Department of Defense Education Activity

Goal 4: Organizational Excellence

Employees at meeting

Organizational Excellence

DoDEA strives to build an enduring, accountable, and responsive organization that provides appropriate resources and direction to accomplish the Mission. To improve as an organization, DoDEA will pursue four Strategic Initiatives around Organizational Excellence. The first is to continue the implementation of a Comprehensive Planning System. This initiative will address DoDEA’s need for a multi-year integrated planning system that aligns plans to action, resources, and procurements. The second Strategic Initiative, internal information sharing, will produce a DoDEA-wide internal communication plan aimed at effective, timely, and responsive internal communication. The third Strategic Initiative, information technology modernization, is designed to meet the needs of 21st Century teaching and learning. The last Strategic Initiative, new this year, is organizational excellence to support a culture of high expectations, accountability, and data-driven decision making.

Comprehensive Planning

The Comprehensive Planning System (CPS) supports DoDEA’s ability to plan for the future while holding everyone accountable for progress. All DoDEA functional areas will engage in a planning process that aligns DoDEA’s objectives and resources with the Blueprint. Past decisions will be evaluated for performance to inform future decisions that maximize efficiency and alignment with the Blueprint. The planning system provides the framework for an efficient, cohesive, collaborative, and agile organization.

Internal Information Sharing

Timely and accurate two-way communication is essential in sustaining a school system. Through DoDEA’s internal information sharing, employees will be well-informed and given opportunities to provide feedback. DoDEA will facilitate internal communication by developing an internal communication plan, creating an interactive onboarding process, collecting data through employee environmental and cultural audits, using analytics to assess needs and progress, expanding the employee service desk, and through an interactive employee intranet platform.

Information Technology Modernization

DoDEA’s IT infrastructure must be able to meet the wide-ranging needs of a global school system. Continued investment in DoDEA’s IT infrastructure allows DoDEA to align its IT capabilities to the needs of 21st Century teaching and learning. A five-year plan that balances existing and future IT requirements against budget constraints will support strategic IT modernization. This plan will align to DoDEA’s curriculum, assessment, and professional learning needs as well as software and hardware requirements. Concurrently, DoDEA will remedy non-compliant systems to ensure alignment with DoD IT requirements.

Organizational Excellence

DoDEA will continue to maintain the highest standards for organizational excellence and accountability. Accountability and performance improvement will be supported by a formal data-driven system designed to measure the effectiveness of changes and promote a culture of shared leadership. DoDEA will also develop clear policies that support accountability and minimize organizational risk.

DoDEA strives to build an enduring, accountable, and responsive organization.

Goal 4- Strategic Initiative 4.1: 

Comprehensive Planning - Implement the DoDEA Comprehensive Planning System (CPS)

Critical Success Factors:

  1. Efficient Organizational Planning System: To increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency across functional areas, we will implement a systemic comprehensive planning cycle that aligns resources, acquisitions, and plans to meet DoDEA’s strategic Goals.
  2. Opportunities for Collaboration: COMPLETE
  3. Development of an Organizational Capacity Profile: In order to make data-informed decisions that drive improvement, DoDEA will build an organizational capacity profile to assess quality and areas for improvement in planning, resourcing, communication, IT infrastructure, and customer service processes.
Goal 4- Strategic Initiative 4.2:

Internal Information Sharing — Improve operational effectiveness through leading and controlling functional performance; measuring, improving, leveraging, and automating processes; communicating and continuously improving performance.

Critical Success Factors:

  1. Organizational Communication Plan: In order to model effective internal communication, we will develop and implement a multi-dimensional communication plan.
  2. Interactive Employee Onboarding and Off-boarding Process: To improve the efficiency of employee onboarding and off-boarding, we will deploy a collaborative process that promotes feedback and communication opportunities.
  3. Expanded Employee Comprehensive Support Service Desk: We will establish and employ a comprehensive customer service model across functional areas to efficiently resolve issues that affect employees.
  4. Interactive Intranet Platform: COMPLETE
Goal 4- Strategic Initiative 4.3: 

Information Technology Modernization — Invest strategically in IT to support 21st Century teaching and learning, promote efficiency and effectiveness of all operations, and maintain a robust IT infrastructure.

Critical Success Factors:

  1. Five-Year Plan for Educational Technology: In order to ensure IT sustainability and innovation, we will develop and implement a long-term strategic IT plan to promote innovation and remain current as technology transforms and improves.
  2. Alignment of Education and IT: COMPLETE
  3. Rationalization of Systems and Applications: To improve business operations and conform to all DoD IT requirements, we will remedy all noncompliant systems before Fiscal Year 2023.
Goal 4- Strategic Initiative 4.4: 

Organizational Excellence — DoDEA leadership will embrace and support high expectations and accountability across the organization.

Critical Success Factors:

  1. Systemic Accountability for Learning: We will develop an accountability system that drives continuous improvement by setting expectations for school, district, and organizational performance and responding with recognition and support.
  2. Analytics to Measure Effectiveness: In order to monitor effectiveness and make data driven improvements, we will leverage data from across DoDEA.
  3. Culture of Shared Leadership: We will advance the culture of shared leadership through professional learning that enables all employees to share their knowledge and expertise.
  4. Clear and Appropriate Policy: We will develop policy that aligns to strategic objectives and minimizes organizational risk.