I used the “Decisionmeter” in planning and monitoring a
meeting to redesign the recruitment section of our firm’s web page.
Normally, when I hold a meeting, I
am really nervous about getting people to acknowledge my purpose and to come to
consensus on the best solution. I
usually skirt around implementation, not wanting to make people do something,
and end up having to do it all myself. Actually,
someone else usually takes over the leadership of the meeting and I end up in
the shadow of my own meeting. While
this is happening, I hear old tapes of my grandmother’s voice telling me not
to draw attention to myself because I am not cute. (Ugh!).
Anyway, this meeting was a whole different experience.
I used the “decisionometer” to plan my each step of my meeting and it
worked very, very well. I got there early to be sure to secure a position of
power and noted that someone had gotten in earlier to leave her (it was a
“her”) stuff at a control end of the table.
I made note of that and secured the other end for myself.
When everyone was seated, I left a couple of moments for chatting and
jockeying for position and then calmly stated the purpose of the meeting in
sufficient detail to make sure everyone had a clear picture of my purpose
whether they acted bored or not. Normally, I would skip this phase thinking that
it was self-evident. As is turned out, this was a good move because everyone
remained interested throughout my introduction, some even taking notes. Once
that was done, I stated my goal (revised web page) for the outcome of the
meeting and, lo and behold, everyone moved on cue into identifying alternatives.
I got them to focus on consequences and to agree on a best scenario to
have this happen. Someone tried to
take over the meeting and I was able to state politely that her comments were a
part of “process” and should be the focus of another subgroup meeting.
I took control back and moved into implementation.
We quickly set up a subgroup to look at MIS, firewall, and other computer
related issues and another subgroup to study design concepts.
We agreed to meet again on Wednesday.
After the meeting, I met one of our VPs in the hall who congratulated me
on the way I conducted the meeting. I
wish I had just said “thank you” but I said that I still needed practice on
knowing exactly when someone when started to move off topic and bringing him/her
back to it. It deflated his praise a bit and I intuited him thinking that maybe
my handling of the meeting wasn’t that great after all.
Of course, my intuition may have dreamed this up.
Oh, well, lesson learned for next time.
Take my bows and shut up.
DR
The most wretched, loathsome odious task in the entire organization was to fall on my shoulders this week: I had to rank memos. There are many things that I would rather do with my time; root canal or flexible sigmoidoscopy comes to mind: Anything but ranking. So I thought about it for a while. What made this worse than having the nerve removed from a tooth while I was conscious and lying in a dental chair? After a time, I came to the conclusion that I have always felt this way. When I was running a company I felt exactly the same way about performing personnel reviews. Anything was more important. If I had to write one up, suddenly I would feel a strong urge to change all the paper clips in all the paper clip dispensers throughout the entire organization. There were practical reasons for avoiding the process. A bad personnel review meant that an employee might leave and subject the organization to substantial hiring and training costs. Worse, he or she might leave for the competition and adversely affect the revenue stream. But mainly, I think that I didn’t enjoy it because the process struck me as overly subjective and difficult to defend. And I didn’t enjoy the conflict that an adverse review was likely to bring. The thought of the potential of returning, day after day and working with someone who actively disliked you just didn’t appeal to me. So I devised strategies around personnel reviews. Everyone got good reviews and the people that needed to go received that information indirectly without a personal confrontation, and left. And things worked out.
Peter Zuk
My goal for the past few weeks was to grasp an idea of what exactly our class is trying to accomplish in this irritating, yet entertaining organization we call XB. I believe, for several reasons, that the class as a whole is starting to make progress: 1) class periods aren’t as boring as they previously were 2) XB members have a better understanding of the learning objectives each specific individual is required to achieve, and 3) XB members appear to be more open to one another, in the sense that we colleagues are beginning to speak our minds & question each other. Fear is still present in the classroom and trust takes time to build; the prior are two statements to be normally expected. I admit there are still numerous occasions where I become frustrated or confused in class, but I feel that I’ve at least advanced to the yellow belt level in starting to comprehend the complex organizational structure of XB and how it can flow together effectively teaching us management.
I am going to stick to personal experience as I create an example for the learning cycle to avoid the possibility of casting unnecessary value judgements. This scenario has not been fully concluded in the classroom, but hopefully you will still count it as a valid example. 1) Observation: Towards the end of MG and KC’s Management Theory Presentation on Friday, February 4th, I mentioned that I deliberately failed to complete the assignment of ranking the members of the Observing Department in order. The topic under review at that present time was about the importance to the organization that each XB member responsibly completes their assigned task(s), so naturally I felt a bit like a failure. But, I honestly believe it would have been completely unjust for me to rank my group members in order. I have no logical standard of measurement in which I could compare the group members fairly and assign numbers accordingly. 2) Understand: My intention is neither to hurt nor rebel against XB, but to be impartial to my colleagues. The Senior Manager himself stated within the XB manual that “favoritism poisons the organization” (page 14). Also, another section within the XB manual got my brain stirring, “Sometimes authorities try to get us to perform immoral or unethical acts, or acts which will not benefit the organization. In the modern, Western view, there are times when we must question, disobey, and expose authority” (page213). I can not clearly see a way to measure & monitor the Observing Department, composed of three subgroups having varied roles and different responsibilities, and then rank the members in a sensible & fair way that will benefit XB. However, I do believe this situation is different from ranking the reading memos. Though the task is probably difficult, you do possess comparable data which is similar in form. 3) Responsibility: This is where desired objectives are identified. Two possibilities that come to mind are: (1) Formulate a fair method to determine the allocation of graded numerical values, or (2) Conclude this assignment is unjustified and expel it from the XB organization. 4) Act: This is the stage where a form of action takes place. I am curious to see what will happen, if anything does happen at all.
For the
upcoming week, my major objective is for myself and partner GT to prepare and
issue a handout that will assist in achieving our required behaviorally stated
learning outcomes for Group Group Cycle 1. An on-going goal of mine is to voice
my opinion freely with confidence and without
mumbling.
SCA
MEMO
|
To: All XB Members |
Dept: Observation |
|
From: Marie |
Group: Group |
|
Re: Weekly Memo |
Date: October 17 |
My Goals For Last Week:
to post my “journal of observations” in the Group subfolder by Friday’s session,
the 17th, in order to give everyone access to my observations and a
chance to learn from them to have Lindsey tally
participation on Wednesday and Erin do the same for Friday in order to have them
learn how to sit back from a situation and recognize what statements really
contribute to the organization’s progress
My Actions And Their Consequences:
On Tuesday evening I placed part of
my “journal,” in the public folders. I had written up my observations from the
week before, and I thought that by placing them in the folders, it would help XB
members to browse through and learn something from them. On Thursday, having
received constructive criticism from Michele and Steve about the effectiveness
of my job, I talked with Mr. Putzel. I created another observation sheet, with
explicit examples of behavior in our group. Mr. Putzel reviewed this sheet and
I discussed with him how it would affect XB. I learned something from this
second observation sheet. I had not really realized how the specific role
behavior each of us played affected the organization. Until I tried to tie in
how behavior actually affected the organization, I had not thought of people’s
actions as helping or harming XB. At the completion of this sheet, however, I
noticed that the functioning of XB relied heavily on what people did! Steve’s
actions had caused the organization to slow down, but more importantly, it
caused us to use Group-Maintenance Behavior to address and correct the
issue.
On Friday, I acted on one of my first goals of the semester, I spoke up. I took
ten minutes to read out loud those examples of specific behavior. I also spoke
up more on how I felt. I gave input on how I felt during Rachel’s exercise last
Monday and Wednesday. I mentioned how I felt like an isolate when I went to sit
with my “group,” but as soon as I got there, I fell immediately into a
conversation with the other group members. I gate-kept Steve from
interrupting Margarita, by pointing out that he needed to stop his Self-Oriented
Behavior. Finally, I offered a suggestion for getting people to speak up
more; I suggested that maybe if an extrovert a day sat back and just watched,
then maybe they would see an introvert’s point of view and maybe the introvert
would feel more outgoing. From speaking up on Friday, I learned that maybe I do
have some influence in the class. Last week I had come to the conclusion that
members just did not listen to me, but on Friday, I actually got to speak, and
people took notice. It felt great. After having read off my observations, I
felt relieved, and a transformation occurred. I did not hesitate to speak up.
Even if I had to wait my turn, I still said what I had to say. Erin had checked
me off for adding seven important points to the discussion on Friday as proof of
my sudden outgoing personality, while on Wednesday Lindsey had only marked me
down for speaking once. What a big change!
What I Have Learned
(in addition to above):
I learned a lot about how I fit into an organization from responding to my
personality type (ISFJ). My personality suggests that I support the
organization but I sit in the background of it all. I let the group take credit
for something that maybe I did myself. I realized that I do sit in the
background a lot. I have the insight, but I do not take charge of it. I let
others do that for me. I toss out my observations, but I never take
responsibility and explain them so that they prove useful for anyone but
myself. I leave it up to the rest of XB to figure out my riddle.
What I should have done all along, I only realized on Wednesday night, as I lay
tossing and turning in my bed. I could not fall asleep because I had to come up
with a solution for how to teach everyone my job. Mr. Putzel wanted
qualitative, not quantitative observations. Michele wanted me to incorporate
the terms into XB. Steve wanted to know if he had to perform all twenty-one
behaviors or if he should just do a few. Many others had no clue of the
existence of the terms we spoke of. Though this discussion turned into the best
constructive criticism anyone could have given me, at the time I felt so
frustrated. All along, I had assumed people had understood my terms. No one
ever told me that they did not understand. I realized that maybe the lines of
communication needed working on. Perhaps we focused on our own job so much that
we could not see that others did not follow our lead. I think that perhaps I
try too hard to perfect my own job that I miss everyone else when they try to do
theirs. My ISFJ personality says that often I “miss the forest for the trees.”
I think that the best idea would include having people check off on each job’s
learning outcomes just exactly what they do not understand. I think we need to
know where we stand with other members before we can move into Cycle two.
Though XB at times remains a traditional class in my mind, at other times it
just absolutely amazes me. Friday’s class blew me away with the level of
personal feeling put into it. Suddenly, XB took members under its wings and
produced a loving environment and a safe one at that to open up and act like
oneself. Margarita coming back sticks in my mind as the biggest example of
that. She did not have to come back, but she did. We all looked so happy when
she walked into the room. She spoke up about the past two weeks of her absence,
and the room just looked at her with total understanding. As tears ran down her
cheeks, I noticed that Erin and I reached to get some Kleenex for her at the
same time. Steve’s voice cracked as he apologized to her, and we all realized
just how much XB had changed since the last time we had seen her. We had turned
away from our hard core, “we have to learn this” atmosphere, into a “people come
first” one. From Rachel’s presentation, we had evolved into an organization
that used human relations to help push us along.
My Objectives For Next Week:
I will have Michele check off participation on Monday, the 20th,
Maaya check it off on Wednesday, the 22nd, and David on the 24th.
By having them do this I expect them to learn how placing yourself at a distance
from a conversation can help them to pick out the points made that contribute to
group progress. I will then check them off on my outcome list for having
learned one of my tasks. I will hand in my friend’s
response to my personality to Erin for her viewing on Monday, and at that time I
will hand the ISFJ reading over to Josh, to have him write up his response on me
for Wednesday’s session. I will begin my outside
research on Leadership, my topic under Cycle two. Mr. Putzel gave me a book and
a photocopy of an article that should help immensely. This will help me form a
strong foundation for when I give my presentation. At the time of presentation,
which I have not set a date for yet, I will have shown how doing outside
research helped me.
XB Memo
To:
All XB members
From:
Melissa
CC:
Senior Manager
Date:
12/1
Re:
Weekly Memo
My Goals for Last Week
Last week my goal was a little snippy, to try to learn that even though we
are in college, we are still children. I was upset that people could not take
responsibility for themselves, and were not expected to. It may be true that
this happens everywhere, but if it not expected, nothing will happen. I am
trying to understand, though, and I think I have at least calmed down since last
week.
What Happened
Last week was much more calm than the week before, and I think we had some
break-thrus. The day that sticks out the most is Friday, when we discussed how
different cultures express feelings. Being in communications this cycle, my job
is to try to get people to express their feelings. An interesting issue arose
with Ayumi and Doug. Doug was upset about the presentation schedule and
expressed so to Ayumi. I tried to get Ayumi to express her feelings back, but
she couldn’t do it. This brought us to a discussion of cultural differences when
it comes to expressing feelings. I always feel better when I say how I am
feeling, and that makes me want to be more productive. In Japan, feelings are
never discussed and the job is just done. I see that as causing a lot of
resentment, but Ayumi didn’t understand that. It was a prime example of how
miscommunications can arise across cultures. Luckily we have the forum to
discuss this, and try to understand where the differences are.
What I learned from my Experiences
Learning the differences between cultures is an invaluable lesson in this
time of rampant globalization. We all at one time or another will have the
opportunity to deal with someone from a different culture in a business setting.
Our organization is the perfect way to get some practice in this, and discuss
differences in a way that could not happen in the business world. I think I feel
under the category of thinking that most Asians have trouble expressing
themselves because they are scared or “cold.” I learned, though, that they have
different ways of feeling and getting those feelings across. I think of myself
as a very perceptive person, but I would not feel right assuming or putting a
feeling on someone if they didn’t say it. Ayumi informed us that this is the
norm in Japan, and reading people is what they do. Spoken feelings are looked
down upon and seen as selfish. It is not fair to say that one is better than the
other, only to understand both and where differences are. Now hopefully Ayumi
has more of an understanding of how Americans work, because I sure have a better
understanding of how the Japanese work.
My Goals for Next Week
My goal for next week is to try to continue an open discussion about
feelings. I hope to learn more from Ayumi about how to read people, and perceive
emotions that are not spoken. I also hope to show Ayumi that expressing feelings
is not a bad thing, she is my project for the week. I want to work on everyone
before the end of the cycle, but since this happened, Ayumi is my first target.
|
|
My Goals
for Last Week
•
Speak at
least once (or more) in a meeting
I spoke few times this week, but I’m not sure everyone understood what I said.
•
Read my
section Planning, and make plan for cycle 2
I made a plan, but schedule will easily change. So, I need to keep adjusting
and changing the plan. Also, I asked everyone to make a plan for each of his or
her job, but still some of them didn’t give it to me. I have to get it this
week.
•
Have a time
at the end of the class to talk about what will happen in a next meeting and
what each of us has to do before it
On Monday, we did. But on Wednesday and Friday, we didn’t have enough time to
do it. I have to ask Directing to make sure we take time for finish this in an
each meeting. I sent e-mail to everyone about what we should do and the plan
for the next meeting.
What happened
and What I have Learned
From this
week a new cycle has started. We learned cycle 1 was inefficient, so we need to
change this cycle. Since each of us didn’t have enough goal and plan for his or
her group, we didn’t do our job efficiently. Indeed, we didn’t have any topic
last few weeks and we didn’t know what we should do. Therefore, I tried to
reduce uncertainty. I asked each department to write criteria and system for
weekly memo, so that people who rank will know what criteria they should use and
people who write will know how they should write and how they will be ranked.
This will reduce unfair ranking, and build trust. Also, I asked each department
to write their goals because we need to know what we should do to take
responsibility. Two Departments didn’t write it, so I have to ask them again
and get it this week, and I will inform these goals to everyone.
Since I am Planning Group, I
planned for cycle 2 and it took me a long time. Planning is not easy because
time goes fast during the meeting. Also, always something happens. This is why
we have to use strategic planning. I predicted some changes would occur, so I
sent my plan on Tuesday, so that I would have enough time to adjust it.
However, that happened on Friday. I thought I really need to be flexible, at
the same time; I have to make everyone to have a plan. Plan can change and it
should be flexible, but I cannot change it every time. If I change it every
time, I don’t need to make a plan for it. Therefore, I need to make an effort
to keep a plan as possible. That is why I sent e-mail what we should do list.
Julie sent me a feedback of this list, I felt happy because I wasn’t sure that
it would help people or not. Positive feedback helped me doing things.
On Friday,
we discussed about cultural differences. I was really surprised how different
my way of thinking things is from American way. When Doug got angry and asked
me why he should present on Monday, I immediately thought I needed to change the
plan. I was shocked at that time because in Japan no one says the negative or
personal complaint directly to the person in a public occasion unless there is
the order or hierarchy between people. Then, Melissa asked me how I felt. I
realized that I didn’t feel anything to Doug or other people, but I just felt I
needed to change the plan to make XB work. Since I am in Planning and I
understood Doug’s opinion, I thought I had to fix it. Then, Melissa showed me
how she would respond to Doug. She said she was disappointed, and she was
angry. I thought it was meaningless. There is no advantage to show anger to
the person or people, or get angry at each other. Then, Melissa told me it
doesn’t affect to the work itself whether I expressed my feelings or opinions.
So, why should I express my feelings? She said it would be even worse if I
didn’t express my feelings, and hide it. I agree this. I think I saw many
example of this in Japan. However, before I express my feelings, I think how
people will feel when I express my feelings. They may not feel happy, they may
feel bad or uncomfortable, or it will even create bad mood to the organization.
I think this is the big difference. In my culture, I am taught to respect other
people’s feelings even if I feel bad or I have to hide my feelings in order to
do it. This trained me to pay attention to others feelings unconsciously. This
is why I didn’t get angry when Doug asked me, and I just thought I had to make
XB work. Or, I didn’t notice my feelings because my culture told me there is no
meaning to show my feelings. Therefore, I don’t need to think about it, and it
made me to rust about my real feelings. In Japan, when a person asks someone to
do something, the person who is asked will do it even if he or she doesn’t want
to do it. Since, the person who is asked will think about the feelings of
person who asked. The person who is asked may think about the person who asked
might need courage to ask it, and if he or she refuses to do it, the person who
asked will be in trouble. Therefore, the person who is asked will do it
anyway. This concept made Japanese to think about the job first and the feeling
second or never notice it. However, in the U.S., it is different. Unless I
express my feelings, people won’t understand my feelings. I need to express my
feelings because no one will understand me without words, and if I don’t, it
would get worse. In the U.S., there are many different races, religions, and
people. This is why people pay less attention to other people’s feelings. It
may hard or impossible to predict other people’s feelings. Then, it made
American people strong to the direct negative feelings or complaint. If I said
Japanese to negative complaint directly, they will be shocked and even cannot
answer me. On the other hand, Americans will respond it in a same direct
negative way as Melissa showed me. This is really a big difference, but I have
to learn it and get used to it since I am here to learn American way. I
understand why I should express my opinion, but it is hard for me to actually do
it because sometimes I even don’t notice about my feelings. It will take me a
long long time, but I will try to express my feelings when I need to do. Also,
it is good opportunity to practice my English. Thank you for trying to
understand me everyone.
My Goals for
Next week
•
Speak at
least once (or more) in a meeting
I have to keep doing this.
•
Collect
every goal and plan from everyone by asking individually.
•
Have a time
at the end of the class to talk about what will happen in a next meeting and
what each of us has to do before it.
•
Talk to
Directing to make sure we take time for it.
•
Talk about
Reading Group in a meeting---Corinne
P.S. I know this is really long memo, but I wanted to explain how I felt and
why I felt in that way on Friday. Since, I couldn’t explain enough to you all
about my feelings because I was in shock at that time. I hope this will help
you or make sense at least.
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