Tag: project-management

February 10, 2018 Professional Development, Tools for Success

Quick Tips for Productivity

You know how, at the beginning of the year, you make a bunch of plans and resolutions? You start out strong, everything is going great and then suddenly it’s February and you’re already behind. Well! Let’s go over a few tips to get you back on track!

Prioritize

  • Determine what you need to accomplish. This may mean making a list and numbering it according to importance or writing items on sticky notes and rearranging them.
  • Figure out a system of prioritizing items. Do you want to categorize items using a Priority Matrix? Or maybe you want to group them by due dates. Whichever system you choose, don’t be afraid to change it up if it doesn’t work for you.

Set a Time Frame for Your Goals

 

  • Putting yourself on a schedule can help ensure you don’t fall behind on projects or end up doing everything all at one time (known as the dreaded ‘crunch’).
  • Consider creating personal Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). I design my OKRs quarterly and add projects according to when they’re due or when I think it’s realistic to complete them. You can learn more about OKRs here.

Ask for Help When Needed

  • Sometimes, there is more work than you know what to do with. In these cases, consider asking for assistance. In a work setting, make sure you are in communication with your supervisor so that they can offer solutions.
  • In a personal setting, I found this is a great way to utilize a network – real life friends or LinkedIn will do! It has been invaluable having someone to bounce ideas off of, get suggestions on things I have no prior experience with and hold me accountable to meeting my goals.

Improve Your Skill Set

  • Learning new skills may lead you to find new ways to complete tasks. I can’t tell you how many new formulas I’ve learned in the last year, especially switching from Excel to Google Sheets.
  • This can encompass signing up for free classes (try Alison, UniversalClass or any of the myriad MOOCs), Youtube videos or local workshops in your area.

Make Technology Your Friend

  • Try different programs, either on your computer, tablet or mobile device, designed to make your life portable. Test out a simplex application that creates to-do lists or a more complex  app that makes a copy of all your notes available to you online.
  • Have you tried Trello, Zapier, Sortd, Wunderlist or Evernote? How about a bluetooth keyboard for your tablet? If you’re on a Mac, check out the built-in dictation software!

Take a Break and Stay Positive

  • Sometimes, there’s just too much to do. Your mind starts to wander and mistakes start cropping up. It’s okay to take a short break. Don’t let deadlines overwhelm you, even self-imposed ones. Think about something funny someone said or ponder a quote you’ve recently heard. These small moments can help you regain your momentum.
April 23, 2017 Tools for Success

Utilizing Confirming and Corrective Feedback

A Familiar Scenario

Imagine you spent an entire weekend writing a paper for your Instructional Design course. It’s a lot of work and you’re unfamiliar with the content. You dedicate a few hours to reviewing the syllabus, assignment description and resources and you feel pretty confident in your final result.

When you get the grades back, you’re shocked to see a C+ next to your name. Under the feedback section, you get the following comment from your instructor:

“You’re just not getting it. Reread the diagram on page 2 and then resubmit.”

As the learner, take a moment to jot down your internal reactions and external actions. I’ve shared mine in this chart:

 
 
External Actions Internal Reactions
Reread the syllabus Confusion
Revisit the diagram Frustration
Contact the instructor for clarification
Demotivation
Email classmates to ask them for help Resentment
 

Looking at the internal reactions, we can see that escalated quickly, didn’t it? I’m sure the instructor didn’t mean to imply that I, the learner, hadn’t done my due diligence in reading all relevant materials, but that’s what it feels like. I might reach out to other participants to discuss my confusion only to find that they felt the same way. A picture begins to emerge – one of miscommunication that, when repeated, can quickly snowball into a negative learning experience.

This example is applicable to any educational setting and is indicative of a few areas of contention that I have experience as both a learner and an educator. We’ll break down the example the statement to find out why it fails to be useful.

This statement implies that there is a flaw with the learner that prohibits them from grasping the content. It’s a variation of the old “try harder”, as if effort alone is all it takes to learn. Additionally, as described in a previous post, it can feel like a personal attack.

 
What’s not to love? It tells the learner where to look, which some might categorize as a helpful hint. The problem here is that the instructor doesn’t acknowledge their responsibility to expand on or further clarify the instructions. If the learner stared at the diagram for thirty additional minutes, would that somehow influence her comprehension? Should the instructor provide more context or other support to ensure the learner understands the content and that they remain motivated throughout the course or session?
 
The answer is yes, that is exactly the hallmark of a good educator and, if you’re prepped appropriately for the topic you’re teaching, it doesn’t take much to make adjustments.

Corrective and Confirming Feedback

Using the same scenario as above, imagine if you received this feedback instead:

Not quite, but you’re on the right track. You’ve done a good job of explaining x but y is missing. I recommend reading resources 1 and 2 again and using z to frame your answer.”
It takes a few more words, sure, but it accomplishes several things:
  • Sets a positive tone
  • Call out of what is right (because no one likes to be wrong all the time!)
  • Calls out areas of improvement (after the praise)
  • Suggests concrete ways to improve
  • Provides additional resources and/or context

Using a combination of corrective and confirming feedback empowers students to explore topics independently, while looking to instructors/facilitators/trainers to provide guidance and support. This doesn’t mean that you, the educator, needs to handhold, coddle or give all of the answers away. Instead, it shows that you respect your learners and their ability to learn in ways that are best for them, as well as showing your support for their educational journey.

Think of the last time you learned a new and complex topic. If someone had offered guiding tips and suggestions that help you relate the content to something you already know or frame it within the context of your current life, wouldn’t that have made the experience not only more enjoyable but more effective?

What do you think? Have you used corrective and/or confirming feedback? What have been the results? As a learner, what type of feedback are you used to receiving and how does it influence your learning experience?

January 2, 2017 Tools for Success

Using Inter-team Collaborations to Promote Critical Thinking Skills

This is part of a 3-part series focusing on applying adult learning theory in the workplace. To see the other articles, view A Brief Intro to Adult Learning Theory and Self Directed Learning as a Training Solution

Current Problem

Teams across 15 campuses are finding it increasingly difficult to track information and share it with the stakeholders. In addition, there is a lack of standardization in the way programs are run, further complicating alignment and adoption of initiatives to solve this problem.

Proposed Solution

Many of these conversations have started with ‘we can’t’ or ‘we don’t’. We can’t change this system or we don’t use this method. I usually ask probing questions to get to the bottom of these opinions. Is the ‘can’t’ related to something tangible? Is the ‘don’t’ due to a lack of structure or something else? Until a problem can be broken down into it’s smallest parts, a holistic fix cannot be created. Asking teams to think critically about their current processes will force all parties to honestly evaluate the problems they face. I highly recommend using this list of Socratic Questions to get past the surface issues. Much like the worksheet found at the bottom of this page, you can create an evaluation worksheet asking similar guiding questions to reach a conclusion.

Why Promote Critical Thinking?

Human beings draw conclusions from past experience – personal or otherwise. We can become entrenched in views because we have had positive and negative experiences that influence what we think will happen. Perhaps we’ve were involved in an unpleasant outcome related to group work that prevents us from trying something new. Conversely, maybe we heard of a new technology and we want in on it because everyone else is raving about it. Either way, it’s necessary to break down and evaluate this feelings or instincts in order to make logical and well informed decisions. Even if they result is less than stellar, you have begun a process of evaluation that allows you to continue build until you reach success.

What Does it Look Like?

Start by creating a list of specific issues that your team is trying to tackle. If you are a manager, create your own and allow teams to do the same. For each issue, have team members brainstorm about the root causes and 2-3 possible solutions.  You can have participants fill out the worksheet to the right, use the template at the bottom of this page, or create your own.

It is unlikely that everyone will have the same answers, or answers that get to the bottom of the problem. Ask team members to share their view of the problem then use Socratic Questions to whittle it down to it’s simplest form. This might look something like this:

Stated Problem: There aren’t enough people or resources available to complete this project

Follow Up Questions

  • Can you give me an example of a time when this was apparent?
  • Can you describe the scope of the project? In what ways can we leverage the strengths of you and your team members to solve this problem?
  • How can we look at this another way?
Do the same for each section of the worksheet until there is a clear idea of what actionable steps can be taken to begin to solve the issue.

Once that has happened, have teams pair off with members of other teams to get feedback on how they handled similar situations. The idea is to have fresh perspectives challenge existing perceptions and require the problem solvers to re-evaluate, explain and if necessary, defend their beliefs and next course of action.

Will this work for me?

  • There is a question or issue that requires deeper exploration in order to resolve
  • You are looking to engage your audience and get them involved through intellectual contributions
  • You  need to change long held thoughts or processes but are facing resistance (change management)
  • You want to empower your audience to go beyond surface knowledge and use their skills and experience to develop their own ideas

Want to try it out? Use this PDF template to build a framework for applying any adult learning strategy to your current work.

January 10, 2016 Professional Development

Finding the Ideal Solution: 3 Approaches to Problem Solving

As an avid learner, I can’t pass up the chance to learn new things. In this case, I took a Problem Solving course back a few years ago that did a great job of simplifying three the types of problem solving. 

First Approach:
Pretty Straightforward

The first category is referred to as the “stop it and mop it” scenario. In this situation, there is an event, behavior or condition that you need to stop from happening, as well as clean up the existing damage. Imagine that you are a landlord and your tenants are complaining about mice eating through the walls. To stop this, you hire an exterminator to find out where the mice are coming from and place baits or traps to catch them. To ‘mop it’, or clean it up, you have the exterminator locate likely areas existing mice might nest and place baits there as well. You also hire a contractor to come in and fix all the places the mice have chewed through. With these items in place, the problem should be resolved

Second Approach:
Some Concessions are Made

The next situation employs the “current reality vs ideal” scenario. In this case, what is happening in the now does not match up with predetermined expectations or goals. To demonstrate, we’ll use student enrollment as an example. You currently have 250 students enrolled in your school but the Department of Education has budgeted you for 300 students. This means you are 50 students short of the goal. There are two ways to approach the issue and the one you chose depends heavily on which holds the most acceptable outcome:

  • Option 1: Adjust the goal. Is it unlikely that you’ll get another 50 students? Is it possible to increase by 25 students instead? How will this affect your goals and budgets for the remainder of the school year? What about next year?
  • Option 2: Attempt to meet the goal. While this seems like the obvious first choice, it may not be possible. In this example, your pool of students is inherently limited by things like zoning, number of students eligible, class sizes and competing schools. This means that even if you recruit all remaining students, you may still fall short. However, this option might be easier to implement when dealing with products or services, as you can increase production, hire more staff, adjust hours, etc.

Third Approach:
Hard Work For Lasting Pay Off

The third approach to problem solving is the “opportunity for change” scenario. This is best applied to a situation where the problem is something with room for improvement. Perhaps you supervise a call center. You discover that employees spend an average of 5 minutes searching the company database for answers to commonly asked questions. While this might not directly translate into dollars lost, it does affect how many customers can be served. It can also have a negative impact on the way customers view your company. After all, how many of us have spent hours on the phone with the cable company trying to do something as simple as reset a router? This sort of issue, under the right management, can be turned into a learning experience for everyone. Determining whether staff needs better resources, guidance or training can improve or eliminate the problem altogether

To summarize, there are three main ways to categorize and resolve problems. At the most basic level, each categorization requires identifying what the problem is and then determining what the anticipated outcome is. Approaching adverse situations in this manner can help you structure processes and procedures to avoid similar issues in the future.

November 20, 2015 Tools for Success

Utilizing Multiple Intelligences to Problem Solve in Business

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences suggests intelligence is not solely defined by IQ. Instead, human beings learn and excel in areas for which they have an aptitude. The seven intelligences described are as follows:

  • Visual-spatial
  • Bodily-kinesthetic
  • Musical
  • Interpersonal
  • Intrapersonal
  • Linguistic
  • Logical-mathematical

In relation to problem solving, it is thought that assembling a team to include a combination of these intelligences can positively impact the team perspective and results.

To demonstrate the pairing of different intelligences, consider the process of presenting data.
You’ve done the research, come up with the numbers, and run a dozen what-if scenarios in Excel. You’re very proud of this complex document you’ve created and you can’t wait to share it.

But how?

To you it makes perfect sense but what about Dennis, who happily admits numbers are not his thing? Or Alex, who tends to drift off when presentations read more like academic papers? The truth is, just because they learn and interpret data differently doesn’t mean there’s anything personally wrong with your approach.

It does mean that you should seek input, maybe even theirs, to decide how to present
this material to better reach your audience. The addition of charts, videos, or a mnemonic device done to the beat of The Bee Gees “Staying Alive” can have a greater impact than just text.


Beyond the technical aspects in the above example, consulting with someone better versed in interpersonal relations and/or bodily-kinesthetic intelligence can assist you in keeping people like Alex mentally engaged. Reading body language and understanding the motivations of your audience
is a great tool to ensure that information is getting through to everyone.

November 19, 2015 Professional Development

Creating A Positive Learning Environment

If you haven’t gotten a chance to, I highly recommend reading Ralph Brockett’s Teaching Adults: A Practical Guide for New Teachers. Assigned in my Processes and Methods course, it is wonderfully written and addresses many of the common concerns facing new teachers, or those who, after evaluating their current positions, find themselves in this unexpected role.

Even if you have been in this role for years, I think there is some benefit in viewing our students and classrooms through the eyes of someone who learned to teach incidentally. Like many of us, Brockett was asked to facilitate a course without any formal training as an educator. Through years of similar experiences, he has written this book to pass on what he considers the keys to becoming a successful of adults.

In the very first chapter, he describes 7 fundamental aspects of achieving success as an educator and lists them in this easy to remember acronym – TEACHER. For this post, I’d like to focus on respect as a fundamental component to creating a positive classroom environment.

Respecting Your Learners

In my opinion, respect is much easier to demonstrate than it is to describe. It’s inherent in our actions, in the way that we treat and speak to each other and in the way we treat the experiences of others. Your learners are able to discern whether or not you place value on them as individuals through a variety of social cues, included but not limited to whether you show up on time for the course, came prepared, ask them questions or otherwise engage with them before, during, after and even outside of class, and whether you consider answers or feedback that they share with you or dismiss it out of hand.

As an educator, you not only have the opportunity to set the tone with your students from the outset of the course, but also the chance to examine your own expectations of respectful behavior and identify areas in which you further develop. Do you have a tendency to cut people off or formulate answers while someone else is explaining theirs? Would you appreciate this behavior if it came from a student? The likely answer is no, which means that you have some work to do as well.

Be up front with learner about how you will interact with them and hold yourself accountable to the same standards you set for them. If being on time is a sign of respect, then you should be on time (and communicate when the unavoidable happens). If you expect learners to wait for you or another to finish speaking before they can take a turn, you should also be ready to hear everyone out, whether you agree or disagree with their statement.

In addition to your actions, you’ll also need to be aware of your tone of voice and verbal and physical ‘tics’. While you may be trying to convey sympathy or understanding, your learning may interpret it as condescension. At a recent observation, my husband, a Visual Arts teacher, was told that he has specific – and very obvious – facial expressions that indicate when he ‘strongly disagrees’ with someone. I had a similar reaction when someone asked me a question that seemed self-explanatory or that I’d already answered. My knee-jerk reaction was to say ‘if you were paying attention during x,y,z‘ or ‘if you read the assigned reading’, – both of which not-so-subtly imply that it wasn’t my fault if you didn’t understand. I quickly discovered that those responses made my learners feel disrespected, as if I didn’t trust them to do the research, to follow directions, to essentially behave like an adult. I immediately changed my approach to incorporate active listening techniques to demonstrate that I was listening to what they were saying and that I needed more information to help them. Instead of saying ‘if you read the report from Wednesday‘, I’ll ask ‘after reading the report from Wednesday, did you find that x didn’t work as you expected? Can you walk me through what you’ve done so far?’ What this translates to is this: I assume the best of you, I trust that you tried to solve this problem on your own, I’m interested in learning from you and I want to know how I can help.

Whether you’re in a classroom or workplace, setting expectations around how you and your learners will treat each other helps build an environment where people feel comfortable in exploring new material and supported in their journey to grow personally and professionally.

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