Clarus is proud to support TRAC’s efforts.  You can see TRAC’s final report, including a summary of Clarus stakeholder engagement efforts, here.

Clarus Supports American Heart Association

On February 3, Clarus joined thousands across the county who wore red to raise awareness of the impact of heart disease on women. As a women-owned business, Clarus is particularly sensitive to women’s health issues.  Project Manager Bevan Dowd, who serves on the the Junior Board for the Birmingham Chapter of the American Heart Association, arranged for Clarus team members to show their support.

You can find out more about Go Red for Women at www.goredforwomen.org.

Here are just a few examples of how Clarus team members contribute to local organizations.

Clarus CFO Alice Walther recently accepted the role of Chairman of the Board for Childcare Resources of Alabama, a non-profit organization that provides information, professional  training, parent education, and financial assistance to support quality childcare.

Project Manager Caroline Yeilding was elected to serve as the 2012 President of the Freshwater Land Trust Junior Board.  In addition to leading the 25+ member Junior Board, Caroline with serve on the Governing Board of Directors for the 2012 term.

Project Managers Bevan Dowd and Mollie Salyer serve on the YWCA YWhisper Committee.  Bevan and Mollie are working with other committee members to plan a young professionals’ fund raising event to benefit YWCA’s efforts to fight domestic violence.

Check out individual staff members bios to find out other ways that the Clarus team works to make a difference.

Lori Renkl joins Clarus from the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), where she spent seventeen years in a number of roles, including sixteen years in project management.  Cross-trained as a registered nurse, Lori most recently provided total nursing care for patients at UAB.  As a Senior Project Manager, Lori brings a special ability to identify areas of existing synergy and opportunities for performance maximization within an organization to her projects.       

A newcomer to Birmingham, Mollie Salyer joins Clarus following a stint at a municipal utilities authority in Bristol, VA, where she managed and administered a three-year Recovery Act grant that funded a project to build a broadband internet infrastructure in rural Southwest Virginia.  Mollie also gained cross-functional experience through internships at a variety of organizations from the non-profit, for-profit, and governmental sectors.  As a Project Manager, Mollie contributes a unique appreciation and aptitude for strategic communication and an attention to detail that ensures every project she manages is completed with maximum efficiency and effectiveness. 

Following ten years as the Office Manager at a Birmingham-based technology company, Mary Ann Barckley brings her administrative expertise to her role of Executive Assistant.  In addition to providing first-class service to Clarus’ clients, Mary Ann’s support helps keep Clarus’ wheels turning.  She can be found instituting new systems to bring Clarus’ internal functioning to peak efficiency.

Welcome to the team!   

 “When Alice joined Clarus in 2009, she brought keen business management skills, significant expertise and experience in our core service areas, and a vision for developing and instituting financial performance tracking and control systems to support a growing business.  We are grateful to have her on our team,” shared Clarus Principal Cathy S. Wright. 

On Tuesday, August 23, 2011, Alice will be honored at a luncheon alongside other outstanding CFOs from the Birmingham-metro region.  A list of all CFO honorees and information on the awards luncheon can be found here.

Birmingham-native Bevan A. Dowd returns to the Magic City following the completion of a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature from Yale University and, most recently, two years as a researcher at Boston-based François-Xaiver Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Services.  As a Project Manager, Bevan’s research, analysis, and communication skills will be an asset for the Clarus team.

With over ten years experience as an administrative specialist, Shelly Hallmark brings expertise with high-level administrative coordination, organization, and communication to the role of Executive Assistant to the Clarus Principals.  As the linchpin of the Clarus team, Shelly will oversee all project scheduling and coordination at Clarus, in addition to supporting the Clarus Principals and CFO with administrative and bookkeeping tasks.  Shelly holds a Bachelor of Science in special education from the University of Alabama.

Alongside warm welcomes to Bevan and Shelly, Clarus extends a fond farewell and well wishes for the future to Project Manager Anne Epstein, who leaves Clarus to begin the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health Leadership Policy Program.  During her tenure at Clarus, Anne has managed numerous stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, organizational development, and crisis communication projects. 

When asked how she will employ the knowledge and skills gained during her time at Clarus in her new educational pursuit, Anne, the now Clarus alum shared, “Clarus has taught me many things, but what first comes to mind is that, in order to tell the story of an organization, you first have to ask questions and truly listen to responses that characterize its history and current climate. If I’m going to be a successful advocate for people who have been marginalized in our society, I won’t be able to provide an authentic and meaningful voice if I don’t follow the same process within their communities.” 

Anne, best of luck.  Bevan and Shelly, glad to have you on board.

Capacity- The skills, resources, knowledge, manpower, and time required to implement and sustain both new and ongoing organizational initiatives; capacity is more than increasing headcount as it can be developed among current employees through effective training, communication, and planning.  Clarus brings capacity that builds capacity. 

I recently concluded a fascinating project for a large regional company where I was tasked with bringing capacity, process oversight, and project management to a complicated and urgent organizational initiative.  On this project, I worked side-by-side company employees to determine and document a workflow process, measure progress, and meet aggressive deadlines. 

In many ways, I was literally additional capacity as I brought skills, resources, knowledge, and time to the project.  This task required me to quickly assimilate to the company’s culture, norms, and communication systems, something I am proud of my, and my Clarus colleagues’, ability to do easily. 

But there were more layers to this project.  At Clarus, when we take on a capacity-related or interim staffing project for a client, we make sure we leave the company with just as much capacity (or more!) as they enjoyed during the project.  This means our work for and with the client is focused as much on unlocking untapped capacity as it is on accomplishing project deliverables.  So while I was developing process flow charts and coordinating complicated project logistics, I was also observing opportunities to improve communication and equip current employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to carry the current project and similar future ones forward themselves. 

As you can imagine, this is rewarding work.  On this project, we finished 90 days before a mandatory deadline.  This accomplishment alone built internal capacity as it affirmed the capabilities of the team and bred confidence that will fuel future efforts.  Other highlights include the formation of a team itself, improved communication methods, and the development of processes.  These results increase efficiency and effectiveness, two important factors in building capacity. 

I look forward to my next opportunity to actively join a client’s team as it affords me the unique opportunity to help a company maximize its current resources and marvel at its accomplishments.

What’s stakeholder engagement? At its core, it’s about actively listening. Through over 25 meetings, an online “virtual meeting,” Facebook, and Twitter, we have talked to over 1,000 people. We’ve asked them, “What is your one mile, and what does it connect you to?”

Stakeholder engagement doesn’t end with listening, however. It is important to keep the conversation going and show that we heard what the community said. We have listened to the answers, and now, the design team at Goodwyn Mills Cawood are actively taking those comments—we want better sidewalks, safer places to ride bikes, connections to ALL neighborhoods and communities, among others—and are adding them to a comprehensive plan that will be unveiled next January.

Additionally, we heard throughout our process that people are excited about the potential of this plan, but that they don’t want to wait to see the benefits. They wanted to know where they can walk and bike in Jefferson County right now. That’s why the Our One Mile team has partnered with Fox6 WBRC to start “Our One Mile Tuesdays.” On the first Tuesday of every month, Jeh Jeh Pruitt will be at a different park or greenway across Jefferson County. As the motto of the Health Action Partnership says, we really are trying to “make the healthy choice the easy choice” while letting our stakeholders know that we heard them.

See the video from our first Our One Mile Tuesday at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson.

My experience has given me valuable perspective in my current role at Clarus where I work with companies to craft and execute change management strategies. More often than not, communication is one of the most important tools we employ to facilitate effective and sustainable change.

Communication is also one of the most complex and nuanced tools. Understanding how information flows within a company, especially the degree to which employees trust various methods and sources of messages are often as, if not more, important than actual language used. Technology has greatly increased the number of communication vehicles, yet the subtleties among email, voicemail, newsletters, and social media are often overlooked and can critically impact overall delivery and acceptance of the message.

At Clarus, we make sure that we listen to the company and its stakeholders before we recommend specific communication strategies. For example, we may conduct interviews and surveys or run focus groups to gain and better understanding and appreciation of the employees, their preferences, and communication styles. This interaction allows us to better understand the company’s culture, as well as its current communication techniques and style. Perhaps the most common requests we hear are for timely, consistent, two-way communication.

Uncertainty is a very uncomfortable place for almost everyone, so we encourage companies to establish clear mechanisms to solicit and respond to employees’ questions. Timely communication is critical to minimizing frustration and anxiety among employees. At the same time, inaccurate information can be even more damaging than silence–sparking skepticism and apathy. Pending the collection of accurate information, we often recommend clear, honest and timely responses such as “we are currently researching that issue and will get back to you as soon as we know the answer.”

Small steps like effective feedback loops and clear concise responses will build a foundation of reliable, trusted communication. Communication builds organizational cohesion, enhances understanding, reinforces the culture, and makes successful change possible. With an established, multifaceted communications strategy that incorporates face-to-face, online, and social media to send and receive messages, companies can design, implement, and tweak their change initiatives to most effectively fit both their current and their desired organization.

For more information about the Technology Transfer Conference, visit The Enterprise Center.