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Megan Johnson is a leadership coach, trainer, consultant, and speaker who has a passion for helping people better understand themselves in order to communicate better with others and build better relationships, particularly at work and with teams. She is the founder and CEO of JMJ Communication Group based in Nashville, Tennessee.Megan has more thanr 10 years experience in research and teaching of culture and communication in healthcare and business. She has conducted training courses and seminars on interpersonal, organizational, and team communication, as well as unconscious bias, conflict management and public speaking. She also has co-authored articles on communication in healthcare, organizational and intercultural communication, public speaking, as well as co-authored personal development books.She earned her MA in organizational and intercultural communication from DePaul University in Chicago. And, she loves writing and performing music with her band, Scale Model.

Megan Johnson

Unconscious Bias: What Does It Have to Do With Communication and Conflict Management?

Here are a few important things I learned about myself from watching myself.

Check Yourself: Videotaping Will Improve Your Performance

Generation is “a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously who have common knowledge and experiences that affect their thoughts, attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors.”**—**Meagan and Larry Johnson of Generations, Inc. Much has been written about the differences and disharmony among the five generations that currently exist in the workplace. However, this situation is changing and diversity is being viewed as an asset—resulting in organizations meeting goals more effectively and efficiently. Recognizing Differences There is an increasing awareness of the importance for a multi-generational workforce to learn and work together. In addition, there is more appreciation for—and recognition of—differences in generational work ethics and mindsets. Acknowledging that generational values, mindsets, priorities, and behaviors are different (but not wrong) is the first step toward a truly integrated workforce. Examples of different work mindsets include: Traditionalists: I am at my workplace for eight hours. If necessary, I stay late to complete an assignment.Boomers: I am at my workplace for eight to 10 hours. If necessary, I will take work home.Gen Xers: I try to complete my work at the office. If necessary, I will take it home.Millennials: This is a 24/7 world, I work until 5:00 and will log on tonight at home.Z Generation: I think being physically in the workplace full-time is not necessary, and I can work remotely with a flexible schedule. Improving Performance Surprisingly for some, these differences can not only be compatible, but also enrich a team or project work experience. Instead of a widening gap, employees are working together to achieve common goals. More importantly, having a positive attitude about generational diversity in the workplace can result in such benefits as: more in-depth dialogue—with feedback offered voluntarilyfewer incidents of conflict, debate, and clasheswider range of motivational tools and methodsrealistic expectations that are appropriate to the situationmore creative solutions—proposed via group brainstormingincreased productivity by teams and project groupslarger pool of candidates for succession planning.Moving ForwardI would like to pose some questions for you to consider that will help you examine how you view other generations with whom you have working and networking relationships:Describe your co-workers, team members, and networking contacts in terms of their generation qualities, values, and preferences. How do these characteristics differ from yours and affect your relationships with them?How would your rate your communication challenges with other generations?  Don’t have challenges \_\_\_           Have minor challenges \_\_\_    Have major challenges \_\_\_What is one quality that a colleague of another generation has that you admire and wish you possessed?Have you experienced any friction with members from other generations? If yes, identify the generation, describe the situation, and explain how you handled it.Are you comfortable working with a client or customer that is at least two generations separated from yours? Why and what can be done to ease the situation?In the future, which generations should your organization target for new hires, new clients or customers, or include in succession planning candidates? Why? In Summary Understanding the reasons behind generational differences enables you to be less judgmental and less likely to misjudge a comment or suggestion. For your own career success, learn how to accommodate another person’s generational preferences and, at the same time, share your preferences. In the end, not only will your organization or clients profit and prosper, but you will as well.  Editor’s note: This is the last post of the Generations in the Workplace series. To learn more, post 1 examines impact of perceptions and post 2 discusses diversity of communication styles.

Multi-Generations in the Workplace: Diversity Leads to Stronger Outcomes

Attend the Evidence-Based Learning Virtual Conference, and learn more best practices like these from 6 of learning’s top thought leaders.Whether you prepare slides, e-learning screens, print-based materials, or all three, chances are, you frequently need to describe a visual with text. You may need to list the steps to use equipment or online applications. Or you may need to describe how something works. What’s the best way to organize and display text in conjunction with a visual to promote learning? Take a look at the two experimental treatments in the figures to follow and answer the following questions:1. Which do you think led to better learning?2. What are the major differences between the two displays? Figure 1. How Brakes Work: Version 1 (Johnson and Mayer, 2012) Figure 2. How Brakes Work: Version 2 (Johnson and Mayer, 2012)How to Best Display Text With GraphicsIn the experiment, 44 university students were randomly assigned to study how brakes work from one of the two the versions shown in Figures 1 and 2. As the students reviewed the display, their eye movements and eye fixations were tracked. After a short study period, they were tested with problems such as, “What could be done to make brakes more reliable – that is, to make sure they would not fail?” The learners studying Figure 2 averaged significantly higher scores on the test than those studying Figure 1, with a high effect size of 0.80.What features made Figure 2 more effective? One obvious difference is the alignment of the text close to the relevant portion of the visual rather than all displayed at the bottom of the slide as in Figure 1. The alignment of text close to the relevant portion of a visual is called the spatial contiguity effect and has been shown to lead to better learning, with a mean effect size of 0.72 (Ginns, 2006). Note that Version 2 also includes numbers as well as a line to link text and visual elements. Another benefit of text alignment is segmenting the text into short phrases. Rather than five sentences displayed at the bottom of the screen in Figure 1, the integrated version displays the content in six short phrases.Why Is Integrated Text More Effective?An analysis of student eye movements showed that both groups spent more time reviewing the text than the diagrams and used the text to guide their processing of the graphics. However those studying the integrated version made more integrative and corresponding eye transitions between text and visual than those using the separated version. In other words, those viewing the integrated version looked at the corresponding part of the diagram after reading a segment of text more often than individuals viewing the separated version. The more frequent visual integration of text and relevant portion of the diagram promoted better cognitive integration of text and visual and led to deeper understanding.In summary, we have a solid foundation of evidence calling for segmenting text into short phrases and integrating it close to the relevant portion of the visual. Placement of text near a visual helps the learner integrate the corresponding content in their mind to form a better mental model.Your Lessons Learned: RSVPHow do you place explanatory text with a related visual? Have you tried a layout such as that shown in Figure 2? What outcomes did you notice? Did you need more or different resources (time, tools, etc) to prepare an integrated version? Please comment with your lessons learned.ReferencesGinns, P. (2006). Integrating information: A meta-analysis of the spatial contiguity and temporal contiguity effects.  Learning and Instruction, 16, 511-525.Johnson, C.I. & Mayer, R.E. (2012). An eye movement analysis of the spatial contiguity effect in multimedia learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 18, 178-191.

Displaying Text With Visuals: What Are the Best Practices?

In 1945, Ralph F. and Alice Stayer opened a butcher shop in the quaint town of Johnsonville, Wisconsin. Named after this town, the company became known as the producer of the sausage with “big taste” and its products quickly took over breakfast tables and backyard grills across the Midwest. You may have some of their products sitting in your refrigerator right now—Johnsonville Sausage.After years of growth, in 2000, Johnsonville began a deliberate transition from a strong regional brand to a multinational brand. Today, it takes 1,600 members to manufacture, market, sell, and distribute their food across 40 countries. In particular, this growth required Johnsonville to develop leaders in manufacturing who could successfully scale up operations, lead teams, and exemplify Johnsonville’s corporate culture, which valued integrity, respect, and innovation.Following the results of a survey that identified current manufacturing leaders’ skills gaps, the senior leader team recommended that the organizational development and learning (OD&L) team launch the Building Leaders and Superlative Talent (BLAST) program. Participants who completed the program would be equipped to lead manufacturing teams and the company successfully during its expansion. The program’s content focuses on self-understanding, understanding others, team knowledge, and using this awareness on the job. BLAST has not only thrived since 2000, but also evolved to meet changing learner needs.

Johnsonville: Developing Employees With a Taste for Leadership

As the Learning and Development Change Coach, I coach Johnsonville's Technical Training team along with providing change management support for the organization. I have worked for Johnsonville for almost seven years. I began my career at Johnsonville working in operations and have had many different job experiences during my time here. I have been working on developing a robust change management process for Johnsonville for the past two years. In that time, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about change and the chance to apply and test theories. My main focus has been specifically around culture and behavior-based change.

Taylor Harlin

Sarah Johnson, vice president of enterprise surveys and analytics at Perceptyx has more than two decades of experience in her field. She specializes in employee engagement, organization development, and effectiveness and survey data analysis—advising senior leaders at Fortune 500 firms around the world. Sarah received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Purdue University and holds a master of arts degree and PhD in industrial organizational psychology from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Perceptyx, Sarah was a global practice leader at CEB. Prior to CEB, she led the global organizational survey program at IBM. She also held a number of HR positions at IBM that gave her experience in employee relations, compensation, and resource planning. She began her professional career at Procter & Gamble.

Sarah R. Johnson

You have a network and ways to upskill, even from afar.During recent months, many of us may feel as though we’ve lost our network. It’s no longer easy to pop by a colleague’s office and bounce off ideas for a new training program or discuss a new tool. However, the Association for Talent Development has several resources that can help make up for the peer expertise you feel you’ve been missing.Ask a Trainer. This online question-and-answer column featured on TD.org seeks to be responsive to real-world talent development problems, reflecting what’s on practitioners’ minds and offering practical guidance. The series enables talent development professionals to ask questions anonymously and receive advice on training dilemmas, instructional design snafus, e-learning challenges, and any other stumbling blocks that come their way. Originally featuring Tim Slade answering questions, the column now includes guest columnists weighing in.For example: Do you have multiple generations in your training audience? How do you deliver effectively to all of them? Management and generational diversity expert Bruce Tulgan answered this diverse audience question. The individual who submitted the question posited, “Younger learners seem to respond to a more conversational facilitation style and appreciate interaction, while older learners seem to be less bothered by lecture.” Tulgan advised, “No matter what, I try to teach like I’m talking to each and every individual. Whenever possible, we survey the audience in advance to find out what’s bothering them and what their learning goals are.”Other columns have addressed such topics as how L&D professionals can support frontline workers, ways to develop an online learning support system, and how to prove the value of talent development in a down economy. Submit your pressing talent development questions to askatrainer@td.org.The Accidental Trainer. This bi-monthly podcast series, which kicked off on January 20, features interviews with renowned experts in the talent development field. Among them have been Elliott Masie, Karl Kapp, Connie Malamed, and Bev Kaye. Moderated by ATD’s Career Development Content Manager Lisa Spinelli and sponsored by GP Strategies, The Accidental Trainer has relayed expert advice on such topics as how to stay on top of trends in technology, why talent is everything, and how to gain confidence in your training delivery.An especially timely guest was Whitney Johnson, author of Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work. Given the massive upheaval these last few months—to our businesses and to the way we do work but, most importantly, to life in general—how can you manage more easily? That is a challenge regardless of the circumstances behind it, even when we disrupt ourselves. Gather some tips from Johnson and hear how she has managed during challenging times. (Bonus: Access Whitney Johnson’s Disrupt Yourself podcast for further tips.)Friday Twitter Chat. When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, most of us (who weren’t already doing so) began working from home. Even for those who had been working remotely, things likely felt different: uncertain, scary. To help connect and share what we are going through together, ATD began Friday Twitter Chats, beginning at noon ET. Participants have talked about how they’re staying productive and healthy and about how they’re supporting each other. Niranjani Chidamber Papavaritis, manager of ATD’s healthcare community, mentioned that she asks about others’ well-being rather than jumping right into work discussions. For her own health, she takes breaks to focus on deep breaths throughout the day and to clear her head.On March 20, participants shared some of their virtual training tips—including suggestions on engaging learners in the virtual environment and advice for first-time virtual trainers. A recap of the conversation is available at TD.org.What are you learning? Take part in the next @ATD chat to share and learn from your talent development colleagues.ATD Virtual Training Resources. Many in the talent field are embarking on training, managing, collaborating, as well as other processes virtually for the first time. That’s why ATD has pulled together some of its best resources on virtual training in one place. Watch, read, and learn. And discover how you can access additional resources. Check out “6 Things to Consider When Transitioning to Virtual Training,” “Remote Workers Need Real Communication,” “Producing Virtual Training Certificate,” and much more.Times are challenging, but now is also a great time to grow yourself so you can continue to upskill and reskill learners.Share your ATD Virtual Conference experience on social media. #ATDVirtualConference

ATD Resources to Keep You Connected

With the rise of big data, HR began issuing employee engagement surveys—but these rarely lead to real change. Relaunch your survey and help drive organizational excellence.

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