| State of Tennessee Department of Transportation
Scope of Work:
Early in the 1990s, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
faced changes and challenges brought on by numerous external and
internal forces. TDOT had to respond to successive federal
transportation laws (ISTEA in 1991 and TEA21 in 1998) requiring
environmental sensitivity, cooperation with various federal and state
agencies, greater workforce diversity, improved intermodal
transportation systems and a more process-driven approach to
construction projects. Internally, TDOT needed to improve its long
term planning, break down barriers among its various divisions, better
recruit and retain professional engineers, reengineer core business
processes and improve management development training. To meet these
challenges, department executives committed to examining their
leadership responsibilities and to institutionalizing a strategic
planning process.
Sterling Institute's approach with TDOT has been to develop
long-term relationships with executives, senior managers and middle
managers to guide the creation of a strategic planning process and
improve management skills. A "quick fix" strategy clearly
was not appropriate. The "slow and steady" approach,
however, has proven to be very successful in our collaboration over
the past eight years including two changes in administration. Sterling
Institute has been meeting with various levels of department managers
monthly since 1995 to guide and coach an organizational change
process. Meetings with the Executive Leadership Team keeps that group
focused on strategic issues. Coaching of Strategic Goal Teams helps
them implement and monitor the five major department goals. Workshops
and seminars with senior managers tie them into the strategic
direction and help them with tactical decisions.
Current work includes management consultation with the department's
Design Division to effect an orderly restructuring. Similar efforts
are active with the Civil Rights and Planning divisions. Team
development work is also underway with the newly formed E-Strategy and
Customer Service cross-functional teams. Sterling Institute's work
with TDOT will continue at least through the summer of 2001.
Accomplishments:
The Department Strategic plan, created
in 1998 and updated annually, has fostered a Department-wide unity of
purpose. A focus on five specific strategic directions - human
resources, transportation system capacity, process improvements, safety
and long range planning -- has created measurable goals and objectives
and high-level teams to oversee progress. This planning process has
served as a model for other Tennessee State agencies. These efforts have
brought clarity of purpose that has resulted in a greater sense of
teamwork and commitment to work process integration by staff, and to a
major business process reengineering of construction project management.
Middle managers and first-line supervisors are re-examining their
performance measures. Newly created department succession planning and
skills development programs are helping all staff adjust to changes in
the organizational culture and to prepare for continued change over the
next decade. |
