Squash Smarts

Strategic plan

 

HOW TO LEVERAGE CONSULTING

CABABILITIES TO HELP THE COMMUNITY

 

By: Victoria Barbadoro and Darleen DeRosa

Right Management Consultants

 

Prepared 07-2004

 

Preface

 

            Although a fairly new entity operating for just three years, SquashSmarts has already had a significant impact on the West Philadelphia community it serves.  Pre- and post-testing of participating students in basic reading, spelling, and math skills showed that several of the students have achieved substantial gains in at least one of these basic areas.  When examining standard scores, all but one participant demonstrated an average increase of half a standard deviation.  In addition to test scores, students’ effort, behavior, and grades in school improved during a semester with SquashSmarts, and most students showed marked improvement in their athletic ability.

            While SquashSmarts’ success has provided great satisfaction to Peter, Vincent, and the rest of the Board, they recognize that to continue their success and sustain the program’s growth, they need to mobilize the Board in the same manner as they would a corporate leadership team.  Having worked closely with Right in the past, Peter Prinsen called on us for support to help the Board define its strategic goals and mission for the future.  While the group had discussed these goals before, it had never formally agreed to a future-focused plan or used a documented set of goals to drive decision making.  Recognizing the significant benefit that Right’s methodology could have on this community group, Right agreed to work with SquashSmarts on a pro bono basis. 

            Right’s intervention focused on a four-hour strategic-planning session with the 17 board members and advisors.  In order to maximize the time during the session, Right administered a prework survey designed to measure the board members’ level of agreement across key issues related to athletics, academics, community involvement, and program operations.  Right compiled the data and calculated agreement statistics, such as averages, standard deviations, and frequencies on each item, examining trends around significant agreement and significant disagreement.  The main objective of these analyses was to identify the items where there was a lack of board member consensus in order to prioritize the discussion topics for the planning session.  Strategic issues to be determined included, but were not limited to, the following:

•         Program goals (e.g., augment current skills, increase probability of high-school graduation, increase college enrollment, etc.)

•         Balance between academics and athletics in the program

•         Expansion of the program beyond West Philadelphia to other neighborhoods and schools

•         Expansion of the program beyond middle school to high school

•         Key demographics of the participants

•         Program success measures

As a result of the strategic-planning session, the Board was able to achieve consensus on key strategic issues, which will impact program goals and, ultimately, decisions related to operations and participation.  At a global level, the Board confirmed that the ultimate goal of the SquashSmarts program is to, equally, “Develop the Student; Develop the Athlete; Develop the Person.”  The most significant change in the Board’s strategy is its decision to use the program as a catalyst for increasing the probability of high-school graduation, taking it a step further beyond the original goal of increasing overall academic success.  As a result, the SquashSmarts program will gradually expand to serve students in grades 6-12, continuing to target recruitment at the middle-school level, but aiming to carry existing students through grade 12.  To begin operationalizing the transition to this new strategy, the Board has set up sub-teams to focus on specific areas, such as academics, recruitment, and funding.

Right’s work with SquashSmarts clearly highlights how the organizational consulting methodologies employed by Right, when applied in a nontraditional-client environment, can have a significant and positive impact on the community.  And while it is easy to see how this work benefits organizations like SquashSmarts, there are also several benefits to Right: 1) It provides an avenue through which Right can serve the community; 2) it provides Right with access to influential community leaders, who are frequently members of such Boards; and 3) it provides a lower-risk opportunity for consultants to further hone their facilitation skills.  So, while Right’s work done pro bono publico may mean “for the public good without compensation,” we could argue that we are actually well compensated for it, albeit in non-monetary ways.

 

 

SquashSmarts, Inc.

Strategic Planning Session

06-21-2004

 

Prepared by © 2004 Right Management Consultants, Inc

with participation and feedback from SquashSmarts’ Board of Directors

 

Focus/Goals of the Program

SquashSmarts’ primary goal is to equally develop the Student, the Athlete and the Person through the following methods:

­ 

Academic Goals

•    Increase the probability of high school graduation by providing academic support and instilling discipline

•    Increase test scores

•    Increase in-class performance and grades

•    Provide the potential for participants to pursue secondary education

Athletic/Fitness Goals

•    Create competent squash players who know and enjoy the game

•    Increase overall athleticism

­Personal Goals

•    Build “life skills”

•    Create solid citizens and community leaders

•    Create commitment

•    Increase discipline

•    Expand/enrich participants’ life experience

The primary vehicles for this development will be squash, academic support, community service and a variety of other programs/experiences with a particular emphasis on community service.

 

Other area of agreement

•    Fitness, Health & Nutrition is as an essential component of the program

•    Funding should be used to endow educational scholarships for student participants

 

Operations  

•    The program will increase in size.  Initially, the aim will be to maximize current

      participation at 24-30 students (at the Drexel facility)

•    Program will eventually service students in grades 6-12

•    Students will remain in the program throughout high school.

•    Recruitment will focus on younger students, who will then be carried through the program up to 12th grade

•    The squash program/academic component will continue on a 12-month schedule

•    Funding will be used to send participants to summer camps

•    The program will continue to be housed at Drexel

•    The program will expand to multiple locations

•    Ultimate size goal/Student-Staff ratio should be a maximum of 1:8

 

For Continued Discussion

•    Percentage of new vs. continuing students per program

•    Integration of program schedule to accommodate varying ages/grade levels

•    Timeline for expanding beyond current grades

•    Multi-site operational plan; size per location(s)

•    Current and future staffing requirements

 

 Recruitment Requirements/Program Participation

•    Academic and athletic requirements: Recruitment will focus on students below the obvious high achievers and above those who are academically/athletically challenged to the point that they would not benefit.  In essence, focus will be on the average student population and aim to build a diverse population (in terms of academic and athletic ability)

•    The program will retain the current recruitment/selection methodology with some thought on how to increase calibration across volunteer raters

•    Students who do not improve athletically will remain in the program

•    Students who do not improve academically will remain in the program

•    Students who fail to attend a minimum number of sessions (attendance) or continually have a disruptive or negative behavior patter (effort, attitude) will be removed from the program

 

Other areas of agreement

•    The program should integrate genders

•    The program should expand to include additional middle schools

•    Determine the minimum hours of program time a participant can miss before removal 

•    Brainstorm future schools for feeder schools as recruitment requirements increase

 

 Community Service

•     Players will be required to participate in a community service program

•     SquashSmarts will further explore employing a Community Service director.  Currently, that role will fall under the responsibilities of the program’s staff.

 

Success Measures

•    Success will be measured for the program overall, as well as on an individual level

•    Behavioral Measures

­                  High school graduation statistics

­                  In-school effort grade reporting

­                  Behavioral changes, as observed in school, in program and in home

­                  Attendance, Attitude & Effort in program and in school

•    Academic Testing

­                  In-school curriculum grade reporting

                  Objective academic testing results

                  Standardized testing results

•    Athletic/Fitness

­                  Squash technique observation (i.e. performance scorecard approach)

                  Tournament/special event performance

                  Cardiovascular testing performance

 

Creation of Board Sub Teams (Subcommittees)

1.      Academics (includes measurement of this component)

2.      Squash (includes measurement of this component)

3.      Recruitment

4.      High School Implementation

5.      New Site Development

6.      Community Service

7.      Fundraising

 

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