MGMT 535 A Story of Organizational Culture

On a recruiter trip in 2014, I was able to chat with the executive director of Enrollment Management and some other upper management. We talked about how the morale seemed to be down in EM and how we were lacking the corporate culture. The director asked me what I would do to improve morale and the culture of our area. I threw out some quick ideas and he told me that we would meet after the trip.

In that meeting I talked about how we could make little changes that would improve morale and give the employees a feeling of belonging and be appreciated. After talking about my ideas, he put me in charge of a team that I would hand pick and if I kept him in the loop about what we were doing we could do pretty much anything we wanted as long as it was within reason. I had a team of seven and we had several brain storming sessions to decide our mission statement, our values and goals and of course a name; Enrollment Culture Committee. We had monthly newsletters where employees could write articles, submit poems and drawings, as well as recipes. Each member was charged with a part of this project and we collaborated well together.

We kicked off our committee by have a breakfast where the Director talked about what the ECC was about and that he was excited for what we were going to bring to our departments. At the end of the breakfast we had so many people come up to us and tell us how excited they were to have something like this where employees who work side by side could get to know each other better. Each month we did something creative such as a Spooky Trick or Treats day where the employees could decorate their cubicles for a prize, make their favorite Halloween treats to share. At Thanksgiving we had a progressive potluck where each department was in charge of a dish such as desserts, sides, etc. At Christmas time you could see stockings hung from cubicles and everyone got into the spirit of giving by dropping in notes, cards, and little gifts to brighten someone’s day.

These things helped the culture of our departments by encouraging each department to mingle, get to know each other as well as feel comfortable enough to ask questions on the behalf of students. Morale increased significantly and we were able to start a recycling program in our building. Most employees just want to be appreciated, told they are doing a great job and given a opportunity to be able to blow off some steam so that they can rejuvenate themselves. We also had a Gear Award where an employee could nominate a peer to be recognized for going above and beyond.

Because of budget cuts, we were not able to continue with the ECC but we still host pancake breakfasts from time to time and it always makes me happy to see the smiles on our staff members and of the chance to get to know each other better. I feel it is vital to have a strong culture within any organization to let employees know they mean something to leadership. Being invested in your staff goes a long way in making everyone happy in the long run.

MGMT 535 2.3 Taking someone to lunch

This video made me think of who I would want to take to lunch to get to know better, someone who I may not see eye to eye with at work. Immediately I thought of someone who used to work in my department that, given a chance to have lunch with her, I would so that I could understand how our dynamic became so broken. First let me provide some background. Tracy started working in the financial aid office about 6 months before I did and when I came on board I was very impressed with her knowledge and when given a choice on who I wanted as an office mate I picked her. At first, everything was great, I asked questions and she seemed so willing to help me. As I became more comfortable I asked less questions and gained a lot more confidence.

After six months I went to the manager and asked for more work. I wasn’t bored at all, I just wanted to continue to learn my job and expand my student base so that I could help in more areas. This initiative that I took didn’t go unnoticed and two years after being there I was promoted to manager (four years after that, I was promoted to assistant director and then two years ago, associate director). I was thrilled and took on my new challenges head on. Everyone in the office excited about my promotion except for Tracy. In her eyes, she had been there longer therefore she should have gotten the promotion not me. To her it was all based on seniority not knowledge or ability to get the job done. Any time a new employee came on board, she made a point of telling them that she should be the one in my position. This caused some tension in the office at times.

Looking back on this now, I would have loved to have taken her to lunch. It would have been so easy to do in the early days of her disdain for my advancement in the workplace to ask her to be open and honest with how it made her feel. Was she mad that she was not promoted? Did she want to be promoted? Talking to her about what was bothering her may or may not have made a difference in how she interacted with the office and how the office interacted with her over the years. Tracy was always willing to help campuses or students; however, she became very defensive if she was told something was not done correctly on an account. She immediately shut down and no matter what was said you couldn’t convince that there was a better, easier, or correct way to work the account.

The advantages of having an open and honest dialogue with others in the workplace helps in many ways. First, it provides a sense of trust and understanding within the department. Knowing that everyone is comfortable talking to each other helps with the feeling of community. You can go to each other for help, to vent about an issue, or just talk about life in general. Second, the work environment is pleasant, everyone wants to come to work because it a place that fosters cohesiveness, empowerment, collaboration and being a part of something bigger.

It takes one person who will not or cannot be a part of the group for whatever reason, that will tear down that cohesiveness and keep a department divided. Sadly, in some cases the only way to fix this is to get rid of that person who is causing the problem. Maybe having lunch with her early on would have changed that. I know that should I come across this situation again I will not let it fester I will approach it head on with fairness, openness and communicate in a way that we both feel comfortable with.

The Meaning of Words MGMT 535 1.4 Reflection blog

I loved this TED talk for the exact fact that it was about the meaning of words. I have a tween daughter….tween. Who made up that word? Not a little kid anymore but not yet a teen: tween. She and her friends are discovering a whole new world of words, changing the meaning of those words as we know them. Take the word ship. You and I know this word as a water vessel, something that floats on water. To her and her friends, it means relationship harmony (two people you want to see together) so they would say, “I ship you and Brad.” Triggered, shook, quaking, etc., these are all words that have other meanings from what you and I know. These words describe feelings for her and her friends. It is a way for her to express herself, anger, joy, happiness it falls into these words and phrases.

Now onto the workplace. I work in financial aid and the list of commonly used jargon that we use is endless. Anyone outside of financial aid would have no clue as to what we were talking about. A typical conversation goes like this, “Anna, can you look at the EFC for this student? The FAFSA shows one thing but the awards are wonky. The COA is correct as well.” Umm what? EFC stands for estimated cost of attendance, FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid and lastly COA stands for Cost of Attendance. We throw out this jargon like it is hello and goodbye. Walk into any university financial aid office and you will hear the same words spoken. Koenig talks about how a word can give one a key to into the brain. Is the word worth knowing and understanding if it only gets us into one brain. But if it gets you into millions of brains, well then you hit the jackpot! So in financial aid, these words are our cultural norm, we understand and use them on a daily basis. It is what helps us communicate with each other.

Chapter two talks about how we use communication for multiple purposes. We can use the same language with completely different objectives in mind. Effective communicators will motivate, teach, clarify, inform, and persuade depending on the audience. This is done with words like good job, you are doing great, this is what you need to do next, help to communicate our needs and desires inside and out of the work place.

To close this out I wanted to go back to the video and the word that Koenig defined…sonder being the idea that we all think of ourselves as the main characters and everyone is just extras. I find this happens in the work place. For example, in financial aid we feel we sonder, we are the main characters and the other departments are the extras. This is not to diminish the other departments at all, it is means that we deal with so many students, campuses and advisors that we speak our own language. When we talk to the “extras” we have to make sure that we speak in a way that they can understand. It applies to management as well. We need to make sure that we are speaking the language by being active listeners, asking questions, communicating in various manners so that the message is easily understood.

Reflections on Leadership

Welcome to my MSLD Leadership Blog page

These pages were developed as part of the requirements for the Leadership Development program and reflect my growth as a leader over the last two years.


I love to blog so writing these reflection blogs were enjoyable, entertaining, and quite the learning experience. Please feel free to review any and all of my blogs! Understanding what it takes to be a great leader is an ongoing process and these reflection blogs are a great start to my life long learning. 

Annamarie Garcia

A631.9.2.RB - Video Debrief of Team MA

The Steve Jobs brainstorming video with his new team at NeXT Inc. was very interesting. The mood in the beginning of the video portrayed something that seemed to be appealing and encouraging to everyone to get the critical thinking juices flowing. In the first 30 days of the new launch of NeXT everyone is super excited to launch this new product and you can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices.  Ideas and grandiose goals are being set and it seems everyone is thrilled and ready to go. The scene moves ahead 90 days and we see a company that is not as excited and pumped up as they were at the start. The goal was to have a product to present in 18 months and yet 6 months in they still have nothing to show for it. Everyone is stressed even Steve Jobs. There is tension in the air and it seems that the finger pointing is getting under way as no one wants to take the responsibility for why there is no product yet.

Watching this video and reviewing my assessment I don’t think that I would have done very well with this type of environment in the long run as my assessment results show me being very much to the right side on the independence attributes. My aptitude to work autonomously is high so the part of the video where Jobs has everyone in the room and they throwing ideas out there I feel would probably make me crazy. I would have done well in that area but when Jobs begins to micro manage I would have bumped heads with him for sure. He seemed to become impatient and I would have felt that he didn’t want to take the time to break things down for me or hear me out on my ideas.

One of the things I noticed in the video is that Jobs seemed to interrupt people a lot when they were trying to get their ideas out.  As a leader it is important to be able to actively listen to your followers. My leadership style is diplomatic so one of my characteristics is to inform. Jobs didn’t seem to follow through in this area because he was too busy interrupting his followers to actually inform and inspire them. As the atmosphere changes the communication drops off and Jobs and the others don’t seem to have the same excitement they did in the beginning of the video.

An area that I think we would have done well with was the fact that Jobs had high goals for himself and his company. I scored highly in this area of goal ambition and goal setting as I like to set high goals for myself as it applies to my job. His drive to meet any challenge also would have worked in my favor and I would have done well in that regard. His motivation to get things done and not accept excuses is something that I feel strongly about as well so that is another level I would have fit in.  I like to motivate others as well as myself and seeing people who get excited about learning new things and adapting to change pushes me to want to go further.  

Because Jobs was starting up a company and I scored highly in the large rapid growth company, I would not have lasted very long as there would have been too many rapid changes for me to be become a vital part of his company. Though Jobs was a transformational leader his overbearing ways and need to micro mange would not have made for a work relationship in the long run for either of us.  While this environment would be good in the short term I need to be in an organization where achievement is recognized, realistic goals are set, people are empowered and inspired.

A631.8.4.RB - Reflective Analysis

I have taken the MBTI test a few times over the years and interestingly enough the only thing that has changed for the most part was the last letter Judging (J) or Perceiving (P). It would be interesting for people to take this test when they first enter college, again when they graduate and then again once they are in the workforce in order to see how much we change in how we look at people, ourselves and the way we think about both. My results this time around were ENFP which is described as:

Ø  Extroverted: enthusiastic, gregarious, sociable, and expressive

Ø  Intuitive: creative, imaginative, unconventional, and forward-thinking

Ø  Feeling: passionate, empathetic, supportive and warm

Ø  Perceiving: open-minded, spontaneous, adaptable and whimsical

This pretty much nailed my personality! Being an extrovert has really helped me to overcome my shyness as a teenager to the point where I am not shy to speak to strangers, engage them in conversation just to learn more about who they are and what makes them tick. Getting up in front a group of people large or small makes me nervous and excited not filled with dread like it does to most people.

            Over the course of this program I have become more in tune as I have learned more about whom I am as a person and how I relate to others. At one time I was more on the thinking end where I would try to suppress my feelings and stayed focused on be rational and objective. As I have gotten older I have gone more to the feeling side where I am more focused on finding cooperation and harmony and I have no fear about following my heart and being sensitive to others needs. As one who takes pride in trying not to judge others when I took this test earlier this year I earned a small percentage in Judging which I didn’t understand.  It wasn’t until I realized that I was on the border of perceiving and judging that I realized that judging was not about how you view others but in how you like to stay committed to deadlines and having clear rules and guidelines.  As I have gone through the program I have become more relaxed about deadlines (though I still like to turn things in within the deadline), and I am more willing to be open to all options understanding that the most obvious one is not always the right one.

            So how does this help me relate to others? There are not too many people that I don’t get along with and even those that I don’t relate to every well I find something in common with so that I can engage them in conversation. One of the biggest things that has helped me being an ENFP is that I tend to value each person for who they are not what group they belong to. I have no problems accepting a person’s unique characteristics and I am a pretty tolerant person. My perceptive nature makes it easy for me to understand where someone is coming from and I am able to connect with most people in some way. My friends joke that I have a story for everything meaning I find a way to relate to what I am hearing from others.

            Having this type of personality will help me out in most situations as I tend to mot be shy and I do my best to make others feel more comfortable. As a leader I know that I have to be able to adapt to other types of personalities and knowing how to work with other types will help me understand them better and for them to understand me better as well. On one website I went on to read up on the ENFP found this statement to be very true for me. “People with the ENFP personality type seem to be everywhere, even though they only form around 5 percent of the population – furthermore, they can easily get along with nearly all other personality types, which makes them ideal co-workers” (16 personalities website). A smart move for me as a leader would be to have everyone take this test so that we can all understand how to better interact with each other. Everyone learns differently and responds to their work environment differently. This doesn’t mean that I have to baby each employee but if I can figure out how each one ticks I can make sure that I am getting the best results out of my employees by making them feel more comfortable in their daily job.

            After years of working with the same group of people and trying to figure out why I had a hard time getting along with one person, we both realized that we respond completely opposite in situations. She is very introverted and I am very extroverted so right away we are on different ends of the spectrum. After learning that I have to change my approach with her and her with me, we get along much better now.  There is no secret formula to getting along with everyone as I don’t think it is possible to do all the time but if you can figure out how each person works you and they can adapt to make for a more pleasant and productive work place.

Reference:                                                          

http://www.16personalities.com/enfps-at-work

A631.7.4.RB Future of OD

What do you see as the future of the OD discipline? Throughout MSLD 630 and 631, we have studied a lot about how organizations are changing, becoming more diverse, more global, transforming in different ways.  There is a need to grow and change as our workforce changes, becomes something different, something better.  Leaders see the need to make these changes as well to keep up with the ever changing environment in order to stay ahead in the business world. Almost every chapter in the Organization Development text book starts with phrases such as ‘change’, ‘globalization’ and ‘innovation’ just to name a few. The text has emphasized the need to be able to adapt and evolve with the ever changing market. We are no longer local, we are worldwide.  It is so simple to hold meetings with employees who are in England, Asia or Spain all from the comfort of your living room or the company conference room.

Organizations who do not change and adapt will be left behind and die out in the near future.  We are learning more ways to be able to communication with each other, to work together toward a common goal. This means that managers and leaders need to be on board with making these changes for the good of the organization and the people they employ. “Managers need to understand that OD interventions have the potential to make the biggest difference in human development and bottom line performance” (Brown, 2011, p 429).

The practice of OD is also changing as new techniques and approaches are being developed and this shows that even the practice of the different areas of OD are changing and adapting as new research is conducted. Is OD right for everyone? It depends on what an organization is looking to accomplish but one thing that I have learned over these last two classes is that it is important for organizations to recognize who their leaders are, who their employees are and how to get the two to work together as a collaborative team that share the same goals and values of the organization. What is important to understand is that the purpose of OD is that it is not a quick fix, it is a long term plan that must be monitored and changed as needed to continue to grow with the organization. Some leaders will jump on anything that seems to be good enough for the company without realizing that it is not something you put a band aid on and hope that fixes it. “Unless problems are identified and solutions are systemically thought out supported by the commitment of management, the “fixes” may become another fad in a long series of fads” (Brown, 2011, p 425).

One of the things that I have found in these courses is that change is a good thing. It is all in how one approaches it and gets their organizations on board with it. You can’t come into an organization and start making changes without observing first to see where the real issues are.  You don’t stick your nose in the spreadsheets and base your changes on that alone. You have to really truly understand the culture of the organization.  What are the issues?  Where is the breakdown in communication, technology, management?  How can it be fixed?  Just because a technique worked in one organization it is not ‘one size fits all’ you need feedback from everyone within the organization.  Start at the bottom and go up, don’t just rely on the top management because most of the time they have no clue what is going on in frontlines because they are not in it working it every day.

OD practitioners are at the forefront of change.  Some of the future trends of OD are Organization Transformation (OT), empowerment, learning organizations and organization architecture (Brown, 2011). OD practices are here to stay as they have made some great impacts to date.  With anything, the more it is studied and tweaked to fit in with the changes in the globalization the better it will become. Even the best companies have their issues from time to time and being able to recognize it and fix is the first step in the right direction. The future of OD as Brown explains, “The course of change anticipated for OD will predominately surround the issues of a changing workforce, global competence, and transformation within the organization” (Brown, 2011, p 429). I personally cannot wait to see what is in store for me when I am done with this program and how I can take what I learned and make a difference in the workforce.  I know it takes someone who can see the potential, the positive side and vision of where an organization can go.

Reference:

Brown, D.R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall