Regine Greer

September 2022 - TD Magazine

A review of How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do the Best Work of Their Lives by Brian Elliott, Sheela Subramanian, and Helen Kupp

Flexible Workplace Wisdom

“Good Morning! My name is Nandi, and I’m an ENFP.”“Hi Nandi,” I always envision them saying back to me. And at that very moment, I awake from my recurring dream/nightmare... Leave it to my fellow MBAs and the rest of the business world to make me feel like “my kind” deserves its very own support group and 12-step recovery process. Being too feely or relying on your intuition too heavily (as identified by my Myers Briggs Type--extraversion, intuition, feeling, perception) is often viewed as a weakness, at least in the mainstream business disciplines. So, you can imagine how relieved I was when I found out that training and development existed!As I refine my skills and begin to map the possibilities of my ENFP future, I have realized how much I also enjoy learning and creating new knowledge for others. This joy, along with my desire to create a framework for my consulting/coaching career, led me to pursue my doctoral degree.Many people ask and wonder why I chose to pursue my PhD in Organization Development at Benedictine University. I have also been questioned several times about my choice in dissertation focus and how I intend to use my work to further the field. Let’s pretend you asked, and review this step-by-step.Why PhD? I always liked the sound of Dr. Shareef. More importantly and less egotistically, I desire to add value to both the academic and practitioner fields through research, modeling, and application.Why Organization Development? Training is great, but it’s only an intervention. My desire is to affect an organization holistically by drafting strategy, designing structure, analyzing group dynamics, and providing several means of intervention to ensure a “refrozen” (as much as possible) organization at the conclusion of an institutionalized change effort.Why Benedictine University? Under the direction of the world-renowned Peter Sorenson, BenU’s PhD in Organization Development is a full-time cohort-based program geared specifically toward the scholar-practitioner. I am the youngest and least experienced in our Cohort of 17. Once a month, jam-packed into a 20-hour weekend of class and while listening to our amazing professors, I get to exchange ideas with and debate senior executives of corporate, government, and not-for-profit organizations, as well as consultants and entrepreneurs.And for those 20 hours and the next three years, we are peers. Furthermore, with one-half of us being MBAs and the other one-half Masters in Organizational Behavior, I have the opportunity to glean insight and best practices from them. On average, they possess 15 years of work experience each. This is huge for me as I am an auditory learner who processes and problem solves through conversation. It is one of the most amazing and beautiful times in my young life. Where else in the world could I ever experience this?Why the dissertation focus? “You’re probably too young to remember this, but…” This statement makes my skin crawl.  It is the bane of my existence. And, I hear it at work at least once a week. Call this my feely side coming out, but I believe that ultimately these types of statements drive a wedge between older and younger employed stakeholders within a company.  They are only slightly endearing outside of the workplace.To provide some solace for my soul—and in an effort to abolish the use of such phrasing, I have focused my dissertation on “Millennials in Today’s New Normal Workplace.” I hypothesize that through the engagement and empowerment of already high-potential and high performing Millennials, organizations may increase overall loyalty and retention as well as productivity and organizational longevity.What are my intentions for the field? Ultimately, my hope is to provide organizations in every sector with the tools they need to mobilize Millennial troops. As we struggle to recover from the downturn, we have enough uncertainty surrounding the state of our economy. Although stability is a figment of our imaginations, we will be much closer to continuity by engaging the hearts and minds of those who can carry the torch. This requires a paradigm shift…one that is so desperately needed to ensure success.I am forever hopeful for the opportunity to finish out my ENFP support group/12-step dream in this manner: After I’m greeted by fellow feeleys, I envision a time in which I share the profound affect that my business models and processes have made on my Fortune 500 clients. By not abandoning my true self and instead cultivating it over three years of doctoral studies, I will have established the meeting point and interaction of sound business and human systems. It’s a lofty vision, but someone has to dream it. And, sharing it is certainly the first step.

My Decision to Pursue a PhD in Organizational Development

This is post 4 in the series "Essential Informal Learning for Any Degree Program" by Saul Carliner which offers several concrete suggestions for extracurricular activities to recommend and to students and details how to direct students to the choices most appropriate for them.In addition to encouraging students to pick up a regular reading habit, also encourage them to attend conferences in the field. Like publications, two general categories of conferences exist: professional and academic. This posting explores both.But because the expense of conferences admittedly poses a barrier to participation, and because different students have different needs for attending conferences, this posting closes with some general suggestions to consider when recommending conferences to students.Professional ConferencesProfessional conferences refer to events that:Focus on practice. Most include a number of how-to sessions about technology and related topics.May include an exposition, where participants can view products and services appropriate to their work. For example, expositions at training and development conferences feature exhibitions from producers of authoring and enterprise learning software, publishers of e-learning libraries and books, and developers and sellers or courses, among others.Typically include a keynote speaker, often a major thinker in business or technology, or who has exceptional motivational skills.Are usually overseen by a program director, who selects presentations on his or her own, or with the guidance of an advisory committee.Table 1 suggests some professional publications to consider recommending to your students. Table 1: Professional Conferences to Recommend**Professional  **(not peer-reviewed, appropriate for students seeking a professional position after graduating)ASTD International Conference and ExpoCLO (sponsored by CLO Media)CSTD Conference and Trade Show (CSTD)DevLearn (sponsored by the e-Learning Guild)EduCauseISPI Conference Learning Solutions (sponsored by the e-Learning Guild)MLearnCon (sponsored by the e-Learning Guild)Quebec Association for Adult Learning (held occasionally)TechKnowledge (ASTD)Training (sponsored by Lakewood Publications Media)Academic Conferences Academic conferences primarily offer opportunities to present recent research and theory. Some emphasize research, others emphasize theory, and some emphasize both. In one common approach, people present emerging research and theory at conferences, receive feedback from participants, and refine the presentation for formal publication.Most academic conferences are peer-reviewed, with reviewers making recommendations on acceptance and program leaders using those recommendations to make selections. Many of these conferences have a double-blind review process in which reviewers and authors do not know one another’s identity. Table 2 suggests some academic conferences to consider recommending to your students. Table 2: Academic Conferences to Recommend**Academic  **(peer-reviewed, appropriate for students planning to continue their academic studies at the PhD level)Academy for Human Resource Development ConferenceAcademy for Management Conference Conference Adult Education Research Conference AECT Annual ConferenceAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meetinge-Learn ConferenceED-MEDIA Conference (sponsored by AACE)ACM/SIGCHI Conference Your suggestionsGeneral G****uidance When Recommending ConferencesWhen recommending conferences to your students, consider these general suggestions.Be sensitive to cost. After tuition, most students have limited funds for extra-curricular development. Although participation in conferences offers a long-term investment in a career, the short-term cost also needs to be affordable.Consider these tips for reducing costs for conferences. Nearly all conferences offer student rates. Make sure yours take advantage of them.Some conferences offer a volunteer program (especially professional conferences). One typical approach is the four-on, four-in program, in which volunteers work for four hours then have four hours of free admission. Some volunteers work at the registration desk and guiding participants, but others work as room monitors and can attend sessions while fulfilling their duties. Students who volunteer a half day each day of the conference can attend the conference without paying a registration fee.Take a group of students to a conference. Some offer group discounts, with special discounts for academic groups.Find out what your university offers support for attending conferences. Support usually exists in departments, colleges (faculties), graduate studies, and student associations. Some programs offer stipends to individual students; others underwrite the cost of collective traveling (rental of vans or mileage, shared hotel rooms). Actual support varies widely within universities; some universities offer several programs to support students in attending conferences. Advise students to attend the conference that best meets their long-term needs—not the one in the most exotic location. Some students like the obscure conferences in the Greek Isles and the south of Spain. Sure, the location is exotic, but the conference may or may not offer the best networking opportunities for finding jobs. And those who are considering academic employment will be expected to have presented at the major conferences in their specialty; some of these conferences might not meet that criterion. So students invest in a vacation but not their career. Scaffold student experiences at conferences. Spend some time with them in advance of the conference to identify the types of experiences they should seek at a conference, including attendance at formal sessions, and participation in various group meetings and social events.Help students develop a preliminary agenda. One caveat: be sure to provide students permission to change their agenda onsite as they learn of other opportunities from other participants.Similarly, provide students with tips on how to meet people at conferences, so they can take advantage of the networking opportunities and, more fundamentally, feel comfortable at the event. Final Tip: To learn more about different types of informal learning activities, check out chapters 5 and 6 of the new book, Informal Learning Basics from ASTD Press.

Regine Greer

About