Communicating Up Down and All Around Finding The

Communicating Up, Down, and All Around “Finding The Common Values We All Share”

Presenters Marlene Garcia, Assistant Deputy Chief Probation Officer, Southern District of Florida Mike Fitzpatrick, Chief Probation Officer, Southern District of New York

Communication

Simon Sinek How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Why is it important to Understand “My Why”. Aligning “My Why” with my “Organizational Why”

The Words Which Bind Us Together 1) Go to www. menti. com, enter the following code: 434828 2) Enter up to 5 nouns or verbs from the “Personal Why” statement that you just created: Noun – Person, place, or thing Verb – Action word

Southern District of New York Mike became the chief probation officer in 2009, after serving in various roles as a pretrial services officer, in two districts, for 16 years. Took over an agency that was in a state of turmoil. Was told that communication was a major problem in the office.

Southern District of Florida Marlene became an assistant deputy chief in 2010, after serving in various roles as a probation officer in the southern district of Florida. Selected as assistant deputy chief during a critical time in the system – sequestration, shortage of staff and diminishing resources Communication was vital tool during this time of crisis

Attempts to Address Communication Issues Messages From The Chief Suggestion Box Asking Staff For Input at Staff Meetings

Communication Exercise An Ancient Tale an Interactive Exercise

Is Communication The Real Problem? Harvard Business Review, Feb 22, 2017 “Poor Communication” is Often a Symptom of a Different Problem” , written by Art Markman. Author states “criticisms of broad topics like communication are a symptom, not a diagnosis”. Suggests that it is crucial to determine what the solutions might be.

FJC Executive Team Seminar Managing Organizational Transition August 2012 Area That Scored Poorly To what extent do you… Feel that your supervisor encourages your development To a great extent To some extent To no extent at all 16. 7% 27. 8% 55. 6%

FJC Executive Team Seminar Managing Organizational Transition August 2012 Area That Scored Poorly To what extent do you think the staff in your unit Feel that you encourage your development To a great extent To some extent To no extent at all 66. 7% 0. 0% 33. 3%

FJC Executive Team Seminar Managing Organizational Transition August 2012 To a great extent To some extent To no extent at all Feel that your supervisor encourages your development 16. 7% 55. 6% 27. 8% Feel that you encourage your development 66. 7% 33. 3% 0. 0%

SDNY Probation’s Version of Mean Tweets List the factors or circumstances, if any, that are hindering the leadership team's effectiveness. Appears that their personality disorders d(sic) not allow them to see the importance of morale. If you could change one thing to make the leadership team more effective, what would you change? Replacement of top management List the factors or circumstances, if any, that are contributing to the leadership team's effectiveness. By luck

FJC Executive Team Seminar Organizational Culture Assessment March 2013 Areas That Scored Poorly Is there someone at work who encourages your development? At what levels are decisions made? Are you allowed to participate in significant decisions that effect your work?

Management Team Read “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, written by Patrick Lencioni Completed exercise where we rated our team in the five dysfunctions (Absence of Trust; Fear of Conflict; Lack of Commitment; Avoidance of Accountability; Inattention to Results).

Assessment Results Lack of Avoidance of Absence of Trust Fear of Conflict Commitment Accountability Inattention to Results 3. 7 5. 5 4. 4 6. 0 Absence of Trust - The confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group. In essence, teammates must get comfortable being vulnerable with one another. Avoidance of Accountability - The unwillingness of team members to tolerate the interpersonal discomfort that accompanies calling a peer on his or her behavior and the more general tendency to avoid difficult conversations.

Activities taken to Address Results Avoidance of Accountability Publication of Standards (DSS, Currency Reports) Holding both officer and SUSPOs responsible for currency Trust All managers took part in 360 assessments The members of the senior management team all provided officers with examples of career disappointments that they had experienced. Releasing management meeting minutes to entire office.

Activities taken to Address Results (cont. ) Eliminate field sheets Remove limits on AWS Give employees input on their performance evaluations Give employees input on their manager’s performance evaluations

Created District Leadership Program 29 officers were admitted into a two year program Placed into groups which completed the following projects: 1) A redesign of our new officer training program. 2) A team building event which took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3) The creation of a workplace efficiency committee which identifies processes in our office that they deemed inefficient, with solutions being identified. 4) A redesign of our employee recognition program. 5) The creation of an employee relations committee which holds town hall meetings where employees can voice concerns, which are then communicated to the chief and deputy chief. 6) A cultural awareness event.

District Leadership Program Survey Responses How would you rate the overall quality of the District Leadership Program?

District Leadership Program Survey Responses Question - Please describe your experience in this program, and indicate what changes (if any) that you anticipate making in your leadership style as a result of completing this program? The information I learned in the program was extremely informative, and has helped me to understand identify my style of working as well as my peers. I wish this program had been available to me earlier in my career. A job well done! It was a great learning experience that added another dimension to the workplace. The collaboration, interaction and support of management also assisted with making the process fun and worthwhile. I would love to see more employees have the opportunity to benefit from this program. I thought the program all was excellent. Provided an ability for officers to engage in meaningful and thought provoking training. Highly recommend additional DISC evaluations going forward. Thank you

Southern District of Florida Leaderhip Development Program History of the Program – 3 years in place - 56 staff members completed the program Results of implementation of the program How has the LDP affected promotional process for employees who have entered and completed

Trust “Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships”. Stephen Covey

Closing Why is the development of officers so important? Pragmatically, we all know that in regards to our federal probation and pretrial services career, we all have an “Expiration Date”, which falls on the last day of the month in which we turn 57. One of the most important roles of a leader is succession planning. By creating district leadership programs, our district have been able to tap into our most important resources (people), and we have been able to identify the future leaders of our organizations.

MITAGS June 1994

Shane Ferguson Rozell Hollingsworth Jeff Thomason CUSPO Matt Brown EDTX EDKY Margaret RRRozell ID CUSPO Brad Whitley Vigil NDNY DCUSPO, Gina Baumann CUSPO DCUSPO MDNC NM NM Mike Fitzpatrick CUSPO SDNY Willie Torres CUSPO NJ