Organizational Development terminology: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

When it comes to Organizational Development terminology one term I particularly like is the Myers-Briggs (Type Indicator) or MBTI this is an engagement assessment based on the theories of Carl Jung that broke down personality types into sixteen various categories. The questions are divided even further into different groups of questions such as Favorite world, Information, Decisions, and Structure how the individual answers each of these questions shapes the assessment of their personality (Myersbriggs.org, 2017).

The MTBI is a great tool usually for personal use but also for use in professional settings by consultants to gather a vague idea of individual viewpoints and personality types. Although it is not a strict, detailed assessment of an individual’s personality it can give the consultant insight of how to address individual tastes and tailor organizational programs to increase retention and cooperation. The results of the MTBI may also assist the consultant in addressing such aspects as roadblocks to team building, assist in one on one coaching sessions, and get a better understanding for conflict resolution purposes.

The high reliability of the test makes it a great tool for professional usage, but should only be “loosely” used so that individual test takers are not “pigeonholed” as one personality type and eliminated by the consultant from programs or activities that may be apathetic to the personality classification (Anderson, 2013).

This link that discusses very briefly, about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator:
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

You can take the personality assessment here:
https://www.mbtionline.com/TaketheMBTI

Anderson, D. L. (2013). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change. Sage Publications.
Myersbriggs.org (2017) “MBTI Basics” The Myers & Briggs Foundation Retrieved on March 22, 2017 from: http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/

Organizational Clarity: The front end where the customers "see"

The challenges of any local business are the front end where the customers (external stakeholders) "see" what your organization is all about. The issue is usually covered in training manuals everywhere, by the old standard of "greeting the customer in the first thirty seconds" they enter. Not only to acknowledge their presence but also to alleviate the stress of further interaction. However, after that initial interaction, the front line of the organization must be alert or aware of the time between the greeting and the time the customer is being engaged in regards the product or service offered by the organization that they are entertaining the notion of using, purchasing.

Sites like Yelp are great sources of examples of where organizations have failed to bridge that gap for their customers. Where the time from the representative says "hello" and to being waited on was so long that the organization loses a customer or a sale because of this gap alone. Whether that wait is 15 minutes to an hour it is important, to engage the customer until all interactions between the customer and the organization are positively completed. I have had some experiences in which a representative of an organization has had greeted me and dealt with other customers that came in after me or had me wait on "the side" to fulfill my request and take an extraordinary amount of time UNTIL I spoke up about my original request.

In either instance, I must confess as a customer, and as a student of organizational development, I detailed the situation, where the organization went wrong, gave them solutions to their problems through either their website and yelp. Of course, I usually do not go back or re-engage the organization to reinforce to them the seriousness of their issues. Most of the time organizations serious about their customers do their best to make the necessary changes, reach out and make things right with the customer.

But there are times that organizations do not take the commentary and data regarding these interactions to heart and simply ignore it, because "business is good..." However, the problems remain and a chorus of customer complaints get louder and multiply, that is when an organization suffers. Sometimes it can all be solved with a little due diligence or some simple engagement that keeps the customer feeling that they are still the number one focus of the organization.

Organizational Clarity: Whether an Intervention is working

Excerpt from an Old OD posting

We know that to intervene means to change something in an organization. With change comes responsibility. How do we know for sure that our intervention will work? What do we do if it causes more harm than good?

When it comes to an intervention working I believe if some of the goals outlined in the initial planning and contract stages achieved would be an indicator. Also, I think that if the client could accomplish and grow in their roles outlined in the contract and if there is an actual change in the system and methodology of the organization to achieve increase productivity and streamline the services they provide.

If there is still resistance to the organization change set by the objectives and a consensus of what needs to be accomplished or unrealistic expectations with an illogical timeframe to complete them remain then we know that the intervention has not worked. “Clearing the weeds” or making sure that the client is fully committed to the change and all the employees are on the same page with minimal or no resistance remain on a long-term basis towards the program, could also be a benchmark that the interventions had worked.

The possible way that we are causing more harm than good is if we use the wrong intervention, based on the information the client gives us, we as consultants can just change the focus of the intervention. For example, if we are lead to believe that the issue is team based than an organization based on the client during the initial meeting, we can take the data gathered by the failed intervention to illustrate to the client the need for a directional change of the intervention. The last thing we want to do is cause more stress or further embed resistance to future interventions or lose the engagement of the members of the organization.

With the new data gathered the consultant can narrow down the focus of what is the best option(s) to solve the problem, and it can be touted to the members of the failed intervention as a step in the overall process for change management.  Meeting this hurdle with positive psychology instead of being negative towards this situation, the consultant can easily begin the buy-in process again. 
By using this as a starting point (or reason) for the need to have increased communication between members or for the client to commit to their roles, if there was a measure of resistance in these areas. The consultant can use this failure as the focal point to reenergize, refocus the members of the organization and demand resources in areas where they were previously limited.

Organizational Clarity: “PowerPoint Add-ins – Develop E-learning Courses Rapidly” article

The CommlabIndia community is another group decided to easy, cheap solutions to meet an organizational needs within the various aspects of Organizational Development whether it is training sessions or meeting presentations.

In this article: “PowerPoint Add-ins – Develop E-learning Courses Rapidly” is an article that discusses E-Learning options using Powerpoint as the base and various add-ons which compliment it. Since online training is becoming even increasing more pivotal to increasing the employees’ professional development,  organizations must come up with viable ways to create training programs linked to software which even novice computer users know how to use..

These are the three Add-ins programs for Microsoft Powerpoint:

1. Articulate Presenter
2. Office Mix
3. iSpring Suite

For your organization's training program there is a brief discussion, about each Add-on and what formats they are best used for when publishing the Powerpoint presentation. Each Add-on leads to a different way to present the training information to the organization's employees and possibly reaching different learning styles at the same time. Using audio narratives or video opens up the ability of the trainer to reach a broader audience and as well as being more effective in presenting one’s message.

If you want to know more just click the link here:
http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-development/powerpoint-add-ins-elearning-courses

Organizational Clarity: “Top 5 Aspects to Consider Before E-learning Development” article

The CommlabIndia community is another group decided to easy, cheap solutions to meet an organizational needs within the various aspects of Organizational Development whether it is training sessions or meeting presentations. In this article: “Top 5 Aspects to Consider Before E-learning Development” which lists five important points considered important in knowing, or acknowledging before moving ahead with a new training program.
These are the five aspects that as a trainer or creator of an E-Learning program must consider in the development stages:

1. Readiness for online training

2. “Clearly defined” organizational training goals and objectives

3. Information and skill sets employees need 

4. Motivating factors to encourage employees

5. Provision of support to employees

To increase the ROI for the organization in regards to the training program, a proper measurement of it, and to increase the success of the training program. Understanding the motivating factors behind an organization's employees is a fundamental mantra in Organizational Development knowing what is important to employees can improve the way they achieve their overall professional goals (plus your training program).

If you want to know more just click the link here:
http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-development/elearning-development-aspects-to-consider

Organizational Development: How to continue your progression in the field

One of the questions or dilemmas from a class for Organizational Development was how would I continue to learn and apply knowledge of organizational development when the work we do is never transactional and the dynamics we experience in our organizations will challenge us to think differently and pointedly.

I posted this as an answer to this dilemma/question:

"I think that a great first step now that the class is wrapping up is to reread the textbooks at one’s leisure. Also, analyzing one’s organization or workplace, really looking at the benefits, the policies and procedures they have in place, then using what we learned here to ask where the organization can grow or do better for their employees.

There are also a bunch of Organization Development (OD) and OD related organizations that have free newsletters online or email lists that cover various topics which deal with LMS systems, Training and Development techniques to free downloads for presentations, which I have signed up for and assisted me in my school work or the workplace.  It is a matter of signing up for the right one is the challenge because some of these sites are just merely trying to sell you something.

Another way I am applying my knowledge of Organization Development is by writing a blog on subject matter that revolves around the field, then I am also connected through blogs and on social media with other professionals that discuss best practices and operational tips that consistently give them success in the field."

Hopefully, this may have some “tips” or make some light bulbs come on when you are thinking about what you are going to do as you leave graduate school and make your way out into the field. Possibly you can be a professional looking to extend your reach and brand hopefully this old posting can help. Are there any other tidbits that you can think of that may help other professionals or students learning about the field just near them in the comments section below.

The Garbage can decision making process

The Garbage can process is a simple way of meshing an organization's stakeholders its problems and the solutions that encompass them all. Adding together the choices made, the time and resources used there is a mixing of these factors to have at-ready solutions at any time there is a need for an answer. In this process, decisions are confined to not only the limits of an organization's resources but what are the major consequences of such decisions and the situation the organization finds itself in.

The outcome of this process is based on several factors but solely on how the mixture of participants, the avenues of opportunity, resources available, the problems facing the organization & creation of solutions or ability thereof to create those solutions. Therefore, a lot of the garbage can process when it comes to a decision making you can say depends on the organizational culture.

If the culture allows certain solutions to be vetted or even considered, you see this in a lot of organizations, which are limited by the amount of choices, participants, resources, and opportunities available. Constraints of the organization's mission or mission statement which can help create its culture can also be a roadblock to a successful solution in this process.

Although it is an interesting theory the truth is that it is widely used by most organizations as they navigate the marketplace. Organizations use this type of process to stay culturally sensitive towards their base of customers and stakeholders. This method is a protective measure to ensure, feasible and was problem-solving methods in the future.

Read more about the garbage can decision-making process:
http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/encyclop/garbage_can.html

Organizational Clarity: “Creating Device Mockup Templates and Placeholders for E-Learning #161” article

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this article: “Creating Device Mockup Templates and Placeholders for E-Learning #161” is an article that discusses how to use the custom mockups you created for your various presentations and E-Learning documentation. In the article, it lists resources on how to make:

• Mobile phones
• iPads and tablets
• Laptops
• Monitors and iMacs

Learning how to make your (own) graphics can streamline the creation process plus save your organization money on paying for costly images to use online or on the organization's web service. Although this may save a couple of dollars at first it will save a lot of money in the long run, through repeat usage of the mockups that you made as a result.
Just click on the link here to learn more:
https://community.articulate.com/articles/device-mockup-templates-elearning

Organizational Clarity: The introverted personality at work

The crazy thing about the workplace is the various personalities involved and how to navigate them. Most of the time, there is a lot of back and forth, but sometimes it is just a one-way street. Now as funny as this sounds this could be for a litany of reasons, you can have Your introverted personality which is still cool, only harder to motivate or find out what motivates this person.

On the other hand, you may be dealing with an individual that is burnt out or maybe fallen out with the organization and any members that represent it. This person seems like the one that is so negative, you cannot reach or maybe is a waste of organizational resources. To me, out of the two, the latter is the easiest one to reach. Finding out that soft spot or place where the "honeymoon" ended with the organization can be easy as pie.

Whether there is a drop off in production after a certain event, ie: Performance appraisal, or being passed over for a promotion, all that data can is easily found in daily production reports or peer interviews. Hence, when it comes time to engage as an OD professional or as a Manager with employees of an organization there are timelines, measurable data and third-party confirmation to assist in this endeavor, in overcoming the walls of the "burnt out" employee.

Happy Fourth of July from Organizational Clarity!

Just a really quick Happy Fourth of July to everyone!  Hopefully, this is a day off for you, a time to regroup from the toils of your organization and the organizational development process as it is for me!

Tomorrow is another day, another opportunity to come back and face all the issues that challenge us and our organization.

So please enjoy today, the 4th of July that so many men and women gave (and are still giving) their lives for this country! That we may have the chance, the freedom to appreciate time with loved ones or even the opportunity to regroup, today by ourselves.
So from everyone here happy 4th of July!

Organizational Clarity: “Powerpoint: Branched Scenario Template” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.

In this article: “Powerpoint: Branched Scenario Template” is a free download easily customized template with graphics and fonts already added to the PowerPoint template. Just change around a couple of things such as the text and you can have your own Powerpoint quiz ready for during or after your training session.

Just click on the link here to learn more:
https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-branched-scenario-template

Click here for the font:
https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/bebas

Organizational Clarity: upcoming topics

Looking through old assignments and found a couple of useful things that I can post upon here to help give some clarity to the field of organizational development. I noticed that many students and professionals post a few blog posts online with some great information but after a while either get disillusioned and quit or did it for an assignment then stopped after completion.

I started the blog as an assignment but decided to add more to it because there just is not a lot of information about the field out there. Plus, if there is any information it is usually disjointed or all over the place, giving the researcher multiple sources with bits and pieces everywhere. Hopefully, these new posts will streamline that process for everyone and make researching for material and sources easier for everyone.

Organizational Clarity: “PowerPoint '13: 5 Things to Know Template" free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this article: “PowerPoint '13: 5 Things to Know Template” is a free download easily customized template with graphics and fonts already added to the PowerPoint template.

It is simply a great way to illustrate your projects and presentations with that extra zip that will garner your learner’s attention and help keep them focused and alert during a lengthy or even short training session.

Just click on the link here to learn more:

https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-13-5-things-to-know-template

Click here for the fonts:

https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Lato
http://www.1001freefonts.com/bebas_neue.font

Organizational Clarity wallpaper collections: "Free download" and "Organizational Development"

I have been working on multiple projects, wallpapers for the blog there are a limited amount of resources for graphics. There are paid graphics and free ones as well. To be honest, a lot of them look "stale" or "generic" so I decided to create some in basically the same vein. I used a combination of Microsoft PowerPoint and paint.net from these wallpapers/graphics. I made them for various purposes and subjects, for such phrases as "free download" "organizational development" also I integrated the title of the blog in the graphics.

The latter are of course, for my usage, but anyone can use the rest or I guess "public usage" for students and professionals. This way we can all have graphics to use in the field for presentations, blogs and training programs. Also if you hate the challenge of looking for the appropriate graphic for your subject matter this link will narrow it down quite a bit. Plus you get it for free. Enjoy.

The Free Download wallpaper collection On Google Plus:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/Uv_mHE

The Organizational Development wallpaper collection on Google Plus:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/k1yjHE

Went Black: The WordPress side of the Organizational Clarity blog

Recently the WordPress side of the organizational clarity blog went down, basically all of the sudden, without notice without clarity on the reasons why (pun intended). What happened as I ascertained from the help desk representative was the blog for some reason caught in WordPress' automatic filtering system flagging the blog for terms of service violation without a clear reason why. After I had contacted the help desk the account was turned back on, due to this was a mistake committed by the program. In truth this type of snafus happens when you work with third party entities that do not have your interests at heart, in mind or just do not care. 

Either way, the other "truth" illustrated by this situation is the importance of not relying on technology ha! To combat issues like this, I have the organizational clarity blog in WordPress and blogger.com. I am now starting to add a copy of the blog and its posts upon weebly/wix. The reason for creating the blog was to create a resource for students and professionals while completing a school project. To simply let the blog to stay deleted at this point would make no sense. Also as a cautionary measure, I have saved every post in a Microsoft Word document to my computer to backup all the work that has so far been completed. 

Therefore, the WordPress snafu on their part was a major inconvenience but nothing that will stop the progress of the blog. Another issue that arose that I questioned was the lack of communication between us, WordPress did not contact via email or the site to the specifics of what they termed as terms of service violations. I had to search my emails thoroughly and press a bunch of buttons on the WordPress account to come up with contacting the help desk on my own.  

Only through that interaction through email was I able to find out the answer why but only then and it was very vague. Lucky for me I only do this blog for academic reasons and not for money, as part of an affiliate program. Or if I were a small organization or business that depended on this website to drive customers to my business I would be more than upset. However, as anyone can theorize, that as  an organization WordPress could use a good OD professional at once.

Organizational Clarity: “Is Google Translate the Wrong Choice for Course Translations?” article

The CommlabIndia community is another group decided to easy, cheap solutions to meet an organizational need within the various aspects of Organizational Development whether it is training sessions or meeting presentations. In this article: “Is Google Translate the Wrong Choice for Course Translations?” which lists five important points why not to use Google Translate, if you have used Google Translate before you know it is not exactly accurate. When Google Translate incorrectly translates text, it can lead to further confusion, misunderstandings and possibly insulting potential international employees and clients.

These are the five reasons why not to rely on Google Translate for your organization's main translation device for documentation used on a global scale:

1. Google Translate is not 100% accurate

2. Google Translate relies on educated guesswork

3. Google Translate makes several iterations

4. Google Translate cannot accurately decipher complex grammar

5. Google Translate cannot find an exact match for idioms

Whether your organization is using Google Translate for translating the text for a training program, an online Private message, or even important company documentation any errors can waste time. Money and other resources that are considered valuable to the organization and its clients. In a world with rapid responses thanks to email, instant messages and texting there is a lot of room to make mistakes and misinterpret messages that are in our native language but that level of failure in communication heightens with languages and cultures different from our own.

Add the fact most of us use Google for everything from emails to translation of basic text our interdependence of this technology can be our undoing, and this article briefly discusses five reasons why not to put our full trust in such technology.

If you want to know more just click the link here:
http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-translations/google-translate-for-course-translations

Organizational Clarity: "Custom E-Learning Graphics Using Free Font Icons #165" article

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this article: "Custom E-Learning Graphics Using Free Font Icons #165” is about using fonts to bring more emphasis to other visuals used in your presentations and documents.

Whether you use PowerPoint, Storyline 360, Illustrator, or Word font usage is very important to give your visuals extra details and clearly discuss the points you are trying to present in the document or presentation. If the font is too “out there” the learner’s attention can be diverted and lessen the impact of your training program or E-learning document.

Knowing what font to use seems to be a textbook thing or even an exercise in common sense, but sometimes when creating a document or presentation for training purposes we can get over anxious. Picking the wrong font, as a result, can cause future issues as I have aforementioned but this article touches on the subject and can help you stay on the right path to creating the best presentation or E-Learning document possible.

Just click on the link here to learn more:
https://community.articulate.com/articles/custom-elearning-graphics-using-free-font-icons
Click here for the fonts:
https://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/dozens-free-dingbat-fonts-commercial-use/

Organizational Clarity: "Who Should Review Your E-Learning Course Before Launch?" article

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this article: “Who Should Review Your E-Learning Course Before Launch?” briefly discusses who should review your proposed training program for your organization.

1. Your project sponsor
2. SME
3. Corporate legal counsel (if your organization is big enough to have one!)
4. Global reps (only if your organization is global)
5. Safety or compliance expert
6. Quality leader
7. IT and LMS specialist
8. Content editor/usability tester
9. Pilot trainees

Having all of these individuals giving their feedback for your new training program can help it avoid technical, legal and usability issues this will save the organization from wasting precious resources. Plus, following the advice mentioned from this article will help you build credibility with these various groups, and build avenues of communication that will be required later on when trying to gain workable feedback to determine the Return on Investment for the organization.

Just click on the link here to learn more:
https://community.articulate.com/articles/who-should-review-your-e-learning-course-before-launch

Organizational Clarity: “5 Free PowerPoint Downloads to Supercharge Your Next Project” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.

In this article: “5 Free PowerPoint Downloads to Supercharge Your Next Project” is a free download in that if you want to get more visual with your presentation. It can be a great way to illustrate your projects and presentations with that extra zip that will garner your learner’s attention and help keep them focused and alert during a lengthy or even short training session.
These are the listing of the five downloads:

1. Energizing orange-hued template.
2. Vintage cartoon icons.
3. Hospital graphics.
4. Creative designs.
5. Avatar illustrations

Just click on the link here to learn more:
https://community.articulate.com/articles/5-free-powerpoint-downloads-to-supercharge-your-next-project

Organization Clarity (OC) blog collections on Google Plus part 1

I have created two collections on Google Plus for the Organization Clarity (OC) blog and public usage, these are just basic logos and a bunch of ROI mockups. I have posted about twenty-two ROI mockup images and about twelve Organization Clarity blog wallpapers. I am just testing some images because of the lack of content out there and for our own use, my audience (you) and I. You may notice that for the Organization Clarity blog wallpapers I focused on using the Blogger address first, that is because this site gets the most views however I will be working soon on the Wordpress site of the OC blog.

I love creating my own images even as basic as they are, this way I have the freedom to tighten up the image and manipulate it as much as I want. I hope that everyone can enjoy these images and add them to their day to day blogs. I will be adding more images as time goes on, to increase, the amount of materials that students, professionals and anyone else can use. I used Microsoft Powerpoint and Paint.Net for these images so they are very basic, however, visuals are very important in presenting information, with this fact very well known, you will be seeing these images in future posts on the Organization Clarity (OC) blog.

Organization Clarity (OC) blog wallpapers collection:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QSGUHE

ROI mockup images collection:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QbAhCE

Organizational Clarity: “More Friendly Illustrated People” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this article: “More Friendly Illustrated People” is a free download in .ai and .png versions. It is simply a great way to illustrate your projects and presentations with that extra zip that will garner your learner’s attention and help keep them focused and alert during a lengthy or even short training session

Just click on the link here to learn more:

https://community.articulate.com/download/more-friendly-illustrated-people

Organizational Clarity: Unicorn Books and Music

Okay, as an Organizational Development student (finishing in Winter 2017) it is very hard to separate “real life” from the OD realm in which constant analysis occurs. Evaluation, engagement, interaction all of this is summed up, categorized and reanalyzed with every organization or representative we meet, it is very hard to shut it off. In fact, we as professionals are usually on a constant rant about how to make things better (with an organization) that every business whether it is a large corporation or a mom and pop has the pleasure of undergoing this type of scrutiny.

The one thing that most professionals in the Organizational Development field wish to have is the chance to “see” an organization/ business as it starts out with a purely “Clean slate”. Just to get a psychological understanding of what first motivated its founders into beginning their business, to all the ins and outs of the decision process. From choosing the name to the location of the first location, these “basic building blocks” are essential to the business success, therefore, seeing or hearing it all got started firsthand, and not two to ten years later is fantastic.

There is an old friend of mine starting a Book, Collectible and Music store down in Winchester, Kentucky, the business is called Unicorn Books and Music. In Organizational Development, you maintain a standard of ethics so I could not pry too much into what was going on but, his email announcement of stating his intentions was right on the money. Plus, it allowed me the chance to ask a couple of questions while not being an OD “freak” at the same time.

The email got into the reason why he is starting the business because like most OD Professionals he had the analytic strength of observing how to run a business like this firsthand and what he would do to make it better if given a chance. Exactly, what most OD professionals are guilty of in some capacity!!!

Being a huge collectible nut myself and a friend I cannot wait to this store opens on June 10^th and hopefully, I will be able to pick his brain on the ins and outs of starting a new business and the challenges that go with it (that’s OD for you).

As with the downloads, I review what I recommend so this is the address of the new store so if you are in the area or are online you can review them as well:

Unicorn Books And Music

18 N. Main Street

Winchester, Kentucky, KY 40391

https://www.facebook.com/UnicornBooksAndMusic/

Organizational Clarity: “PowerPoint: Flashcards Template” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.

In this article: “Powerpoint: Flashcards Template” is a free download in that if you want to get more visual with your presentation. It can be a great way to illustrate your projects and presentations with that extra zip that will garner your learner’s attention and help keep them focused and alert during a lengthy or even short training session.

Just click on the link here to learn more:

https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-flashcards-template

https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/bree-serif

Linked In... nah.

There is a real good reason that while in school I am not on Linked in, it seems that everyone I worked with thinks its Facebook light. And posts pictures to their personal profile that belong on Instagram, not in a professional profile or environment. Then my special friends want to connect with me, but unfortunately linked in now works you are in a bind to use all the free services without a specific number of connections meaning that to use LinkedIn  I am forced to link up with these individuals.

Yes, they are friends but they do not understand the need for a professional image nor know that organizations frown upon such profiles, when associating with specific candidates I have tried to discuss these issues with a friend who was guilty of the professional futa poa their response was that they did not care what Organizations thought! But they also did not care how that decision impacted others as well. If employers frowned upon their profile then they will definitely assume (falsely) that I was unprofessional as well.

The proof was in the pudding during a job search last year I shut down the linked in account when searching for opportunities and that being the only change I made, I was not surprised when I received more emails and calls from prospective employers. Now, this not a scientific study but the evidence to us was plain to see. Without the linked in account, I was more professional and more of a mystery to organizations that did not want to chance to associate with someone who was in turn with people who were unprofessional themselves.

Although you do not want to hurt your coworkers or friend’s feelings nor do you really want to deal with an organization that looks past your resume and accomplishments but this is the real world and these Things actually occur reaffirming the old saying not to judge a book by its cover, but in reality organizations and people who hire still do that being the case that is why I shut off linked in so I do not give any organization a reason to judge me until that first live interaction and maybe you should too.

Looking to connect.... not so much

I received an email once from a prospective employer wanting to see if I knew someone interested in a job that they were offering in a suburb far away from me. Now, this may seem like the new way of doing things, and a way to network, however, it does stump me quite a bit and leaves me perplexed. Looking at the copy of the email you can see that the Recruiter, in this case, was confident that this methodology is effective. When in reality, it deterred me from answering his email and passing it on to others.

As part of my studies with Emotional Intelligence, we are to assess the feelings of others and adapt our actions to bring forth an understanding between two parties. One thing on a personal and professional level that I do not do is to send “job offerings” to people I know because unemployment can be a sensitive topic one in which can cause distress and conflict. The “Drama for your mama” as many would say, opening one up to all types of issues that the Recruiter if doing their job properly would take the time to search for possible candidates instead of trying to refer that responsibility on others.

Plus, this raises the question if this recruiter “noticed” my skills and to use their words “great minds think alike” why even mention anyone else? Another question is if he wanted me to recruit a candidate for him, where is the detailed information regarding the position? And I do mean details, within the email, not a hyperlink. Details in which catch the reader’s attention, the possible candidate’s attention or the next person who is interested. Many organizations can learn from something like this when reaching up to probable candidates, details are key to gaining interest and receiving the action or actions that they want.

Everyone, every organization knows the first contact, the first impression is everything, this email does not need an Organizational Development Perspective to tell one that there was something “off” and that is why it did not hit its mark.

Organizational Clarity:"Instructional Design Best Practices – A Comprehensive Guide" article

From the CommlabIndia community is an article from easy, cheap solutions to meet organizational needs. In an email, I received was a link to: “Instructional Design Best Practices – A Comprehensive Guide” by Gitika Nagra.

These are the eight great points for Instructional Design when it comes to E-Learning projects listed in the article: 

1. Set clear learning objectives
2. Make navigation simple and easy
3. Make the course interesting and engaging
4. Include effective audio
5. Include scenarios
6. Include challenging quizzes
7. Provide quick and explanatory feedback
8. Provide rewards

When you want to create a successful program to present to a client or for your organization, following these steps or even adding a couple of these steps to your programming will help give it structure. While keeping everything, flexible and engaging, interaction is the clue here, and these helpful tips keep your learners on point. By adding a little extra here and there, the learning process becomes that much easier and interesting for your trainees and clients.

If you want to know more just click the link here:

http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/instructional-design-best-practices-guide

Happy Memorial Day from the Organizational Clarity!

In 1971 Memorial Day became an official holiday in the United States. It was started to honor Union soldiers in the Civil War veterans in the Union after many saw how the South honored their dead during the same conflict.

Fast forward to World War 1 it became a national holiday (not federal) to honor all those who fallen during military service. As we all know Vietnam veterans rally strongly on this date as they did not receive the recognition of their service after that war.  Unfortunately, most organizations take advantage of this opportunity to have “Memorial Day Sales events” or a “Memorial Day Clearance”. 

To be truthful it is a way to take advantage of the fact most people in America have this day off and hopefully by having these sales can then translate into needed revenue. However, on a positive note, some organizations are honoring veterans in general, (not just those who have fallen), and when it comes to the field of Organizational Development that is a huge plus that organizations show that type of commitment to the community.

These are some links that discuss more about Memorial Day:

• http://www.usmemorialday.org/
• http://www.allabouthistory.org/memorial-day-meaning.htm
• http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/us/memorial-day-fast-facts/

These are some links discussing which organizations have free offerings for veterans:

• http://time.com/money/4794401/free-food-memorial-day-2017/
• http://militarybenefits.info/memorial-day-sales-discounts-deals/
• https://www.mysavings.com/free-samples/Memorial-Day/100010/

Some of the websites repeat the same information but vary a little bit but I wanted to make sure I posted what I could find on here. That way veterans everywhere can note which organizations are honoring their service today, and get a chance to enjoy what is being offered. Have a great Memorial Day!

Organizational Clarity: “PowerPoint: 4 Customizable People Illustrations” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.  In this posting upon the site is “PowerPoint: 4 Customizable People Illustrations” by Ashi Tandon.

This is Professional at Articulate has posted a free download for presentation usage in Microsoft PowerPoint, you can change the look of these “people” as you desire but it’s another free tool for those of you on a budget (students, non-profits, etc.) to utilize for own heart’s desire.

Just click on the link here, and download! à https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-customizable-people-illustrations

Organizational Clarity: “PowerPoint '13: Medical Research Tab” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.  In this posting upon the site is ““PowerPoint '13: Medical Research Tabs” by Trina Rimmer. 

This is Professional has posted on Articulate a free download for presentation usage in Microsoft PowerPoint, now this is more tailored for those in the medical profession, however, I like the use of tabs and it can be customized for anything. This is great in keeping the records for your client’s intervention organized or just for simple personal record keeping, the origin sites for the graphics and pictures that are used listed in the article.

Just click on the link here, have fun, download and get organized! à https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-13-medical-research-tabs

Classes done for now, and a lesson in Organizational Development

Finally got done with class for the semester I do not restart until wayyyyyy far into the future. This is due to scheduling irregularities and the fact my University placed my degree programs under a Business section (wing) disrupting all of my classes. This is great material for blogs into the future because I was not told that the “switch” would disrupt my program and it almost added another term to my degree plan!

Keeping all stakeholders informed regarding any Organizational changes and how it will affect them is fundamental in Organizational Development so it is kind of funny or ironic that this is happening with this program! I nearly had my graduation date pushed back three extra months. When dealing with any organization that you invest a huge deal of time and money in like education, you really need to be on top of the people on the administrative side. Some employees feel the effects of their organization’s company culture and it can disrupt what you are trying to do as a customer.

The best thing I can advise when dealing with an organization that may disrupt your plans, whether it is scheduled completion dates to simple task activities always take it seriously, manage your time as if you will need to do double the work to complete it and get everything in writing! When you do so in Organization development you just line yourself up for success, and you also reduce the risk of wasting precious resources like time and money.

I should have some new posts up here soon with links to free downloads, Organizational Development tips and other discussions about various articles which professionals in the field have a hand in dealing with.

Organizational Clarity: “Project Charter Template” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.  In this posting upon the site is “Project Charter Template” by Maria Ginsbourg. This is Professional at Articulate has posted a free download for presentation usage in Microsoft Word.

The idea is simple it is a great way to outline for a client or other stakeholders assigned roles for the projects, the goals in which the project is trying to solve, etc., a basic template when an OD Professional is trying to give structure to the implementation while complete the entry and contracting stage to the intervention process.

Just click on the link here, and download! à https://community.articulate.com/download/project-charter-template

Organizational Clarity: “Powerpoint: 4 Title Slides to Inspire Your Next Project” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.  In this posting upon the site is “Powerpoint: 4 Title Slides to Inspire Your Next Project” by Nicole Legault. This is Professional at Articulate has posted a free download for presentation usage in Microsoft PowerPoint, 4 various backgrounds for you to use in your next meeting or training class.

Just click on the link here, take a look and download away! à https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-title-slides-to-inspire-you

Organizational Clarity:"HTML5 in E-learning – Signaling the End of the Flash Player" article

From the CommlabIndia community is an article from easy, cheap solutions to meet organizational needs. In an email, I received was a link to: “HTML5 in E-learning – Signaling the End of the Flash Player” by Phani Madhav. This article talks about how the Flash player is going obsolete from Adobe to Apple almost every platform or company is trying to get away from using Flash. So, it can create major headaches when as an OD Professional or as an organization you are trying to create training programs for your employees to use at home or on various mobile devices.

While the HTML5 the latest version of tech language for the Web increases multimedia functions, Offline usage and storage, while increasing the performance and integration of various programs. Thereby becoming the all-around better option to help creating your training programs this article is a great heads up the next time anyone means “Flash” in the same sentence as “new training program”.

Here is the original article briefly discussing the Flash player going the way of the dinosaur: http://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-development/flash-player-limitations-in-elearning

Here is an additional website that discusses HTML5 and all the new nifty options and improvements this version brings: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/HTML/HTML5

Organizational Clarity: “How to Deal With a Boss Who Judges You By the Company You Keep” article

Although I usually do not prescribe to some of the issues brought up in this article some of these arguments are valid. It is very often that upper management does lump employees in together, the whole “guilty by association” assessment is done far often than we care to admit (Boinott, 2017). This article does have some good points in keeping it professional at work and keeping co-workers at a distance, mainly because some of them you need to. There are many individuals who you can trust, and there are others you simply just cannot.

Then adding alcohol to the mix can redefine a situation in the worse way, things that are usually kept to oneself just slips out into the open and probably shared with others who will simply, in turn, share with upper management. I have dealt with co-workers who were usually the “devil’s advocate” for upper management and other misshapen factors that made the workplace unbearable and although I gave them a chance to connect I simply knew after a while to drop them as “good” friends. Meaning I kept everything with these individuals professional and usually let them get burnt by their own devices, in the same professional settings, while dodging them or leaving them out of personal events. 

Keeping away from certain individuals because of fears that you may be lumped into a wave of retribution from upper management, is maybe one great reason to stay professional at work. However, realize that these same individuals may do irreparable damage even outside of the workplace, becoming distractions to us from developing ourselves professionally and personally. In the end, as the article states it is best to know who these “distractions” are and maintain the proper relationship (whatever that may be) with them, i.e., one with distinct boundaries.

Boitnott, John (2017) “How to Deal With a Boss Who Judges You By the Company You Keep” February 21, 2017, Entrepreneur Media, Inc Retrieved from  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289367

Organizational Clarity: “More Friendly Illustrated People” free download

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs.  I received to an article called: “More Friendly Illustrated People” this is a free download in .ai  (Adobe Illustrator File) and .png (Portable Network Graphic) of illustrations of characters for presentation usage.

Just click on the link here to learn more: https://community.articulate.com/download/more-friendly-illustrated-people

You can find more illustrated people to download here as well:

https://community.articulate.com/download/friendly-illustrated-people

Organizational Clarity: “10+ Examples of Financial Calculators in E-Learning” article/free downloads

From the Articulate community dedicated to increasing a professional’s knowledge of E-Learning, giving out free tips and free resources on how to implement E-Learning in the workplace or how to easily find cheap solutions to organizational needs. In this week’s email I received a link to: “10+ Examples of Financial Calculators in E-Learning” this is article engages ten creators, like other e-learning challenges, that have developed examples of various calculators to illustrate how to make learning more fun.

You can download some of these and thereby use the financial calculators for your projects. Financial calculators are great when you need tools to balance a project’s budget, for performance or even reward assessments. These Interactive Financial Calculators cover various subjects and types of measurement but there is an example for everyone and helpful in training those who want to understand the costs of a training project.

Just click on the link here to learn more: https://community.articulate.com/articles/financial-calculators-in-elearning