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: "How is your Culture Quotient?" article

This article by Marcella Bremer talks about the culture Quotient of an organization discussing the sensitive issue of diversity in the workplace. Emphasizing the need for Cultural competency that allows professionals to navigate the workplace environment with their co-workers without making waves or causing major HR issues. This way everyone involved can increase their awareness of other cultures, build morale and create a creative, collaborative environment.

If you want more information this brief article summarizes the point and need of a Culture Quotient in every organization just click on the link:

https://www.ocai-online.com/blog/How-is-your-Culture-Quotient?awt_l=lzhjiA&awt_m=3bCXosEPbWsRmh3

Organization Clarity: The “Red Pill” of Cultural Change: Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) On RU Training

This is a great blog written by a former student on the RU Training blog called: The “Red Pill” of Cultural Change: Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). It discusses using the OCAI to discover how your personality may gear you towards a certain organizational culture. Taking the OCAI is fast and easy but also you may discover as the author states: "why workers and management are not on the same page" in your organization.

You can find the original blog post here:
https://rutraining.org/2017/02/13/the-red-pill-of-cultural-change-organizational-culture-assessment-instrument-ocai/

Organizational Clarity: Free E-book (download) “Translation & Localization of E-learning Courses”

This is another free E-book from CommlabIndia in pdf format from the 7 books series called “Translation & Localization of E-learning Courses” this short e-book discusses why when designing global e-learning courses your organization needs to have the right translation process and include the right elements of localization into the organization’s e-learning processes. This way the organization overcomes any language or cultural barriers that may exist and also sidestep all the mistakes that deter the learning process.

Five Strategies to Design Effective Global Courses

• Use a Universally Accepted Version of the Language
• Start with a Culture-neutral Course
• Plan for Translation-friendly Courses
• Use Rapid Authoring Tools for Quick Translations
• Assign Specialists in E-learning to do Translation and Localization

This E-book also cover a 6-Step E-learning Course Translation Process:

• Analyze source content and prepare it for translation
• Have a streamlined translation process
• Proofread the translated content
• Schedule professional voice talent for audio narration
• Integrate translated elements into the course
• Deliver course on to the LMS

After reviewing the E-book and you see that the information is useful for your purposes go ahead and download. Just click on the link here for your free download:

https://www.commlabindia.com/elearning-components/ebook/7ebooks-6-translation-and-localization-of-elearning-courses-commlab.pdf

Organizational Clarity: Transcultural Collaboration: are you Competent? | OCAI online article

This is a great article by Marcella Bremer from OCAI this article discusses Cultural difference, diversity and why it is important to collaborate within an Organization. It does mention a couple of classes you can take to further your education and get an online degree in regards to being Culturally Adaptive as a leader.  But the real deal here is the mention regarding cultural differences and the fact that it does impact organizations that are trying to reach out in to the global market. 

This is very important from the Organizational Development viewpoint as a Professional, understanding that an employee's culture does determine how they view their place in the organization and how the operate within it.

Click on the article about Transcultural Collaboration here:

  Transcultural Collaboration: are you Competent? | OCAI online

Organizational Clarity: Having anonymous interactions can be a great thing when you need feedback for your organization.

Having an Online presence does give one a sense of online anonymity and gives one a sense of freedom this can enhance the interaction process between an organization and its employees by giving an open forum to discuss issues with a strong sense of truth than if the employees were asked face to face (Allen, 2011). 

One of the issues that faces the Organizational Development professional is the challenge of getting a major quantity of feedback that is mired in truth and has nothing held back. Using an unknown identity or alias for this purpose can take out the factors found in the workplace environment and the pressure to conform to socially and/or organizationally established norms.

This allows for active collaboration and the user to openly be creative in their expression upon subject matters cover during these interactions. This new Self-definition in where one can be themselves is in the end very helpful and meaningful for the OD professional with employees not hindered by necessary social graces and the fear of retaliation can get the data they so desperately need (Allen, 2011).

Employees completing anonymous surveys or using anonymous aliases on Organizational forums can expose issues that deal with possible unknown problems with productivity to inter-office lapses of communication between departments that are not uncovered for the fear of being ousted as a trouble maker by management or a snitch by fellow coworkers.

 In all, giving employees the option to express their voice(s) collectively in an anonymous way gives them the ability to be Autonomous and shows the organization trusts them enough to go the distance in giving feedback, that was not there before (Allen, 2011). Meanwhile, it also provides a way to learn express, and gain an increased amount of data that was not an option in the traditional sense and free of the constriction of the workplace environment.

Reference

Allen, M. W. (2011). Michael Allen's 2012 e-learning annual (Vol. 54). John Wiley & Sons.

Merry Christmas from the Organizational Clarity!

Merry Christmas to all my readers now being a Christian holiday this is not celebrated by all, so I want to say a Happy Holidays to everyone else of different faiths and including those who are atheists, it is proper even in the workplace to remember that individuals have differences while working for a common goal within an organization.  It is very important to remain cultural diverse and tolerant in the workplace as most organizations want to expand to global audiences so although it is second nature in America, UK and other such nations to wish everyone a Merry Christmas we must be mindful of those of separate faith who share our organizational ties and our joy during the holiday season, but may not celebrate all of the holidays we do.

To do those who do not celebrate Christmas we wish them a Happy Holidays to show we too can be of great cheer, humility, and understanding by recognizing these differences in faith and although this is a great opportunity to build morale we must trend with wisdom. In other words, we must do onto to others as we would like done onto us, and respect their beliefs, respect in an organization and to others outside of the workplace goes along way and as Organizational Development professionals we must strive to be examples to others regarding this approach.

It can be as simple as giving secular Holiday cards to limiting decorations in the office to those who celebrate the season but also be inclusive enough to add everyone to a Secret Santa list. Although this may seem too “PC” when others go the distance for us, to respect our beliefs and basically do something nice for us, we remember it. All we can do as OD professionals is make sure everyone in the organization commits to replicating this same policy of being thought of others during this holiday season. And that in itself can be the best thing when bringing joy to the world, and boosting morale within an organization.

Thank you for reading and have a great holiday season!

Cultural Intelligence: Why we try to include different cultures in the workplace.

The reason why we celebrate different cultures upon this blog is not only to be thoughtful of others but to also be inclusive than exclusive, to understand others as we want to be understood. There is a thing called Cultural Intelligence that is taught in the field of Organization Development specifically, with Coaching or Executive Coaching. Basically, we used this term in business, academia, etc., to gauge the individual, or organizational ability to work, function and communicate across different cultures.

As organizations and individuals thanks to the internet, have increased their global connective abilities the idea of cultures interacting has become more of a reality than ever before. In past history, such connections would be utter fantasy, trade routes of the British Empire in the early 1700’s to 1800’s were established to reach other cultures and to combine those cultures with their own.

Of course, this has been the technique of every empire through history, never have we have been able to effectively to measure the exposure of the impact of different cultures upon the individual through this communication. Organizational Development through its practices and techniques tries to measure and increase the effectiveness of the organization’s and individual’s cultural intelligence.

Through such posts is a way to show or to acknowledge other cultures, to educate those who may find difficulty in being accepted or for those who have a desperate need to learn more about other cultures they are in immediate contact with. Thus, these posts are merely educational tools so that we all can gain tolerance and increase our Cultural intelligence, information that now has a focus and an explanation of how it can be applied. This is something that is usually not found on the internet, hopefully, posts such as this will be effective in its purpose.