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Winter

2024

ISSUE

No. 53

The Navigator

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A Message from OSI


Happy New Year and welcome to 2024!


As our planet continues to reset after COVID, and more meetings are held in living color and three dimensions, so too has OSI's work returned to more face-to-face events. Two recent live OSI facilitated workshops, one a team building in Oregon, and one a senior leadership training in Memphis, both dramatically reinforced the advantages of live events.


In this issue we'll explore the reasons for ditching ZOOM for reality through two different lenses. One will be the training principle of learning skills in context, and the second will be the need generated by remote-work, and the AI frenzy, for greater transferable social and creative skills, i.e., communications, relationships, and emotional competence. All skillsets difficult to perfect working remotely.

The Case For Live Workshops

Bruce Griffiths M.S.

 

Our long pandemic nightmare necessitated isolation, and made ZOOM a verb with a new meaning. It also precipitated an accelerated and permanent shift to remote / hybrid work. Remote work, and remote meetings, do have advantages for individuals and organizations. If we can work remotely, we do like the conveniences (no commute, control of the environment, independence, etc.), plus now both individuals and organizations can apply/recruit in a global talent space (I can live where I want, and I can recruit from a much larger talent pool).


In OSI's world of learning and development, remote also means convenience and scalability. It is easier to schedule and execute a ZOOM training, plus remote teaching options allow for more time zones (geography) and more participants.


But these are measures of efficiency, not effectiveness. The disastrous consequences of remote learning K through 12 during COVID are a reminder. And organizations are just starting to feel some of the negative consequences of an all-remote work force.


Early adopters of remote / hybrid organizations like 37signals out of Chicago (and authors of the excellent book REMOTE: Office Not Required) do report the absolute necessity of face-to-face on-boarding and regular team / company live meetings to instill, and perpetuate culture, as well as truly engage employees. Also reported is the amplified need for face-to-face leader learning, which is reinforced by several classic teaching principles.


Leadership IS about relationships. And that means leaders need emotional competence in fundamental Polaris® skillsets like Active Listening, Communicativeness, Sensitivity, Relationship Building, and Conflict Management. These "soft skills" are best learned/practiced in context, i.e., in actual interactions with others. Both the AI revolution, in which human creativity and emotional intelligence are more valued, and the increased need for remote team leaders to be better at building relations, create this heightened need for these interpersonal skillsets to be learned and practiced through in-person events.


I'll add a personal positive for in-person events; they are more FUN! All the interactions during breaks and lunches, plus the after-workshop happy hours/dinners do definitely drive more positive reaction, but also provide more opportunity for teacher-student interaction (better learning) plus increased networking. So, when scheduling training remember that what you're training (e.g. interpersonal skills) and how you're training (a transferable context) should help guide whether ZOOM i.e., remote, or live training are truly better for learning.

Book Links:


Competencies at Work: Providing a Common Language for Talent Management


Co-authored by our very own president/senior consultant, Bruce Griffiths, and our business partner, Enrique Washington. Competencies at Work is a thorough, yet digestible look at contemporary competency modeling. It will equip readers to understand, build, and implement competency models as a foundational and integrating element in talent management systems. Readers will understand how competency models have evolved to be the current best-practice in defining criteria for all talent management applications such as selection interviews, promotion panels, assessment centers, job descriptions, and learning objectives. The book also provides specific guidance in the steps needed to establish a sustainable model, with research results on universal competencies contained in most contemporary models. 


Competencies at Work is available now through Business Expert Press or Amazon.

Redefining Competency Based Education: Competence for Life



Co-authored by our very own president/senior consultant, Bruce Griffiths, and our business partner, Nina Jones Morel. Redefining Competency Based Education provides an expanded definition of career competence, based on actual employer hiring and promotion requirements, which enhances university curricula to better prepare students for work and life. Readers will learn how private sector competency models have evolved to define criteria for hiring, promoting, and training talent. 


Redefining Competency Based Education is available now through Business Expert Press or Amazon.

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At Organization Systems International, we are celebrating more than 40 years of quality, service, and innovation. We deliver client success with a high-performance approach designed to enhance occupational relationships, improve operational efficiency, and sustain customer relationships.

Organization Systems International 

227 N El Camino Real, Suite 205,

Encinitas, CA 92024

858-455-0923

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