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The new Enterprise Unit training is upon us. Proponents for the seven new Enterprise Units will attend. Originally nine new prospective enterprise units had their business prospectus approved. Of those nine, two have chosen to drop out. For those new units moving forward, the first training session was during the week of March 3. Two more sessions will follow and the proponents will present their business plans to the Steering Committee on May 13. If all goes well, we'll have a number of new Enterprise Units up and running this fiscal year.
Photos, photos, photos! Did I mention photos? I appreciate all who participated in last year's contest. I am hopeful that many more of you are now actively picking up a camera when you go to work. We have used photos in a number of publications and I really don't want to continue to recycle the same old shots. So, go for it! Thanks to all of you who have been taking shots of what you are doing.
Speaking of photos, we have an on-line search engine located on our intranet site. The number of images on the site are, well, less than I would hope we would have there – but it's coming along. It's helpful to have this repository for publications but also can help in other ways to market the program. For Photo Gallery details, please see page 2 of the newsletter.
Finally, I’d like to briefly cover the annual report, project highlights, and brochure. The FY07 annual report for the Enterprise Program is almost done. The document will be short and sweet and, once it's out, I encourage you to read it. My plan is to get the FY08 report out much sooner after the end of the fiscal year. We will also have an associated document with project highlights, which will also be posted on our web site. Last, we have nearly completed work on a new brochure. It's mainly targeted to help raise awareness on the part of Forest Service staff and other clients who know little about the Enterprise Program but will also provide enough information for potential clients to get in touch with a relevant Enterprise Unit.
Until next time, try and stay well (the "crud" has really gotten around this year!), and continue to do the good work you all are doing. It's great stuff!
~Bill Helin, Director, Enterprise Program
TEAMS to Improve Customer Service
Contributed by Bill Hay, TEAMS Unit Leader
On February 17, 2008, TEAMS began a 100-Day Dash! In order to improve customer service, increase efficiencies, and reduce overhead costs, TEAMS began operating under a new organizational structure. As a result, we’ll become a customer and project based unit with the potential for a new culture of servantleadership. The subsidiary concept has been eliminated.
Prior to development of the new organization, 6 employee peers were identified from 111 employees. During FY07, all remaining employees had the opportunity to submit their ideas and proposals for the evolution process to the employee peers. The peers served on the TEAMS Evolution Committee to work alongside of those who were in management positions at that time. The Evolution Committee met twice, in August and September 2007, to review the ideas submitted and draft a new organization chart. The chart was modified and approved by the Steering Committee in October.
Although Bill Hay remains in the Enterprise Unit Leader position, new executive leadership team positions and descriptions have been created: Business Director, Projects Director, Resource Director, and Field Operations Director. Those vacancy announcements will soon be advertised on USAJOBS. Another positive change provides for employee participation on the TEAMS Leadership Team. Six employees will be elected each year to serve in “peer” roles; four will be< employee peers and two will be project liaison peers.
Our customers should begin experiencing the benefits of our new strategy during this fiscal year! Wish us luck on our 100-Day Dash!
Motorcycle GPS mapping. Cone collection. Recreation planning. Trail crews hard at work.
These are just a few brief descriptions of what you will find visually represented on the new Enterprise Program Photo Gallery.
A marketing tool designed for Enterprisers and our partners, the Photo Gallery offers high quality digital photos for use in print, web, exhibits, and other forms of marketing media. From the Photo Gallery, visitors can enter certain search criteria to find just the right photo for a document or view all the photos available at once to find that special shot. Visit the Photo Gallery.
Enterprisers are encouraged to submit photos as often as possible and will find details at the Photo Gallery on photo criteria as well as how to submit your photo. If you have questions, contact Brett Hackman of Recreation Solutions at bhackman@fs.fed.us.
Are you looking for an edge? Something to skyrocket your career so you'll be ahead of the pack? Maybe you're stressed and struggling and you need some support and skills to transform your stress? The Leader's Edge is a professional development series with something for everyone. Toni Stafford's unique one-on-one training format allows for specialized focus on building skills suited to your unique professional situation.
For additional information contact Toni Stafford, Program Specialist in the Enterprise Program Office, at 870-447-2203 or tstafford@fs.fed.us.
Now there’s a communication tool for Enterprisers to share ideas, experiences, and expertise – a resource for Enterprisers to learn and grow. The Enterprise Program Forum offers an avenue for discussion about topics important to Enterprisers. From the Forum, users will be able to post questions and provide comments at their< convenience.
Check in daily or once a month, it’s up to< you! Visit the Forum today and register!
How Round Is Your Beach Ball?
By enterpriser Maple A. Taylor
A major change initiative is announced. Management says to please standby for more information on how everyone will be affected. Rumors fly. Imaginations< soar—some even go off like a Saturn V rocket. But hey, what’s going on here? Why are some people going about their work as usual and appear not to be concerned in the least? How can two employees receiving exactly the same information react so differently?
In her study of organizations experiencing transformation, consultant and author Carol Kinsey Gorman, Ph.D., says that people who deal well with change engage in activities (she calls these ‘counterbalance’) in other areas of their lives, such as exercise, art, and music. “Because employees with counterbalance have fuller, richer lives, they handle business-related stress better and are more effective on the job.”
Maybe our lives are like, well, a beach ball. Deflated, many things can pile up on it, especially during times of stress and change at work. Lying there flat it can literally be buried under the junk of rumor and fear and anxiety. Inflated, even just a little, the junk starts to roll off. As the ball becomes more well-rounded—as our lives do when we inflate them with a variety of healthy and enriching activities—almost nothing can stick to it. Same ball, only more well-rounded.
Just this once I’ll volunteer as a case study. This coming weekend I am taking my ten-year-old granddaughter to her second of three skiing lessons. After her half-day with the instructor, we get a couple of hours to zigzag the slopes together until the lift closes. I’ve got a full work week ahead of me before we hit the slopes, and who knows what sort of crises may arise: With this grand Agency in the throes of transformation, and with all the starts and stops of fledgling business processes, the possibilities seem pretty much open-ended. But come what may, I am so looking forward to going up to the ski area with my grand-daughter this weekend. Last weekend we had a ball.
Enterprising People is a bi-monthly newsletter focusing on Enterprise teams and their partners. Partners and Enterprisers are encouraged to share topics and ideas or join our electronic mailing list by contacting editor Kristi Bray at kabray@fs.fed.us. Thanks You!
