TRG Project Spec Sheet Model
Background:
A TRG Project Specification Sheet is used to define and advance ANY project, group activity or area of development, moving verbal understanding to a tangible plan. The “Spec Sheet” is used to identify all participants, outcomes and steps, allowing the leadership AND followers a clear view of 1) the intended outcome, 2) options for development and 3) a path forward.
Not all Spec Sheets are complete pictures, particularly at the start of a project, and many do evolve with the life of the activity. A Spec Sheet is also a best start on the way to a contractual agreement between parties who must cooperate.
Below is a broad list of elements that might be used in a Project (or Issue Management or Development) Spec Sheet. Using this model will accelerate the deliberation/decision process toward successful conclusions.
Please visit TRG Website for the full version of this Tool.
*Identification of Parties
*Overview
*Purpose
*Outcome/RESULT/PRODUCT
*Development Sequence
Initiating Steps
Duration
Timeline
*General Points
*Funding
*Ownership
*Compensation
*Distribution of Revenues
*MARKETING/Communication *RESPONSIBILITIES/Rights
*Term
Renewal
Termination
*Jurisdiction
CONGRATULATIONS!
To Clint Good, AIA, President of Clint Good Architects, of Purcellville, Virginia, on winning the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Virginia Society of Architects. To see the VAAIA article visit our TRG Website
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The Regis Group, Inc.
102 North King Street | Leesburg, VA 20176 |
November 2011
TRG Associate
Local government is facing greater challenges than ever before and virtually every local government manager is striving to meet increased demand with fewer resources and searching for the most effective strategies for addressing the fiscal crisis. Below are a set of basic guidelines for department heads and line managers who have the responsibility to build a budget that meets the needs of and is responsible to their local community.
Build the budget from data. Data trumps opinion.
Too often anecdotes are the basis for budget proposals and not solid, validated needs.
Focus on priorities within the Strategic Plan.
Drifting away from the priorities brought into focus in your plan, only leads to chaos and sloppy budgeting.
Ask only for what is needed.
The challenge is to define need as the basis for government budgeting and make that consistent with the priorities identified within the strategic plan.
Know your business and its budget impacts.
Successful government managers know their business well and understand how their programs affect the local community.
Avoid claims of dire consequence, unless there will be dire consequences.
Alarmist rhetoric gets old very quickly when trying to balance budget priorities.
Offer impact statements, both positive and negative.
There are always at least two sides to the question and managers need to be able to articulate a clear understanding of the impacts on both sides of the equation.
Tell the story - Use vignettes to fill in the picture.
Good examples of outcomes, impacts and results can be excellent aids in building understanding of why a program is important or even why it should be eliminated.
There is no single right answer. While the budget process is inherently subjective, this approach enables appointed and elected officials to get to a workable level very quickly, if only as a starting point.
Remember: “Government can’t do it all and can’t do it all the time.”
This article is an excerpt, for the full article visit TRG Articles
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Focus on the Future
Guest Predictions:
Prescott Engle
Guest Predictions is a regular feature in which we ask leaders in a number of professions a set of questions that affect us all.
Prescott Engle, Principal of Engle, Paxson & Hawthorne Insurance Services, LLC
Prescott Engle is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Principal of Engle Paxson and Hawthorne Insurance Services, LLC. Married with 8 children, Prescott has passions for kayaking and music performance.
Q: What changes in your professional environment in the past 3-5 years have you found to be the most beneficial?
A: Changes in technology - by example the capacity to store information and ability to move from a paper-bound environment to a paperless environment in which information is right at the work station and not in the filing cabinet. This can lead to both enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.
Q: What changes have been the most troubling to you?
A: The fact that many smaller agencies are falling by the wayside, leading to the prospect of the agencies of the future looking like those banks which have become large , soulless organizations with little focus on true interpersonal relationships.
Q: How will globalization affect your professional area in the near term?
A: It has already affected us in that many of the jobs that Americans held that brought us business from around the world are moving off-shore, which opens the prospect to winnowing down our U.S. industry’s premium base. As a result many Insurance companies are merging and acquiring each other across borders.
Q: What significant challenges might be anticipated in your professional area in the next few years?
A: My industry is a graying industry with an exodus of experienced talent, as older agent retire, taking with them their knowledge. The challenge is to bring the younger agents up to speed. The base paradigm has changed in the global economy, in that future professionals will need to refocus their skill-sets on the needs of an expanding global economy, otherwise running the risk of condemning themselves to remain low wage earner. The bottom line is that we need to do a better job of attracting young talent.
Q: What are the greatest challenges confronting young professionals in Western culture today?
A: Especially in the U.S., many young professionals feel entitled to a certain level of compensation before they earn it. This seems to be systemic to the two most recent generations, as they push to assure that everyone’s self esteem is enhanced, regardless of level of effort or success. True self esteem is built by overcoming adversity and not by having someone tell you that you are good.
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Marc Chinoy
President's Letter
At the end of many (if not most) TRG working agendas for client and internal leadership sessions are those two words. While the frequency of their appearance may make it easy to take them for granted, they are there to trigger a critical aspect of each meeting… the capture in tangible form of promised outcomes.
In a very real way these two words might well be a signpost for the public agenda of our current moment… the highest and best use of time should be the development of working steps to move us into the future with continuous constructive action (and perhaps a little less effort focused on “Who Struck John”).
To this end we are offering a critical TRG business development tool, our Project Specification Sheet (“Spec Sheet”) Model, shown in broad outline form in the far left column, and a more detailed version on our TRG Website, Tools section.
As always your comments and questions will be most appreciated.
Best wishes on forming your own “Next Steps”
Marc Paul Chinoy
BizSpeak!
Winner of the Month:
Dr. Fernando Figueroa, Provost Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX
“Transparent Ideation”
Definition:
When a concept or plan is either readily understandable, or easily recognized for its fundamental flaws.
Related Terms:
Open Architecture, Blindingly Apparent, Distinct Comprehensibility
How it Sounds:
“Despite the ABJECT TERROR caused by the thought of TRANSPARENT IDEATION of interests, we managed to SQUEAK OUT a working agreement.”
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