In January, UNC Charlotte was approached by Option Six’s, Matt Donovan and offered the opportunity to participate in the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) University Case Study Competition. The team would present their case to a panel of industry leaders in at this year’s ISPI Conference Orlando, Florida.
The team of five graduate students, Cyndi Bennett, Samantha Burroughs, Kirby Maness, Crystalle Ramey, and Christina Rutledge, found it to be a great chance to show pride for UNC Charlotte and expand our current curriculum. As a team, we felt it would be a great experience to utilize the knowledge gained from theory and apply that to practical experience that could be used in the industry. The five students have very diverse background and used this to their benefit as they approached the material. The timetable was extremely rigorous and at times this project felt like a 40 hour a week job.
As Matt Donovan began to deliver the documents and interviews requested by the team, they discovered how robust this fictional company, Magic Sticks, was. In the cirriculum classes, theories to collect data and analyze business problems are taught with great emphasis. With this project, the team was given a hands-on crash course on using those theories for an actual client.
From the available theories, the team decided on the HPT (Human Performance Technology) model for the foundation of data collection and analysis. Through the use of the model, the team found how well the theory led them through the steps to identify performance gaps based on data and then helped to develop interventions that could be evaluated for their effectiveness.
Mr. Donovan and his team were very supportive and worked to support Savvy Solutions as they worked through the documents. He made sure the team stayed on the right track and were making logical conclusions from the data.
The experience gained from developing interview skills was wonderful. The team quickly adapted to skills previously only used in a textbook such as, asking the questions and listening to the answers to determine clarifying questions. The team also learned valuable lessons about time and project management. The amount of practical, real-world experience in data gathering and analysis from this section of the project is simply immeasurable.
The UNC Charlotte team also gained a wealth of knowledge about working in groups towards a common goal. In university classes, the theory of HPT is experienced, but due to the asynchronous nature of the program, rarely are students given the opportunity to work in groups. From the first week of meetings, clear roles were developed within the group. From the core classes, the team had a strong knowledge and understanding each role and the work associated with it. For this project, the students were able to expand on that knowledge and apply it directly to a client centered project.
As a final deliverable, UNC Charlotte, under the name Savvy Solutions, presented the proposal to a team of judges playing the role of stakeholders for Magic Sticks. Each team was given ten minutes to appropriately deliver six weeks of work and ‘sell’ the interventions. The nerves were visible at first, but the confidence the team had in what was produced and its success came out in the presentation.
The air of confidence and understanding of what the team did seemed to be evident. “Watching the other teams, all Ph. D. candidates, present their findings first both excited and terrified us. Our presentation looked nothing like theirs and at that moment we really were not sure if we had totally missed the mark, or hit it on the head,” said team member, Samantha Burroughs.
The most rewarding part was Part Two of the competition when the teams heard from the judges, answers to our questions about career, HPT, and the presentations. “Their wealth of experiences and words of wisdom as we finish our degrees and go out into the industry was priceless,” said Tina Rutlege. UNC Charlotte’s team was approached numerous times after the presentation and told how wonderfully they did. This was an excellent reward for such hard work. They were praised by thier peers and mentors in the industry and given the confidence to continue as emerging professionals in the field.
The experience concluded at the closing ceremony. The UNC Charlotte team anxiously awaited the results. The team came in second place and could not have walked across that stage with more pride in their school and their team. “Together, we learned more than we would have imagined, and de
veloped an excellent end result,” said Burroughs.-The UNC Charlotte team would like to thank both Matt Donavan and our professor, Dr. Richard Hartshorne for this experience. Also, Dick Handshaw for his unending support and late night dinners to keep us going all the way to the deadline.
