May 13th, 2012 by Liz Barron under coaching and developing others, Cross-cultural communications, Executive Education, Leadership Development, Process improvement. No Comments.
I am not great on the phone, mainly because (however interesting my caller) I often get bored just sitting there with nothing to look at, and so begin to do something else. I often get caught out when the person on the other end asks me a question and I am found to be deadheading my roses, making a sandwich or sorting out the bathroom drawer while trying not to disconnect my caller with one of my many chins. You will note I outline only activities that take place at home. Naturally when on the phone at work I am all attention 
.
Lots of great coaches use the phone very successfully and find that scheduling a call instead of a meeting saves them and their coachees lots of time and stress. The coach listens carefully for tone and nuance, and feels s/he won’t miss out on body language cues and clues. Until last week, I avoided the phone for this kind of work, and have always coached in person. Then I got bluetooth in my car, and a coachee who couldn’t make a meeting. We readjusted our plans to match her schedule and so I found myself coaching while cruising on Route 50.
For me, I found out, the need to focus on windshield and mirrors, and the mechanics of getting from A to B provide enough to do with my eyes and hands while my ears, head and heart are engaged in conversation. I concentrated well, and felt exhilarated when I arrived both at work and at the end of the coaching session. My coachee reported that she had been able to hear perfectly, and had found the experience every bit as useful as our typical face-to-face encounters. I am thinking of adding in-car coaching to my list of coaching specialisms–ideal for clients who feel they may lack drive.
Skype makes a difference too. I can now talk for free to people I can see and, when the service is good, miles seem to melt away.
These advances in technology have come along just in time. Coaches at the Smith School work with clients all over the world, and, if I am to keep up, bluetooth and skype will help. No longer tethered to in-person exchanges, I can be available to our EMBA students in China; to government executives both in the U.S. and in India; and to entrepreneurs from Ulan Bator to Patagonia. Don’t feel slighted if I don’t wave on the Beltway: truly, it’s because I’m miles away.
Coaching is a core component of leadership development offered by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and is a central part of our EMBA programs, ranked number 17 in the world. Smith coaches are qualified to administer a number of assessments, including Hogan HPI, HDS and MVPI. To learn how Smith coaches can support your executives, managers and staff as part of a leadership development experience, please contact Liz Barron lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu 301 405 5387.
Tags:coaching, hogan assessments.
May 10th, 2012 by Liz Barron under efficiency and effectiveness, Executive Education, Human Capital, Leadership Development. No Comments.
Once a quarter, the Executive Education team at the Smith School of Business works with a Learning and Development team in the DC/MD/MD/NOVA region to host a networking and knowledge- sharing event for local training professionals. This week’s event took place at Clark Construction in Bethesda. Earlier this year, we met at McCormick in Hunt Valley MD (read the report here) and in August we’ll be the guests of Lockheed Martin at their fabulous Center for Learning Excellence. Read the report of the Clark meeting here, and contact lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu to make sure you receive your invite to the August 6, 2012 event.
Anthony Brown, Vice President of Human Resources and Angela Bijlani, Director of Training and Development at host company Clark Construction kicked off the day by sharing some of their company’s challenges, and the steps they are taking to create a climate for change. The company is also rethinking its talent management strategy and has some fresh thinking around getting the right people in the right places. . Join our IMPACT Learning & Development LinkedIn Group for full access to Anthony and Angela’s presentation
Joe Campa, Director of Leadership at CACI, is an excellent and engaging storyteller who captivated the group with his remarks on presence, passion, and the ability to inspire others to accomplish something greater than themselves or greater than they thought possible. Joe is a former Master Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy–the highest enlisted rank–and shared quite a bit about how he found the Navy…or perhaps how the Navy found him. Joe gave powerful and moving examples of great leadership under pressure, speaking from frontline experience and honoring valiant sailors who went down with their ships. CACI runs a program to recruit, retain and mentor veterans. Joe brought along an ex- Marine friend/colleague, retired Sergeant Major Carlton Kent who served for 36 years. Carlton was recruited by CACI two months ago.
I think everyone in attendance was ready to salute the American flag and thank every soldier who has ever served our country. They brought tears to my eyes, and I know that was the case for several folks I spoke to at the break. Sharon Rogers Johnson, Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park
As Joe and Carlton modeled great leadership and strong values, so the next set of professionals demonstrated the value of listening, adapting and meeting customer needs.
Tamecia Bradshaw, President & CEO of Bradlow Solutions; Akia Garnett, President & CEO of Brandbuilder; Jane Lovas, CEO of Lovas Consulting; and Mali Phonpadith, CEO and Chief Messaging Strategist at Mali Creative arrived all prepared to discuss effective communications for engaging employees and customers. After hearing the morning’s speakers and taking note of the questions and comments raised, the co-authors of Seen and Sustained quickly huddled to revamp and redirect their panel discussion, and instead shared their expertise in the areas of internal and external branding. Very impromptu…very interactive…very well done!
Eileen Dickson, Vice President of Education at National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and Patsy Bergquist, Human Resources and Risk Manager at Chaney Enterprises are both in the business of concrete and made sure that all attendees on Monday stand firm (hah!) on the topic and can now detail the difference between concrete and cement. Eileen and Patsy talked about the challenges of training and development of an hourly, entry level workforce with no education beyond high school. Chaney Enterprises – a member of NRMCA — shared how they had leveraged their industry’s trade association and, in the process, have grown their highly trained, specialized and certified workforce through classes, webinars and publications that are grounded in national recognized industry-wide performance standards. What could your trade association do to help you develop your workforce?
Dr. Joe Bailey from Smith wrapped up the day, drawing on his own engineering background, and his considerable communication skills to provide tips for encouraging technical leaders into enterprise-wide leadership roles and leading an animated discussion about the best ways to support communications skill development for people who often prefer to work is isolation, surrounded only by data.
The Clark Construction Group are about to have a major resdesign and overhaul of their Bethesda training and development facility. We thank them for hosting the IMPACT event and look forward to paying them another visit to see the “after”. We wish them luck with their makeover and know they will be working with the best in the business–their own.
Sergeant Major (rtd) Carlton Kent who shared his experience as a new recruit at CACI, speaking to HR professionals at the Smith and Clark Construction Learning and Development Event
If you would like to share your best practices in Learning and Development with your mid-Atlantic peers, or would like to host a group of 50-75, please contact Liz Barron on 301 405 5387 or lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu To reserve a seat for the event to be held at Lockheed Martin on August 6,. 2012,. 8am-3:30pm, please also speak with Liz.
Dr. Joseph Bailey works with non-technical executives to show them that strategic power is inextricably linked to technology and helping managers and executives from a variety of disciplines tap into transformative IT. Dr Bailey also works with highly technical experts,helping them contribute at leadership levels across organizations, leveraging their specialism to advance innovation, opportunity and excellence. Joe and Liz will be happy to work with your L&D team.
Tags:CACI, Clark construction, development best practices, Dr. Joe Bailey, impact, Joe Campa, Seen and Sustained, Sgt Major Calrton Kent, trade associations.
May 1st, 2012 by Liz Barron under celebrating success, Certificate In Cybersecurity Leadership, coaching and developing others, Cross-cultural communications, Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Technology, efficiency and effectiveness, Enjoying work, Leadership Presence, Process improvement, Systems and Design Thinking. No Comments.
I am generally mistrustful of men who wear bowties. I usually find that dandyish neckwear is intended to distract from the level of dullness such men exhibit above the Adam’s apple. Paisley-patterned silk, however well-tied, cannot be a substitute for intellect, originality and charm. The shining exception to the Barron bowtie rule is Dr. Joe Bailey.
I had the pleasure of seeing Joe in action in front of a class of engineers and high-tech specialists at a Northern Virginia-based defense, intelligence and IT solutions company last week. This company, like every other, is trying to close the gap between its IT experts and general managers—it knows it needs technical leaders with strategic awareness to shape and deliver the future of its enterprise. They can’t do it without learning to talk to non-engineers and to ask the right questions when they are gleaning information from people who don’t share their background. Joe had been asked to talk about Leadership communications, drawing on his own experience as a high-flying engineer (Joe has his PhD in Technology, Management and Policy from MIT. His MS is from Stanford. He earned his BS at Carnegie Mellon,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. As they say in Northern Ireland, he is no dozer). In his own day-to-day work Joe must leverage resources and win buy-in for a range of innovative projects at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park.
I learned a lot about successful teaching and powerful communications from watching Joe.
Teaching Tip: Meet your students where they are: Joe opened up with a technical question to the group. How many bytes in a something or other? It meant nothing to me, but of course his audience knew the answer. Joe then explained that the standard for whatever it was was an uneasy (and unhelpful) compromise reached between EU and US policy makers, with insufficient input from people like those in the room who knew what they were talking about. Takeaway: Be involved and inform the decision-making if you want to get what you need
Teaching Tip: Tell stories that resonate. Use pictures. Next, came a story about elevators and lobby design which demonstrated the importance of asking questions and big picture thinking. Work out what the problem really is. Then a story about horses that waste their energies at a hitching post biting each other. If they pulled together, they could all be free to gallop ahead. Think across the piece. Leverage Resources. Collaborate.
Teaching Tip: Don’t do all or even most of the talking. Let your students work out the answers for themselves:About 20 minutes into his two hour presentation, Joe asked the group the first of five questions they would answer as they worked out the keys to successful leadership communications. What kind of behavior is hard to deal with in teams? Hands waved in the air like seaweed in a strong tide. How did people in the group tackle those behaviors? What worked and what didn’t? Joe used people’s names when he called on them (good eyesight helps when you work at the front of a classroom and people have tent cards and badges) and did a lot of listening. There was commonality in many of criticisms of bad team players, but more diversity and dissension about the solutions. Think about your problem. Face it–don’t ignore it. Learn from others. Draw on your own values to frame your possible solutions.
Throughout his presentation, Joe asked the group to respond to him in ways that were natural to them–for example, asking them to provide their X and Y coordinates for effective meeting size. Everybody immediately grasped his instructions and could easily take part. People were having fun. Joe then asked the group for examples of jargon or TLAs (three letter acronyms) that had confounded them in conversation with others. The point: make sure you have a shared understanding of a problem or a goal. As a leader, work to make sure you are using language that people can follow, allowing them to participate and function well. Ask questions yourself, and listen to the answers.
A Good Listener: Dr. Joe Bailey, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.
It is Joe’s contention that the following are essential steps for strategic advance and tactical achievement in organizations.
- defining the problem
- defining terms
- establishing common understanding
- cross-training to leverage all the skills in the group and to promote effective communications
- recognizing and easing interfaces
- establishing gateways and priorities
- taking questions
- listening to answers
- being open to new ideas
- analyzing outcomes and providing positive feedback
They also make for a productive, enjoyable, memorable and useable classroom session. Use them to engineer the future of your organization.
Dr. Joe Bailey will be teaching Systems Thinking and Design within the Certificate in Cybersecurity Leadership the University of Maryland College Park will launch this fall. The Certificate is geared to help technical specialists develop strategic skills that will allow them to leverage their expertise at the highest leadership levels in organizations. If you would like to know more about the Certificate, please contact Liz Barron at lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu or 301 405 5387. If you wold like to have Dr. Bailey or another member of Smith’s 150-stong faculty work with your executives, please also speak with Liz.
Dr. Bailey also teaches courses from undergraduate to EMBA level and Director of the prestigious Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) Honors Program. This reality-based learning program engages undergraduate students from business, engineering, and computer, mathematical and natural sciences. QUEST students participate in courses focused on cross-functional collaboration, innovation, quality management, and teamwork.
Tags:asking questions, collaboration, Dr. Joe Bailey, executive develpment for technical experts, Leadership communications, listening skills, QUEST, Smith School of Business.
April 25th, 2012 by Liz Barron under celebrating success, coaching and developing others, Corporate Culture, efficiency and effectiveness, Enjoying work, Workplace dynamics. 1 Comment.
We never get tired of recognition. No matter how important or successful human beings become, we still warm to those who single us out for our contribution, effort and achievement. It’s why everyone but Woody Allen turns up for the Oscars. It’s why a board member from a Fortune 100 company chased me down the corridor at a recent conference saying “You forgot my Chapter leader ribbon”. She was wearing a brooch that wouldn’t look out of place in the window of Harry Winston, but without a polyester signposting of her status and commitment, she felt distinctly underdressed.
The faculty of the Robert H. Smith School of Business here at the University of Maryland College Park know the value of noticing and praising effort and action. They teach undergraduates from the millenial generation, to whom recognition and feedback is particularly important. Our Professors say ‘good job’ and’ thank you’ and ‘keep at it’ a lot. On the staff side of the house, my own boss is also very good at positive reinforcement and thus our office is a very generous and supportive environment in which to work.
OC Tanner has built a business on people’s need for recognition and reward. One of their goals is to drive an appreciation in appreciation. Orange is my favorite color and, as a carrot top, I was naturally drawn to the OC Tanner booth at this week’s federal Training Officer Consortium Annual Institute in Ocean City, Maryland. (Digression: Yes, I was at a government conference. No, there were no prostitutes, or lavish meals or any other signs of ill-advised spending of public funds. Sorry to disappoint) The company’s sunfire set-up showcased their best-selling book The Carrot Principle which encourages bosses to point up the successes of their workforce rather than their slip-ups, arguing that high morale results in high productivity and new heights in creativity and innovation. They provide 125 ideas for attagirls and attaboys that take very little time and effort, and often cost nothing but a little thought. They advise us to be as specific as possible with our praise and thanks–the general “great work” can be very patronizing, the important thing is to show that you noticed someone’s contribution and can explain why it mattered.
Frequent, specific, timely
Got a problem employee? Just look for some small action that demonstrates the kind of attitude or performance you want to see and take a moment to praise it with no ifs or buts. Short of money? Just take a moment to talk with people about what’s important to them in life and at work and show them that you value their values in your organization.
The OC Tanner people know that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to praise. Not every employee responds well to cheer leading, they agree, but they throw down the challenge that imaginative bosses ought to be able to find an appropriate way to say thank you–and to win the hearts and minds–of all their team members. Got a hard worker who always volunteers to pick up the slack at weekends? Send them home with movie tickets or a gift card to treat their kids. At a team meeting, ask people to pat themselves on the back by sharing one thing they did well in the last week at work. We work with students and know food is always welcome: circulate coupons for free cookies in someone’s special honor and have everyone gather for the sweet stuff. Make a ceremony out of the sugar rush.
The Carrot Principle people are trying to lead an Orange Revolution and know that saying thank you doesn’t come easily to the pacesetters and perfectionists who set the standard in many organizations. To encourage those of us who are quick to purse a lip and curl an eyebrow they have produced a delightful Appreciation Starter Kit. This contains a selection of thank you cards and a range of buttons to share with colleagues who make their numbers–or otherwise make your day. Messages include Wowing on All Cylinders with a picture of a truck. Well done branded on a supersized steak, and one that says OOOH AAAH and shows fireworks in full burst. I defy you not to smile when you see them.
My own thank yous for today: To the man at the car dealership who fixed the front tag to my car for no charge–the trouble you took to wipe the bugs off my bumper and to make sure the tag hung straight and secure was excellent service. The surly man from whom I ordered the tag holder at the weekend told me I’d have to pay extra if I actually wanted to use it. Thank you for getting past that. You were wowing on all cylinders.
To Alexandra at the MVA, thanks for your patience and perseverance in the testing matter of our missing FR-19. I’m glad we got it resolved and pleased to have found a new neighbor. It felt good when you reached your hand over the MVA counter to shake mine. Applause, applause, applause.
To Greg at the Smith School. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn from the carrot people and everyone else at TOC. And thanks for the opportunity to drive home from the Eastern Shore on such a beautiful day. I’ll be back at my desk tomorrow. A Team.
Tags:morale, productivity, results, Smith School, thank you, the carrot principle, the orange revolution.
April 17th, 2012 by Liz Barron under coaching and developing others, Corporate Culture, efficiency and effectiveness, Executive Education, Leadership Development, Workplace dynamics. No Comments.
Warp and weft are key to the success of Standard Textile, a private company that sources fine cotton from the valley of the Nile, from Kenya, and from all over the world. Spend any time in a hotel or in the hospital and it is quite likely that your table linen, bed sheets and the staff uniforms will be cut from the cloth of this Cincinnati family-owned business. Nancy Kendrick at Standard believes that the best leaders and managers should pay attention to warp and weft, whatever their line of business. Understanding how your organization is woven together–who does what and why and in what order–is key to thinking strategically, planning efficiently and operating effectively, she believes. Nancy has introduced a job swap program at Standard, asking high potential employees to spend half a day doing someone else’s job in a completely different part of the company, getting to know the fabric of the business. “People take it very seriously” she told me ” Someone who regularly wrote orders for thousands of dollars to manufacturers in India started to sweat when it her became her responsibility to make sure a big hospital in Baltimore MD received a shipment of sheets and towels on time–she suddenly understood pressure and accountability at the other end of the business. She got a sense of why the timing and quality of her work with suppliers really matters to customers”.
Nancy is one of an increasing number of learning and development professionals who leverage the experience of senior team members to teach the workforce of tomorrow. Lack of time and lack of money make it hard for human capital staff to liberate staff from the office today. Organization leaders understand the culture, values and imperatives of their company. The best are looked up to and trusted by other team members. Some are very effective communicators, sharing either their own stories to inspire and energize others, or tried and tested tips on getting the job done.
Steve King from AllState also believes in Leaders as Teachers. He organizes a brownbag speaker series, inviting staff to lunch and learn in the company of a senior specialist from the insurance giant. “The leaders are glad to do it. It’s a legacy thing” he says “We keep it pretty informal and the leaders decide what they will share. Some tackle a practical issue, others talk more widely about what we are, or need to become”
Ed Betof’s book, based on the experience of leadership development at Becton Dickinson is called Leaders as Teachers and is highly recommended by Steve. “It’s full of practical tips for getting the most from each presentation” he says. ” Making sure it sticks and makes a difference to the way the organization works”
Here at the Smith School, we are big fans of Leaders as Teachers. Taking a leaf out of Betof’s book, we cross-fertilize, finding ways for faculty, staff, students and alumni to benefit from each other’s experience and expertise. Our new Vice Dean, Dr. Joyce E.A.Russell helps young women find their power in the workplace. Dr. Joe Bailey combines his personal leadership with his technical expertise to keep academic colleagues abreast of the transformative power of IT. Dr. Cliff Rossi draws on his deep experience as a Chief Risk Officer for headline-making financial institutions to help all of us understand our personal and departmental financial strengths (or frailties ;() a little better.
In our executive education programs too, we partner with Learning and Development to make sure that hi-potential managers or new executives have an opportunity not only to learn from the best in the business school, but the best in their own board rooms–and beyond. This isn’t limited to a speech on values from the CEO, or a rundown of the numbers from the CFO. We ask our program participants to think about and comment upon the leadership style of those in their company whom they admire. We conduct case studies on internal networks who model really collaborative behavior. We ask social media bright sparks to brainstorm new outreach ideas with seasoned marketing mavens.
We hope though that, as you find innovative ways to help your employees learn from each other, you will still make external inputs a priority. A metaphor used by a leader I admired when I worked with the BBC stays with me still ” Don’t be a wildebeest” said Rosemary” Wildebeest spend all their time on the run and when they stop, they stand around in circles, looking in. The lions attack and eat them from behind. The wildbeest never see it coming” If your organization ignores information on emerging practices, competitive trends, new challenges and spends too much time looking in, you WILL get eaten. Of course, we at Smith hope you will turn to us for fresh inputs, original thinking and stimulating engagement designed to help you think outside the cube (or division or territory). We’re here to help.
Check out executive education at Smith here or contact Liz Barron at 301 405 5387 or lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu to talk to us about custom support for your organizational development. Don’t get eaten.
Tags:Leaders as teachers, leadership lessons from wildebeest, Standard Textile, wildebeest.
April 16th, 2012 by Liz Barron under Executive Education, Human Capital, Innovation, Leadership Development, Workplace dynamics. No Comments.
The Chief Learning Officer Symposium in Miami considered what Learning and Development Professionals will need to know, do and think about in 2015. “We’ll need to be Chief Curators and Learning Enablers, not Content Providers” said Michael from Cisco “People spend an hour a week Googling this and that. They can ask the questions and find out what they need to know—it’s all out there. Our job is to get them to the good stuff, the stuff we can trust”
Resources and time are tight in business and in government and, as the world flattens, many organizations are coming to believe that they don’t need quite the degree of customization or exclusivity in executive education as they once thought they did. Corporate universities are feeling the pinch—and are also understanding that their students are now able to draw on a very wide range of learning resources right from their own desktop or mobile device. “I’m building relationships with a number of universities outside my organization” reported Peter Shelby from the National Reconnaissance Office “I have to know we can get our people trained if our funding dries up”
Other colleagues talked about the difficulty of funding travel—and helping busy hi-pos or strategic leaders find time to leave their office. “ Networking is still enormously valuable in learning” said almost everyone “but we need to find better ways of helping people learn where they are, when and how it suits them, using technology to access the best insights from excellent teachers all over the world.” Everyone loved TED. Many people talked about the great resources they had been led to via Twitter. There was much talk of virtual coaching and mentoring. Lots of organizations were providing their people with tablets and headphones, and directing them towards apps and tools to help them make sense of their world at work.
Life is too short to cut and paste
Training people to use collaborative tools effectively was top of mind. I thought ruefully of the time I’d wasted this week shuttling a program design backwards and forwards between a client and faculty members via email when I might have been using Google Docs. My partners were busy with other commitments in Maryland. I was in Miami, and could have been dancing the Merengue, drinking a Mojito or enjoying something Cuban each evening. Instead, I updated documents with changes sent from miles away. Life is too short to cut and paste.
The most exciting tool I saw was Read and Note, a new invention which Oxford University, among others, has been quick to adopt. Upload your reading material to an online library in the cloud, access it, including graphics, via your laptop, tablet or smart phone, annotate it with a highlighter, comment via an instant video from your webcam, and share comments. Think of using it for bible study, or a global book club, or for teaching from an article—the students can read a paragraph, click to watch your video question, and comment as they read on. It makes textbooks interactive without any outlay (beyond of course the tool).
Companies who tried to trick recruits into sharing their Facebook passwords were scorned. Don’t try to police what your workforce does online, instead incentivize employees to talk you up to their social networks, said all the human capital professionals at the symposium. Teach the non-savvy how to promote their personal brand and yours. Of course there are downsides too: Just as teachers and doctors, dentists, restaurants and resorts are now facing often brutal online reviews, leaders from every organization and sector must accept that they may receive a digital drubbing, findable forever and from anywhere in the world. Everyone can see you now.
Talent managers spent a lot of time at the symposium considering how well their organizations manage their online profiles. How well do you manage yours? Do you use Google alerts to know when you are being talked about? Are you happy with your company’s image on Glass Door? How can Branch Out and other emerging networking tools help you find the workforce your organization needs for tomorrow? And how can you use social media to keep your employees engaged, informed and educated?
Tags:branch out, CLO, communicating at work, engaging millenials, executive education, glass door, google alert, google docs, human capital, read and note, recruitment, social media, talent management, training, twitter.
April 4th, 2012 by Liz Barron under Executive Education, Leadership Development. No Comments.
She put the easy into easy listening and the lay back into playback but Roz Doyle, the producer on Frasier Crane’s radio show was more than a pretty face. It turns out that practical, efficient, hard-wired Roz was a pioneering example of the “producer” role that is an essential sidekick for any teacher hoping to conduct a successful class live and online today. Kassy LaBorie made the case for pairing a savvy and sassy producer with your subject matter expert when she spoke at this week’s Chief Learning Officer Symposium in Miami, FL. Kassy works with Dale Carnegie who have just updated their founder’s famous book for the digital age. 
It is Kassy’s job to help executive education leaders win friends and influence people online. She began by encouraging everyone to have a moan about webinars. We quickly listed their common failings: they are one-way, questions are answered too slowly or not at all, there are endless polls but few presenters ever react to the information they have been at pains to collect. It can be hard to follow who is speaking. Slides are often hard to read on a small screen.
Kassy doesn’t think that all our bad experiences with webinars should put us off synchronous online learning, which she thinks can be easy to use, engaging, useful, interactive, memorable and fun, just like the very best breakfast “zoo” shows on old-fashioned radio.
Loosen up, she urged online facilitators. Give up the need for control. Limit the size of the group to around 20 and encourage people to keep their microphones open, at least some of the time. Build in interactivity, urging people to use their initials when they write on the whiteboard, so you can easily call on them to elaborate on their remarks. Start with a warm up exercise and get people to share what they’re wearing or where in the country they are before the learning starts. Take a moment or two to respond to some of the information shared.
Accept that people can do more than one thing at once, using the dashboard of your learning platform, or the buttons on their keyboard, much as they do the mirrors, levers and buttons while they drive a car. Use polls—and, like Frasier Crane, make sure to show you’re listening. Have triads go off to work in small groups, using their mikes to talk across the miles—and to report back to the main body.
Stern Teacher? What if he led your elearning?
Above all, have a Roz. People get tired of listening to one voice, so find a producer or sidekick who can take care of the technical instructions. Make sure that person is a different gender, or a markedly different age, or has a different accent from you.
You can outline the topic of the day and your producer can explain the order of events
Voice One “We’re going to talk about leading change, discovering ways you can remain resilient, focused and bring people with you”
Voice Two “We’re three minutes away from our first of three polls and we’ll need you to get ready to throw your thoughts up on the whiteboard right after that. First though, use the white board to tell us something you can see from your desk or where ever you’re working. Don’t forget to write your initials on the board so we know it’s you. If you’d rather speak, use the hands up icon, and we’ll call on you. You have one minute—tell us what’s on your desk or share a little about your view.
(reaction to views, objects on desks described etc)
Voice One Now our first poll. Which of these options describes you best… Roz, talk us through the results and how they differ from the national average…”
The producer is particularly useful for asking the teacher to recap on behalf of puzzled listeners who may have misheard a TLA (three letter acronym) or failed to follow a complex instruction. If s/he is confused, the listeners probably are too. S/he can interrupt the speaker quickly and save a flurry of text questions. And the producer can keep up a steady stream of comments and instructions in the text box, providing hyperlinks to content you’ve referenced, flagging an upcoming break, or taking care of a single participant’s technical inquiry. S/he needs to remain part of the main event, so you may need to have other tech experts on phone standby to help with problems of bandwidth, VOIP or mic muting.
Just as Frasier came to recognize the value of Roz, so educators of executives must learn to share their virtual classroom with a co-host—someone who can help both the facilitator and the participants reach peak performance. You’ll need chemistry, collaboration skills and a lot of can-do attitude under your cans (radio studio slang for earphones). But if you can crack it, the weary webinar will be a thing of the past and adult learners will thank you from their home offices and work stations. They’ll have learned what they need to from you. They won’t have left the building.
If you are interested in synchronous, asynchronous or blended learning for your executives on topics including strategy, leadership, teaming, innovation, entrepreneurship, transformational it, marketing, finance, operations, logistics, supply chain, and business/government, please contact Liz Barron lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu or call 3o1 405 5387. Meanwhile, enjoy the final episode of Frasier below.
watch?v=2omp9paEArY
Tags:adobe connect, asynchronous, dale carnegie, elearning, frasier, howard stern, innovation, learning from radio, learning online, online learning, roz doyle, synchronous, teaching.
February 19th, 2012 by Liz Barron under Certificate In Cybersecurity Leadership, Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Technology, Executive Education, Federal IT Acquisitions, Financial Institutions, ICT SCRM, Process improvement, Systems and Design Thinking. No Comments.
Congratulations to the faculty of the Smith Supply Chain Management Center. The snappily titled International Journal for Physical Distribution and Logistics Management– a must read for anyone who must move anything–has just ranked Supply Chain management research at Smith #2 in the world.
One of the Center’s recent projects was in support of President Obama’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. Dr Sandor Boyson and Dr. Tom Corsi together with Adjunct Professor and SAIC Chief Technology Officer Hart Rossman prepared a report for the National Institute of Science and Technology, pulling together best practices from industry and government to inform Information and Communication Technology (ICT)Supply Chain Technology Risk Management (SCRM). You can read the report here. Basically the aim is to ensure that the U.S. buys only hardware and software that is fit for purpose and has not been meddled with maliciously by America’s enemies. This is important stuff and failure could be catastrophic. If someone unwittingly buys black market widgets designed to protect against radiation and the counterfeits aren’t up to the task , that’s a problem. If technology intended to keep the high-speed trains running on time is tampered with so that the trains instead run off the rails…well, do I need to go on?
It’s hard to gauge quality and rate sources in this high-tech, outsourced, global and fast-changing specialism that now drives everything we do. The Smith report for NIST offers ideas for creating a decision-making framework and for knowledge-sharing across and between agencies.
Dr. Boyson talked about ways in which business and government can improve enterprise risk management in ICT SCRM in a recent interview on Federal News Radio. He’s a great talker–passionate, knowledgeable and colorful–so I recommend you listen here.
Boyson and Hart Rossman are the brains and heart behind a new Certificate in Cybersecurity Leadership which the University of Maryland will introduce in the fall. The course is designed for technical experts with Computer Science and Engineering backgrounds, including former hackers who now use their dark skills for global or national good. Uniquely, it offers two distinct opportunities for personal development and career advancement. The combined focus on technical innovation and on the strategic skills needed for enterprise-wide leadership offer a real life Sheldon, Leonard, Raj or Howard a chance to step away from the screen to take a crack at the C-suite or SES, or to further develop cutting edge knowledge in systems and design thinking, cybersecurity technology, federal IT acquisition and ICT SCRM. Participants will be able to take part in classes in real time from a range of locations near Maryland’s big defense employers–this is high quality education and peer networking with all the convenience of distance learning.
Will the Big Bang Boys become Cybersecurity Leaders at Smith?
If you work in or around the Pentagon, at US Cyber Command in Fort Meade or at Aberdeen Proving Ground or Patuxent Naval Air Station, talk to us about how you can access College Park expertise on your own doorstep. A number of credits from the semester-long Certificate program can be applied to a Master’s in Cybersecurity Engineering from the prestigious Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park or to an M.S. in Information Systems from the state’s flagship Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland College Park. To learn more, check out the website or contact Liz Barron at lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu or call 301 405 5387
Tags:big bang theory, CNCSI, counterfeit, enterprise risk management, espionage, itc scrm, supply chain., terrorism, US Cyber Command.
February 14th, 2012 by Liz Barron under Corporate Culture, Enjoying work, Executive Education, Human Capital, Leadership Development, Workplace dynamics. No Comments.
“The oath you swear to uphold the Constitution is the same oath sworn by the men and women of our armed forces” said OPM Director John Berry, speaking to members of the federal workforce today in Washington DC. ”The oath you swear is the same oath sworn by George Washington. It is an oath that binds us all. Be proud of your service and create a ceremony around the oath when you bring new federal leaders into your agencies. The work you do does make a difference. You are the people who hold the country together”
John Berry was speaking to HR professionals from government agencies, discussing ways in which they can attract and retain talent. “This is the best civil service in the world” he said “and the most highly educated it has ever been”. He also shared that federal hiring of veterans is up by 4% in the last 2 years and is currently running at about 33% per cent of all government hires. “Government has led the way in this” said Berry “and the President and the First Lady and VP Biden are working with Corporate America to have them follow your example”
Berry acknowledged that while there has been growth in the percentage of disabled veterans hired into federal jobs, the government overall lags on providing opportunities for Americans with disabilities. “This is a club any one of us could join in a moment” said Berry “You are not fighting for the rights of others [when you hire a person with disabilities]. you are looking out for all of us”
John Berry has a reputation for being an accessible and open leader, someone who enjoys his work and who encourages those around him to find joy in what they do. Talking about leadership development opportunities extended to Presidential Management Fellows, Berry recounted a story from a recent trip to Gettysburg. The Government’s best and brightest were to walk the battlefield, learning from the leadership experiences of their forebears. The field is exposed and the day was raw. It was raining.
“Do we have to go out when it’s raining” asked one of the PMF’s
“It’s not always sunny when you’re called upon to lead” came the reply. Ain’t that the truth.
These are pretty dark days for many in government and today Director Berry made sure that the people he leads in government HR knew they were appreciated. For a lot of people in the room he made the sun shine.
If you would like to provide the Gettysburg experience for members of your team, talk to Liz Barron 301 405 5387 or lbarron@rhsmith.umd.edu. If you are a federal training officer, CLO or CHCO seeking development opportunities for your team, please also contact Liz. Smith faculty provide executive education experiences tailored to the needs of specific government agencies and to the OPM ECQs
Tags:disabled veterans, Diversity, federal training, Gettysburg, Hiring strategy, John Berry, leadership, leading by example, leading teams, OPM, veteran hires.
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