Teaching Methods

Teaching Methods

Methods • Management Education • MBA – Regular post graduation course • MBA – Part time executive development • MBA – Distance learning courses • Management Development • Formal off-the-job development • Formal on-the-job development • Informal development

Methods • Management Education – Regular course • General management foundation • Specialization • Finance • Marketing • Human Resource The label MBA now covers a wide variety of very flexible programs in terms of focus upon different sectors and industries, modes of delivery, focus upon business issues rather than academic subjects, and forms of assessments that interrelate with workplace assignments and projects

Methods • Part time courses for executive development • Flexible learning This requires the good partnership between education providers and business organizations The boundaries between conventional courses and part time courses or distance learning is becoming more fluid

Methods • What education providers want • Sufficient lead time for development, and time to get to know the organizational context and immediate work environment of participants • An ongoing commitment and guarantee on minimum numbers attending • Fee that covers development costs • Consultation over arrangements for nomination of participants, and some control over criteria for participant entry • Clarification of requirements for follow up assignments and feedback • A key role in assessing individual participant performance • Nomination for organizational mentors for participants • Time off for participants to attend lectures and workshops, to carry out project work and assignments, or a proportionate reduction in working hours • Support in respect of fees and access to computing facilities • Assistance with identifying work related projects

Methods • What Organizations want: • A fast response with respect to development • Avoidance of an open ended commitment • A committed academic course director and academic administrators dedicated to the program • Discretion over nomination of course participants • Minimization of development costs, in case the course is unable to run as planned • Flexible over numbers attending without incurring financial penalties • Fees charged per capita • Follow-up assignments and projects that are achievable within the constraints of work, and availability of in-coming counseling and support • Involvement in assessing participant performance

Methods • Whether conducted in a classroom or a company training room, whether led by an academic or by a management trainer, off the job management development requires careful choice of methods • There are several methods. The key point to remember is that none of the methods is intrinsically good or worthless, they need to be selected and combined according to the type of learning required

Methods • Different methods – Off the job • Lectures and presentations • Case studies vignettes and critical incidents • Management games • Outdoor development

Methods • Lecture and Presentation • One of the common methods but not necessarily the best • It should be linked with seminars and workshops and should be followed by ‘break-out’ sessions for fuller discussion • It is good for transfer of information about a new activity or skill effectively if time is allowed for questions and discussions afterwards • It may be used as a device to challenge established assumptions and provoke debate

Methods Case studies, Vignettes and critical incidents They are all linked, they all emphasize practical, applied and participative learning • Case Studies • These are lengthy, comprehensively written and provide detailed information about some past managerial experience • Vignettes and Critical incidents • These are short, precisely written and contain fewer complex issues. They can be as short as a paragraph or a press cutting. They are an excellent way of soliciting attitudes and beliefs regarding abstract issues and ideas

Case Studies • Case studies are quite popular in management education • They invite the student to analyze data or reported behavior and to provide a reasoned set of recommendations for action • They can usually be written with inside information, and can be much richer and more valid than those written solely on the basis of just company reports and press cuttings

Case Studies • Advantages • Focuses on ‘doing’ in a classroom setting • Enhances learner development of verbal and written communication • Encourages mastery through the invitation to solve mystery • Possesses an illustrative quality • Exposes learners to wide range of true-to-life management problems • Enables learning without confronting actual sensitive issues because of their artificial character • Promotes constructive change in the management of the organization • Inspires interests in otherwise theoretical and abstract training material • Helps bridge the gap between theory and practice • Helps unlearn ‘skilled incompetence’

Case Studies • Potential Problems with case study approach • Diminishes the teaching role of the trainer • Focuses on past and static considerations • Inhibits double-loop learning • Reduces the learners ability to draw effective generalizations • Diminishes individual responsibility for learning and encourages lazy thinking based on past experience • May reinforce norms of non-criticism and thus inhibit the growth of knowledge • May foster ‘groupthink’ • May compromise on quality and quantity of interactive learning • May produce unrealistic responses

Vignettes • Advantages • Effective means of raising interest and generating a productive discussion • Where there is a shortage of specific information on organization and business contexts, they are an easy way to rectify the situation • They can add flexibility to classes, workshops and seminars, enabling the facilitator to pursue a point not raised in the discussion or outside the main themes covered • They provide a specific example in practice of a process discussed in a literature • They can promote discovery learning, especially when dealing with theoretical issues

Vignettes • Disadvantages • They can encourage short cuts in learning compared with case studies • The quality of discussion may depend a great deal upon participants existing knowledge of the issue or similar issues • They encourage gut responses, compared with case study analysis which demands prior preparation and reflection

Methods • Management Games • Business games • These focus upon business-economic decision making, inviting participants to decide on policies to be adopted • Increase understanding of business finance and how the whole enterprise fits together • Stretch people by giving them a demanding, extended and work-related task • Cause a management to work closely together on a common task • Board games • A game approach using board and dice for helping memorize or revise facts or for exploring a subject and developing a discussion • This has proven to be extremely useful in recall of complex legal information relating to employee relations

Methods • Management games contd.. • Structured experiences • These are exercises designed to focus attention upon transactions between individuals, and the ways in which these can shape group efficiency • The aim of these structured experiences is to increase the ability of members: • To appreciate how others react to their own behavior, • To gauge the state of relationships between others’ • To carry out skillfully the behavior required by the situation

Methods • Role Plays • Role play is a devise to bridge the gap between cognitive, affective and behavioral skills • Participants know how to solve a problem but they need to internalize the feelings that real life situation may generate in resolving it • Role plays can be both structured and spontaneous • Role plays is used as an essential part of sales training, interpersonal skills training such as handling staff grievances, discipline, appraisal or selection interviews • It is important to make use of recording and playing back facility to help participants to learn from the experience

Methods • Choosing and using appropriate games is not easy, but usually requires the following • Clear objectives: Is the aim to develop theoretical knowledge and understanding of ideas or is it to develop interpersonal behavior or change individual attitudes • A thorough understanding of individual motivation and group dynamics, so as to ensure optimal conditions for game play • Advance preparation and rehearsal, so that the game can be properly introduced and potential problems can be anticipated • Taking account of organizational culture so that participants are not expected to behave in a way totally inconsistent with the norms that apply back at work • Appropriate room layout

Methods • Games can also be classified based on what it wants to achieve • Surface learning • Focuses on information, memorizing contents for reproduction and task requirements • Deep learning • Focuses on meaning of information, vigorous interaction with the content, identifying underlying principles and concepts, evaluation of new ideas etc • Strategic learning • Focuses on achieving highest performance, making best use of time and effort, ensuring conditions and materials are appropriate, Attempts to predict future events

Methods • Outdoor development – two types: • Management teamwork • Personal development • Provides an opportunity to a work team to go away as an entire group • The tasks are very different from managerial work but they are real and based on underlying management processes • Done usually by experienced training consultants • Should normally be built along with complementary program of indoor activities and self assessment instruments covering such aspects as communication, leadership style, team roles, conflict management and other interpersonal development • Ensuring effective transfer of learning back to work place requires follow-up, review and conclusions and sufficient time

Methods • Work based (on-the-job) development methods • Learning from another person • Coaching • Mentoring and sponsorship • Role models • Learning from tasks • Special projects • Job rotation • Shadowing • Secondment • Acting up • Learning with others • Part of a task force • Action learning • Networking

Methods • Coaching • Generally is the responsibility of the immediate supervisor to counsel, provide insight, give frank feedback, demonstrate interest in development and help overcome problems • Skills of coaching • Observation • Active listening • Discussion • Challenging and questioning • Delegation • Timing

Methods • Mentoring and sponsorship • Mentoring occurs when an experienced manager offers guidance, stimulus, encouragement, feedback and support to a younger or less experienced employee • It can be both a formal or an informal activity • Mentor plays an active role in creating and communicating career opportunities to an individual and acts as an advocate giving ‘visibility’ within the wider organization and outside • Mentoring can also be a work-related development opportunity for the mentor himself, it helps him to keep in touch with what is happening elsewhere in the organization

Methods • Role modeling • Most managers learn from watching those around them and use their observations to form positive or negative role models even though they may not be working with them • Role models are observed and studied for their qualities, attitudes and behavior and perceived as effective or ineffective by the observer • Line managers or mentors can be useful role models • Even the negative role models can be very instructive: they teach patience and the need to be aware of managerial impact on others

Methods • Learning from tasks • Special projects • It can be direct component of the manager’s job or starting a new unit from scratch or turning upon a non performing unit or managing an operation of a much larger scope • Such assignments emphasize on the ability to stand alone, make decisions and shoulder responsibility • These involve a risk of failure, learning to work with difficult people under trying circumstances and learning to cope with an extremely exhausting workload • They are assignments given to develop potential and assist succession • Sometimes the primary purpose of work related projects may not be development of an individual

Methods • Learning from tasks contd.. • Job rotation • It involves moving a manager into different roles and tasks within different work groups and environments, with the aim of broadening their knowledge and skills base • It is done on a regular an structured basis and also in an ad hoc basis • It is useful in the process of de-layering • Shadowing • It is primarily about learning an activity by observing also known as ‘Sitting next to Nellie’ • Manager visits another site or company and spends time observing the work for a defined period

Methods • Learning from tasks contd.. • Secondment: • This is a form of work based development that takes the individual out of the normal work unit and places them within a different working environment for a defined period of time. • Usually this involves a placement within a different organization or placements within different parts of a large organization • It can also be in the form of job-swap between two individuals, both trying out a different role and can consult each other for advice • Individuals may also be send on secondment for community involvement programs • It requires careful support at all stages and can lead to dissatisfaction or de-motivation and a costly waste of resource • Acting up • This occurs in case of leave, illness, difficulties in recruitment, vacancies etc. • Provides an opportunity to learn new skills and explore a suitability of a career move • Such opportunities depend for their success on effective delegation by offering challenge, responsibility and autonomy

Methods • Learning from others • Task forces • These are often set up to deal with a pressing organizational problem, the solution to which requires input from a number of managers, often from diverse parts of the organization • These are common in organizations facing changes and provide an opportunity for participants to gain a wider perspective • Care is needed to ensure that selection of participants is considered fair by others • Action learning • It means learning from real-life problems • This is based on the philosophy that true development is achieved only by helping individuals to help themselves • Managers are motivated to take responsibility for their own learning and to be focused upon action rather than just analysis • Learning sets may consist of five or six managers with a facilitator who meet to test and question each other about a challenging work related problem

Methods • Networking • Learning from each other by sharing each others knowledge and skills by way of a club or a forum or an informal communication • Networking is a useful way of getting things done, and getting a fresh perspective on problems. • Quality management, internal markets, downsizing and de-layering all place more emphasis upon the management of relationships • Good influencing skills are important but needs to be complemented by the ability to network

Making Best Use of Methods • To make best use of work-based management development methods, organizations need to: • Communicate why it is important • Instigate training in how to do it • Ensure that it is integrated with other formal development and human resource activities such as appraisal and rewards • Clarify the roles and responsibilities, especially those of the human resource specialist, the line manager and the individual manager to be developed • Ensure that these roles are reinforces in the wide organizational culture • Three factors have to be present to overcome constraints on development: Creativity, Pro-activity and self development, critical reflectivity

Transaction Analysis

Transactional Analysis • A model for explaining why and how: • People think like they do • People act like they do • People interact/communicate with others • Based on published ‘psychological’ work such as: • Games People Play (Dr. Eric Berne) • I’m OK - - You’re OK (Dr. Tom Harris) • Born to Win (Dr. Dorothy Jongeward)

Our Brain (according to Berne) • Determines what we think and how we act • Acts like a tape recorder while recording • Events • Associated feelings • Has 3 distinct parts or ego states • Parent • Adult • Child

Parent Ego State • Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral patterns based on messages or lessons learned from parents and other ‘parental’ or authoritarian sources • Should and should not; ought and ought not; always and never • Prejudicial views (not based on logic or facts) on things such as: religion dress salespeople traditions work products money raising children companies • Nurturing views (sympathetic, caring views) • Critical views (fault finding, judgmental, condescending views)

Adult Ego State • Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral patterns based on objective analysis of information (data, facts) • Make decisions based on logic, computations, probabilities, etc. (not emotion)

Child Ego State • Thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behavioral patterns based on child-like emotions, impulses, feelings we have experienced • Child-like examples Curious Eager to please Impulsive Self-centered Angry Fearful Happy Pleasure seeking Rebellious Happy

Ego Portraits • People have favorite, preferred ego state, depicted by larger circle in a diagram ParentAdultChild P P P A A A C C C

Human Interaction Analysis • A transaction = any interaction or communication between 2 people • People send and receive messages out of and into their different ego states • How people say something (what others hear?) just as important as what is said • Types of communication, interactions • Complementary • Crossed • Ulterior

Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It! • Placement of the emphasis • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? • Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? What it means I was going to take someone else. Instead of the guy you were going with. I’m trying to find a reason why I shouldn’t take you. Do you have a problem with me? Instead of going on your own. Instead of lunch tomorrow. Not tomorrow night.

Complementary ‘Transactions’ • Interactions, responses, actions regarded as appropriate and expected from another person. • Parallel communication arrows, communication continues. Example 1: #1 What is the time ? #2 It’s 11:15. P P A A C C

Complementary ‘Transactions’ cont’d Example 2: #1 You’re late again! P P #2 I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. A A C C

Crossed ‘Transactions’ • Interactions, responses, actions NOT regarded as appropriate or expected from another person. • Crossed communication arrows, communication breakdown. Example 1 #1 What is the time ? #2 There’s a clock on the wall, why don’t you figure it out yourself? P P A A C C

Crossed ‘Transactions’ cont’d Example 2 #1 You’re late again! #2 Yeah, I know, I had a flat tire. P P A A C C

Ulterior ‘Transactions’ • Interactions, responses, actions which are different from those explicitly stated Example #1 How about coming up to my room and listening to some music? P P A A C C

Some Selling Implications of TA • Develop an adaptive selling strategy for ‘parent’, ‘adult’, ‘child’ customers • ‘Best’ communication exchange for selling? • Remember to respond in ‘complementary’ manner • Most effective selling involves adult to adult • Strokes, or positive interactions, important • Verbal (e.g. hello, compliment) • Touch (handshake, pat on back) • A gift • Listening

Being a ‘Response Able’ person • Recognize you cannot control another’s behavior, but you can affect their behavior by the way you respond to them. • Remember you control your own behavior and thoughts. • Keep things in perspective • Don’t sweat small stuff • Give it test of time • Ask if it’s happened before • Distinguish what can be changed from what can’t • Focus on haves vs. have nots • Have realistic expectations • Life is not fair or perfect • Bad (good) things happen, usually don’t last forever • Things don’t always go according to plan • People don’t always act as you’d like (remember ego state explanations, people have ‘bad’ days, etc.)

Dealing with Difficult People • Keep ‘adult’ ego state in control of yourself. • Don’t get defensive, argumentative, emotional. • Don’t take it personally. • Move cautiously, stay cool, remember complementary transactions and strokes. • Do not need to take continued abuse. • If handled well (e.g. didn’t embarrass customer, allowed them to take something out on you), can turn out to be positive later.

Quotes: Transactional Analysis • When a relationship is right, details are negotiable; When tension is high, details become obstacles.

Quotes: Transactional Analysis • Rule #1: The customer is never wrong. • Rule #2: If the customer is wrong, read rule #1.

Teaching Methods