence
• Learn the impact of environmental scans and innovation on strategic planning
• Learn how to engage and lead people through change
• Complete an individual or team leadership assessment and create an action plan for improvement

Take-aways:  Environmental Scan and Leadership Assessment Tools

One Day: Offered as Organizational Training

Beginning Process Improvement

Requirement: At least 3 people who work in the same process must attend as a team.

This course is targeted for the front-line workforce.  We start with a short overview of the Sterling Management System and how process improvement fits in the big picture. Prior to training, participants should determine the process they would like to improve, and come prepared with any available information or data.

Through discussion and hands-on exercises, participants will:

• Define the perceived need for process improvement
• Use a beginning Plan, Do, Check, Act Model to evaluate their current process
• Learn about and use beginning quality tools
• Identify gaps in the existing process
• Determine strategies for improvement
• Create an action plan to implement the process improvement and review progress

Take-aways: Beginning Quality Tool Pack and Improvements for your own Process

One Day: Offered as Organizational Training

UNDERSTANDING THE STERLING NAVIGATOR

• What if you just want to get started in the process and people don’t know the language?
• What if you want to complete a Navigator self-assessment at the same time?
  

This facilitated session includes guiding employees through performance excellence terminology and examples so they have a better understanding of the questions in the Navigator survey. As a result, your organization receives a higher level of feedback.

1/2-day and full-day sessions available

Building Your Organizational Profile

Prerequisite: Introduction to Sterling Criteria or Equivalent
Requirement for Regional Training: At least 3 people from your organization must attend as a team.

• Do all employees know the critical success factors for your organization?
• Would they all agree on the same ones?
• What are the key challenges you face?
• How do you incorporate this information in strategic planning?

Completing an Organizational Profile is the first step in the self-assessment process.  It defines who you are as an organization, what’s important to you and your customers/stakeholders, and what core and support processes are critical to desired results. The Profile includes your organization’s culture, environment, relationships, and competitive environment. Also included are strategic challenges, and performance improvement systems you have in place.

In this facilitated workshop your team will:

• Outline answers to Profile questions (suggested - bring one laptop per team)
• Determine critical success factors
• Determine key challenges and how they may impact your strategic plan
• Determine existing gaps in information and how to fill them
• Determine opportunities for improvement that can be assigned to work teams
• Create an action plan to complete, review, and communicate the draft Organizational Profile for additional feedback

 Take-away: Profile, Process Categories, Results - Connections Matrix

One Day: Offered as Organizational Training

ORGANIZATIONAL SELF-ASSESSMENT TRAINING: MEASURING YOUR ORGANIZATION AGAINST WORLD-CLASS STANDARDS

• Does your organization want a fast-track start in assessing itself for performance excellence?
• Do you want to identify parts of the system you have in place and some gaps you can start to address?

This course includes an intensive study of the Sterling Criteria and Core Values that drive high performance in organizations. You will identify key business factors, build your organizational profile, create a basic outline of your organizations processes that address each category of the Criteria, and create an action plan for using that information to write a Sterling Challenge application or just to use for organizational improvement.

Three-day Training
We recommend sending teams to this training or scheduling on-site.
Individuals, of course, are also welcome.

Balanced Scorecard for Performance Excellence

• Are you getting the results you want?
• How do you begin with the end in mind?
• Are you measuring the right things?

A Balanced Scorecard helps organizations examine and balance measures needed to drive improvement results and satisfy all stakeholders. Learn to identify these measures and link them back to your organization's improvement efforts.

One and Two-day sessions available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

Leading to Performance Excellence

• Do you have leaders, managers or a leadership system?
• What are some of the best practices in leadership?
• How does leadership impact organizational results?

Leadership is critical to driving performance excellence in an organization. Learn how you can lead the change, support the performance improvement process, and begin to preserve knowledge in an environment of constant change.

One-Day session available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

Knowledge Management: Leading a Learning Organization

• What is knowledge management and why is it important?
• How does your organization build, share, and use personal and organizational knowledge?
• How does knowledge management drive organizational goals?

Knowledge Management is critical to organizational efficiency and success. As employees move to other jobs or retire, you lose valuable experience and information. Learn how to put systems in place to preserve that knowledge. Organizational information is part of the Knowledge Management System. Storing, filing, and finding information becomes an issue that affects availability to the people who need it to make daily decisions.

One-Day session available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

Getting Started on the Sterling Challenge

• What does it involve?
• How do we form teams?
• How do we engage other people?

This training session focuses on how to develop your teams for maximum effectiveness in completing your Sterling Challenge application. Tips and tools for engaging other employees in your organization will be included.

1/2-day or full-day session available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

How to Prepare a Sterling/Baldrige Application

• What are some tips and tools you can use in compiling an application?
• How do you determine the WOW’s and how do you highlight them?
• What else do you need to know?

This workshop will focus on the most effective approaches organizations have used to complete the application process for the Sterling Challenge or the Governor’s Sterling Award.

1/2-day or full-day session available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

Internal Assessors Training: Building Capacity to Assess Organizational Performance and Write Feedback for Improvement

• How can you build Performance Excellence expertise in your organization?
• What if you can’t commit the time to becoming Sterling Examiners?
• How can you evaluate and write feedback within your own organization to drive continuous improvement and organizational performance excellence?

Participants will examine the Sterling assessment processes used to evaluate management practices. You will learn how key business factors shape the process, how to find key strengths and opportunities for improvement based on the Sterling Criteria and how to write relevant, understandable, and actionable feedback. Your team will also create an action plan for next steps in conducting an assessment of your organization.

Three-day session available
Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent

Evaluating Applications
Sterling Examiners Only

• How do you write feedback on the case study?
• How do you score appropriately using the guidelines

This workshop will help new examiners learn how to identify key success factors from the Organizational Profile, how to identify and write comments for strengths and opportunities in approach, deployment, learning, and integration.

Prerequisite: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent
*Required for all new Sterling Examiners

Sterling Examiner Training
Sterling Examiners Only

• What is the highest level of learning about this process that you can attain personally and to help your organization?

This intensive training is part of your development as a Sterling Examiner. You will have completed your initial feedback report and will be working with a variety of teams to learn and improve your skills. Activities will include a reinforcement of your preliminary training, skill building in feedback consensus processes, and an overview of the site-visit process.

Three-day session
Prerequisites: Sterling Criteria Training or Equivalent
Evaluating Applications
*Required for all Sterling Examiners

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