Tuesday, May 30, 2017

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:

Monday, May 29, 2017

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

Thursday, May 25, 2017

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.

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

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

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

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

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



Thursday, May 4, 2017

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

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

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.

Organizational Clarity: “Choosing the Right LMS: 6 Essential Aspects You Can’t Ignore” article

I was reading an article about online learning to make any programs I may develop in the future become more user-friendly and inviting to the trainees I want to reach. This article called: “Choosing the Right LMS: 6 Essential Aspects You Can’t Ignore” by Heera Edwin is purchasing the right learning management system for your organization in order to have effective e-learning sessions while meets the organization’s goals and training needs.
When it comes to replacing an existing Learning Management System, or if the training was being transferred to an online application process, this article briefly explains how to choose the best LMS for your organization. When more and more organizations are choosing to deliver training online, being able to determine the best type of LMS being selected and used, is often critical. Oh and do not forget cost too, many organizations hardly think of these and a few other factors that could determine what the best choice for them is.
Please click on the link for more information: