Final Project

Mandy Smidt

CET 765

Leadership in Technical Change

* Disclaimer: The information used in this report is fictitious and in now way represents a real situation. This report was written solely as an academic exercise in an educational leadership class at Dakota State University.

1. Statement: The goal of this plan is to make adjustments and to take action to create a successful basketball team for the 2006-2007 school basketball season.

2. Stakeholders:

Players—I chose players that were on varsity during the 2005-06 season to help with the process. Their input would help to determine the type of work ethic they are willing to put forth to increase their success and productivity.

Coaches—The varsity, JV, sophomore, as well as middle school coaches will work together to achieve a “same-page” system so all teams are aiming for some of the same goals. There will also be individual camps available for the girls to work on fundamentals as well as team concepts.

Parents—The parents of the girls involved in the team will be asked to partake in this process because of financial need, emotional support, and they are the legal guardians of the girls since they’re under 18 years of age J

Weight Training Coach—Mr. Hazelton will be asked to be involved to help the girls gain strength and ability during the summer/fall months. His expertise will help the girls to get stronger in the safest manner.

Community—By advertising and getting the community involved, we can help to create support for the basketball team.

3. PDSA Diagram:

Plan:
Generate/Organize Ideas	1. Background Information 2. Brainstorm Ideas 3. Use Affinity Diagram
Do:
Analyze a Process	1. Cause/Effect Diagram
Study:
Plan/Make Decisions	1. Matrix Diagram
Act:
Analyze Data	1. Plan of Action 2. Run Chart

PLAN: After the 2005-06 season, eight seniors graduated. Of those eight seniors, four were starters and all contributed tremendously, whether statistically, physically, or emotionally. These past seniors have been on the 2003-04 state championship team, 2004-05 runner-up team, as well as the 3^rd place team this year. They have made several contributions to the program to make it successful.

However, now there are new players stepping in wanting to have just as much success, if not more than the past players. I met with a group of sophomore girls that played extensive JV minutes this year. They have the chance to play varsity in the upcoming season. Though the girls have been in the program, there is room for improvement for them to step up and fill such a “hole”. It will take contributions from more than just the players. That is why I have involved the parents, various coaches, as well as the community. By putting the committee together, we are going to attempt to better the system for players entering varsity status.

After meeting with some of the girls, we had a brainstorming session about issues facing the upcoming season. They wrote down their thoughts and we categorized them into 6 topics to create the affinity diagram presented below.

Table 1: Affinity Diagram
Financial Parent/Community Support Funding/Fund Raisers Team Camps	Motivation Crowd Attendance Closeness off the Court Inconsistency Support with Each other Bonding with Younger Girls Interest Level
Physical Regular Workout Routine Strength Conditioning Health and Diet	Team Playing Consistent Time management for Practice Leadership Roles Tradition/Reputation Maturity as Upperclassman All on “same-page”
Individual Individual Skills Free throws Shooting Percentage Multiple Sports Management Mental Preparation Focus	Administrative Initiatives Coach/Player Bonding Specific Coach

DO: The off-season is important for player development. Hard work, determination, and discipline are all key factors for success, both on and off the basketball court. I used a Cause-and-Effect diagram to pinpoint some of the problems the girls may or do face during the off season.

After looking at the diagram, some of the problems the girls encounter can be prevented. By using some of the ideas presented in the Affinity diagram, the girls can overlook some of the issues they face, such as peer pressure and having the “wrong” types of friends.

The girls and I chatted about the diagram we created. They decided that commitment and hard work were the main ingredients to overcome many of the problems that were discussed. As a former basketball player, I understand the commitment level one must have to be “successful”. It is a real eye opener to see how the girls think about the issues at hand and what they’re willing to do to overcome obstacles they face.

Cause and Effect Diagram:

Schedules

STUDY: The next meeting involved using the Matrix Diagram. The goal of the meeting was to set up a way for finding who contributes where. The factors involved included the athletes, coaches, and the parents. The Matrix Diagram was useful because everyone got to vote the way they wanted and it lead to great discussion.

We created the diagram together and voted one by one. Extensive discussion took place covering each person involved in the skills presented. If there were some voting we got stuck on, we would elaborate on reasoning why the person was or was not involved in the skills presented.

After completing the graph, we decided that the major “X” factor were the athletes. It would take hard work, determination, and a positive attitude from the girls to accomplish their goals. The girls felt that adequate relationships needed to be established with everyone involved in order to get the full benefits for their goals they set.

Matrix Diagram:

Skills	Athlete	Coach	Parents
Parent/Community Support	9	3	9
Funding	9	1	0
Team Camps	9	9	9
Crowd Attendance	9	3	9
Closeness off the court	9	0	1
Inconsistency	9	3	0
Support w/ Each Other	9	3	1
Bonding w/ Younger Girls	9	3	0
Interest Level	9	9	3
Regular Workout Routine	9	1	1
Strength Conditioning	9	3	3
Health and Diet	9	1	9
Playing Consistent	9	3	0
Time Management for Practice	9	9	9
Leadership Roles	9	3	0
Tradition/Reputation	9	3	0
Maturity as Upperclassmen	9	3	1
All on the “same page”	9	9	0
Individual Skills	9	1	0
Free-throws	9	1	0
Shooting Percentage	9	3	0
Multiple Sports Management	9	1	3
Mental Preparation	9	0	0
Focus	9	0	0
Coach/Player Bonding	9	9	0
Specific Coach	3	9	3
Totals	228	93	61

ACT: After using different tools to figure out sources of failure and figuring out relationship importance, we decided to create an Action Plan. I met with the players and coaches to figure out scheduling of different activities and practices. After figuring out what things the teams wanted to do outside of practices, the girls and coaches brainstormed different ideas for building team bonding. Work schedules and other sport schedules were taken into consideration when planning practices and get-togethers.

Accommodations had to be made after looking at the cause-and-effect diagram. The available times for weight lifting made it possible for the girls to work around their various schedules. The fund raising activities helped also for scheduling since all of the girls didn’t have to be there at the same time. Cooperation among the parents and athletes helped to increase involvement among all. Also, following a schedule and signing up for various workouts helped the girls to practice responsibility and time management.

Plan of Action:

WHAT	HOW	WHO	WHEN
Skills Workout	Create sign-up sheet with times for Girls to attend	Coaches, Athletes	After or Before School—Half Hour Increments, 2X/Week w/ Coach
Fund Raising	Car Washes, Raffle Tickets, Traveling Bake Sales,	Athletes, Parents, Community	After school, Summer Months, Lunch Hour
Weight Lifting	Create weight lifting schedule, Open weight room during posted hours	Mr. Hazelton, Coaches, Athletes	6-9 AM, 12-2 PM, 4-7 PM
Team Bonding	Monthly get-togethers or suppers	Athletes, Parents	1-3X/Month, Perhaps more during Summer Months depending on the schedules of the athletes
Team Chemistry	Team Camps, Team/Group Exercises & Drills	Athletes, Coaches, Parents	Weekly during Summer Months, 3X/Week

After going through the Action Plan, we were able to get the girls on a “system” and strides were made throughout the off season. A new team was created with both few “veteran” players and many new “rookies”. We recorded data through statistics recorded throughout the off season. Weekly tests were done while the athletes did fundamental skill work during their individual workouts. After going through the action plan throughout the off season, we decided to create a run chart of the athletes and their statistics we recorded from their individual workouts.

Run Chart:

The run chart provides a comparison of some of the athletes and their ball handling skills times. As you can see all athletes bettered their times, some more than others. I believe showing the girls this run chart really gives them some perspective as to if their hard work is paying off. They can actually see the results on paper.

As the girls continue to strive to become better basketball players, they build more than just better athletes. They grow mentally, develop new or better relationships with others, and mature into find young ladies. Sports skills transfer into life skills that will allow the girls to be the best they can be in all aspects of life. Using Quality Management helps to really identify problems and the precise sources to those problems. By using multiple minds to brainstorm and collaborate on a system, major positive results can become of the process. Not just positive results become, but rewarding results. Accurate learning and true rewards can be the outcome to a system that is well thought out and designed. This problem was solved by bringing together anxious athletes and adults that wanted to contribute to the process. Everyone had the same objective and was part of the process for the students/athletes. By mapping out which steps needed to be taken and improved upon, the athletes were able to succeed in their quest to become better basketball players and better rounded individuals.