A Comprehensive Review of Chapters 6-9: 'The Step-by-Step Guide to Sustainability Planning'

Book Overview

Chapters 6-9 of the Step-by-Step Guide to Sustainability Planning takes a more strategic focus on the participants and employees who will be implementing the strategy to meet the sustainability initiative goal. Many companies consider their employees as their most valuable asset, and in this case, that is very much true when it comes to a successful sustainability initiative.  Throughout these chapters, ways to structure management, developing different teams, and getting employees involved is broken down to their core.  

Chapter 6: Developing an Implementation Strategy and Choosing Projects

Summary

This chapter focuses on the implementation of the long-term vision that was defined and decided upon in previous chapters.  To do so, one must secure a timeline of which this long-term vision will stretch across, supported by the projects that will ensure completion of the sustainability plan from both a company and organizational participation level.  The three key steps to achieve this final plan is developing the long-term sustainability plan, making decisions regarding where and how to start, and finally developing a system for prioritizing and choosing projects.

Key Concepts

• Making Decisions Regarding Where and How to Start: This concept begins the brainstorming process of what the organization has already done in regards to their sustainability efforts in the past, and programs in the organization from previous years.  By linking the new sustainability plan to a previous, already successful program, it will have a better chance of being embraced by the organization.  This method avoids the ‘program of the month’ cynicism.

• Managing the Load: This metaphor refers to the company’s capacity for change.  A company can only take on so many projects at once, thus meaning that the company must be selective when choosing which projects to prioritize when it comes to the sustainability plan.  If the company chooses to implement too many new projects all at once with the same prioritization level, the chances of absorption by the organization will be low.

Case Example

• Making Sense of Data: Dolphin Software, a company focused on providing technological goods, has developed a tool that will compare different chemicals in terms of their environmental impacts, and also the cost.  This graph makes it easier to identify which projects have the lowest environmental impact as well as a low cost.  This data can then be used to determine which products should be prioritized, and which need improvements.

Methods

• Stakeholder Assessment : This method allows for the company to identify the strategies needed to onboarding the right people for the sustainability plan projects, and properly positions them individually. This assessment is best used when you assume that certain stakeholders need to be engaged prior to the beginning of implementation of a new plan. 

• Weighted Criteria Chart: This method focuses on a detailed chart that assesses the project's priority level based upon a given weight given to different criteria.  Criteria can include payback, feasibility, leverage, and appeal.  By rating each project a score under the criteria, it will build a comprehensive total score to analyze the best selection of projects with the biggest pay off.

Chapter 7: Developing Effective Management Systems

Summary

Following the selection and implementation of projects that will lead to the final goal of a successful sustainability plan, the management of these projects along the timeline is crucial.  This chapter focuses upon the ‘sustainability management system’, or SMS, of which is a mature and sophisticated set of processes for managing the sustainability initiative.  If done correctly, a SMS can ensure the initiatives survive after team members move on, provide sufficient tracking and reporting, reduce confusion surrounding conflicting projects, and even reduce risk and liabilities for the company as a whole.

Key Concepts

• Signs That You Need a Better Management System: Depending on the industry and type of business at hand, different levels of discipline and documentation processes are required for the management system to ensure the sustainability initiative is sustainable for long-term implementation. If you look at previous programs or initiatives put into place in the company, you can assess how well they have survived, long-term, and then determine if a better management system is needed.

• Different Ways of Achieving the Same Ends: This concept focuses on different methods for monitoring the phases of development of the management system.  Although all vary in design, they focus upon the incubator phase, initiative phase, and integration phase.  The incubator phase is when an organization is experimenting with the idea of sustainability, but have not made a formal commitment to the plan.  The initiative phase is when the organization makes a formal initiative. Lastly, the integration phase is the embedding process of the plan directly into day-today roles.

• Tips for Creating a Management System: The first key tip recommended is thinking about who will manage the system, whether that be a single person or an entire department.  Also, the qualities of those that will staff the management system is extremely important; for example, if they have enough connections within the organization to be taken seriously.

Methods

• Policy Statement : By drafting and preparing a formal Sustainability Policy Statement that is approved by the board of directors or members of the government, it will uphold the organization and company as a whole to a set of standards.  Key elements of the policy statement include the purpose of the statement, typical examples of what is appropriate and what is not, as well as what the policy statement hopes to achieve.

• Gap Analysis: This analysis is best used when the company wants to assess the effectiveness of the sustainability management system, and then make improvements upon the ‘weak links.’  The gap analysis is essentially a chart that focuses on the plan, implement, and monitoring phases.  From there, the criteria of what, how, when, and who will assess which aspects of the phases is not clearly thought out, and thus requires attention from the SMS.

Chapter 8: Determining the Structures Needed to Manage the Effort

Summary

Once a type of Management system has been determined to run the sustainability initiative, it is crucial to make a decision surrounding the hierarchy of positions within the management system.  For example, a sustainability coordinator, individual charmen, and task forces are all key aspects of determining the structure of which will manage the effort to its best degree.  From the management positions, the organization can fall into line by having executives to follow, along with a baseline to self-manage.

Key Concepts

• Steering Committee Responsibilities: The concept of a steering committee is a parallel management structure that is typically used to introduce new corporate initiatives; in this case, that initiative would be the previously developed and planned sustainability plan.  An executive is typically responsible for sponsoring a single steering committee in hopes to influence the motivation levels within the team, as well as assist in task forces, making strategic decisions, and implement the necessary framework.

• Teams: The benefits of teams working towards the company’s sustainability efforts includes involving numerous employees, as well as the individual perspectives each brings to the table. In terms of a sustainability initiative, there are numerous types of teams that have a superior edge over another in certain situations.  Voluntary ‘green’ teams are best used when expanding awareness to build support for the strategic effort by performing small acts around the office to inspire change.  Task forces are used to carry out a specific short-term project.  Lastly, standing teams have the similar purpose of a task force, however are permanent and best used around specific impacts of an organization.

Case Example

• Collins Company’s Sustainability Team Structure: Within the forest/wood products industry, sits the vertically integrated Collins Company.  Aside from being the first U.S wood product company to have all their forests certified as sustainably harvested, they were one of the first to realize that just training people wasn’t enough to create action.  Their solution included organizing standing teams around each work process which would eventually lead to tangible ideas for improvement.

Methods

• Responsibility List : This method uses a chart that will explain each level of involvement for the priorities that are set that year.  For example, the steering committee, executive team, sustainability director, and task force will all be coded under each priority as ‘R’, ‘A’, or ‘I’. Each coded letter corresponds to responsible, approve, and have input.  The benefits of this method include a detailed outline as to who is responsible for the implementation of the priority at hand, as well as to what degree they are expected to participate.

• Critical Incident Analysis: This method helps obtain the most learning out of a critical or noteworthy incident from previous years.  This method follows the path of gathering data on the incident, and then assembling an audience led by a neutral party.  Following the assembly,  the incident should then be reviewed in the following steps: chronology, analysis, future, and institutionalization. 

Chapter 9: Informing and Involving Employees

Summary

Like most people, an organization’s members are typically busy with their day-to-day role along with their own personal life.  Therefore, it is important to assemble a comprehensive communication plan to place the sustainability initiative at the forefront of people’s focus.  By communicating and training the employees properly, the organization will develop a shared mental model of how to approach the issues at hand, how to organize them, and how to cooperate across organization boundaries. Most people enjoy working for a sustainable company because of their positive environmental and social impacts, thus proving the importance of communication of the efforts to the organization.

Key Concepts

• Training on Sustainability: Training can be much harder than just sharing information with a large company.  Motivating adults to learn new concepts can be difficult, but this challenge can be overcome by giving them a compelling reason to need or use the information.  Some key aspects of designing a training plan include explaining up front why your employees are required to learn this new information, helping employees link their personal life to the teachings, and providing learning activities that give feedback about their absorption of the information.

• Special Challenges Regarding the Topic of Sustainability: It is found that teaching sustainability in business is extremely difficult because it is much more complex than a typical corporate change effort due to the topics at hand. To overcome the organization’s lack of willingness to adapt to this organizational change, it is important to explain what it means to their individual job.  Personal political views and opinions about the environmental impact of a company too can become an issue.  By linking the business’ efforts with the employees’ children’s future, it will shift them to a new perspective.

Case Example

• NW Natural Provides Many Ways for Employees to Be Involved: NW Natural, a gas utility in Portland, has created numerous structures within the organization to involve nearly every employee. One team that was formed is SustainNet; this group meets informally but was formally sanctioned by management.  The goal of the team is to share and explore ideas for expanding sustainability across the entire organization.  Also, they appointed Mavens and Mentors who act as liaisons between the different sustainability teams and executive management to create a direct line of communication.

Methods

• Everyday Choices : This method is a fun and exciting activity to spark inspiration and test an employee’s knowledge on the principles of sustainability.  This activity works great for any employee and even kids because it presents sustainability in a way that each person can relate to their daily life decisions. For example, a question could be ‘you are at the grocery store to buy juice…’, then it will give you three answers to choose from, all of which will impact your final score based on the weight of your choice. 

• Personal Sustainability Assessment: Similar to the ‘Everyday Choices’ activity, this is a general activity that encourages people and employees to make personal commitments to change. This method consists of a household aspect, such as transportation, and then lists the best practice, a good practice, and the option of which is hard on the Earth.  By allowing an individual to see the change they could make in their daily life, it allows them the control to make that decision.