The Taming of the Inbox

I had a brief, yet celebrative moment yesterday; I zeroed out my inbox! Yes, for one fleeting and shining moment it was empty.

It’s a little disconcerting that by Monday morning, it will be regenerating, but such is life for the vast majority of us who are connected. Don’t lose hope, you can manage your inbox, but it takes a little effort. And there are huge benefits! Just that small, albeit temporary, victory is just one.

A recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that the average knowledge worker spends 28 percent of the workweek either writing, reading, or responding to email.  While you may not be technically classified a “knowledge worker” there is likely a high correlation to being an “imparting knowledge worker”; as in a teacher or administrator at a Charter School.

My favorite Charter School Administrator recently confessed to having something like 4,000 messages in her inbox. That’s a lot! Can you beat that record?

There are hundreds of excellent articles about this subject, so let’s approach it from an Information Architecture perspective. Like my father always said, “If you start with the right set of tools, the job is much easier”. Consider a couple of tools that should assist you in taming your inbox.

Start with an enterprise class mail system

The single most important step you can take to tame your inbox is to start using a real email solution. My recommendation for education has not changed in 10 years – Microsoft Exchange based email is the gold standard of email systems. It is now available as a free service from Microsoft as a Cloud Based (hosted service) and is called Office 365 for Education.

Hosted Exchange Email is the infrastructure an organization’s email runs on, the manner in which you connect to a hosted Exchange system is entirely up to you. You can use an internet browser, a desktop or laptop client such as Outlook (Mac or PC), an iOS device such as an iPad or iPhone, or any smart phone, or tablet.

Aside from Google mail, the alternatives are not even a close second. And privacy issues alone make me shudder in using Google mail, yes even the enterprise version of Google mail. Just because you are not getting advertising, does not mean your email is not being crawled for content.

I am especially puzzled when I come across schools that are using the “free” email that is included in their webhosting account. What an oxymoron that is! There is nothing free about dealing with the SPAM, the loss of messaging control, and the wide variety of compliance issues that accompany this choice of email systems.

A hosted Exchange email system is reliable, secure, compliant, feature rich, and it’s free. What are you waiting for?

Use Instant Messaging more for short or transitory conversations

Text messaging is quickly overcoming email as the mode of communicating in the digital world, but using it in education presents unique challenges. It is a little difficult to enforce a “sterile” learning environment, free from the disruptions of personal electronic devices (PED) if the teacher is constantly checking her own text messages on a PED in the classroom. 

A much better classroom solution is Lync 2010, another free education solution from Microsoft that is far superior to text messaging than what you find on your PED. Lync 2010 provides Instant Messaging (IM) on the desktop, your laptop, and your smartphone and there is a presence indicator for all of your communication. Don’t underestimate the importance of knowing the presence or availability of your intended recipient.

In addition to IM, Lync allows you to turn your texting into a full on video conference with just a click of the mouse. And you can connect with multiple individuals at the same time. And on top of all of that, you can share documents, transfer files, and even show others what you are viewing on your desktop.

In summary, by using Lync more and email less, you will reduce the endless stream of one liner emails that land in your inbox.

Implement a connected eRM/CRM system

The best improvement I have personally implemented in my inbox taming is Microsoft Dynamics CRM; we call it Education Resource Management or eRM for Charter Schools. I can sum up my experience in four short words – “Feel Free to Delete!”

Using eRM/CRM, allows you to associate an email with a contact, a company, a support case, a contract, an order, a meeting, a telephone call, or a dozen other items, and then DELETE it. The email is retained in the eRM/CRM system and you can now refer to it in context of the information it is associated with.

The most likely reason you keep all of those silly emails in the first place is just in case you might need to refer to it later. Fair enough; but while the search function in your email program is powerful, the association of emails with the people, processes, and things in your world is much more useful.

Not ready for an eRM/CRM system? A well thought out system of folders in your email system will be very helpful.

Utilize SharePoint for document collaboration

Ever notice how many emails can be generated over just one document? You send a document for input from an associate; they make a few changes, and then send it back. Next you send it off for approval, there are a few more changes and the document comes back. And finally you send it off for publication or printing and there are the confirmations and drafts and … well, you get the picture.

One of the most inbox clogging activities we observe is using email as a document collaboration platform. As the complexity and the connectedness of your organization grow, the multiplication effect is an inbox assault. At some point you may just have to call a meeting and sit down with all of those documents and team members to sort it out.

SharePoint changes the dynamics associated with collaborative effort and it will bring great happiness to your inbox. And if you have looked at SharePoint and find it a bit clunky, then you really have not looked closely enough.

If you use the synchronization tools in SharePoint and the network mapping tools in Windows that support SharePoint, you will find that getting a document onto your SharePoint document library is a simple as dragging and dropping or saving to a designated folder on your computer.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention – it’s also free and included in Office 365 for Education.

Summary

There are countless articles, even entire websites devoted to the techniques of managing email. And some of them are excellent. However, designing an efficient Information system will have more overall impact on your inbox than techniques.

Start with an enterprise level (not a consumer grade) email system. Embrace an IM or text messaging system that is integrated in your organization. Connect your email with the people, processes, and things you deal with inside a business management system. And use SharePoint for document collaboration, sharing, and versioning.

Good luck mastering your inbox; it makes for a much more enjoyable weekend.

How To Completely Undo Your IT Management

Truly this is not an article on how to dismantle the technical support mechanism at your school. It is however, a recounting of actual experiences – some of them unpleasant – that you should avoid; that is if you wish to have a better technical management support mechanism in place.

Although it is less painful to consider other’s mistakes, making them yourself has a silver lining. Your mistakes can always be used to point out a bad example, which can be instructive …. to others.

 Here are five of the most common self-defeating behaviors we have seen while managing charter schools:

1.       Paying for advice, then completely ignoring it
2.       Allowing everyone to develop their own agenda
3.       Making significant technology related expenses without involving IT
4.       Expecting short turnaround times for complex projects
5.       Assuming IT management grasps the political and leadership challenges in your school

Paying an expert for advice, then completely ignoring it

Several years ago a generous benefactor came to the religious community where we rented facilities for a small K-4 charter school. He had a terminal condition and was offering a generous gift of money to buy computers for both the school and the religious community (they had educational activities during the week).  I was asked to advise them about the best use of this generosity.

After considering the budget, the stated educational objectives, the current infrastructure, and the cost of managing the resources going forward; we proposed a solution to buy 20 laptop PC’s.   They would integrate seamlessly into the existing infrastructure at the school and add to the collection of PC’s currently used to form a full computer lab.

Unfortunately, at the same meeting, was an individual who had much greater influence with the kindly old gentleman, who was an unflinching MAC user; who, without any of the above mentioned considerations, persuaded the benefactor in the direction of using Apple Macs instead.

Please don’t misunderstand, I liked the MAC’s just fine, but given all of the other considerations it was not a good choice. Three months later I was asked to purchase software for the school/congregation to turn these perfectly good MAC’s into PC’s so they could be used with the existing systems and processes the rests of the school was using.

Presumably you have a relationship with a trusted technology consultant as part of your IT management. If that is not the case, you might consider making some changes. And when you seek advice, carefully consider completely ignoring it.

Allowing everyone to develop their own agenda

Want to stimulate creativity by engaging all levels of your staff in a brainstorming exercise of new ideas? Watch out! If you do this without a mechanism to vet those ideas, debate those ideas, and build consensus around the winning ideas you might be causing more damage than good. Trying to herd cats seems a helpful illustration of this concept, which has at its root great potential, but undirected creates chaos, division, power struggles, and politics.

We welcome creativity, the introduction of new ideas, insight into new discoveries, and the development of improved technology. We applaud all those who keep striving to do things better.

However, when those expressions of creativity become individual agendas, it can be detrimental to the organization as a whole – unless there is consensus building, implementation planning, and adequate training.

Several years ago an ambitious technology teacher determined that interactive white boards were an essential part of the classroom experience. And she was quite persuasive. The school purchased and installed the technology at great expense. The perfectly functioning whiteboards were rarely used by even the supporters of the technology and never used by those who did not want it in the first place.

When lesson plans and teaching styles have to be adapted to adopt a new technology, the failure rate rises in proportion to the change required. And without significant buy-in, a top down implementation, and significant training these kinds of projects will fail.

If you cannot manage the process of building consensus and properly implementing a project, then at least do it in a pilot program where the technology can be proved, and likely improved upon, without breaking the bank.

Making significant technology related purchases without input from IT

So common is this scenario that you only have to say these two words “Surprise, Surprise!”, and most technicians immediately know they have been handed a poorly specified, often incompatible, or otherwise problematic new piece of hardware or software to install.

“And could you have it installed yesterday?”

Not long ago we reviewed the USAC Form 471 for a small K-4 charter school that had been approved for over $25,000 of servers, switches, wireless controllers, and access points. While the expected reimbursement was exciting and gratifying, the components specified were not appropriate for the size and makeup of the schools infrastructure. It was the equivalent of putting Boeing 777 engines on a Piper Cub.

Granted, there are times when purchasing decisions cannot wait. And perfect scenarios don’t exists in every school where decisions are adequately considered and due diligence provided. And in a large view, this is a process of continual improvement.

Nevertheless, do yourself a huge favor and run technology purchasing past your IT team and avoid the headaches for both of you. There are two benefits in doing this. First, you will have a much greater chance of getting the right equipment and you may also spend less for the solution.

And this is especially germane to new construction or remodeling projects. Finding that you need a dozen new CAT6 network cables installed is exponentially more difficult after that final coat of paint has been applied.

Expecting short turnaround times for complex projects

Whenever I hear the preface of “How soon can you…” I wonder if adequate consideration has been given to a project or purchase. It’s understandable, logistics now make PC’s appear overnight and you can have an entire computer lab sitting in boxes ready for installation in a few days.

But that does not always happen. We recently placed an order for new lab equipment and were given a 10 day delivery notice. Three weeks later part one of two arrived and it was a full month before the final components were delivered.  It was embarrassing for us and understandably frustrating for the school waiting for the project to be completed.

From a cost perspective, rushing a project universally equates to added costs. And inadequate planning is the most common reason for projects to go awry.

Investigate early, specify clearly, and communicate regularly with your provider about order processing, shipping points, tracking numbers, and any known shipping delays.

Assuming IT grasps the political and leadership challenges of your school

Our management model and the model used by many charter schools are to utilize part-time support resources. In fact our most efficient model places support engineers in the school only a few times each week. And presumably that time is spent solving complex technical issues, rather than circumnavigating power struggles, personality clashes, and addressing individual agendas.

In large measure these are the realities of any organization, so one of the most powerful tools we have used to overcome these very normal challenges is to hold periodic (monthly at least) Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings.

TAC meetings are an invaluable source of information for all involved. Problems can be better identified, the merits of proposed projects can be openly debated, and consensus can be built. A well formed TAC will consist of Technology Managers, Administrators, Department Heads, and representatives of other significant stakeholders. Parent and BOD representatives are especially helpful in this exchange and often provide invaluable “end user” insight.

Summary

Placing your technology team into the appropriate organizational level is an important first step in improving your IT management. Consider that most fortune 500 companies now have Chief Information Officers as part of the highest levels of their management team.

Information systems drive so much school activity and management process that you cannot afford to view IT as the guys who fix computers. And tolerating inadequate IT support staff is very costly. If you don't have the level of expertise you need, get it.

For concrete ways to do this, consider making improvements in the five areas listed above. A helpful moniker is “Just do it!”,… not “Let’s undo it”.

Putting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution to work in your school

A core assumption in the Charter School movement is competition. Most competitive measures are geared toward educational outcomes. But before you can compete in the area of outcomes you must compete in the arena of sound business management. Running the business side of a Charter School is enormously challenging. In addition to the key metric of recruiting students, you must manage all kinds of relationships with parents, teachers, administrative staff, board members, volunteers, the community, vendors, and regulatory agencies.
Managing a school is a relationship management intensive undertaking! And how well you manage these crucial relationships will have a far reaching impact on your organization. But how many of you are using any kind of a Customer Relationship Management program? More specifically, how many of you are using a CRM system that is deeply integrated into your existing information systems?
Increasing numbers and types of businesses are adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.  CRM systems cover a lot of territory: sales, marketing, case management, and documentation; so making general observation here is not really going to help. But try to imagine how different your school would look if you had a system in place that could help quantify measures of performance, more clearly define and manage processes, automate administrative tasks, centralize information, and increase the capacity of your staff to work in a more unified manner.
A CRM system is not a simple solution to implement, but managing the business of a Charter School is not a simple undertaking. And while complex systems require thoughtful planning, testing, and deployment; the complexity exists whether or not you have such programs. Traditional school districts have a huge advantage. Although they deal with the same array of relationships they also have significant resource advantages and economics of scale, often employing an entire team to accomplish what a solitary administrator is expected to do.
The best way to overcome this inherent disadvantage is a Customer Relationship Management System designed specifically for Charter Schools.
From a funding perspective, students and their families are your paying customers. But in reality you have a long list of “customers”, or groups without which you could not function.  And as simple as it may sound, keeping them happy is most likely to occur when using a Customer Relationship Management system designed just for that purpose.
Nobody likes a hard sell, and perhaps that is what comes to mind when you hear about CRM software. In fact effective CRM programs do more than just build brand awareness, deliver consistent marketing messages, and track interaction with potential customers until you “sell” them. CRM systems help you manage all of the aspects of the important relationships that define your organization and make it as easy as possible to do business with you.
Customer Relationship Management software has been successfully implemented in all kinds of businesses, and for the same reasons it makes sense for your school. Consider things you could do with a CRM system designed for a Charter School:
Contact Management

• Centralize the essential contact information for students and their families and tie it to their Student Information Records
• Consolidate all other contact lists for the school into a single source and enjoy a much more accurate source of information
• Identify relationships among the various contacts to better understand communication requirements and preferences
• Communicate effortlessly with any combination of individuals within groups and track those communications for accountability
• Streamline the records update process by distributing the task to the end points of interaction
• Provide financial and case management records for context (as allowed by security roles) within your contact information

Marketing

• Create, execute, and measure campaigns for recruiting, fundraising, and volunteering
• Communicate with potential students at the frequency and intensity of their interest level
• Track all interactions with potential students, donors, and volunteers and measure defined goals of those relationships
• Build better relationships through consistent messaging, improved responsiveness, and uniform processes
• Manage Social Media campaigns

Case Management

• Establish workflow and manage documentation for new student from application to entrance
• Manage facilities and contractors with workflows and centralized documentation 
• Manage support issues (help desk) for all kinds of issues - technical, personnel, facilities, finance
• Track grants and funding opportunities with better reminders of deadlines and tasks management
• Comply with Board Meeting minutes publications using permission based workflow and oversight
• Manage questions, complaints, or discipline with current students (outside of SIS)
• Streamline communication with key team members by centralizing information stores
• Develop a centralized policy and procedure knowledgebase
• Manage field trips, group events, and meetings

Fee Management

• Manage student fees and simplify the reconciliation process for finance
• Centralize accounting for all sales or service fee collection for all groups in or out of the  student store
• Improve the process for collecting library fees, yearbooks , DVD sales, and sporting equipment
• Integrate the accounting and development functions for fundraising and donation management
• Document and improve collection for property damage fines
• Improve inventory management for all product based items

As you can see, this is a pretty comprehensive list of features touching many departments and individuals both in and out of the school. As such the architecture of this system is vital. In order for this system to succeed it must have a common and familiar interface, utilize existing rather than new policies and procedures, and it must be a cloud based solution with unrestricted availability from anywhere on any device.
Our recommended solution is Microsoft Dynamics CRM online configured specifically for use in the Charter School Community and managed with familiar tools you use every day – Microsoft Outlook, Word, and the other Microsoft Office programs. But whatever solution you choose it must be capable of delivering administrative efficiencies to support the non-academic aspects of your school.
One last point - while we did not directly address the educational side of your organization, it too will be greatly enhanced by a CRM system.