1. Advancing Asset Management
…a coordinated effort
Introduction: A little about me
Over the next 28 minutes or so I’m going to share with you how a group of AM practitioners from different divisions with different systems are working together to advance AM in our department. I’ll talk about how we got started, some of the challenges we had to overcome, and the benefits we’ve seen as a result of this coordinated effort.

2. Getting Started
When the team first started meeting, the purpose was “make AM better”
Too vague to be unifying
Team wanted meaningful work
Decided on documenting what we mean by AM
Started with policy
Added guidebook to give more detail and “how to”
Was the effort of months, many revisions
Collaborated between people who did the work, but did it differently
Had to unify, keep at a high enough level to work for all
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag

3. Pitch a Project Self directed but endorsed by the sponsor committee
After policy and guidebook were done, we wanted to turn the team loose to work on something they felt excited about
Changed the structure of the meetings to be working sessions
Allowed members of the team to step up to team leader role
Everyone came up with possible project ideas, then voted on which project they wanted to work on
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag

4. Project Teams Each team prepared an action plan to scope their project
Teams selected their own project managers
They broke into teams and worked on completing it both in the meetings and out of them
After projects were completed, they prepared a 1 page project recap so we could easily recount what was done
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag

5. Clear Direction
After the first round of projects, we kept what worked and revised the format more
Needed clear documentation of the role the sponsors wanted to play, and the authority they were granting the team
Drafted team charters to cover the next 2 year period
Identified more clearly what the sponsors wanted the team to accomplish
Identified the areas the team wanted the sponsors to provide more guidance
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag

6. Generates new knowledge
Benefits
Builds buy-in
Leverages resources
Builds relationships
Generates new knowledge
Buy-in: AM had developed separately in different parts of the organization, working on the team helped identify where there were differences and similarities
Leverage: When the team is together, it represents diverse and deep subject matter expertise, brain power is enormous and ready to be tapped, able to learn from the collective wisdom of the group.
Relationships: Easy to develop silos when your AM systems don’t overlap, but more and more there is the potential for interaction. Team allowed them to know each other better, find people who can help them work through challenges, and find like minded allies to support ideas
New knowledge: not your way or my way—a third alternative that is better
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag

7. Wrap Up
“Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I learn.”
-Chinese Proverb
May 9, 2017
APWA Brown Bag