1. Orientation & Organization
Facilitated by: Mrs. Kendra Lee, Timothy Christian High School
Mrs. Cyndi Millns, Pinckney High School
Summer Teachers’ Conference 2015

2. Sharing Opportunity Pair up with someone you do not know. Share: Name
City and State you are from
One key idea you have gained so far from the training
Discuss:
What does a typical Day 1 look like in your non-VEI classroom?
1:00-1:05 - Kendra
Introductions

3. What to consider in the first few weeks
Day 1
Orientation Strategies
Organizational Set-up
Organization Strategies
Kendra
What we will cover in our quick 50 minute session.
Meant to be an overview
You will have to take time to review beyond this session.

4. Day 1 and Orientation Strategies
What to do on Day 1?
Day 1 Agenda
MEMO: Expectations and Requirements for the VE
What to do in Week 1?
Handout: Orientation Strategies
Portal - Orientation Strategies Tab
1:05-1:15 (Slides 4-5)
Day 1 - Kendra and Cyndi each share ideas
Review handouts:
Day 1 Agenda (facilitator and student)
Example VEI Memo Syllabus (Millns)
Whose Job is this?

5. Orientation Tasks Kendra Review the orientation tasks in the portal
Pull up Task 1 to review how this will fit into Day 1 activities discussed above
Review handout: Orientation Tasks - Students Assigned for ideas on how to get students taking control of their learning early in the process

6. Think, Pair, Share After reviewing week 1 ideas:
What ideas do you have to make Day 1 different in VEI?
Kendra
1:15-1:18
1 minute think time
2 minute share time

7. Organizational Structures
Chief s VP
Mgr
Asso c
Sales & Marketing
Accounting & Finance
Human Resources
Etc.
Admin
Functional/Hierarchy
Matrix/Team-based
Divisional/Large firms
1:18-1:25 (Slides 7-9) - Cyndi
… students is ideal
This will allow for Quality, Meaningful Tasks
You will need to be more creative with additional tasks for more than 15:
_____
Functional/Hierarchy – most widely used (examples to follow)
Matrix/Team Based – Zappos is a good example of this
Divisions – could be by product line or geographic area. (this is good for firms with a large number of employees 25+)
______
Teacher should create the org. structure based on unique characteristics of students/schedule etc.
Look at example structures from actual firms (next slide)
Be creative with the positions:
Fundraising department in the firm for real money concerns
(2nd year and beyond) - Forensic Accountant to look at what happened the previous years and make corrections and recommendations
News Stories/PR – Marketing dept. - this position or task should be providing stories and pics to Tyler at National VE
Legal/Risk Management person in the admin dept. (someone with an interest in business law).
At a minimum you will want:
Admin
Sales and Marketing
Accounting and Finance HR
Review Task Based Curriculum when looking at the type of tasks that the various departments/positions will be completing
Division 1
Sale s
Acct
Division 2
Division 3

8. Organizational Structure Example 15-20 employees

9. Organizational Structure Example 27 employees

10. Setting Up Your Firm Refer to Orientation Tasks Timeline
Resume & Cover Letter
Refer to
Orientation Tasks
Interview Process
Choosing the CEO
Timeline
Considerations
Kendra
1:25-1:35 (Slides 10-15)
REFER TO: Orientation Task 4 Handout (remind them it is found on the website under orientation tasks).
Have the students start the resume and interview process ASAP
Have them think about what position they would like
Explain that the Chiefs or leaders in team based organization will be working closely with facilitator
Chief work will probably consist of after school/weekends (ex. Chiefs facilitator by Sunday evening plans for the week – tied to their grade).
Who will you have do the interviews?
Involve mentors, local businesses, school admin, school board
Hire your CEO first if possible. Let them help with other hiring decisions or interviews.
Where will you hold interviews? Reserve a location (conference room, office etc.)
Prep your interviewees with copies of resumes, possible interview questions
GRADING OPPORTUNITY: Resume, Cover Letter – (see rubrics from reference files)
Timeline:
1.Interview First then Business Plan: Ideally, have your people in place by Sept. 30th so that Oct. can be devoted to working on the business plan OR
2. reverse that… work on the business plan first then do your interviews and hiring.
Filling out the TEAM

11. Interview Process •Selection of Employees
–How do you determine who gets what job?
–Pass to each student a letter with the announcement of their job assignment
–Have students accept their position in a reply letter to you
Tips:
1.Determining Jobs: Score on rubric, second interviews, experience or previous classes
2.Sample offer letter handout
3.Example acceptance Letter Assignment handout
RECOMMENDATION:
Give offer letters on a Friday

12. Daily Sample 90-minute Block Sample 45-minute Period
8:00 Arrival: Sign In, To Do list
8:05 Check in meeting w/ Chief, VP, or Team Lead
8:15 Break out meetings
8:45 Work
9:15 Follow up
9:25 Debrief and To Do list
9:30 Dismissal
Sample 45-minute Period
8:00 Arrival: Sign In, To Do list
8:05 Check in meeting w/ Chief, VP, or Team Lead
8:10 Break out meetings / Work
8:40 Debrief and To Do list
8:45 Dismissal
Cyndi
Ideally – 90 minute block each day – but this is not necessary realistic
The facilitator needs to provide a structure for them to get the most done in the time they have.
Ideally – firms should have students. But for most of us that isn’t realistic. Many CA firms have 40+ students
-Use a divisional structure (see previous slide)
-Open a second firm
-Allow them to prep for BPA/DECA
-More individual based training opportunities and share out to the group
Status or check in meeting vs. break out meeting:
Status or check-in - where did you leave off, what are you working on for the allotted time etc.
Weekly: Dept. or Team Meeting - (curriculum task sheet is like the entry document in project based learning). Reviews what needs to be done, discusses who will do what, deadlines, resources etc. (next slide will show this in a weekly breakdown).
You will also want to incorporate whole firm meetings (good place to launch new ideas, debrief on tasks each department has been working on, compare actual sales to projected sales etc.)

13. Weekly Executive Meeting to identify Goals & Objectives for the Week
Status meetings to ensure progress
Summarize and Prioritize for the following week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Admin
Meeting
Work
Acct
Sales HR
Cyndi
Meetings=initial task launch (review the guidelines, identify resources etc.) - most tasks begin with “Convene a meeting…”
Encourage the formal meeting structure! Have task documents ready to distribute and discuss. Create agendas. Have someone take minutes (rotate this or have admin do it). Students don’t necessarily see value in this but it is a common way for people to meet in real companies.
Also consider setting a standing time for whole firm employee meetings. This would be a good environment to discuss how company is doing in relation to business plan, sales, successes, failures (have fun with this).
Idea: Facilitator should be part of each of the Dept. (task based) meetings each day. If a dept. or employees needs additional time from the facilitator, the facilitator can charge for their additional time as consultant – not necessary but may
Idea: Have Chief the facilitator by Sunday evening with the plans for the week. Then have Executive Meeting on Monday each week (Admin) to review the plans, goals and objectives.

14. Monthly/Quarterly Self Evaluations Manager Evaluations
Compare Projections to Actual
Refine Projections
Cyndi

15. HR Strategies Daily sign-in sheets Daily/Weekly work logs
Self evaluations
Manager evaluations
Grading policies
Work portfolio
Personal finance transactions
Evaluations
Attendance/Participation
Kendra
Show a copy of the weekly activity report link on the reference page.
Handout: Distribute copy of the Weekly Activity Report for Employees and VP
Handout: Distribute copies of Professionalism Rubric and Employability Skills Scoring Guide as examples.
More detailed information and strategies for HR will be presented on Thursday at 9am

16. Creating a Successful Workplace
Kendra: should we discuss how orientation might look different in second year and beyond firms?
For example...
Presenting information about the ve firm. (See Task 4 under Human Resources where students prepare a presentation about the business that should be delivered within the first 2 weeks of September).
I know one school that hires their chiefs before the end of the previous school year or during the summer and that they chiefs begin the leadership role right from the beginning.
how brainstorming business idea might be different based on current product/inventory from previous year etc.
keeping same company name but changing company goals, logo, product line etc.

17. Processing Time 10 minutes Review the resources provided.
Jot down ideas in the Four Squares Document
5 minutes
Group up with 2-3 other individuals.
Take 1 minute per square to share out potential ideas
Kendra
1:35-1:50

18. Contact Session Facilitators Mrs. Kendra Lee
Timothy Christian High School P:
Mrs. Cyndi Millns
Pinckney Community High School P:

19. Thank you veinternational.org/professional-development
All session materials can be found at:
veinternational.org/professional-development