Category: Blog

A CONTINUING SERIES ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS IN HIGHER ED by Mark Hartell, Capital Projects Consultant In the opening article of this series, I argued that project management soft skills are critical to the success of capital projects. We don’t build classrooms, libraries, labs and data centers for themselves; we build them for the programs and services they enable. Projects and managers that don’t attend to soft skills may sometimes meet the hard capital budget and deadline measures but will almost certainly fall short on the essential development and enhancement of internal organization and people capabilities. A narrow “hard skills” focus on the budget and deadline can adversely affect operational budgets in unforeseen ways and lead to poor long term design choices making it more difficult for the organization to meet the service needs of customers/students/faculty etc. Over the next few articles we will look at the five key soft skills needed for success: leadership, communication, influence, team building and creativity. We will look at how we can define each one, why it is important, and how you can apply it. What Is Leadership? What is leadership?  My favourite definition comes from Kevin Kruse – author, speaker and Forbes […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) If the first seven keys to effectiveness are followed, the task force or committee is usually successful. But there is one more step that can make a real difference. For task forces that have a finite ending date or milestone, it’s important to think ahead to the impact of their decisions including: cutting costs, cutting people, and changing policies or protocols. This will give some weight to the recommendations, so that the final decision-making person or body inherits a set of recommendations that have been fully vetted and […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) There is no way to eliminate the reality of institutional politics, but their impact can be mitigated. The best place to start is to follow the previous five keys to committee and task force effectiveness. This is because: Committees without clear purpose are much more likely to be unduly influenced by those with hidden agendas. If the quality of the individual members is not worthy of the purpose of the task force, they may succumb to peer influence. If information about the task force’s work isn’t widely and […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) The second biggest challenge for task forces identified in our survey was ineffective group process. If the committee doesn’t pay enough attention to the group dynamics and process, it won’t be successful, no matter how smart the individual members. Successful task forces: Build relational capital, provide a safe space for brainstorming, and encourage risk taking Establish an intentional plan for communicating with committee members Communicate clearly and regularly with the rest of the campus community Outline a clear process for decision making Creating a Safe Space Special attention […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) As Jim Collins famously discussed in his book Good to Great, the most important decisions that organizations make are personnel decisions. In the case of committees and task forces, the credibility of the task force members will make or break their work. This is especially true of the chair or co-chairs for the task force. These individuals must be chosen for their integrity, reputation, and work ethic. The chair or co-chairs can’t be an official appointment made just because someone happens to have a certain title or position. […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) Best Practice No. 3: Effective Task Forces Need Adequate Resources to Do Their Work To produce work that is worthy of the institution, the task force and committee will need adequate time to invest. How much time participants are expected to commit should be stated up front. Equally important, campus leadership must help participants secure this time. Depending on the nature of the task force, this may include release from other campus responsibilities—at the very least, from other committees. Remember that 35% of the respondents to our survey […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) Best Practice No. 2: Effective Task Forces Follow a Clear Purpose To complete their work effectively, task forces and committees need to be set up for success. As we’ll discuss in the next few sections of this paper, positioning task forces and committees for success requires multiple steps. The first step is to have a charter that clearly states the purpose and scope of the work. Without a clear purpose, the committee’s work is bound to wander and lead to few real outcomes. What does a clear purpose […]

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) Best Practice No. 1: Effective Task Forces Can Answer YES to: “Do We Even Need a Committee For This?” The first question that campus leadership has to answer is whether a committee or task force is even appropriate or required for the task at hand. Given the time invested in these groups, this decision should be carefully weighed against the opportunity cost of redeploying these resources elsewhere. If the critical decision has already been made or if the campus leadership already has a clear […]

<- back to the main page of this report by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) The Scope of the Opportunity Committees and task forces are ubiquitous in higher education, yet, very limited attention is invested to help asses or improve their effectiveness. Whether mandated through shared governance structures or because of noble intentions for participative decision making, task forces and committees abound. In fact, in our survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, approximately 35% of respondents currently serve on 5 committees or more. If the average committee work consumes one hour a week (which is a low estimate when you consider the pre-work, research/preparatory work, meeting time, communication, off-line meetings, etc.), then, easily, more than 10% of our time is being invested here. If we’re spending more than 10% of our time, the work must be important. And indeed most of it is—at least in theory. Some of the institution’s most critical needs—from student retention to strategic planning to hiring—are managed via committees and task forces. Despite noble intentions and charters that are mission-critical, big questions remain as to how effective these groups are. In our same survey, respondents gave an overall effectiveness score of 6.72 […]