Organizational Strengthening       Real Estate Division Los Angeles District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District Mission The Los Angeles District (LAD) is responsible for many critical functions, including: Military construction Improvement and maintenance of coastal and inland harbors and of navigational waterways Beach protection Flood control Integrated land and water uses. LAD is responsible for an area of more than 240,000 square miles that includes Arizona, much of Southern California and portions of New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Real Estate Division Role The focus of LAD’s Real Estate Division is to coordinate all real property activities within the District and advise the District Commander on real estate issues. The Division is responsible for the acquisition and disposal of real property interests for the Corps of Engineers and Army and Air Force installations, including coordination with the Office of the United States Attorney when necessary. In addition, the Division is charged with drafting and reviewing all Project Cooperation Agreements (PCA’s) for civil works projects and for leasing land managed by the Corps to other public agencies and private parties. The Division also performs or contracts for real property appraisals for civil works acquisitions and leases spaces for military recruiting offices and reserve center facilities. Lastly, the Division performs real estate actions and executes real property transactions on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other government agencies upon request. Project Setting and Goals At the time we began our project, LAD’s Real Estate Division had fallen well behind District standards in terms of budget performance, customer satisfaction and accountability with other Divisions. In the five years immediately preceding the project, management changes were frequent at all levels, interactions with staff were often contentious, and employee union grievances commonplace. Faced with the execution of high-profile real estate programs such as the Joint Forces Recruiting Command, District leadership were increasingly concerned with the work quality and overall performance of the Real Estate Division. The stated goals of the project were straight forward: Improve performance, restore District-wide confidence, and refocus the Division on work products and away from time-consuming, unproductive personnel disputes. Individual actions included improving: Customer awareness Accountability and timeliness Teamwork and partnering with customers Product quality Budget performance Communications Approach & Outcomes Getting Green became a watchword for the goals and processes we used in assisting Real Estate. The District had already begun to use the word Green in reference to budget performance guidelines. Getting green meant satisfactory performance with respect to individual Divisions’ budget targets. The color reference took on a positive meaning and momentum by providing a rallying point for efforts to improve budget performance. We began applying the term getting green to mean achieving a broader range of desired organizational outcomes. We formed an overall Green Team, made up of a few key members of Real Estate along with several other LAD representatives, mostly highly-placed managers known for the sound results they produced in their own Divisions. The Green Team brought to bear peer pressure, ideas from other Divisions, and knowledge of Corps best practices. In addition, since the members of the Green Team represented Divisions for which Real Estate produced work, the members brought a customer focus to the project. We structured several small work groups made up of members of the Real Estate Division to address specific performance issues and projects: Documenting lease-acquisition processes Achieving improved planning and budgeting approaches Team-building within the Division Customer feedback sessions with two key customer groups Developing a Division-wide briefing book as a means of focusing on what the Division did right. Concurrent with the beginning of the project, the District placed a new Chief of Real Estate in the Division. That individual became a member of the Green Team, quickly embraced the goals of our project and emerged as a central figure contributing to its success. We provided continual feedback on progress, success, further planning and ongoing issues to top-level management through periodic reports to the District Engineer and his five-member Commander’s Council. While some Division employees were skeptical at the outset, their confidence and momentum built as they participated in the work groups and received feedback and encouragement from the Green Team and top-level management. Notable improvements in product quality, teamwork, and performance were achieved and recognized both within Real Estate and by its customers within LAD. The Green Team became a popular and positive concept that has been applied to other Divisions within the Los Angeles District. back to top Copyright © Sullivan Consulting Group, Inc.