ASTD NY Blog

The NYU Higher Education SIG held its third event of the On-Site Practitioner Series at Google NY on Tuesday, February 21^st. Erica Fox, Head of Learning Programs for GoogleEDU, was the host. The event commenced with a tour of the office which has an informal, collaborative atmosphere and is styled with a NYC theme. There were NYC cityscapes on the walls and NYC themed rooms and corridors. One area had a Broadway theater design. There are loads of photos online if you search in Google Images for “Google NYC” office. It was a privilege for us to get a look at the inside of the organization.

Erica and her team discussed the importance of the learning culture at Google. Learning programs are focused on the user’s needs and programs are driven by the employees. “Googlers” as the employees are called, are encouraged to deliver training and except for one course, there are no mandatory courses for Googlers. (The one mandatory course is manager compliance: Wrongful Termination, EEO / Discrimination, Keeping the Interview Legal, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Sexual Harassment). Erica estimated that 15-20% of learning programs are vendor-sourced with the rest built and delivered in-house. Erica noted that one of the challenges for the learning team is the fast growth rate of the company and the need for rapid, efficient decision-making processes. They approach this skill area through the underlying skills that help enable efficient decision making - building relationships, meeting management, group dynamics, project management, stakeholder management, etc.

One of the Google team members, Alison Parrin, shared one of the greatest insights into Google’s learning culture: “People love to share their knowledge and see growth in their colleagues.” Google’s peer-driven learning communities can serve as a model for those of us in L&D. I am sure those of us at the event will take away a lot of creative ideas to use in our own jobs.

Quick facts:                                                                                              

• The EDU in GoogleEDU stands for education, particularly the .edu domain for educational entities online.
• Google's headquarters is in Mountain View, CA.  We have 30K+ employees in over 70 offices in over 40 countries.  Our group visited the NYC office, where over 2K employees work in all functions.
• Erica’s team is responsible for all learning content, classes and programs that is cross-functional in nature, from Noogler (new hire) Orientation & On-boarding, people management curriculum, leadership development, professional skills, language instruction, to emotional intelligence, creativity & innovation, and personal effectiveness.  Her team is also responsible for G&A technical training.  They are organized by user population (i.e. early career employees, mid-level/mid-career employees, managers, new hires, etc.). 
• Weekly product training is delivered through live/recorded webinars, leadership foundations through workshops and peer discussion groups, giving/receiving feedback through classroom sessions.

Check out the link to the Google Moderator to see the discussion related to this event: http://www.google.com/moderator/#16/e=186174

1. When company executives are deciding where to invest within their company,

(a)   What criteria do they use?

(b)   What measures matter most?

2. When we respond to training requests and are seeking approval to move forward,

(a)  What do most of us present?

(b)  What measures do we usually show to monitor progress?

The first Training Directors’ SIG meeting of 2012 was held on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 200 Park Ave, NYC. The presenters for the evening were Meg Anderson and Robert Fass, from Role Play Done Right which offers “Professional Skills Practice for ‘Dramatic’ Results.”

Meg and Robert introduced us to the use of professional role-play for hands-on skills development practice for adult learners. Before a live demonstration, they set the stage by discussing the many varieties of these uniquely effective experiential learning tools that we can use in the development of new programs as well as in existing training initiatives.

Robert & Meg stressed that adding role-play demos, or skills practice, or simulation to training isn’t adding superficial bells & whistles for entertainment value; it is in fact a profound driver of results.  They walked the audience of learning professionals through the three main types of role-play that are used in training programs.

Simulation, Forum Theater and 1-2-1 direct improvisations:

• Simulation aims to simulate reality in great detail.  Actors interact directly with participants, stay in character, and are well rehearsed. Simulation is the most extensive type of role-play interaction.
• Forum Theater is a demonstration conducted by the actors with participants as the audience.  Groups of actors combine scripted presentation with audience Q&A and/or “redirection”.  The actors role-play with each other while the participants observe & offer feedback.
• 1-2-1 direct improvisations are a transparent approach in which it is clear that the actors are actors.  The participants can be given scenarios, or a choice of scenarios, based on typical challenges they face in their jobs.  The role-players are prepped for these in advance.  Alternatively, the participants can be assigned to bring their own real-life scenarios.

Meg and Robert’s presentation involved real interaction with the group which started with a Forum theater demonstration between the two actors who reached out to the attendees for feedback before trying the role-play again, and ended with acting out a ‘live simulation’ with one of the attending Training Directors to demonstrate its usefulness and impactful effects in training.  Overall, it was an excellent and engaging session leaving us all wanting more time with these professional actors.

If you would like to know more about ‘Role-Play Done Right’ please contact fellow ASTD NY member Meg Anderson at maanderson1@mac.com.

The monthly chapter event was held on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 in lower Manhattan. The presenter of the night was Robert Mosher, Chief Learning Evangelist for Ontuitive, a company that provides embedded learning and performance support solutions.  Bob talked about the changes in the L&D industry and the need for L&D professionals to keep up to date. Bob encouraged us to “tame the madness,” which referred to not inundating employees, but instead providing them with the information and resources to direct their own learning. Bob noted the importance of the “Holistic Learning Ecosystem,” coined by Allison Rossetti, which involves matching the employee’s needs, on their time, and in the way that they want it.

Bob stated, “It’s about performance, not learning.” This statement may seem controversial to many L&D professionals and what we believe about what we do and how we do it, but it focuses on the alignment of L&D with the goals of the business. Bob presented the “5 Moments of Need,” which includes:

• Learning for the first time
• Wanting to learn more
• Trying to remember and/or apply
• When things change
• When something goes wrong

Bob emphasized that blended training is items 1 and 2 and that blended learning is items 1 through 5.

Bob’s presentation involved much participation from the audience and the event concluded with a networking session. Members can find three articles by Bob in the “Knowledge Center” section under “Resources” at astdny.org.

On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, Ross Squire, President of Knowledge Staff, led a very enlightening discussion for the eLearning SIG about the current state of eLearning and industry forecasts for the next 12 to 24 months.  He partitioned his presentation into three parts -– observation, reflection, and action.

Ross jump started the meeting with a thought-provoking question: How satisfied are you with the current direction of your career?  By a show of hands, the audience indicated from the highest level whether they were very satisfied with their careers through the lowest level very dissatisfied with their careers. Ross told the group that everyone should be at the highest level very satisfied with the direction of their careers and his objective that evening was to help us work towards that goal.

Ross strongly encouraged all of us to develop the skill of observing---to become competent observers of the economy, the workplace and eLearning and Technology. As the discussion pursued, Ross helped us to hone our observation skills as we examined the three aforementioned areas.  

He noted three things about our present economy:

1. the economy is still very fragile
2. recovery of the economy has been a series of stops and starts
3. very modest improvements ar3e forecasted for 2012. 

Ross observed the following things about our current workplaces:

• workers are expected to have at least 10 different jobs in their lifetime
• small businesses and self-employment will drive the economy
• lifelong learning will be vital to career success
• face time will be a precious commodity
• companies are conserving their cash and working on tight budget
• workers are expected to do more with less and work faster
• companies are relying on outsourcing and off-shoring more than ever before

Ross also shared with us eye-opening statistics on the growing elearning/technology field:

• 750m Facebook users
• 130m LinkedIn users
• 1.3 billion cell phone users
• 45% of our current workforce is contingent.

After observing the current state of affairs, we then moved into the second part of our discussion----Reflection.  Ross began by boldly stating that it is our responsibility not our employer’s responsibility to develop our own careers. 

He encouraged us to individually consider which career path we might want to take--- (1) staff and department management (focusing on strategy and project management at a macros level) or (2) senior performers (focusing on tactical execution on a micro levels and strategy at a macro level). 

He concluded this section by raising four (4) important questions:

• Is your current position consistent with your short and long-term career goals and objectives?
• Is your career progressing with acceptable velocity?
• Are you having the conversations with your manager that will move your career forward with acceptable velocity?
• Are your skills and experience reflective of emerging trends in e-learning and the overall Learning space?

Ross ended our lively discussion by outlining a handful of action items he encouraged the group to take to help us reach our professional goals:

• Develop minimally one new skill, tool, technology, or method every year.
• Set aside $1,500 – $2,500 to invest in new skills
• Attend at least 1 national conference per year (ASTD, elearning, etc.)
• A lot of software tools offer 30 day trial membership and some are free. Utilize them!
• Become competent observers by following the thought leaders in our industry (Eliot Masie, Jeanne Meister, Brandon Hall, Jay Cross, Josh Berson, Allison Rossett, are just a few).

Survey results and Ross's  presentation slides  can be found at http://www.knowledgestaff.com/astdny.html

On January 11, in a room packed with over 90 attendees, ASTD NY hosted the kickoff event of 2012: The CLO's Perspective on the State of L&D in the Talent Management Arena.

The Learning & Development executives shared their perspectives on trends in L&D and what's important as they position their firms for success in the future.  The three presenters were:

• Connie Chartrand, Head of Professional and Organizational Development, Morgan Stanley
• Raoul Buron, CLO, Prudential Financial
• Robert Arbucci, Director, Global Learning & Development Strategy, Colgate Palmolive Company

Patrick Dail, ASTD NY President, skillfully moderated the panel.

Connie Chartrand emphasized that L&D professionals should think and act like business owners.  She coached us to ask ourselves, "What does the client experience look like?  Is the product line diversified enough?  How are our products marketed?  Do we have a segmented approach for delivering L&D to clients?"  She stressed the importance of "chunking" information so learners can "get to the right amount of information as quickly as possible."

Connie then focused on products: "What do we say 'No' to?"  There are times when we should not agree to fulfill a "training" request." Importantly, she suggested we ask, "Do our products work?  Do they really affect change in the organization?  How do we prepare managers, coaches, and peers of the employee(s) going through the change?" Finally, she said, "Think like business owners first, and then L&D professionals."

Raoul Buron introduced himself next.  He agreed with Connie's overall approach and said it was imperative that L&D professionals "partner with senior leadership" so they can see a "direct line to the execution of their objectives."  Raoul talked about the skill of influencing people so they see the value in what you are bringing to the organization.

As the pace of business has sped up, people have less and less time for development, so "the way you distribute training is critical."  He suggested we "look at what someone needs, and push the training to (them)."  He reiterated the need to demonstrate the value of training by using business metrics to get business leaders' attention.  

A trend Raoul is seeing is the integration of L&D with other HR domains, like Staffing, Diversity, Compensation, Performance Management, and Succession Management.  He also suggested we be thinking about where the industry is going in terms of technology and HR information systems, while keeping workforce planning and diversity and inclusion in mind.  

Raoul believes "diversity will have a massive impact."  Prudential now has a significant presence in Japan.  Raoul said, "We don't look like our clients and think like our clients."  He hinted that it's important that the C suite understand this and manage it.

Bob Arbucci, the final panelist, gave a thorough explanation of change models.  He also observed that the need for cost reduction is driving a decrease in travel and an increase in virtual classroom learning experiences.  Related to this is a trend toward "coaching and mentoring virtually."  

He also mentioned the need to "carve out time for innovation." Bob went on to cite an example of the Cheesecake Factory organizing a competition among the restaurant greeters where they would film each other, post the videos on YouTube, and then evaluate each other. This has resulted in improved performance among the greeters. 

Lastly, Bob talked about a new era of self-service learning and some new roles emerging for L&D professionals.  One of these is that of “performance consultant,” working with clients and differentiating whether they truly have a learning need or require some other intervention.  Another is being a coach for self-directed learners.  Bob referred us to an article on trends in ASTD's T&D Magazine by Patricia McLagan -- "The Amazing Era of Self-Service Learning" (published in December 2011).

The audience raised a number of interesting questions, and the panelists gave great advice to all of us.  As with all ASTD NY monthly chapter events, the program allowed for networking at the beginning and the end, and members made new connections.  Overall, the evening was a hit, and a great way to start off the year!  Hope to see you at future events!

Margaret Clarkson

VP of Programs

The 2012 ASTD NY Board met in Lower Manhattan this past Saturday to do some team building and strategize. When we get a team together for off-sites, we often have the tendency to create an overly ambitious agenda that can be long on tactics and short on strategy. With this in mind, we decided to focus on just two major topics: Membership and Succession Planning. To alleviate the need for one of us to manage the meeting, we brought in David Gilman, a past ASTD Chapter Westchester County President and current President at Gilman Performance Systems, to facilitate the session.

David got us on our feet and working together immediately with a high-energy ice breaker – I won’t spoil it for those who’ve yet to experience it but suffice it to say it included a tennis ball, a timer and the group in a circle trying to beat the clock. Interesting inter-personal dynamics come out when there’s a race against time so there was no shortage of material to process.

Deb Correnti, our VP of Membership led the Membership Work Session and our group of 12 was divided into 3 groups. The groups rotated around the room, providing their input to three flipcharts looking for ideas on: 1) New Member Strategies 2) Retention Strategies and 3) Outreach at Meetings/SIGs Strategies. The best ideas were then starred and those were put through a “T” matrix to identify those that had the highest ROI and were easiest to implement. We came up with quite a robust list which Deb will take lead on acting upon.

Over lunch, VP of Social Media put a card from the “Table Topics” deck in front of each person and we went around the table answering questions like “what one special talent would you like to have?” and “would you rather live in a tree house or a house boat?” It was informative…enlightening…hilarious!

Our afternoon session dealt with Succession Planning. This time we worked with a document drafted by chapter VP of Operations Brenda Vallieu and I. The group was divided into three groups, each taking one of three sections of the document to edit: 1) Preparing for the Succession Planning Process 2) Identifying and Preparing Future Leadership and 3) Aligning with Nominating and Election Process. Each group did a read back and the discussion was very robust leading to some excellent recommendations. The revisions have been incorporated and Brenda and I will work with the board to carry out a Succession Plan that will build a deep bench of future leaders for our chapter.

We also had a Parking Lot flip chart to capture follow-up items; Kim Howie, our Chapter Secretary, will include these in our minutes and assign owners and timeframes.

We wrapped up the day with a group photo and as the final picture was snapped, David our facilitator looked at his watch and said it was 4:00 on the dot – we ended exactly on time as you would fully expect from a room full of L&D folks. With a talented board like this acting on the powerful ideas generated Saturday, you can look forward to a phenomenal 2012 as a member or future member of ASTD NY.

If you’re not able to get to ASTD’s TechKnowledge next week, but wish you could attend, why not attend virtually? How?  By following the twitter backchannel, you can participate in the conference without leaving home. And it won’t cost you a dime.

On twitter, you’ll see postings from attendees talking about topics they are discussing at the conference, notes from keynote speeches, and interesting new development s from the expo. And more.  And the best part is you can be part of the conversation by posting your questions, comments, or retweeting posts you find interesting out to your followers.

To follow the backchannel for ASTD TechKnowledge 2012, sign into your twitter account and search for #ASTDTK12 (also  #ASTD2012).  There are tools that can help you focus on just the hashtags you want. One of my favorites is HootSuite, which lets you save and follow several timelines.

For more info about BackChannel learning, visit  David Kelly’s blog “MisAdventures” in Learning: http://misadventuresinlearning.blogspot.com/2011/10/conference-backchannels-archive-of.html.  David is president of the ASTD Long Island chapter and was a guest speaker an elearning SIG meeting last year where he talked about using Twitter for learning. 

For more info about using Twitter (also from David):

http://misadventuresinlearning.blogspot.com/2012/01/resources-to-learn-how-to-use-twitter.html#uds-search-results

See you on the backchannel!

Enid Crystal

eLearning SIG chair

I entered the L&D profession through the side door of project management as the Training Director of a multi-million dollar federally-funded workforce skills training program.  The manufacturing sector in Maryland was hit hard in the 1990s.  A common phenomenon across the US, Maryland-based firms realized they needed to invest in their plant & equipment, as well as their employees, to remain competitive in the new economy as Asian countries attracted more and more production activity.

I had a broad array of internal and external stakeholders to manage, funding guidelines to master, Subject Matter Expert trainers to hire, equipment and text books to purchase, as well as the recruitment and enrollment strategies to develop.  We were rockin’ and rollin’, I was golden.

Then our first round of certification exams came. Reality hit.  Our learners didn’t do so well.  I was late to the game on knowledge transfer, but I arrived, and interestingly enough that’s when the job got really interesting.  There was actually a lot more to the proper management of a workplace learning program than simply spreadsheets, procurement processes, hiring SMEs.

We engaged a Master Trainer to begin an observation / coaching process for the trainers to improve their knowledge transfer skills, among other tactics, and we instituted an extensive assessment and evaluation system to REALLY understand who our learners were. It was a lot of work, disassembling a training program and rebuilding based on the new inputs we were getting and our outcomes improved dramatically.

I came into L&D knowing that effective Project Managers practice knowledge, skills and abilities germane to their roles, but did not expect that success in the new role, Training Management, would similarly depend on a set of discreet knowledge, skills and abilities. 

Good for us that our colleagues at ASTD National are focused on the competencies that make workplace learning professionals successful. Tony Bingham, ASTD CEO, introduced the competency model by explaining that “…a defined set of competencies is a hallmark of a true profession, and the practice of creating and supporting a competency model is a key role of a professional association.”

The competency model is based on 10 critical Areas of Expertise (AOEs):

1)      Designing learning

2)      Delivering learning

3)      Managing the learning function

4)      Coaching

5)      Facilitating organizational change

6)      Improving human performance

7)      Measuring and evaluating

8)      Career planning and talent management

9)      Managing organizational knowledge

10)    Social learning

The competency model material released by ASTD indicates that L&D professionals each have mastery in one particular area or another; it is rare for an L&D professional to master all 10 competencies. One might be comfortable with their skills and abilities in the “delivering learning,” “managing the learning function,” and “facilitating organizational change” areas, and plans to get experience in the areas of “social learning” and “measuring and evaluation.”

Our plan at ASTD NY Metro for 2012 is to program professional development sessions around these 10 competencies over the next 12months. If you have an interest or particular experience in any one competency area that you want to share, please let myself, Margaret Clarkson or Pei-Cen Lin know – we just might work with the volunteer leadership team to coordinate a chapter-wide or SIG meeting around it.

Posted by Megan Tobin, Co-Chair Coaching SIG

The ASTD NY Training Directors' and Coaching SIGs held a joint meeting in November, 2011.  The program, "The Spectrum of Coaching:  What Can Your Organization Achieve," featured four panelists:  Fiona Erskine-Smith of BlackRock, Rita Callahan of ConEdison, and executive coaches Joanne Killmeyer and Peg Wallis.  The panel was moderated by Megan Tobin, Chair of the ASTD NY Coaching SIG.  Over 30 people attended the session.  Participants were actively engaged in the discussion, which centered around: 

•             Why coaching, why now?

•             What do companies look for when hiring coaches?

•             What changes have they seen over the past few years?

•             Do companies look for specific certifications when hiring coaches?

•             What types of assessments do the coaches use in their work? 

Notes from our meeting follow:

Fiona is Director of Leadership Development at BlackRock and described their philosophy of executive coaching as a strategic approach for talent management, such as with high potentials (hipos) and in succession planning, as well as for relationship management.  BlackRock is placing special emphasis on using coaches for a program focusing on senior women.  Participants in the Women's Leadership Forum have an online forum where they can post a question and get answers from a coach.  When hiring coaches, Fiona looks for those who check in with her every so often to update her on progress being made.  She mentioned the importance of a cultural fit and especially appreciates the coaches who provide suggestions that will benefit the organization.  She is looking to create a "community of coaches" where each contributes to the betterment of the talent offerings by learning and sharing with each other.  They use the Hogan and internally created 360 instruments.

Rita is responsible for collaboration and conflict management at ConEdison and is also sole proprietor of her own company, Working It Out.  ConEdison is building a conflict competent culture, and Rita's role in the Conflict Resolution Section is to provide conflict resolution services, such as mediation, training, conflict coaching, facilitation, assessment, and consulting.  In addition to conflict coaching, ConEdison uses coaching for performance, as a short-term, very specific and behavior-focused tool.  Rita stressed the importance of coaching skills for managers.  She also described coaching in virtual environments where avatars keep participants anonymous, which helps them open up.  ConEdison uses the MBTI, Leadership Challenge course, and CDP (Conflict Dynamics Profile).

Joanne is an executive coach, professor in NYU's Coaching Certificate Program, and founder of possibilities & solutions, LLC, who has experience in numerous industries.  She talked about coaching High Potentials and providing coaching for those in transition, for example, moving from operations to management.  She's seen more JIT (Just in Time) coaching recently and mentioned the move to more online training and lower cost coaching options for the masses to reach further down in organizations.  Typical assignments are 3-6 months and she said that she is more successful when the executive being coached has an action plan in place so development (things) can move forward after she leaves.  She anticipates more focus on measurement and ROI in the future.  Joanne uses the DiSC and 360 instruments, when needed.  She referenced a recent AMA study  (Coaching: A Global Study of Successful Practices, 2008) that found 73% of companies hire coaches based on business experience, while 45% make their decisions based on personality match. 

Peg is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and co-author of Charting Your Course for Effective Communication and has found improv to be helpful in her career as coach.  She mentioned that lately she sees more focus on tooling the younger workforce and "speed" coaching, which helps get people up-to-speed quickly in their role.  She found that managers are now asking for tips they can use to coach their own employees.  She finds the SDI (Strength Deployment Instrument), upon which her book is based, effective in her work, because it taps into motivation.