This week we had to examine our organization and describe the current Business Architecture. The Business Architecture outlines the organization’s strategic business intent, and the plans on how to meet the goals outlined in the business intent (Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, 2014). I emailed the Directors of most departments and also emailed the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services and our Chief Technology Officer. I asked each department if they had a mission statement (some were posted on our district’s website), knew their approximate annual budget, knew the state regulations that influenced their department, the number of staff working in their departments and if they had an organizational chart of their staff.
After emailing at least a dozen people to help figure out the current state of my organization’s Business Architecture I came to two conclusions. First, I learned that my district has multiple departments that all need to work together to achieve the district’s overall vision. I knew our district was large, but I never thought about the individual departments and how they work together to achieve one common goal. Emailing the directors of all the different departments was eye-opening because I found out some really interesting information that I never knew. Examining the organization’s architecture is something I am glad is expected of us because as a future administrator, it is essential that you understand how the entire organization works if you would like to make a difference.
Second, I realized that although we have quite a few departments that need to work together, the connections between the departments are not always strong. I know it is not going to be a perfect system, but I could not get much information on certain departments because I received no responses to my inquiries. Oddly enough, the department I received no feedback from was the Teaching and Learning department, which is the department I have the most experience with. I’m not sure if they didn’t have time to answer my emails, or if they didn’t know how to help me, but I received one response after emailing 4 people and that response said she didn’t know how to help me and the person that would have the information was really busy. I heard back from almost every other department within a day or two, which I thought was impressive. However, a few departments had to get back to me with information because it was not easily accessible. The departments that had the quickest responses (which makes me assume they know the information off the top of their head) were Transportation, Facilities, Maintenance and Operations, Finance and Business, Technology and Human Resources. Throughout all my inquiries the Chief Technology Officer has been extremely helpful and patient with me. This gives me confidence that the systems and processes are well established in these departments because getting information to an out-of-department employee (me) was not difficult.
Through this research I believe that our Business Architecture is well developed, but could be improved in a few areas. For example, the Facilities, Maintenance and Operations departments do not have a mission statement. When emailing the Director of Long-Range Planning (our Facilities Department), she told me they didn’t have a mission statement and then she mentioned that she should probably write one. Could I really have already made a difference in our Business Architecture by emailing a Director? Maybe she will write a mission statement that is aligned with our district’s mission statement now. That would add more structure to our Business Architecture, even though it is a small piece. Another example of how it can be improved is that many departments have well organized structures and processes within each department, but as a whole I’m not sure the district is united in its mission. The fact that I am a teacher and had no understanding of any of the structures or processes in place until this assignment tells me that our district needs to have better communication about the systems we have in place with all staff, not just the staff within their individual departments. The Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook (2014) explains that the Business Architecture is the “what, who, how, when and why of the agency’s business” (p. 11). Everyone within the organization should know each of these structures for the entire organization. I was completely unaware of any of this information until I reached out to each department. I believe our organization should be more cohesive and all staff members should understand the Business Architecture of the organization. This will allow for more movement towards the district’s overall vision. Hopefully I will be able to include some of these recommendations in the future state of our Business Architecture. This will allow for a more cohesive Business Architecture and a better foundation for our organization as a whole.
Resources
Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook. (March, 2014). Reform Support Network. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/implementation-support-unit/tech-assist/education-architecture-guidebook.pdf
After emailing at least a dozen people to help figure out the current state of my organization’s Business Architecture I came to two conclusions. First, I learned that my district has multiple departments that all need to work together to achieve the district’s overall vision. I knew our district was large, but I never thought about the individual departments and how they work together to achieve one common goal. Emailing the directors of all the different departments was eye-opening because I found out some really interesting information that I never knew. Examining the organization’s architecture is something I am glad is expected of us because as a future administrator, it is essential that you understand how the entire organization works if you would like to make a difference.
Second, I realized that although we have quite a few departments that need to work together, the connections between the departments are not always strong. I know it is not going to be a perfect system, but I could not get much information on certain departments because I received no responses to my inquiries. Oddly enough, the department I received no feedback from was the Teaching and Learning department, which is the department I have the most experience with. I’m not sure if they didn’t have time to answer my emails, or if they didn’t know how to help me, but I received one response after emailing 4 people and that response said she didn’t know how to help me and the person that would have the information was really busy. I heard back from almost every other department within a day or two, which I thought was impressive. However, a few departments had to get back to me with information because it was not easily accessible. The departments that had the quickest responses (which makes me assume they know the information off the top of their head) were Transportation, Facilities, Maintenance and Operations, Finance and Business, Technology and Human Resources. Throughout all my inquiries the Chief Technology Officer has been extremely helpful and patient with me. This gives me confidence that the systems and processes are well established in these departments because getting information to an out-of-department employee (me) was not difficult.
Through this research I believe that our Business Architecture is well developed, but could be improved in a few areas. For example, the Facilities, Maintenance and Operations departments do not have a mission statement. When emailing the Director of Long-Range Planning (our Facilities Department), she told me they didn’t have a mission statement and then she mentioned that she should probably write one. Could I really have already made a difference in our Business Architecture by emailing a Director? Maybe she will write a mission statement that is aligned with our district’s mission statement now. That would add more structure to our Business Architecture, even though it is a small piece. Another example of how it can be improved is that many departments have well organized structures and processes within each department, but as a whole I’m not sure the district is united in its mission. The fact that I am a teacher and had no understanding of any of the structures or processes in place until this assignment tells me that our district needs to have better communication about the systems we have in place with all staff, not just the staff within their individual departments. The Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook (2014) explains that the Business Architecture is the “what, who, how, when and why of the agency’s business” (p. 11). Everyone within the organization should know each of these structures for the entire organization. I was completely unaware of any of this information until I reached out to each department. I believe our organization should be more cohesive and all staff members should understand the Business Architecture of the organization. This will allow for more movement towards the district’s overall vision. Hopefully I will be able to include some of these recommendations in the future state of our Business Architecture. This will allow for a more cohesive Business Architecture and a better foundation for our organization as a whole.
Resources
Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook. (March, 2014). Reform Support Network. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/implementation-support-unit/tech-assist/education-architecture-guidebook.pdf