Team 2 Week 5 Blog

 

This was a very successful week of beneficiary discovery. We stacked up 17 interviews and were able to talk with many ODA commanders, the beneficiary we have identified as most important. We further developed our MVP and presented it to members of 3rd group 2nd battalion on a site visit to Fort Bragg, where we were able to receive direct, in-person feedback as well as develop relationships with contacts for the future. We also spoke to members of the education and emergency response industry to feel out the possible applications of our future product towards other industries.

 

Summary of Key Insights and Trends:

• Tested and debunked the concern that ODAs may view their needs and training events as unique snowflakes that would lead them to reject a recommendation engine or training catalog.
• Tested the concept of Amazon ratings. They were highly enthusiastic about the potential value it brings.  They did not feel it imposed a meaningful amount of additional work for them to enter ratings.
• Tested the level of pain ODA commanders feel with the current process. We were concerned that ODA commanders had not been expressing a sufficient amount of pain around the current process during our calls. When we were face to face, they were highly engaged, offering lots of suggestions and anecdotes, and asking lots of questions. Consistently, people rated the current process 4 or 5 with 5 being the most common response.
• Tested whether there was value in the proposed system.  Everyone believed that if the system performed as described it would dramatically reduce the level of pain and provide additional benefits.

 

1. Sergeant First Class RJ – Communications Specialist

• Hardest parts in filling out the worksheet are estimating costs and gaining approval from superiors. Sometimes they inquire whether training could be completed cheaper.
• Good reaction to MVP. Mentioned that everyone gets stressed around budget deadlines as the current process is a “nightmare”
• “Things that pre filled out are always good.”
• If a webapp, then we must first host the website ourselves and then if the military likes it they will acquire and eventually run the webapp internally

 

2. Mr. Sean, Charter School Network Talent Development Team Operations Manager

• The tool is very useful, and can solve a very clear need for tracking teacher professional development.
• Great improvement on current system. If the whole charter network could feed into populating the system, you’d gain more at scale.
• Allowing teachers or grade/department chairs to self-assess and request the training they want makes people feel like they own their PD more. That keeps them more engaged at work, and benefits the school. That said it it’s incumbent on the leader to follow-up when the teachers don’t get the training they requested.
• This easily populates a ranked budget– once you reach the limit of the funding you have for teacher training, you can cut it off.
• Who’s going to populate the catalog material? If other teachers go out and find great PD, then they can share it with their coworkers.

 

3. Captain David – ODA Commander

• The current tool is frustrating in that there are redundant pieces, plethora of requirements that are out there. Copy and Paste is the right answer, but no one puts in the dates. If the historical data can populate, and fill in with accurate dates, it’ll be an improvement.
• Risk assessment is always hot button– the training is always the same, but the risk assessment is an additional step that must be done each time.
• There’s always talk of creating this mythical document of translating dollars spent into readiness. Maybe having a team focused on it full-time can finally make it happen.
• This gives me a place to start with the budget, but beyond that I don’t see how this helps with completing MICONs.

 

4. Captain Jim – ODA Commander

• Big pain is finding approved vendors and keeping budget for a vendor below $25,000, the cutoff at which you must write up a contract with that vendor in order to use them
• Another big pain is not knowing what documents must be approved before certain training tasks. Told story about already having parachute on his back for jump training and receiving a call that he hadn’t filed some necessary paperwork.
• Providing an easy way to access AARs would be great for solving both of these issues

 

5. Captain Chris – ODA Commander

• Having a list of approved vendors would be huge
• No system exists to catalogue training shortfalls for individuals or teams
• Connecting money to readiness will be difficult because of how diverse special forces training is, but it would be very useful for keeping those approving the budget accountable for how ready their teams are

 

6. Dr. Tony – EMS

• EMS is required to have recertification every two years or so. This includes either in-service training or going to conferences.
• Volunteer and small-state agency EMS teams have to pay for their training out of pocket.
• “Folks have been looking for something to track continuing education for a long time. The difficulty I see is that it’s late in the game. With what you have here, for volunteers, anyone managing and paying for their own con ed, it helps. Proactively helps decide not only where I’m going to get my hours but what it’ll cost me as well.”

7. Cpt. Leonard – ODA Commander

• The current process of making the yearly plan and budget is extremely painful. He rates it 5 of 5. It also regularly requires nights and weekends.

• His ODA has a consistent mission assignment. As a result, there is definitely opportunity for that ODA to recycle significant portions of past training plans.

• He also believes there is significant overlap in the training activities of the various ODAs. Consequently, there is opportunity and value in a catalog of training.

• The proposed system – if it truly works as described – would dramatically improve the process.

8. Chief Villanueva – Group Maintenance Chief

• The ODAs definitely regularly reuse training events.
• For the teams he has worked with, the chief and commander solicit bottom-up feedback from the ODA for the next training cycle. They then pull-out the various METL guidance and decide on how to orient the team within the guidance incorporating the ODA feedback.  From there, they make the plan to bring back to the ODA.
• Current process is a 5 of 5 on the pain scale.
• The proposed system would be great to have.

9. Cpt. Diaz – Assistant S3 (Current Operations)

• Cpt. Diaz clarified for us that the Battle Focus Analysis does not come before the annual budget and training plan. They are integral parts of it.

• Liked the direction of upfront questions to shape the training needs but it is far too simplistic. Ideally, the system would display the various levels of METL guidance and a list of all personnel and their individual training records against that METL guidance. From this view, the team leadership could identify what is due to be hit again, what needs to be hit given the upcoming mission profile, and what the team will ignore b/c there is not time.

• The next step is to try laying that out on the calendar integrating mandatory and requested leave, assigned duties and trainings, and course availability. This forces a second round of compromises and priority juggling.

• His team keeps an Excel spreadsheet laying out the profile of each team member.

• Current system is a 5 for pain.

• His team not only does the annual budget and plan but immediately knocks out all of the MiCons up front. It is A LOT of work but just makes things easier going forward. [This is practice is not widely followed but has significant benefits. If we added the MiCon support, it would confer many of these benefits to all of the teams almost automatically.]

10. Maj. Morgan – Company Commander

• Could the system capture training results? (It could but would people use it or view it as a burden?) Depends upon the scope and intention but there are some definite applications for both the ODA and senior leadership worth exploring.

• This system could be powerful both in terms of time savings but also the sophistication it could offer. It could pose risks if over time its guidance is increasingly viewed as doctrine vs suggestions. [Related to the fact that the system would be recommending training activities. Not only the ODAs but the entire organization would need to internalize and maintain an appreciation that the recommendations are not gospel. Note to self: Build specific wording/warning into the system reinforcing this.]

• Who would have to enter this historical information? (Not the ODAs but we have to prove that it is indeed possible to compile the information.)

11. Chief Matlock – Assistant Detachment Commander

• He has a nonclassified BFA training deck and sample MiCon he will share with us.

• He charted out the components of the BFA and what they identify.

• Loves the training catalog concept as well as the Amazon ratings. He noted they have some vendors that have ongoing deficiencies and the ratings could help police that.

• He pulled me to the side in the hallway to provide more insights and convey that he sees enormous potential in the system overall.

12. Cpt. Barney – Signals ODA commander

• The Signals ODA has some specialized needs. [We need to follow-up with him for a longer discussion of those unique needs.]

• Current process is painful 5 of 5. Sees a lot of opportunity in the tool.

13. Sgt. Guzman – Supply Sergeant

• Works on the supply side and was extremely engaged and curious about whether the system could help support equipment needs.

• He notes that some equipment has to be replaced on a regular schedule but the request still usually comes as a one-off, frequently last minute, request.  E.g. Climbing ropes. They need to be replaced yearly, even if they have not been used, when a team goes to the climbing course.

• Numerous other items are similar. Recommended also following-up with Reposo and Fontanez on this topic.

14. Cpt. Fleming – Company Commander

• Loved the Amazon ratings. He cancelled a training last cycle because he just happened to hear that another ODA went to the same training course and said it was garbage.

• Current process if 5 of 5 on pain scale.

•  Echoed the comments on profiling the team against the METL.

• Definitely feels there is meaningful overlap amongst ODAs making both a catalog and recommendation engine feasible.

15. SM Croft – Company Sergeant Major

• Likes the Amazon ratings and the idea of course catalog. Commented they just sent two people to Germany for French training b/c the Army schools did not have availability at the right time.  Having a list of alternate providers would be great.
• There is absolutely overlap in training profiles which make both the catalog and recommendation engine feasible for real world deployment.

16. Maj. Schubert – Battalion XO

• Showed us the training card system used by one of his companies. It is not SOP but it makes it easy to track the results of training events. The current system is paper-based which means you have to consult the physical binders. It would be great if it was electronic.

• Would like to see the battalion develop a practice of centrally ordering a lot of the standardized equipment – e.g. Chem Lights – and keeping an inventory on-hand for the ODAs to draw from. It removes paperwork for the ODAs but also makes the ordering and budgeting easier.

• Wanted to know what the system could do to help the XOs, S4, and RMO.  [Laid our the vision of how the system would actually be able to class the colors of money; potentially forecast supplies; track & depict METL; give air officers, ammo officers, and other similar roles heads-up on training events.

• He clarified that since the budgeting cycle happens twice yearly the budget worksheet gets completed each time. That means teams that are in the midst of their training plan are updating the budget to show what has been completed and what they have yet to do.

17. Cpt. Batera

• It would be great if the system could also maintain the historical record of the past completed trainings. This would make it easy for the commander to look back and see what METL items had been hit when it comes time to plan the next training cycle. [Note: Make a report/view depicting how many times and given METL has been hit historically and when.]
• When the Cpt rotates out of the command, he would give/appoint his successor access to the ODAs profile to preserve this historical view.
• Current process is 5 of 5 pain. Lots of weekends.