Region 16 and DEED Come Together to Expertly Deliver Services During Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. education industry faced major challenges. With most learning forced to move online and with new technologies such as Zoom needing to be adopted, educational providers were scrambling.
This uncertainty certainly affected Region 16 and DEED – two government-operated Educational Centres, collectively consisting of hundreds of employees providing services in three western U.S. states. Given the new and evolving set of circumstances, the two providers realized that it was imperative to work together. But first, it was necessary to establish strategic alignment across both organizations to ensure the optimal delivery of high-quality educational services for all geographic service areas.
Overcoming a Primary Challenge
As comprehensive education centres serving three states, both Region 16 and DEED faced a unique challenge: the organizations needed assistance in aligning with a several State Departments of Education, whose respective requirements had shifted due to the emerging pandemic.
Bridging the Gap
The situation prompted the two organizations, who were accustomed to operating separately, to bridge the gap between their teams – and both providers realized that they needed help to do so. Region 16 and DEED elected to connect with SME Strategy, who worked closely with the teams, to clearly define a three-year collective goal, enhance respective organizational values and behaviours, and prioritize areas of focus.
“Employees from our two teams needed to recognize that our combined efforts form a more extensive, cohesive unit, even though we work for different organizations.”
-Tamara Van Wyhe, Alaska State Director, Region 16 Comprehensive Center
Achieving Alignment
In working with Region 16 and DEED, SME Strategy coordinated numerous state-wide webinars and meetings with their executives to ensure sufficient involvement and participation from each leadership team. In total, 25 leaders from both organizations were involved.
A collective group identity was successfully established, along with agreed-upon values and working practices that guaranteed both teams were able to regard themselves as a cohesive unit. Moreover, SME Strategy evaluated each organization’s strategic plans and worked with executives to improve their understanding of mission-critical and mission-focused leadership abilities such that a strong culture may be fostered for the combined enterprise.
The Desired Outcome
After completing SME Strategy’s strategic alignment process, both government agencies reported an increased level of involvement from all internal stakeholders and an overall increase in leadership capabilities. This initiative and corresponding alignment assisted the collective organization to improve team communication, project tracking, and responsiveness.
SME Strategy continued its engagement with Region 16 and DEED following the strategic alignment engagement to provide direction and feedback to ensure the successful implementation the determined strategic plan.
“We wanted our two teams to communicate and focus on combining efforts to achieve success, and SME Strategy has been the key driving force for enabling collaboration. They’ve helped us to see incredible success from working together, and we can’t imagine a future without SME Strategy.”
-Tamara Van Wyhe, Alaska State Director, Region 16 Comprehensive Center
Is your organization ready to achieve strategic alignment? Contact SME Strategy and let’s discuss how we can help to position you for future success. Call +1 (855) 895-5446 or e-mail info@smestrategy.net.
To learn more about our strategic planning and facilitation services and how we can work with your organization to develop alignment around One Destination: Strategic Planning Facilitation and Implementation.