Figure 1 Blog Post Authored by:
Stephanie Gaulding(HD&L Marketing & Communications Chair)
I recently completed an 8 week virtual training course on "Strategic Engagement Skills for Professionals Leading Change" offered by HD&L in partnership with The Center for Strategy Realization and I wanted to share my experience given the virtual nature of the course. I know what my own biases are when looking at taking a virtual course and I, like many of you, have experienced some not so good virtual offerings. My own reasons for not liking or attending virtual courses have varied from the course being offered at an inconvenient time, issues with the virtual platform, not able to access stable internet connections while traveling, etc. This course, unlike many of the other virtual courses I've attended, is designed to be flexible meeting the needs of someone like me who travels as a part of my job.
Let's first talk about scheduling. This is probably one of my biggest concerns when considering a virtual course as I am a consultant so I am often on the road. My class actually had participants based not only throughout the US but also in Australia so you can imagine finding a single time each week for us to meet when we could all be on the phone was challenging to say the least. This course is designed so that you have the flexibility to attend live or listen to the recorded session at your leisure. Being a consultant, my schedule is constantly changing so this flexibility came in very handy as I progressed through the course. I often found myself using both methods to make sure I kept up with the course content.
Now let's talk about the platform. Each session in delivered through GoToWebinar, the same platform that HD&L uses for our webinars, and recorded which is uploaded to a web-based repository. The familiarity of the GoToWebinar platform from attending previous webinars made participating in the class easy. The only real difference is that we were un-muted throughout the entire session where in webinars, attendees are typically muted. In addition, the entire class is give access to the web-based repository which is not only available throughout the class, but continues to be available after completing the course. This is beneficial especially if, like me, you decide to pursue the optional certification that is offered as I can access the materials and recorded sessions at any time in preparation for the exam.
As for stable internet connections, there is not much I can do about that given the nature of my job and being on the road all the time. However, the availability of recordings made me less concerned about missing a session due to connectivity issues. I just emailed the instructor and let her know and then listened to the the recording later.
Now why would I take the time to share my experience? That's the easiest question to answer....I was convinced that the course content was well worth the risks of the virtual nature of the course. I, like many of you, are involved in projects aimed at implementing new technologies, changing operational processes or shifting organizational culture. Often these projects achieve a short lived results but do not always achieve a sustained result. Through this course, I learned a great framework for enhancing these types of projects and initiatives and increasing the probability of project success and sustaining the desired outcome.
Currently, I am working towards applying the seven engagement skills (see figure 1) to a project that I have been working on recently. One of the biggest differences that I have noticed thus far, as compared to previous projects I've lead, are in my ability to create an inspirational story that not only motivates my project sponsor, but also motivates team members and ultimately those affected by the change. I often underestimated the value of taking the time to craft a good story and the impact that it might have for my project and the framework I learned in this course increased my storytelling ability quickly.
While I'm still applying the new skills I've learned, I am eager to see the differences in results as my project progresses and hoping to see a sustained, long-term, positive effect within my organization. If you're interested in learning more about this course, I encourage you to go to http://asqhdandl.org/ses.html to learn more.
Stephanie Gaulding(HD&L Marketing & Communications Chair)
I recently completed an 8 week virtual training course on "Strategic Engagement Skills for Professionals Leading Change" offered by HD&L in partnership with The Center for Strategy Realization and I wanted to share my experience given the virtual nature of the course. I know what my own biases are when looking at taking a virtual course and I, like many of you, have experienced some not so good virtual offerings. My own reasons for not liking or attending virtual courses have varied from the course being offered at an inconvenient time, issues with the virtual platform, not able to access stable internet connections while traveling, etc. This course, unlike many of the other virtual courses I've attended, is designed to be flexible meeting the needs of someone like me who travels as a part of my job.
Let's first talk about scheduling. This is probably one of my biggest concerns when considering a virtual course as I am a consultant so I am often on the road. My class actually had participants based not only throughout the US but also in Australia so you can imagine finding a single time each week for us to meet when we could all be on the phone was challenging to say the least. This course is designed so that you have the flexibility to attend live or listen to the recorded session at your leisure. Being a consultant, my schedule is constantly changing so this flexibility came in very handy as I progressed through the course. I often found myself using both methods to make sure I kept up with the course content.
Now let's talk about the platform. Each session in delivered through GoToWebinar, the same platform that HD&L uses for our webinars, and recorded which is uploaded to a web-based repository. The familiarity of the GoToWebinar platform from attending previous webinars made participating in the class easy. The only real difference is that we were un-muted throughout the entire session where in webinars, attendees are typically muted. In addition, the entire class is give access to the web-based repository which is not only available throughout the class, but continues to be available after completing the course. This is beneficial especially if, like me, you decide to pursue the optional certification that is offered as I can access the materials and recorded sessions at any time in preparation for the exam.
As for stable internet connections, there is not much I can do about that given the nature of my job and being on the road all the time. However, the availability of recordings made me less concerned about missing a session due to connectivity issues. I just emailed the instructor and let her know and then listened to the the recording later.
Now why would I take the time to share my experience? That's the easiest question to answer....I was convinced that the course content was well worth the risks of the virtual nature of the course. I, like many of you, are involved in projects aimed at implementing new technologies, changing operational processes or shifting organizational culture. Often these projects achieve a short lived results but do not always achieve a sustained result. Through this course, I learned a great framework for enhancing these types of projects and initiatives and increasing the probability of project success and sustaining the desired outcome.
Currently, I am working towards applying the seven engagement skills (see figure 1) to a project that I have been working on recently. One of the biggest differences that I have noticed thus far, as compared to previous projects I've lead, are in my ability to create an inspirational story that not only motivates my project sponsor, but also motivates team members and ultimately those affected by the change. I often underestimated the value of taking the time to craft a good story and the impact that it might have for my project and the framework I learned in this course increased my storytelling ability quickly.
While I'm still applying the new skills I've learned, I am eager to see the differences in results as my project progresses and hoping to see a sustained, long-term, positive effect within my organization. If you're interested in learning more about this course, I encourage you to go to http://asqhdandl.org/ses.html to learn more.
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