I promise you, this is a real company. And yes, we do work this way. And no, we don’t have it all figured out. But yes, it’s fun learning as we go.

The Setup

Over the last two weeks I’ve been part of a ROWE experiment here on the Development team. As a team, we work on two week deadlines, and instead of doing my work more or less week by week during our June 16 to June 30 cycle, I did things a little differently. The week of June 15 I got 95% of my work done for the entire two week cycle, then spent the week of June 22 at beautiful Lake Tahoe, and finally finished up the last 5% after I returned.

It was definitely a roller coaster ride and I thought I’d share some of the highlights.

The Front Loader

The week of June 15 was definitely one of the most focused weeks of work I’ve done in a while. The key wasn’t what I was working on, but when I was working. While we try not to talk about the “when” behind our work, I can say, shifting my work schedule to an earlier hour was a big help here. Many of the interruptions and fires during a normal don’t seem to start until around 10am, so I found the more work I could knock out before then, the better. Also, a good chunk of work on Saturday helped get me get the final push I need to feel comfortable leaving.

The Relaxation

Lake Tahoe was beautiful and most importantly, very cool. (Escaping a week of 100 degree heat for highs in the 70s is a big win!) However, what allowed the week to be relaxing was much much more than the weather. Here were the keys to being able to unwind:

Dave

If you don’t know Dave, you should. He is our front end development guru and was willing to take on being “Mr. First Responder” for the week. He took in any support ticket, provided first response, and in most cases, had it cleaned up before I even knew about it.

Scheduling in email.

This was not an off-the-grid-leave-me-alone trip. (In fact, I didn’t even take vacation days for it.) We’re used to a not-always-on mentality, but it was important not only to stay in the loop, but to make sure I didn’t hold any one up. I scheduled in an hour of email each day to make sure I was helping where help was needed.

Being flexible.

Our flight home was at 2:50 pm. During the week, a conference call was scheduled for 11 am. We had to check bags, deal with a rental car, and account for a mountain drive from Tahoe to Reno. (And I’m a very conservative traveler when it comes to making flights, being at airports, etc.) So, despite my dread of leaving the Lake an hour earlier than planned, it was well worth it to make sure I was able to find a good place to be on the conference call.

The Return

Getting back and into the swing of things was pretty easy. I had a few loose ends of my cycle work to get done so the whole “I don’t wanna go back to work” thing never happened. It was actually kind of nice to have a small amount of work to ease me back into things.

The Recap

On Monday, I sat down with Brad to talk about our little experiment. We both agreed that, at a “nuts and bolts” level, the experiment was a success. The work got done. And that’s the most important thing.

We’re looking to get more clients on board with Continuous Compliance. If your institution is interested or would like to learn more, please contact sales@thegarlandgroup.net.

We never know what will happen in the future and that is why these events are so wonderfully precious. We learned last Friday, another boy from our kids’ preschool passed away. He was only five and in another class. I can’t imagine the pain that the family must be enduring at this time. We have to count our blessings and live each day to the fullest as we never know when our time or a loved one’s time is up. His death was accidental, but still it was the end of his life. I hope I never have to go through the pain of my child’s death. That is a something I would not wish on even my worst enemy.

It is moments like these that make me realize life is forever changing. From accomplishments (no matter the size) to the death of someone important, memories are what last a life time. From their first breaths of life to their first steps and first words to graduations and beyond, we have to cherish these momentous events of our children and ourselves. Count your blessings. Bring on the day and make it the best it can be!

Recently I have seen a couple of banks and people being both forced and also deciding to change or grow (I’m not going to tell you which one(s) are being forced!) in new directions. They want to grow but do not quite have the structure, the personnel, or lets say materials. Everything starts happening so fast, and then one person is doing 2, 3, or even 4 things or even 2,3, or 4 things are all changing at once. Then you look back and don’t even see a way back or don’t even recognize what you were. But then it’s so hard to settle and maintain because most successful people are always striving for more. Don’t get me wrong, I love change. It is needed and happily anticipated in my book. So I don’t even know if there is an answer – I know there are theories and opinions. But how much growth can a person, an organization, etc. handle? What is the “magic” formula or ratio? Or how bout the bigger question (at least in my mind); how much can we stand to change, but still be the person we were (or pertaining to business: continue to deliver the service/product that got us where we are today)?

I know we as The Garland Group continually strive to break new barriers and stay well ahead of the pack. However, Brad still strives to maintain the core values and principles…that personal touch…that we are known for (that Henry founded). Something that every company (small and large) must continue to deal with. So that’s been on my mind lately…and I don’t really know if I actually ever stated anything….or again managed to ramble on. Regardless I hope it will generate some conversation or even a thought of how you are going to try and find that balance of change in your life (personal or business).

T = (C + R + I) / S

Our Trustworthiness is perceived by other people by the sum of our Credibility plus Reliability plus Intimacy; divided by your Self-orientation.

The challenge is when I meet someone for the first time, there is no intimacy, So I have only credibility and reliability to project as best I can, while at the same time making known that my interest in the other person is paramount and complimentary with my own interest. But in this e-World, this challenge is great, especially in business.

Do you agree that this is more challenging today than ever before? Have you had successful or unsuccessful experiences? Do you have suggestions?

Enacting ROWE
As you’re probably aware, our company started down the ROWE path at the end of 2008. The basic idea is that all employees work when they want, where they want, which is a scary concept for most businesses. We’re all able to get our work done without having to drive into the office everyday. Even for our audit process, we don’t just confine ourselves to an empty office within a bank, but allow our consultants to work from their hotel rooms if they like. It’s much less about where the work is done and much more about the quality of work provided (but don’t worry, we’re still very conscientious about security while performing audits).

e-Review Process
One thing Brad started at The Garland Group is the e-Review Process, which allows several of our consultants to work from our home office instead of having an entire crew on site. The LifeSize technology we use for our e-Review Process provides great benefits for all parties involved because our employees get to stay in town, and it saves our clients money by not having to pay for travel expenses (hotel stays, flights, meals, etc) for so many consultants. Performing an audit remotely is still a new concept for many banks, but one we all believe has huge potential to change the audit process into a more stream-lined, inexpensive alternative for FIs.

Continuous Compliance
In one of our latest blog entires, Henry Garland mentioned that we’re working to move towards a continuous compliance audit process. We identified that the gaps between audits put banks at risk and make things very difficult for the few people in charge of preparing for the audit process. With our continuous compliance idea, your bank would be monitored throughout the year, making the audit process much less of a hassle and helps maintain your bank’s security. We’re currently working out the logistics of pursuing continuous compliance, but we’ll be sharing more about it soon on our website.

With all these big ideas of ours in action, we’re hoping to make significant strides within the financial industry. As you can see, innovation has nothing to do with the size of your business but more the will and determination to provide solid solutions.

If you would like any further information regarding any of the services mentioned in this post, please feel free to contact us at info@thegarlandgroup.net.

I am a software developer, and I work for The Garland Group out of my home office in Minnesota. Being able to see my office from my refrigerator further blurs the distinction when I am grabbing a late night snack and am reminded of some programming problem I need to solve.

An always present work environment in the home is really cool, but sometimes the work life fuel tank runs low and doesn’t charge up as much since there is no getting away from the office. I have a few things I do to charge up that fuel tank. My favorite is motorcycling.

This afternoon I was pondering this fantastic metaphor about the empty tank and how it would make a truly profound blog post. so I decided I should go for a ride and fuel up my metaphorical tank before writing about it. So I put on my leather, gloves, boots and helmet and invited a young friend with a moped to trail along with me.

I was feeling charged up and refreshed when we got half way up Stadium Road – the biggest hill in town – where my friend’s moped ran out of gas. A few minutes later I found myself in full riding gear – leather, gloves, boots, helmet – pushing a little moped through traffic up a steep hill while trying to work out in my head how this was going to support my work life metaphor.

How do you fill up your tank?

Here at the The Garland Group, we have had a lot of discussions recently about this topic for annual technology audits, and we believe we can move down that path for the future.  We all agree it will take technology and a cultural change at the institution to really make this work.  We also agree that if financial institutions don’t find ways to improve compliance processes, their labor and/or outside audit costs will continue to rise.

The first step to transitioning to a continuous compliance model for any area of the institution will require a shift in mindset (aka education) from doing reviews once a year to finding ways to do them on a set schedule.  The institution will need to really think out the use of their risk assessment and use that process to set alerts for things that need to be reviewed.  Obviously, your internal and/or external auditors will need to be in the loop to help decide on the schedule, and will need to perform some or all of the reviews themselves.  This new risk assessment methodology combined with a strict audit scope will force compliance, or it will automatically report to the audit committee that it was not done.  This allows your experts to focus on areas of highest risk and maybe even perform reviews of those areas on a more frequent basis. 

A good example of this is user profile reviews on your core system. We ALWAYS review this during our annual review, but normally provide a recommendation to review them at least semi-annually for a small institution and a quarterly reveiw for a larger institution.  What if we had this scope set up on a continuous compliance model?  An alert is sent to someone to run the user report and have it placed in an area where another  independent person could review it and provide recommendations based on current data.

I think we should all begin thinking about how we can make the transition to “Continuous Compliance.”

Control and security are critical elements in offering Internet banking services to bank customers. Internet banking systems require effective and reliable controls to maintain data integrity, ensure customer privacy, and protect the banks computer and telecommunications systems from unauthorized intrusions, misuse, or fraud. Risk management controls for Internet banking should be incorporated in the overall bank security program. A banks security program should provide “end-to-end” security controls for critical data and critical facilities. Management of the internet banking system should ensure that periodic security risk assessments are conducted to identify internal and external threats that may undermine data integrity, interfere with service, or result in the destruction of information. Threat and vulnerability assessment findings assist management with decisions regarding the types and configuration of security controls. Threats may come from criminal enterprises, hackers, or disgruntled or unethical employees. Careless or improperly trained staff or users of Internet banking systems also can pose security risks. Computer viruses may corrupt data or cause systems to fail. Controls should be implemented to maintain data integrity and to promote privacy and confidentiality. An independent source should be required to review and test the controls in place to ensure their compliance/effectiveness. 

E-banking text may adjust according to the type of environment you are running (outsource/in-house). Proper controls and security will help ensure the protection of both bank and customer.

Community relations is the art of becoming an insider in the community. This requires three important stepping stones:
* dialogue – establishing two-way communication.
* integrity – being what you say you are.
* credibility – you are believable and believed.

It is worth noting that the words community and communications have the same Latin root – communitas – meaning shared. Community relations is the practice of communicating with the community to establish and maintain mutually good relationships. Good community relations is about being a good corporate citizen. A good neighbor. A wise neighbor. And most banks know this. Most banks even designate a specific employee to oversee their relationship with their community.

SOME IDEAS FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
• Community Rooms offering meeting free meeting space for community groups and organizations.
• Braille bank statements made available for visually-handicapped people.
• Free space and publicity provided for weekend farmers’ markets, school car washes, garage sales and flea markets.
• Employees should be encouraged to engage in volunteer community work and join local non-profit organizations in an effort to get to know their membership and participate in their local activities and events.
• Sponsor local events to maximize name recognition by signage, program listings, etc.
• Join local school booster clubs and set aside budgeted amounts for yearly donations, etc.
• Offer regular free blood pressure checks and hearing tests at branches.
• Offer informational meetings for community members in areas of interest to them — for example, identity theft issues for senior adults.
• Put all the local business people and Chamber of Commerce members on permanent subscriptions to their newsletters and by doing this they can increase the exposure to their efforts.

Community relations works best where the organization identifies itself with the broader community and sees itself as part of that community. To aspire to be part of a community is to aspire to be recognized by it and invited to join it. The primary goal of community relations is to gain understanding and support for what you are doing – so maintaining and improving your position in the marketplace, your closeness to customers and your freedom to operate.

Effective community relations can provide substantial rewards in terms of:
* creating excellent marketing opportunities.
* providing a reservoir of good will for the future.
* reinforcing relationships with employees.
* building a leadership position for an organization.

Local Community Banks must support the community that supports them and remain a strong partner in economic redevelopment and down town revitalization, as well as help up and coming entrepreneurs and business people. If the bank can do this then they are well on their way to becoming successful in their area. Public relations for a local community bank are paramount if the bank is to grow in size. Failure to participate in the community at this level will cause a slower growth rates and the local community bank will be overtaken in the marketplace by larger banks with bigger marketing budgets, more advertising and a free guess for opening new accounts.

Whether the bank is located in a small or large community, I believe these are valid points that will result in the bank truly becoming an integral part of their community.