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!