Change
New Perspectives on Work – beyond in-person or virtual debates
The pros and cons of virtual and in-person work and the impact of the pandemic on changing worker behaviors and attitudes continue to be hot topic discussions.
Research favoring virtual work (see, for example, Washington Post, INC.) cites a range of motivating factors that lead to improved mental health and other benefits that positively impact performance. This contrasts with the view that virtual work decreases performance due to its reducing team effectiveness and, over time, negatively impacting mental health. Read more>>
Communication
Get the Results You Want from Others
When you ask others for something that results in a tangible output, do you get what you need when you need it?
Often, the results can be less than you expected, or they can be late. The results may not be the fault of others; you may be the cause of these lacking results. Use four elements to improve your requests. Read more>>
Do You Notice?
Life keeps us busy. It is easy to rush from meeting to meeting, only to go home and rush to fulfill family obligations. Amidst all this, do you notice? Do you notice your co-worker has a new sweater? Do you notice that a person in the meeting is pre-occupied? Do you notice that an employee always brings in treats for the office?
To notice is an attribute that contributes to your success. Why? From a person’s intention to another person’s attention—noticing is caring. And it’s all about seeing the unseen.
Have you ever seen something being built? At first, every day looks different: the land is cleared, a deep hole is dug, walls appear, and a roof covers the structure. But then, it all stops even though workers are there. The inside wiring, plumbing, and heating happen behind the walls, and you don’t notice. It is this unseen work that makes the structure usable.
In the same way, we are all works in progress—and not everything that happens may be visible. But just because it’s not immediately noticeable, doesn’t mean it’s not notable. We all contribute to an organization’s structure. And success is only through the sum of our strengths, which overcome our individual weaknesses.
Albert Einstein famously wrote on his chalkboard—a favorite quote he had taken to heart: “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” Or, as others have said, “What is unseen has just as much value as what is seen.”
This quote relates to what we aspire to do every day. It’s up to all of us to A.C.T.—be Authentic, make a Connection, and give others a Taste of who we are … to enable the unseen to be seen. That’s what people notice—as the transactions become the relations. It is a fact of life and leadership: When people are noticed, they know someone cares. And when they know someone cares, they feel valued. And when they feel valued, they will believe they are indeed part of something bigger than themselves. They will feel like they belong.
Inspired by an email from Korn Ferry, March 17, 2024.
Leadership, Management, and Supervision
Leadership, Employee Engagement, and Cultural Competence
Few topics in the business world garner as much attention as leadership. Harvard Business Review reports that there are over 15000 books on leadership in publication, with 1000’s of new articles produced yearly.
Despite this extensive body of work, the concept of leadership remains highly contested. Questions surround what constitutes effective leadership and how it functions. For leaders who are concerned about employee engagement, navigating the wide landscape of leadership theories and models can be challenging.
Read more>>
The Stories Leaders Need to Tell
We all can remember being told stories as children: bedtime stories, stories around a campfire, or stories shared on road trips or family meals. They all served a purpose, and we remember the connections, the lesson contained, or the closeness we developed with the storyteller.
KAI Theory and managing problem-solving style differences
Problem-solving is easy when there is only one person involved. While the potential for greater problem-solving increases as more people with diverse perspectives and backgrounds work together, it is also the case that this diversity creates its own set of complex challenges for leaders who are responsible for getting teams to develop impactful and desired results. Consider the following scenario. Read More>>
Advancing Cultural Teachings in Management
Modern societies are characterized by multicultural conditions and relations in their communities and workplaces. While the breadth and depth of diversity in businesses have accelerated in the 21st century, mainstream management literature has largely ignored or underappreciated the importance of this change. This has impacted how leaders and managers view cultural differences and dynamics in the workplace and how organizations have developed future-ready workforces. Read More>>
Helping Your Employees with Career Development
Managers have considered and pursued professional development as they ascended their career ladders. Now that they are in positions of authority, they must also support their employees’ pursuit of professional development. They need to assist the employees with their career goals, support growth within the organization, and promote feelings of engagement with work. Managers typically are not trained on how to talk about or foster career development, but it is important that it is a priority. Read More>>
Organizational Culture and Hidden Values
Edgar Schein (1928 – 2023), the founder of the discipline of organizational behavior, was a prominent contributor to the fields of organizational development and organizational culture. Schein’s work helps us recognize the hidden sources of cultural differences and unconscious biases in an organization, which helps leadership manage cultural dynamics and align people and departments with shared organizational values.
Where does organizational culture come from?
Schein differentiated between extrinsic and intrinsic elements of culture. Extrinsic culture refers to the products and artifacts of a culture, while intrinsic culture refers to the implicit meaning and shared understanding of those extrinsic products and artifacts by members of the same group. Organizational culture exists analogically in statements such as “This is the way we do things around here” or “We only behave that way when the boss is around.” The statements hold little meaning to the outsider of a group but are implicitly understood by members of the group. Hidden elements of organizational culture are at play when you begin a new job, for example. When you start in a new position, you may be at a loss as to how workplace rituals are observed and expectations met. Read More>>
Productivity
Stay Informed of Trends
There is a new term being used in the workplace: quiet quitting. However, “quiet quitting” is a behavior that has existed since employment began. While a spectrum of behaviors can be labeled quiet quitting, such as those relating to motivation or unconscious actions due to burn-out, quiet quitting often refers to the employee’s doing the minimum necessary and frequently at the lowest acceptable level to avoid being fired. Original terms included slacking, social loafing, mailing it in, or phoning it in (Grant, 2022). Read More >>
Questions to Ask During and After Setting Your Goals
As we set our annual personal and professional goals in Workday, we should ask ourselves several important questions during and after the process. These questions and your answers will inform your plan for achieving your goals. As you make progress during the year, revisit these questions to inform you, redirect you, and improve your success in achieving them. Read More >>
Teamwork
Shared Values and Meaning – Team Charters
A statement of values is one of the strongest messages that senior leadership can communicate during a time of change. Values can add stability and opportunities for innovation at times of change. However, for values to have value, their meaning must be shared in a group, and expectations of behaviors must be communicated. Shared values are critical to binding people and creating unified expectations. However, our interpretation of values can differ. Read More >>
Overview
ELITE offers many kinds of technology training for employees, including the monthly Tech-It-Out Community of Practice, Microsoft Essentials, and workshops on the college-sponsored video platform, YuJa. College employees can also take technology courses for free through LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com).
To see the latest technology offerings, visit Workday Learns, select Browse Learning Topics, then look under either “Technology Training & Cybersecurity” or “Teaching & Learning.”
Microsoft Essentials
Check out our latest articles and videos from the Microsoft Essentials team!
- Ten Things Every Montgomery College Employee Should Know about Microsoft 365
- Microsoft Makeover: An Easy Solution for Streamlining Collaboration on Microsoft Word Documents
- Microsoft Forms- 10 Tips and Tricks
- Microsoft Makeover: Giving Your PowerPoints a New Look
- Microsoft Makeover: Five Quick Tips for Attractive Document Design
Visit the Microsoft Essentials website to learn more about the courses we offer on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more.
MC cohorts are designed to meet the professional development needs of MC employees and the College and aim to inspire employees towards confidently taking on greater professional and career challenges. The cohorts offer the traditional experience of bringing a group of people to work together in a program, with the same learning and development curriculum, over an extended time. The classes are delivered through structured Zoom and in-person classroom settings. MC cohorts have an overall orientation to developing leadership and management skills, and the ability to manage change and make sense of the complexities and demands placed on professionals in the modern work world.
For more information and a list of current offerings, visit the ELITE web page
A learning pathway is a series of identified classes that provides you with an in-depth exploration of a skill area. When completed, a certificate of learning is awarded to acknowledge your commitment to pursue the study and practice of a specialized area of professional development. Participation is paced to provide time to reflect upon your learning and integrate concepts and skills into your life and work. Most pathways are scheduled over a two-year cycle.
For more information and a list of current offerings, visit the ELITE web page.