AT A GLANCE

This page offers guidance for the managers + supervisors of staff taking the course “GPDR/R: Putting the Science of Goal Achievement into Practice.” We think it is especially important for managers to participate actively in the conversations around organizational change and program design.

The guidance on this page includes the following sections:
  • Preparing for Organizational Change
  • A Word on Team Culture
  • Supporting Staff Success  
  • Team Meetings to Launch and Close the Course
  • Strengthening Policy + Program Design
  • More Resources for You and Your Team

Before reviewing the guidance below, we recommend you review About the Course, including the high-level Course Overview and Outcomes. We also suggest reading through the GPDR/R Main Guide to get an overview of the material the course will cover.

PREPARING FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Bringing the science of goal achievement to the workplace involves both:
  • Changes in the way frontline staff interact with participants; and
  • Changes in the broader organizational environment and program design to support the change in staff-participant interactions.

Before inviting your frontline staff to take this course, please download and print Preparing for Organizational Change. Use this checklist to self-assess your program’s readiness and to prioritize ways that your organization can sustain the right environment for this approach. This checklist can be useful both for programs beginning this new way of working AND those who have been at it for awhile.

Note: This checklist is for you and fellow supervisors/managers. A complementary checklist for frontline staff is part of Module 5 of their course. You are encouraged to explore these issues together in the team meeting that closes the course.

A WORD ON TEAM CULTURE

We all have executive skill strengths and struggles. It’s valuable to cultivate a team culture in which all team members openly (and light-heartedly!) acknowledge each other’s strengths and struggles.  The simplified tool to assess your own ES strengths and struggles used in this module 3 of the GPDR/R course is a great tool for managers, supervisors, frontline staff, and participants alike. It allows for everyone to gain insights into themselves and to support each other in a variety of ways.

Note: Some programs also choose to implement the Executive Skills Profile – a more comprehensive and structured assessment of ES skills. If you are going to use this formal assessment tool with program participants, make sure that 1) all staff use the tool to assess their own ES profile first; and, 2) all staff are trained well in how to frame and discuss the profile results with participants.

SUPPORTING STAFF SUCCESS

Staff’s success over the 6-8 weeks of the course depends on your support in a number of ways. For example…
  • Encourage staff to find a learning partner with whom to take the course;
  • Facilitate a learning team to meet at the start and end of the course;
  • Inspire staff to protect a couple of hours each week to progress through the course;
  • Support staff as they practice with clients in Module 4;
  • Provide thoughtful feedback as staff practice.

 We put together a short resource on supporting staff success with more detail about each of the recommendations above.

TEAM MEETINGS TO LAUNCH +
CLOSE THE COURSE

If possible, we encourage that you lead two meetings with staff. You can access two draft meeting agendas using the links below. These meetings are optional but very useful to show your support and to get you thinking about how to apply the science of goal achievement to your workplace.
Whether or not you convene your team for a meeting at the end of the course, we recommended that you provide each staff person with a certificate noting their accomplishment. Download this editable certificate, personalize and sign them as recognition of each staff’s accomplishment

STRENGTHENING POLICY + PROGRAM DESIGN

Ongoing inequities and stressors tax our executive skills and make successful goal achievement more difficult. Addressing inequities and stressors will likely help clients maximize their stronger skills and minimize the effect of their weaker skills.

There are a number of ways that you can use new learning from brain science to strengthen policy and program design for those impacted by social bias, persistent poverty, and trauma.  We suggest reading “Using Brain Science to Design New Pathways Out of Poverty” –  a practical paper that explores the brain science we touch on in the course, offers recommendations on ways this science may be used, and illustrates how this approach can influence  participant outcomes. Use the white paper’s Appendix A (pages 15 - 24) to systematically prioritize changes your team can make to strengthen policy and program design overtime.

As your time allows, explore more resources – such as "Show, Don't Tell" – about how to apply behavioral science to program design.

We recognize that one struggle programs face is the tension between current participant requirements and the drive for greater participant autonomy.  Read this short piece about ways to frame program requirements in light of current research. Bring some of these ideas to your colleagues and staff to explore together.

MORE RESOURCES FOR YOU + YOUR TEAM

Module 5 of the course offers staff a number of resources that will also be of interest to you – such as this short video about the forces on people in poverty in the U.S.. We encourage you to watch it and discuss it with your team as part of the meeting to close the course.

Module 5 also refers staff to a website, EFWorksLibrary.org, created to support programs like yours that want to implement research-based approaches in their work.  Here you’ll find:
  • Curated resources on executive function, goal achievement and coaching;
  • Examples of programs using an ES-informed approach; and,
  • Organizations you may consult for more support in this arena.

Plan a time/ place where you may explore EFWorksLibrary.org alone or with colleagues – and keep it bookmarked for future reference!

Has your staff completed the course?
CONGRATULATIONS!

Please encourage your staff to take our brief feedback survey.

This site is the product of a collaboration between Center on Budget & Policy Priorities (CBPP) and Global Learning Partners (GLP), made possible through support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.