4-D Systems’ Assessment Dashboards (August 2011—Enhancements)
We constantly work to add features our (free) on-line assessment management dashboards. If you are currently a 4-D Dashboard user, you are now automatically a “Master Dashboard” user. We recently (old news) announced that Master Dashboard users can create “Internal” and “External” “Sub Dashboards.” The only differences between the two kinds are how we invoice for delivered Assessment Reports, and rebated fees.
- We roll all costs for “Master Dashboards” and “Internal Sub Dashboards” into a single invoice to the Master Dashboard owner.
- In contrast, we invoice each “External Sub Dashboard” user separately and rebate 25% of received revenue to the Master Dashboard that created it.
We have several new features on Team Development Assessment (TDA) dashboards as of August 2011. You can now:
- Send an e-mail to a client, providing them an “Activity Observer” dashboard. This allows your clients to monitor their 4-D TDA activity. Of course, these “observers” cannot see assessment results as all results are confidential to the teams and individuals who did them.
o See the number of currently active assessments displayed in a “green” circle. Clicking on the circle displays the status of the open assessments.
o See the number of TDAs during the past six months in a “blue” circle. As above, clicking on the circle provides a status report.
- Master dashboards have an additional “red” circle that shows the number of assessments six months overdue. As above, clicking on the circle provides a status report. On PDF reports if an assessment score lands in the white quintile, the arrow will be colored gray instead of white to improve visibility.
- You can type #recent into the dashboard search to view assessments that have closed within 30 days.
- Search results now indicate whether a team is active or not.
- A warning prompt appears when entering more than 16 participants in a TDA.
- You can now move teams to different organizations within the same client. The “Move Team” button is below the “Create/Manage TDA” button on your dashboards.
- A “Forgot Password” feature is now available on the dashboard login screen.
- A new Learning tool, “The Fifth Force”, is available on www.4-DSystems.com (Found on the Become a Provider Tab).
- 3 new files can be downloaded on www.4-DSystems.com:
o ‘Fifth Force’ Briefing – Blue Background.ppt
o ‘Fifth Force’ Briefing – White Background.ppt
o Practicum.doc
- 2 files have been updated on www.4-DSystems.com:
o Pre-workshop Conversation with Team Leaders.doc
o Workshop Participation Information.doc
- English-United States PDF Reports now will correctly display participation reports with unusually high volumes of participants
We continue to add new features requested by users every few days.
One-day 4-D “Practicum”
A practicum provides supervised practical application of a previously studied theory.
4-D Systems offers a new event to reinforce post-workshop application of 4-D processes. Repetition powerfully reinforces learning and enhances ability to use these processes. These are very high-leverage events, capitalizing on workshop knowledge.
Content:
The presenter/facilitator will discuss the proposed agenda with the team leader, selecting from the following topics
• Focus on one or two behaviors chosen by (re) assessment results
• Practicing the 4-D request
• Processing dilemmas with the Context Shifting Worksheet (CSW)
Participants:
Suitable participants are those who, for the most part, have previously attended a 4-D Workshop (three-days). In other words, it is not necessary that every participant previously attended a 4-D Workshop, just that a majority attended. This is not a tutorial on 4-D processes; it is a forum to practice and hone applications of 4-D processes.
Presenters/Facilitators:
4-C Coaches who have demonstrated abilities as stand-up trainers lead these events, assisted by the client’s “Client Program Manager” (CPM) when they are both willing and available.
Cost:
We bill costs for NASA teams as a one-day event, per 4-D GSA pricelist, at about $5,500. We bill any CPM support separately as CPM work. The price for NASA clients is the GSA event price plus travel hours and travel costs for one person. (We can waive costs and use NASA’s APPEL funds when circumstances warrant.)
Biggest Mistake You Can Make Managing an Assessment
WARNING: Failing to heed this warning and reduce or reorganize this assessment will likely diminish both you, and 4-D Systems, in the eyes of your clients. The biggest mistake you can make in setting up a Team Development Assessment (“TDA”) is including too many people. Clients frequently request excessive participation because they do not understand the importance of the word “Development” in TDA, focusing instead on the word “Assessment.” They want broad assessments when the real point is focused developmental action.
As explained in our on-line “Learning Tools,” team leaders sometimes request participants outside their “span-of-control” (supervisory control). Modern organizations do not normally have more than about ten people reporting to a given supervisor because greater numbers dilute their ability to exercise accountability for their subordinates’ actions. Exceeding the team leader’s span-of-control dilutes the ability of the team members to take the most important step in the TDA process, performing teambuilding actions based on the data in the TDA report.
If your client’s “span-of-control” seems excessive, work with them as a consultant to see if they have an optimal organizational structure. One exception is “first-line-supervisors,” for example, machinists in production organizations or police captains. They frequently have as many as 25 subordinates. It is also a mistake to include people outside the team leaders’ span-of-control like customers, unless they are full participants in the action phase of the team’s process.
Another irrecoverable error is to combine sub-teams, with their own leaders in a larger assessment. This diffuses the data, much like a child who stirs primary colors together yielding the color gray. Focused action, addressing a sub-team’s specific performance limitations is nearly impossible because the data have been washed-out. The one exception is when sub-teams have too few members, e.g. four or less, to protect respondents’ anonymity. In this case, you want have to (carefully) combine sub-teams.
Finally, a TDA with more than 20 or so respondents generates data can be so voluminous that it is onerous to process.
