Consulting Blog

Self fulfilling prophecy

According to social scientists our own expectations have a measurable impact in real life, what we expect from one another often turns out to be what we get from one another. The Pygmalion effect influences how we behave with one another. In fact Dr. Rosenthaw’s study documents that in the workplace when you are treated with high aptitude individuals believe their positive impact.

In essence you can train people by means of influence to realize expectations. High expectations translate into responsibility to match the dream attempting to be fulfilled of your performance. In contrast, if the expectation predicted in negative behavior can also be brought about. Our actions tip off others by means of communication;

• Climate– when we expect favorable things of others we create a positive climate for others
• Input– we teach more to those from who we expect more from
• Output– we create opportunity for people to express their questions for growth, know as the output factor
• Feedback– We mentor to when things are going well and how that can be expanded even further
• Body language- expresses considerable negative and positive impact
• Challenging assignments- opportunity to offer opinion, positive reinforcement.
• Sporadic Discouragement– unfocused critical expressiveness of lack of confidence

In summary, the idea that we can harness positive/negative communication and treat others as competent/incompetent individuals influencing transformation of self-expectations (performance abilities & aptitude).

Source: WFED 884 Lesson 5, Penn State University

Brand Perception

Image differentiates an organizations service perception. As a provider of subject matter expertise, the consulting industry is one that deploys an experience. Subjective feelings of indifference vis-a-vis sense of urgency affect brand perception and overarching reputation. In terms of building trust with clients it is of most care to deliver based on the voice of the customer. Today’s practitioners understand that in order to have a competitive edge deciphering these meanings are imperative when building brand recognition and ultimately strengthening to longstanding perception of trust. In Pro-bono consulting I interviewed with a non-profit management consulting firm in order to serve the community. This firms image was well known within the community for providing cost effective service for other non-profits who perhaps do not have the resources to support growth initiatives. The internal Consultant team consisted of tenured C-level suite executives donating their time to serve the community. Forwarding into my third month with the organization I began to realize the nuts and bolts operationally.

As a consumer the sponsoring clients demonstrated great gratitude and satisfaction with services. Survey assessments resulted in objectifying continued added value on return of investment for change agents. What really drives brand perception? The tenured experience of the internal consultants and abilities to provide strategic alignment to the client needs. In short, the people of the organization were the differentiating factor. What I learned from this experience was that ultimately your team is your brand. The service they provide by listening to the voice of the customer and validating their needs influenced brand perception. Incorporating sense of urgency, great listening skills to client symptoms and a detailed analysis with solutions factored into formulas for relevant ROI to clients. What does this teach us? You are only as good as your client perceives you. Practitioners who gauge perception are at a great advantage in winning market share within the community they serve. This lesson resonates with me as a practitioner in that the voice of the customer is something I place great detail to and the relationships that I form, serve as testimony to the value I can add to the people I serve.

You are your brand and people’s perception market your talents.- Tere

The six pitfalls

• Build from the top down, forcing compliance without spending the needed time to get real team buy-in and commitment.
• Ignore the people in the organization and/or the market who can be the most helpful to you: the tactical experts.
• Get in your box and stay there, ignoring others because your industry is “different.”
• Play nice at the expense of holding people accountable.
• Don’t change.
• Encourage groupthink, and promote work situations that enable really smart people to make really safe, watered-down decisions.

From the pitfalls “don’t change” is one that I have seen concurrently in each of my roles. Tenured employees who are content with how things are and vested in old processes seem to be the habitual offenders of inflexibility. I recall working with a Senior Generalist who constantly played devils advocate, rejecting participation in new campaign initiatives. It wasn’t until a campaign started leveraging results and she missed in celebration and representation of the milestone the team had accomplished that she started to realize the value of change. Not to mention the fact that others were receiving bonuses for areas she was not. Sometimes if you don’t change your wallet won’t either. “As Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome”. “Change is necessary, and needs to be planned for and promoted. Don’t plan for change, and expect terribleness to ensue.” – WFED 881  Lesson 4 Professor John Dolan

 

The great Napoleon once theorized it is mentally more challenging to be positive than it is to be negative. Herein lies the decision to retrain our minds to happier more joyous experiences in work and in life. The fact is happiness is not affected by genetic makeup, in fact the “Is your happiness dependent on your genes” video explains why identical twins can have completely different personalities, as responses to stress for example are not a component of individuals genes.

Interestingly enough I have coached others on this topic and what I found was most beneficial is understanding that we are accountable for our happiness. We control how we respond to stress, how we handle rejection and ultimately how we react to changing circumstances. So, adopting more positive outlooks on situations can ultimately entail greater happiness. Propagating all the things that are going right and feeling challenged by stress can wipe away the headaches and tension that comes along with stress and translate into goals to overcome, energizing the mind and body.

It’s all in how YOU choose to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Personal paradigm: The sociological paradigms of theory that share value in my beliefs and techniques of scientific human nature is that of Voluntarism, or the creative role. One that resonates where “free will” occupies as the creator of one’s environment and is autonomous within one’s society. In theory, this concept illustrates an individualistic point of view that supersedes one’s environment through emotionally intelligent framework and assertive disposition.

As a practitioner immersed in inquiry from inside, voluntarism is favorable in that, one can observe from the standpoint of a participant in action, supported by the conditioning of their environment in the human nature of social science as it relates to the study of an organization. The Idiographic nomothetic methodology of theory depicts one can only understand the social world by obtaining first hand knowledge, detailing subject background, history utilizing social integration. This in term leads to cohesion in the actuality of regulation to radical change dimension.

Leveraging strengths: The Marcus Buckingham videos demonstrate that leveraging strengths versus weaknesses is resulting in higher productivity, through motivating of energy in competencies that have proven success to the business model. In turn, team members can perform in the capacities that they are competent in and therefore avoids brain drain and frustration with regard to exhausting focus on weaknesses.

This approach constructs a propagation of the talents and skill sets that weigh on the individuals performance, and promote continuous praise in their natural obvious interest. This does not go on to say that weaknesses should be ignored, rather that heavy emphasis should not be placed in such efforts.

Reference:

• Evered, R., & Louis, M. R.. (1981). Alternative Perspectives in the Organizational Sciences: “Inquiry from the inside” and “Inquiry from the outside”. The Academy of Management Review, 6(3), 385–395. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/257374
• Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. 1979. Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis (pp. 1–37). Portsmouth, NH: Heineman.

Key similarities and differences between internal and external OD practitioners in the assessment and feedback phase: 

Based on the issues faced by external and internal practitioners there are some similarities and differences to conquer, the table below provides implications for the differences, so I will expand on similarities more in depth. Key similarities are that both practitioners are required to maintain confidentiality as it relates to sensitive data in the assessment and feedback process. This can be applied in the data collection phase, during an intake interview and when data analysis is fed back to the client (sensitive information such as personal interviewee anonymity must be upheld). Both internal and external practitioners need to build credibility by demonstrating their competencies effectively at every chance of diagnosis. In addition, competencies must be built on. Such as, the practitioner trying to learn more about different data collection and analysis methods. In engaging stakeholders both practitioners should focus on relevancy to reach agreeable interpersonal team relations. Both practitioners have a potential for time and quality constraints if a particular project is only worked on a part-time or as an added responsibility apart from the other projects they may be managing.

As far as the key differences: An internal practitioner has less credibility than an external practitioner in general. An external practitioner may have more delays to complete assessment due to communication constraints, causing additional time because they do not have direct access to resources. Since an external practitioner is not as immersed in the organization gaining relevancy and as a result engagement in the feedback offered may be more difficult to obtain in comparison to an internal practitioner.

Reference: Diagnosis Lesson 14 Table 14.1. Issues Faced by External and Internal OD Practitioners, Penn state

Issues	External OD practitioners	Internal OD practitioners
Time required before collecting data	It usually takes a long time for external OD practitioners to understand the organization before applying their understanding to diagnostic activities. It is generally a burden to the organization to help consultants understand, as this involves potential confidentiality issues.	Compared to external OD practitioners, it may not take a long time for internal OD practitioners to begin data collection in the assessment phase, as they are familiar with the organization and know about its nature and context.
Communication efforts	External OD practitioners, in general, need to rely on internal members of the organization and communicate progress online, as they do not have access to organizational resources. This is one of the key disadvantages for external OD practitioners.	Internal OD practitioners take the main role in communication in most cases, unless they partner with another function in the organization. They need to be very active in connecting and communicating with the project’s key stakeholders, which presents less of a challenge than it would for external OD practitioners.
Credibility	External OD practitioners in general are seen as more credible than internal OD practitioners. However, they can keep this credibility only when they demonstrate their competencies effectively.	Internal OD practitioners may be seen as less credible than external OD practitioners, unless they have a substantial track record within the organization. Every step, including diagnosis, is an opportunity for them to build their credibility within the organization.
Engaging stakeholders	External OD practitioners’ credibility helps them to engage stakeholders. However, this is true only when the stakeholders find the direction for and the results of diagnostic activities relevant.	Even if internal OD practitioners carry the burden of gaining credibility, it is less challenging for them to make their activities relevant to the context and needs of the organization.
Time challenge (potential quality issue)	If external OD practitioners work exclusively on the project for a certain time frame, they can devote all their time and energy to assessment and feedback. However, they might work with different clients at the same time, requiring them to spread their time over different projects.	Like external OD practitioners, unless internal OD practitioners are part of a special task force for a particular project on a full-time basis, it will be challenging for them to juggle the OD project and other duties.
OD competencies	External OD practitioners are typically effective at demonstrating OD competencies, as they typically start working after gaining a substantial amount of experience. However, that does not mean that they are equipped with all the necessary competencies. They should especially try to learn more about different data collection and analysis methods.	Internal OD practitioners, unless their work has been centered on OD, build competencies as they experience new OD projects. Sometimes, due to their lack of competencies, they are advised by external or internal OD experts or partner with them for critical tasks. This can be highly recommended depending on the competency level.

• What challenges have you experienced developing the feedback report in three different forms?

The most significant challenges I have faced when developing feedback reports in different forms to appease to individual stakeholder levels has been the delay in processing for such complexity. For example, in my most recent project I had to communicate a powerpoint, a word document and an HTML pdf file. The complexity of this task is that unaccounted time may not have been configured, and deadlines can be compromised if the tools are not in place to format the diverse audiences at hand.

• What skills do you need to further develop to expedite the process?

The critical skills required are those that meet the clients expectations and the apparent clear communication skills, with concise transcription of succinct information on the projects results and achievements. In addition, ensuring all relevant shared drive access is granted and cloud capabilities configure. Lastly, it is imperative to facilitate scheduling that meets the audiences needs for presentation purposes. To do this effectively one must consider operating hours, shifts and work day availability.

• Lessons learned

Overall the lessons learned from this activity of deciphering feedback to different levels of stakeholders made it apparent that all details must be communicated at a high level to executives. The purpose of the executive summary is to provide a sustainable representation that closes the client consultant relationship. Middle management have more significance in the actionable items that pertain to their department. Finally,  team member communication suffices with the milestones and consequential changes that result from the project.

What do you believe about your strengths? Have you viewed your strengths and been surprised by the results, do you agree? As you think about your own strengths, consider if you hold any similar beliefs or opportunities for adaptive change and how you might re-frame in order to view yourself through a different lens.

Personal strengths related to conducting needs assessments: It is important to self evaluate your offerings as a Consultant to provide the best value-added services within your realm of expertise. In terms of organizational development and change in needs assessments a personal strength I am proud of is my ability to connect with people. When you have intuitive skills you can make others feel comfortable, and further, gain trust in others for full disclosures. Furthermore, anonymity disclosures help build confidentiality bargaining to negotiate full disclosures that provide inside information to root causes.  Secondly, after building trust is applying a framework, applying Baldridge I assess micro organizational strengths, weaknesses and come up with opportunities for improvement and respective gaps. Finally, I have learned to demonstrate value-added solutions by concluding projects with validated recommendations & respective ROI.

Personal opportunities to conducting needs assessments: Applying human performance technology model best practices to needs assessment is a popular methodology in organization development and change. This is definitely an area for growth in the employee relations side of professional workforce development. In addition, negotiating solutions for macro & meta environmental threats is another area of focus. By leveraging my strengths to my advantage I can thoroughly conduct SWOT analysis and strategic planning workshops for purposes of strengthening organizations. This strategic needs assessment process improvement methodology defines current and desired state for a clear gap analysis. Such findings can aide in the development of the organization and refocus vision to a unified purpose for synchronization with technological and human performance. These solutions add value to the organization, the people who work day to day and the clients being served. 

Collecting and analyzing interview data

Challenges: The main challenges faced when collecting and analyzing interview data are confidentiality concerns, time constraints and scheduling enough time for when the interview goes over the allotted schedule.

To overcome challenges a release form assures confidentiality and helps ease recording data from the interview. Time constraints that interrupt operations can make it hard to arrange and stick to meeting, especially in season. In terms of analysis, deciphering meaning is the most challenging aspect.

When transcribing it can be difficult if the client/customer does not allow recording, because you must have sharp memory skills in order to correctly document word for word verbatim.

Lessons learned: The main lessons learned when collecting and analyzing interview data are to listen more than you talk, take mental notes and clarify meaning with follow-up questions.

In analysis, categorization is interesting because you start to see trends and compile an algorithm to study. This can assist in training topics and understanding issues. For example, when asking for symptoms you can determine what kind of problems the department has, the skill sets that are lacking and consequential gaps to be closed.

In conclusion, coding helps to further explore the deeper concepts people communicate during interviews. For example, when one analyzes multiple comments and starts to adapt similarities, a  conclusion can be concurred and evidence can support a a theme. My most productive analysis was able to uncover root causes with verifiable statements of substantial proof. It removes hearsay, and provides objective assurance.