We’re diving into the NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework Category 6: Operations as part of our Unlocking Performance Excellence blog series—a roadmap for EdTech leaders who are serious about systems thinking and results-driven innovation. At the heart of this category is a question every savvy leader should be asking: How do we design, manage, and improve our key processes to consistently deliver value?
When school systems stumble, it’s rarely because the vision was unclear. More often, it’s the result of inconsistent, inefficient, or reactive operations. That’s why Category 6: Operations is one of the most important—and overlooked—components of organizational leadership.
From cybersecurity to service delivery, operations are the behind-the-scenes engines that power every successful technology strategy. Let’s unpack how the NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework can help EdTech leaders operationalize vision, build resilient systems, and create sustainable impact.
This blog is for Savvy EdTech leaders who want to tighten their operations, improve how work gets done, and ensure their teams deliver consistent, high-value services to students and staff.
When school systems stumble, it’s rarely because the vision was unclear. More often, it’s the result of inconsistent, inefficient, or reactive operations. That’s why Category 6: Operations is one of the most important—and overlooked—components of organizational leadership.
From cybersecurity to service delivery, operations are the behind-the-scenes engines that power every successful technology strategy. Let’s unpack how the NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework can help EdTech leaders operationalize vision, build resilient systems, and create sustainable impact.
This blog is for Savvy EdTech leaders who want to tighten their operations, improve how work gets done, and ensure their teams deliver consistent, high-value services to students and staff.
Boots on the Ground
Here in Texas, we call it “boots on the ground”—that moment when the planning stops and the doing begins. In other words, get busy! It’s where operations come to life, where systems are stress-tested, and where real impact is made. For Savvy EdTech leaders, this is more than a metaphor. It’s a mindset.
It’s where we roll up our sleeves, walk alongside our teams, and ensure the work isn’t just designed well on paper—but executed with consistency, clarity, and care. Because strategy without strong implementation? That’s just wishful thinking.
Operational excellence happens where the action is. And as leaders, that means being present, being accountable, and being relentlessly focused on how our systems serve students and staff—every single day.
It’s where we roll up our sleeves, walk alongside our teams, and ensure the work isn’t just designed well on paper—but executed with consistency, clarity, and care. Because strategy without strong implementation? That’s just wishful thinking.
Operational excellence happens where the action is. And as leaders, that means being present, being accountable, and being relentlessly focused on how our systems serve students and staff—every single day.
At its core, Category 6: Operations challenges us to examine how we lead the day-to-day work of our departments—and whether that work is designed to scale, adapt, and improve. It asks three simple questions:
For EdTech leaders, this applies to everything we deliver, from behind-the-scenes infrastructure to front-line instructional support. That includes these kinds of products and services.
- How do you design your work?
- How do you manage it every day?
- How do you improve it over time?
For EdTech leaders, this applies to everything we deliver, from behind-the-scenes infrastructure to front-line instructional support. That includes these kinds of products and services.
- Deploying and supporting student and staff devices
- Managing cybersecurity protocols and data systems
- Operating help desks and service centers
- Delivering digital learning programs
- Coordinating teacher professional development and instructional technology coaching
- Ensuring equitable access to tools and platforms
Whether we are issuing 10,000 Chromebooks, launching a new Student Information System or Learning Management System, or troubleshooting a login issue before the first bell, our operational systems—and how we lead them—make or break the educational technology experience.
When our processes are well-designed, staff and students don’t notice them. They just work. But when systems are reactive or inconsistent, the ripple effect can derail learning, erode trust, and exhaust our organization.
Let’s walk through how we can apply each part of Category 6 in practice.
When our processes are well-designed, staff and students don’t notice them. They just work. But when systems are reactive or inconsistent, the ripple effect can derail learning, erode trust, and exhaust our organization.
Let’s walk through how we can apply each part of Category 6 in practice.
From Operations to optimization: Mapping Work That Works
Define What You Actually Do
At the heart of operational excellence lies a deceptively simple—but often overlooked—discipline: clearly defining what your team does. In the Baldrige framework, 6.1 Work Processes begin with program and process design: determining what work is needed and how it should be done.
Lack of clarity turns innovation into noise, leaving initiatives scattered, redundant, and misaligned with both student success and organizational strategy.
In my former school district, we launched a technology bond initiative to purchase a new inventory management system. We had more than enough funding to buy the very best product on the market—and we did. But when it came time to implement, we quickly realized we had a serious gap: we didn’t have any defined processes. Not even the basics—like who purchases what, how items are tagged, installed, transferred, or disposed of. No one had ever written down "what they actually do to inventory millions of dollars of technology."
I even turned to the vendor for help, but they didn’t have documented processes either. So, I asked my staff to create them. After weeks of trying, they couldn’t make it work. In the end, I had to pay the vendor to develop documentation, and even that was a struggle.
The breakthrough came when we created a standardized template and made process documentation a requirement. Once we got that system in place, it became much easier, and over time it embedded itself into how we delivered services. What started as a painful lesson turned into a foundation for consistency, accountability, and long-term success.
I even turned to the vendor for help, but they didn’t have documented processes either. So, I asked my staff to create them. After weeks of trying, they couldn’t make it work. In the end, I had to pay the vendor to develop documentation, and even that was a struggle.
The breakthrough came when we created a standardized template and made process documentation a requirement. Once we got that system in place, it became much easier, and over time it embedded itself into how we delivered services. What started as a painful lesson turned into a foundation for consistency, accountability, and long-term success.
Clarity matters. For EdTech leaders, ambiguity is the enemy of both efficiency and impact. When core services aren’t well-defined, teams spend energy reacting rather than delivering. Defining what you do creates the foundation for systems thinking, enabling leaders to allocate resources strategically, measure performance, and continuously improve. Here are some basic steps to help you jump start the process.
Defining what you do may sound elementary, but it’s the anchor of operational maturity. When leaders articulate services, set requirements, and name ownership, they transform their team from a collection of tasks into a system of services that can be measured, managed, and improved.
- Define key services clearly - Start by building a shared list of your team’s core services. These may include device support (e.g., Chromebook repair), instructional technology coaching, student information system (SIS) support, or cybersecurity training. Go beyond simply naming them—write them down, make them crystal clear, and assign ownership. Every service should have a responsible leader who is accountable for its quality and results.
- Identify requirements - For each service, ask and answer two essential questions:
- Who is the customer? (Students, staff, families, administrators, or the community?)
- What does success require? (Tools, training, staffing, funding, or partnerships?)
- Make it visible. - Transparency builds alignment. Document services in a living playbook or service catalog and ensure your team knows—and can explain—what you do. This practice also helps stakeholders outside your team understand your scope, value, and priorities.
Defining what you do may sound elementary, but it’s the anchor of operational maturity. When leaders articulate services, set requirements, and name ownership, they transform their team from a collection of tasks into a system of services that can be measured, managed, and improved.
Know What Great Looks LiKe
Once you’ve defined your core services, the next step is to set the bar for excellence. Clarity is only half the equation—teams must also know what “done well” looks like. Without defined expectations, services drift into inconsistency, and it becomes nearly impossible to measure or improve.
For Savvy EdTech Leaders, “good enough” is rarely enough. Teachers expect reliability, students expect seamless access, administrators expect compliance, and families expect trust. By naming what great looks like, we position ourselves to create shared standards that drive consistency, accountability, and continuous improvement. Here are some key questions to ask. For every service, leaders should answer:
Here's the turning point however. It doesn't stop there. We must translate expectations into service level agreements (SLAs), dashboards, or operational scorecards that make performance visible. When expectations are written, shared, and tracked, our team moves from reactive troubleshooting to proactive excellence.
By answering these questions and setting clear standards, EdTech leaders create a culture where quality is not assumed but defined, measured, and continuously pursued. Greatness is no longer an aspiration—it’s a system.
For Savvy EdTech Leaders, “good enough” is rarely enough. Teachers expect reliability, students expect seamless access, administrators expect compliance, and families expect trust. By naming what great looks like, we position ourselves to create shared standards that drive consistency, accountability, and continuous improvement. Here are some key questions to ask. For every service, leaders should answer:
- Who are we serving? Clarify the primary customers—students, staff, administrators, or families.
- What does “done well” mean? Define the specific qualities of success: Is the system intuitive? Are devices ready for learning? Are users supported quickly and effectively?
- What are the service expectations? Establish measurable standards around speed, reliability, and accessibility.
- Do we have access to best practices? Look beyond your school system / school district. Leverage national frameworks, research, and industry standards that set the bar for operational excellence.
- Are there benchmarks from peers? Identify key performance indicators, metrics or examples from comparable districts to show what success looks like in practice.
Here's the turning point however. It doesn't stop there. We must translate expectations into service level agreements (SLAs), dashboards, or operational scorecards that make performance visible. When expectations are written, shared, and tracked, our team moves from reactive troubleshooting to proactive excellence.
By answering these questions and setting clear standards, EdTech leaders create a culture where quality is not assumed but defined, measured, and continuously pursued. Greatness is no longer an aspiration—it’s a system.
MAP the process
Think of your workflows like a road trip: you may know the destination, but without a clear map, every turn is a guess. Too often, especially with EdTech teams, they assume they know how the work gets done—until they put it on paper. Plus, I've never met a network engineer or a computer technician that likes to "map out the steps they perform and integrate their workflow with other teams and departments."
Mapping the process turns assumptions into evidence, giving you a GPS view of the steps, handoffs, and obstacles that shape your services. Once the route is visible, you can spot traffic jams, detours, and bottlenecks that were hidden in plain sight.
Simplify the process. Use Process Maps. They are easier than you might think. Begin with one key process—say, technology inventory management. Start with something as easy as a "swimlane" diagrams to clarify who does what. Document every step. Mapping uncovers invisible friction points, from approval delays to unclear responsibilities.
Mapping the process turns assumptions into evidence, giving you a GPS view of the steps, handoffs, and obstacles that shape your services. Once the route is visible, you can spot traffic jams, detours, and bottlenecks that were hidden in plain sight.
Simplify the process. Use Process Maps. They are easier than you might think. Begin with one key process—say, technology inventory management. Start with something as easy as a "swimlane" diagrams to clarify who does what. Document every step. Mapping uncovers invisible friction points, from approval delays to unclear responsibilities.
Also, think about agility and barriers that get in the way of getting the work done. Ask: What could disrupt this workflow process? Risks like supply chain delays, staff turnover, or cyberattacks can derail even well-designed workflows. Build flexible steps and backups so the process can bend without breaking. And, don’t just digitize a paper process. Ask: How could automation, integrations, or dashboards simplify this? Technology should streamline, not complicate.
Blueprint for Consistency (Standard Operating Procedures)
Guess what, most EdTech staff members rarely like to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) either. But.... SOPs make it clear who’s responsible, what steps are required, how long they should take, and what tools are needed. They don’t have to be long—but they should be visible and accessible. Think of them as the road signs of your organization: simple, consistent, and designed to keep everyone moving safely and in the right direction.
Not every process requires an SOP. Some tasks are too simple or too flexible to lock down in a rigid document. But when a process is mission-critical, repetitive, or highly regulated, a clear SOP reduces confusion, prevents costly mistakes, and makes onboarding new staff easier. Here are some examples.
Technology asset management benefits from an SOP because it involves multiple handoffs (procurement, tagging, installation, transfer, disposal). Without consistency, assets get lost, records become unreliable, and accountability breaks down.
SOPs also help teams balance efficiency with accountability. By setting expectations upfront—what “good” looks like, what timelines apply, and what tools to use—leaders free their teams from reinventing the wheel every time. Instead, staff can focus on doing the work consistently and improving the process over time.
When SOPs are written once, shared openly, and updated regularly, they become part of the culture. They aren’t just documents sitting in a binder; SOPs are the operating DNA of a team.
Not every process requires an SOP. Some tasks are too simple or too flexible to lock down in a rigid document. But when a process is mission-critical, repetitive, or highly regulated, a clear SOP reduces confusion, prevents costly mistakes, and makes onboarding new staff easier. Here are some examples.
Technology asset management benefits from an SOP because it involves multiple handoffs (procurement, tagging, installation, transfer, disposal). Without consistency, assets get lost, records become unreliable, and accountability breaks down.
- Incident response needs an SOP because time is critical and roles must be crystal clear. In the middle of a cybersecurity event, staff don’t have the luxury of asking, “Who does what?”
- Student data privacy requests may warrant an SOP to ensure compliance with regulations and to protect sensitive information. A single missed step could mean a breach of trust or a violation of law.
SOPs also help teams balance efficiency with accountability. By setting expectations upfront—what “good” looks like, what timelines apply, and what tools to use—leaders free their teams from reinventing the wheel every time. Instead, staff can focus on doing the work consistently and improving the process over time.
When SOPs are written once, shared openly, and updated regularly, they become part of the culture. They aren’t just documents sitting in a binder; SOPs are the operating DNA of a team.
Operational Effectiveness – Running a Tight Ship
Defining, mapping, and managing processes builds the foundation. Operational effectiveness is about running that system with discipline, resilience, and efficiency. It’s where strategy meets execution.
Mapping a process is like drawing the first route on a map—but the real skill is managing the journey over time. Roads change, new risks emerge, and expectations evolve. To stay effective, leaders need a rhythm of reviewing, refining, and continuously improving processes.
Think back to the introduction of this Unlock Performance Excellence Blog Series, where we framed the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework as an EdTech leaderboard. Operational effectiveness is how you keep your department on that leaderboard—by monitoring the right metrics, using dashboards to visualize performance, and treating improvement as an ongoing system, not a one-time win. Consider these example Operational Metrics for EdTech Leaders
a. Cost, Efficiency, and Effectiveness
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Pair speed metrics with quality outcomes (e.g., resolution time and repeat issue rate) to ensure efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of effectiveness.
b. Supply-Network Management
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Maintain a vendor scorecard that tracks responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, and alignment to district priorities—not just price.
c. Safety, Continuity, and Risk Management
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Don’t just measure whether incidents were avoided—measure how quickly and effectively your systems and staff recovered.
Defining, mapping, and managing processes builds the foundation. Operational effectiveness is about running that system with discipline, resilience, and efficiency. It’s where strategy meets execution.
Mapping a process is like drawing the first route on a map—but the real skill is managing the journey over time. Roads change, new risks emerge, and expectations evolve. To stay effective, leaders need a rhythm of reviewing, refining, and continuously improving processes.
Think back to the introduction of this Unlock Performance Excellence Blog Series, where we framed the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework as an EdTech leaderboard. Operational effectiveness is how you keep your department on that leaderboard—by monitoring the right metrics, using dashboards to visualize performance, and treating improvement as an ongoing system, not a one-time win. Consider these example Operational Metrics for EdTech Leaders
a. Cost, Efficiency, and Effectiveness
- Help Desk Responsiveness: % of tickets resolved within 24 hours (baseline: 80%+).
- Device Turnaround Time: Average time to repair or replace a student device.
- First-Contact Resolution Rate: % of issues resolved without escalation.
- Cost per Student Device Supported: Helps track total cost of ownership.
- Instructional Coaching Reach: % of teachers engaged with EdTech coaching at least twice per semester.
- Professional Development Impact: Teacher satisfaction scores and observed classroom adoption of tools.
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Pair speed metrics with quality outcomes (e.g., resolution time and repeat issue rate) to ensure efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of effectiveness.
b. Supply-Network Management
- Vendor SLA Compliance: % of vendors meeting uptime, delivery, or support obligations.
- Software License Utilization: % of purchased licenses actually used (target: 85%+).
- Contract Redundancy: # of overlapping systems serving the same function (e.g., duplicate SIS or LMS add-ons).
- ISP / Network Uptime: Measured against agreed thresholds (e.g., 99.9%).
- EdTech Vendor Security Posture: % of vendors aligned to cybersecurity requirements (NIST CSF, CC4E, state frameworks).
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Maintain a vendor scorecard that tracks responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, and alignment to district priorities—not just price.
c. Safety, Continuity, and Risk Management
- Cybersecurity Awareness Training Completion: % of staff completing training annually (target: 100%).
- Phishing Simulation Resilience: Click rate on simulated phishing emails (target: <5%).
- System Recovery Times: RTO/RPO for critical systems (e.g., SIS, LMS, payroll).
- Incident Response Drills Conducted: # of tabletop exercises completed annually.
- Data Accuracy and Reliability: % of clean, duplicate-free student records in SIS.
- Backups Tested Successfully: % of critical systems with verified recovery tests each quarter.
Savvy EdTech Leader Strategy: Don’t just measure whether incidents were avoided—measure how quickly and effectively your systems and staff recovered.
For Savvy EdTech Leaders, mapping processes for operational effectiveness isn’t just about running technology smoothly—it’s about building trust. Teachers trust that their devices will work, students trust they’ll have access to learning platforms, administrators trust the data they use for decisions, and families trust that their information is secure.
Build with a Plan B in Mind
Have you ever met a Savvy EdTech Leader that didn't have a "Plan B" in their hip pocket? Even the best-designed processes can be thrown off course. That’s why operational excellence requires more than efficiency—it requires continuity planning (resilience).
Plan B connects directly back to Map the Process. When you map workflows, don’t just capture the ideal path—also note where things could (will) break down. At each step, ask: What could derail this? That’s how we turn a process map into a resilience map. Here are some common "gotchas" that throw us off track.
Plan B connects directly back to Map the Process. When you map workflows, don’t just capture the ideal path—also note where things could (will) break down. At each step, ask: What could derail this? That’s how we turn a process map into a resilience map. Here are some common "gotchas" that throw us off track.
- Staff turnover? Critical knowledge walks out the door if it isn’t documented. What can we do? Crosstrain, build SOPs, and keep playbooks updated.
- Cyberattack? Ransomware, phishing, or system outages can halt learning. What can we do? Test backups, set recovery points, and drill your incident response plan.
- Late shipments? Vendor delays on devices or networking equipment can derail rollouts. What can we do? Diversify suppliers and keep strategic reserves.
- Funding shifts? Unexpected budget cuts or grant expirations can stall critical projects. What can we do? Build flexibility into financial plans.
- Policy changes? New state or federal compliance rules (e.g., data privacy, accessibility) can demand immediate adjustments. What can we do? Stay ahead of regulations.
- Technology obsolescence? A core platform or tool may reach end-of-life faster than expected. What can we do? Track vendor roadmaps and plan migrations early.
- Infrastructure failure? Outages from internet providers, power disruptions, or HVAC failures in data centers can cause ripple effects. What can we do? Build redundancy.
Make a Plan B part of every Plan A.
Savvy EdTech leaders design systems that are not only efficient but also resilient enough to withstand staffing changes, cyberattacks, budget shifts, and unexpected disruptions. In today’s environment, resilience isn’t optional—it’s the cornerstone of operational excellence.
Plan B thinking is maintaining a risk register! Think of a risk register as a playbook of potential disruptions that could derail your EdTech strategy. It identifies, categorizes, and prioritizes risks—so when you activate “Plan B,” you already know what you’re pivoting around. For example:
By cataloging these risks in a risk register, we can plan mitigation steps before they’re needed. How?
Savvy EdTech leaders design systems that are not only efficient but also resilient enough to withstand staffing changes, cyberattacks, budget shifts, and unexpected disruptions. In today’s environment, resilience isn’t optional—it’s the cornerstone of operational excellence.
Plan B thinking is maintaining a risk register! Think of a risk register as a playbook of potential disruptions that could derail your EdTech strategy. It identifies, categorizes, and prioritizes risks—so when you activate “Plan B,” you already know what you’re pivoting around. For example:
- Technology risks – network outage, system downtime, data breach, vendor failure
- Operational risks – staff turnover, late hardware shipments, policy misalignment
- External risks – cyberattacks, legislative changes, supply chain issues
By cataloging these risks in a risk register, we can plan mitigation steps before they’re needed. How?
- Turn Anticipation into Documentation - Plan B takes all those "what could derail us" questions and captures the answers systematically.
- Prioritize to be Efficient and Structured - Not every risk is equal. The register forces us to rank risks (likelihood × impact), ensuring that time and resources go first toward what could cause the most damage.
- Develop Action Plans to Preplan Mitigation and Contingency - Carefully take each risk, predict how you might mitigate that risk, and define a contingency plan.
- Assign Ownership to Build Accountability. The risk register assigns who is responsible for watching and responding to each risk, so when Plan B is activated, no one is guessing who should act.
Here is a Top 10 Plan B Checklist. When Savvy EdTech leaders review any process or service, they ask these types of questions.
- If this key staff member left tomorrow, who could step in?
- If our SIS or LMS went down, how long until we recover?
- If a cyberattack locked us out, do we have tested backups and recovery points?
- If a device shipment doesn’t arrive, what’s our backup distribution plan?
- If the internet or network fails, what’s our redundancy or failover option?
- If funding or a grant ends unexpectedly, what projects can be sustained or scaled back?
- If state or federal policies change, how quickly can we adapt compliance processes?
- If a core platform or vendor sunsets a product, do we have an alternative lined up?
- If students or teachers lose access to digital tools mid-instruction, what’s our fallback?
- If an emergency (weather, facilities failure, power outage) disrupts operations, what’s our continuity plan for teaching and learning?
REFLECTIVE QUESTION: What key process(es) will you define, map, and improve today?
Unlock Performance Excellence Blog Series
- Why Use the NIST Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework as an EdTech Leadership Blueprint?
- Organization Description: Examining EdTech Organizations with Clarity and Transparency
- (1) Leadership and Governance: Navigating an Award-Winning Goal Standard
- (2) Future-Focused Strategy by Design: Leading with Foresight and Performing with Purpose
- (3) Customer-Centered Excellence: From Relationships to Remarkable Experiences
- (4) The Architecture of Excellence: Building Systems for Measurement, Insight, and Learning
- (5) Workforce Optimization: Uniting People, Purpose and Performance
- (6) From Chaos to Clarity: Leading Operations to Enable What's Possible
- (7) Results
- Integration
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Disclosure
This blog post was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI (May 2025 version, GPT-4o) [https://chatgpt.com]. In alignment with MIT's Guidance for use of Generative AI tools, ChatGPT was used exclusively to support the structure and clarity of the writing. All core ideas, personal insights, EdTech Leader experiences, and references remain the sole work of the author.
This blog post was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI (May 2025 version, GPT-4o) [https://chatgpt.com]. In alignment with MIT's Guidance for use of Generative AI tools, ChatGPT was used exclusively to support the structure and clarity of the writing. All core ideas, personal insights, EdTech Leader experiences, and references remain the sole work of the author.