The volunteer community is a membership organization’s heart and soul. Their contribution is priceless, and the organization couldn’t function without them. Not only do they make things happen behind the scenes, but they also express the values of the organization in their activities. Characteristics such as leadership, personal growth, gratitude, community, vision, honor, and respect are evident in their involvement.
The Power of Gratitude in Volunteer Contributions
While leaders who value contribution will give regardless of recognition, without acknowledgment, their energy, interest, and enthusiasm may wane over time. A simple act of gratitude fuels their internal drivers and affirms them as individuals and contributors, encouraging them personally and professionally.
Challenges in Keeping Recognition at the Forefront
Why is it so difficult to keep recognition at the forefront when organizations often depend on it? A couple of reasons come to mind. First, those who volunteer are motivated by personal satisfaction and a commitment to the organization and aren’t usually seeking acknowledgment. Second, in an organization like CMC-Global Institute, the leaders are also volunteers who contribute their time and expertise in addition to full-time work.
Creating and Reinforcing a Culture of Recognition
How can we create and reinforce a culture of recognition? Josh Bersin researched the topic of employee recognition and shared these best practices that apply in both workplace and non-profit scenarios:
Implement Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Not top-down.
Make Recognition Easy and Frequent: In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, two of the most valuable psychological needs we have as human beings are the need to be appreciated and the need to “belong.” These needs are met through peer-to-peer thanks and recognition.
The study revealed that “Companies that scored in the top 20% for building a ‘recognition-rich culture’ actually had 31% lower voluntary turnover rates!”
Fostering a Culture of Recognition
What would a culture of recognition look like in your company? In any organization to which you belong? It starts with individuals, teams, and leaders noticing, inquiring, and being interested in the actions of others, and recognizing their achievements. A culture of recognition starts with an attitude of gratitude.
The Ripple Effects of Gratitude
An attitude of gratitude has ripple effects far beyond the impact on a company, a volunteer organization, or the individuals themselves. It can resonate within the culture and help to shape it into the future. Start today.
(Adapted from the original version that appeared in C2M Connect, January 2015 by Kathie Nelson and Pamela Campagna)
If teaching had a playbook, it might include lesson plans, class materials, presentations, exercises, activities, and assessments that support the course learning objectives. When I walk into a classroom, I’ve got my playbook ready for that day’s class. But last week’s classes were different from any other, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. That’s when I taught a face-to-face summer course at a college in Cambridge, Massachusetts to pilot in-person teaching for courses in the fall. This was a daunting experience filled with uncertainty and trepidation, one that many educators will be faced with come fall. Here are some lessons that I learned from that experience.
A few months ago, the startling realization of a raging pandemic catapulted students and faculty online in a matter of days. The shift to online teaching was a case study in agility. Faculty from our campuses around the world pooled their knowledge and technical platform experience as we prepared to welcome students to our online campus. After a few days of teaching online, we became accustomed to rows of boxes on a computer screen instead of rows of students in a classroom.
I can’t say that I’m an expert in pedagogy and teaching strategies but having pioneered teaching in a COVID-era classroom with twenty-seven students, I have a unique perspective that is different from classes I have taught over the past twenty-three years. If you are planning to join your students in the classroom this year, consider the opportunity to rethink what that means for you.
Preparing for a COVID-era class takes more time and thoughtfulness than before.
The decision to enter the classroom wasn’t an easy one to make. Friends and family voiced their concerns, and most of us had questions about how an in person class would run. Given that we would be the only class on campus at the time, the associated risk seemed manageable. After thinking through the emotional and psychological aspects of teaching in a COVID-era classroom, I started to plan. Christine I. McClure taught an in-person class this summer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She notes that “there is definitely a learning curve to COVID-style teaching, and it is a lot of work”. Be sure to set aside enough time for planning. In my case, a colleague and I had originally designed this new course, assuming that it would be taught in a face-to-face classroom. Once our classes moved to virtual delivery, I redesigned the course accordingly. The final version of the course turned out to be different than the other two versions since safety guidelines for student interaction and movement in a confined space had to be factored in. Fortunately, I had allocated enough time in my schedule for the course redesign and preparation.
There are lots of moving parts involved in a COVID-era classroom.
I didn’t quite realize how much the physical classroom itself is an element of learning, especially since the topics that I teach lend themselves to interactivity and experiential learning. When I entered the school for a preliminary site visit, aside from the fact that there were no students or faculty the building, it felt different. The lobby welcomed guests to evenly space themselves as they entered through the key card turnstiles. Crowded elevators are now limited to only two people per ride, with emblems on the floor that mark the distanced location where each rider should stand. The classroom traffic flow was marked: entry and exit are limited to specific doors; signage marks the movement among seats/tables in the classroom, just like in the grocery store.
If students will be moving around in your classroom, consider how that might work. Movement in the classroom should be thoughtfully choreographed to factor in safety guidelines. In my case, twenty-seven students were situated in a flexible classroom with six feet between each seat/table. Consider how activities such as team discussions and bathroom breaks might be handled to minimize movement and contact within the classroom. For example, during the break, students were invited to exit the classroom in groups in order to minimize the traffic in the bathrooms.
Classes that feature a good amount of group work may require alterations. Instead of working side-by-side, student teams will need to work across physical distance in the classroom, making it difficult to hear one another (and read one’s lips) while wearing masks and face shields. I used a lavalier microphone initially but abandoned it after the microphone clip slipped off my face shield one too many times. It took a while for us to learn how to modulate our voices so that everyone could be heard and understood.
What are the considerations for your classroom?
Take advantage of available meeting rooms and other spaces.
Consider how your class is “typically” structured. Make use of any space that is available to you outside of the classroom. We were fortunate to have access to team rooms (smaller meeting rooms) where 3 to 4 students could meet comfortably within safety protocols. Chairs were positioned on marked locations to ensure proper distancing. It is worth noting that working in teams requires discipline and constant reminders to limit contact and reinforce new habits.
There were many safeguards in place to ensure a safe academic environment. A good amount of outreach was sent to students before the start of the class which probably contributed to their awareness. The course, entitled Persuasion and Influence, was an intensive 4-day elective for master’s students from around the world. There were several pre-requisites for students to join the class: participants could join in-person only and then only after completing a mandatory quiz to acknowledge that they had watched the “Back to campus” information video and completed a self-declaration. Students that had not properly quarantined in advance of the course start date (if required) were not allowed to join the class. In addition, daily alerts were sent to each student to inquire about their physical well-being.
It’s important to set the tone for your students.
Being in a COVID-era classroom is a brave choice. The way that we handle this choice, as educators, is up to us. Many students in our classrooms will be apprehensive about being back to school. Many of our faculty will be apprehensive as well. It’s up to us to set the stage and the tone for our students’ learning experience.
I anticipated what the students’ mindset might be, and we spent a lot of time in open discussion at the beginning of class. Just like with other courses, we started with student introductions and expectations for the course. Typically, I ask students to jot down their expectations for the course and for learning, and then post their responses on the wall at the front of the room. We use this to get to know one another and introduce the course. In this classroom, however, I used a Mentimeter poll for students to share their thoughts in order to minimize movement and contact.
Many of the comments revealed what students were thinking: “I hope to be COVID-free by the end of class,” “I’m happy just to be around people again.” Students talked about how they were feeling and what it means to be back in a classroom after months away, much in the way that I noted in a recent essay, Canary in the Coal Mine or Canary in the Classroom?One of our guest speakers acknowledged the courage that students demonstrated by being in the classroom. We talked about how we are changing habits in our learning environment and about restrictions and ways to encourage psychological and physical safety in the classroom. Consider different ways that you might enforce these new habits in your classroom.
In a recent McKinsey report, Amy Edmondson notes that “For many people during the pandemic, the explicitness of the physical lack of safety has been experienced as a shared fear, which has allowed them to be more open and intimate and more able to voice their thoughts and concerns with colleagues. This collective fear thus becomes a potential driver of collaboration and innovation, further contributing to an open environment for producing and sharing ideas that under normal conditions may have remained unshared.” Glimpses of this collective fear surfaced during the four-day course and contributed to a collective sense of community.
Make safety a shared responsibility in the classroom to reinforce new habits.
This one might seem obvious, but I wasn’t quite sure how to approach the topic until the students were in the classroom. The floor at the front of the room was marked with painter’s tape around the “professor’s bubble” that included the podium. In order to minimize physical contact, the goal is to stay within the “bubble” and for students to stay in their physically distanced seats. “I expect that we are going to give each other feedback and keep each other honest. So if you’re observing somebody that’s not distancing, it’s okay to mention it. If you see me walking out of my bubble, raise your hand and let me know”, I explained. Ten minutes later, a student raised her hand: “You’re outside of the bubble, professor.” From that point, we established the norm to remind one another, constantly, to follow safety precautions.
With safety at the forefront, it’s important to rethink human interaction and creative ways for students to stay engaged with the course topics while meeting learning objectives.
Modify your teaching strategies to take advantage of technology.
Students presented a preview of their project on the last day of class, which would typically involve a presentation by the entire team at the front of the classroom. One team member would insert a USB drive in the podium computer and then remove it when they were finished. In order to minimize contact and movement I set up a section in Canvas where teams uploaded the presentations. I downloaded each presentation, thereby avoiding the need for any student to touch the podium computer. We established a rule that only one person per team could use the slide clicker, which they picked up and returned to a table. After each use, I wiped down the device and anyone that touched it washed their hands. Student teams stood at the front of the classroom (in the “professor’s bubble”), physically distanced, and delivered their presentations.
We used technology to bring the outside guest speakers closer to the class when students joined the Zoom session from their computers while they were seated in the classroom, and the guest speaker was projecting on a large screen at the front of the room. There are other techniques that you may want to try in your environment. For example, when students dispersed to team rooms, I opened a Zoom session for the entire class. One student joined from each team in order to connect the entire class from their physical team rooms. We also experimented with using WhatsApp to send instructions and questions to each team while they were in their team rooms. Using virtual technology in a physical setting is still a work-in-progress but it can be useful when some of the students are dispersed, effectively tethering all of us together.
I can say that I felt differently from the first day of class to the last day. The kickoff was a bit quirky – meeting one another for the first time, adjusting masks, seating arrangements, safety protocols and teaching a course I had not taught before. What surprised me the most about this in-class experience? It will take more than a four-day course to change habits that we have developed over years of teaching and learning. I was surprised by how our “pioneer community” of learners had developed a sense of camaraderie during our time together, perhaps because of our shared experience and the newness of it all. With practice and persistence, hopefully the precautions that we have taken will result in a safe learning environment for all of us. I also discovered a silver lining: due to the lighter-than-usual traffic, my 75-minute commute has been cut in half.
Are you a teacher who has taught in a COVID-era classroom?
How did your prepare for it? What was the student experience?
About the author:
Pamela Campagna MBA, CMC is the President of BLUE SAGE Consulting, Inc. a certified women-owned management consulting firm. Pamela is a board member and chair of the Marketing and Membership Committee of CMC-Global Institute, a virtual global community for professional management consultants. She is also a Professor of Practice at Hult International Business School in Cambridge, MA where she has been teaching leadership, strategy and management courses since 2014.
A text message I’ve received many times in the past few weeks from my daughter – a millennial whose employer (along with her husband’s) has decided to wait until 2021 before they allow employees back into the workplace. I am a primary caregiver for two octogenarians (one of whom recently suffered a stroke). I am a mother, a sister, an aunt, a daughter, a consultant, and a professor.
I have been “asked” to teach an upcoming course on Persuasion and Influence in a face-to-face classroom on July 6, 2020. During this time of uncertainty, we’re encountering situations we couldn’t have imagined even a few months ago. Situations challenge our beliefs, persistence, and the world we knew before the pandemic.
I’ve been a teacher for most of my life, and for the past 20+ years I’ve been paid for it.
Feelings of Going Into The Classroom
Although my university is adopting the necessary precautions and following state guidelines, the uncontrollable reopening aspects are difficult to anticipate. Our student population is skewed toward global learners, many of whom opt to attend university in the U.S. to experience the social aspects of living abroad.
While we may be able to enforce social distancing, personal hygiene practices, and mask-wearing on campus, we can’t ensure these practices outside of campus.
Many articles characterize the risk of returning to the classroom:
“But as much as I love brick-and-mortar teaching, I shudder at the prospect of teaching in a room filled with asymptomatic superspreaders,” wrote Paul M. Kellermann, Teaching Professor of English at Penn State University.
At the same time, researchers and government entities lay out the fact that reopening our schools is inevitable.
Student PTSD
Safety considerations aside (but of paramount importance), there is also the student experience. When COVID-19 started its rampage worldwide, I taught in a “physical presence” classroom of 75 students. The direct impact on my students tracked the sickness as it spread from Asia to Europe.
Each day, new reports of sick or dying friends and family members flowed into class discussions. Students lived through the trauma of the onset of city, state, and country shutdowns; many of them hastily returned to the safety of their families in their home countries.
Within days, the university programs shifted to online instruction before the end of the term, so students quickly experienced a change in lifestyle and education. During next week’s in-person class, I’ve allotted time in my lesson plan to discuss students’ experiences and re-entry to encourage a psychologically safe classroom that supports a physically safe one.
Preparation
Preparing to teach a course during a pandemic has a subtle yet important impact on pedagogy and learning objectives. My teaching style is driven by movement and use of space in the classroom – all of which must be rethought and rearranged.
Instead of moving among teams of students in the classroom, each interaction comes with a thoughtful 6-feet of distance.
Instead of ideating around a piece of paper taped to a wall, students will take turns adding their thoughts to a page (using their own assigned markers, of course).
A safe classroom requires down-to-the-minute planning to anticipate social distancing and safety measures and extra time needed to do so.
Canary In The Classroom
What can we learn from the experience of cautiously reopening our classrooms? How will this change the way that we teach or the learning experience of our students? There is certainly more to come as we explore this new way of learning.
Pamela Campagna MBA, CMC is the President of BLUE SAGE Consulting, Inc. a certified women-owned consulting firm. Pamela is a board member and chair of the Marketing and Membership Committee of CMC-Global Institute, a virtual global community for professional management consultants.
She is also a Professor of Practice at Hult International Business School, where she has taught leadership, strategy, and management courses since 2014.
According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, only 8% of leaders manage strategy execution effectively. Furthermore, leaders who can strategize well are most likely to be able to put the strategy into place, but only because they happen to make the right choices at crucial points in executing their strategies.
As most leaders know, strategies are simply roadmaps, and there are extenuating circumstances that can change the plan in a blink of an eye. This is what separates a strategy from a plan: a plan may not necessarily consider extenuating circumstances. In contrast, a strategy can fail if it is too complex and demanding for those who have to execute it. For example, if a manager assigns a project to a team of two employees when it usually requires at least five people to execute it, the project may be doomed to fail. Similarly, a complex strategy usually leads to complicated execution.
What Makes Strategy Executable and Effective?
Sir Lawrence Freedman, renowned author, and professor of War Studies at the prestigious King’s College in London, penned a book in 2013 entitled “Strategy: A History”in which he demonstrates how strategy must have a working definition in order to evolve and be relevant. He makes a strong argument about using all available resources to enable one to react to unanticipated events and stay on course. He terms it “the art of creating power” because it entails a delicate balance of power, authority, and resources.
As a historian, Sir Lawrence has studied military strategy, which he says dates back to Greek mythology when gods employed either raw strength or guile in their battles. This is evident when you look at two great warriors, Achilles, and Odysseus, who both fought on the side of the Greeks during the Trojan War. Achilles used his strength to fight while Odysseus used his craftiness and the Trojan wooden horse to end the war.
Studies have shown that top executives are often frustrated with achieving success with only 65% of their financial strategies. What does this mean? “The strategies are outstanding, so why aren’t we reaching our goals?” is what troubles most managers because they simply don’t comprehend why they cannot bridge the underperformance gap between strategy and execution. As a result, the organization ends up wasting energy, time, and missed opportunities.
In a nutshell, strategy is an ongoing process that takes you from one level of success to the next. A strategy should have a beginning without an end, in the sense that running an organization is an ongoing battle. And every stage will bring new challenges that a leader must face and add to the strategic plan. Sir Freedman sums it up best: “The world of strategy is full of disappointment and frustration, of means not working and ends not reached.”
How to Meet Strategy and Execution Consistently: Best Practices
For strategies to stay relevant and operative, best practices in strategy development can be employed, including:
Plan your strategy based on realistic data: your finances, resources, and market data that identify top priorities.
Ensure that your strategy has quick and corrective action.
Track performance and compare it with long-term goals.
Review and analyze people, processes, and products on a frequent basis.
Create accountabilities and establish clear communications.
Review performance bottlenecks.
Keep the strategy simple but complete and concrete, and make it a point to reward the people who are helping you achieve your goals.
Finally, avoid the common pitfall of trying to create the perfect strategy because it doesn’t exist – at least not by planning ahead. The perfect strategy is one that adapts to situations while staying true to its course.
Need help with your business strategy? Contact us for a complimentary consultation call.
An Interview with Pamela Campagna | President, BLUE SAGE Consulting, Inc.
What do you most like about your job?
Because I work with many companies and organizations, I’m able to carry what I learn from one situation to another. The variety and the constant challenge of solving client problems are really intriguing. As a Certified Management Consultant (CMC®), I am bound by the requirements of a global organization to deliver quality results in an ethical manner.
Why does your work stand out from others that do what you do?
My clients can speak to that: “I had the pleasure of working with Pam at a few firms, one where I hired her as a consultant to help launch new marketing and sales initiatives under an extraordinarily tight timeline. Pam is a strategic thinker who cuts through the noise and identifies the high impact issues and opportunities. She maps out clear plans and then tirelessly executes. Pam just jumps in and does what it takes to achieve the desired targets and immediately earns the respect of the teams she works with. I would highly recommend Pam! “
What questions are you commonly asked, and how do you answer?
Many clients aren’t sure how to work with a consultant. One common question is: “I’m not sure where to get started.” Once the client begins to describe the issue in their business (and with my prodding and probing and discussion), I can get a general sense of where we need to start and how I can help them. Sometimes we “don’t know what we don’t know”. That’s where I come in!
If I were a client, what should I know about your business?
There’s no magic in consulting. Just like many other professions, there are methodologies and processes and best practices that can be followed. Being able to solve problems, think strategically and act with urgency to improve the client’s situation should be the most important role that a consultant can play. Consultants who are committed to the business of consulting and have a lot of successes under their belt can save companies a lot of time and money.
What is the most memorable client engagement that you’ve had?
Several years ago, I was contacted by a company that was looking for help to reorganize their sales organization. Once I started to ask what product they sold (and to whom), what the plans were for products and services in the future (they weren’t sure), how profitable each product was (less sure) and what the business strategy was for the company….we realized that what was missing was a strategy for the company and specific plans to implement it. The sales force wasn’t broken. The company’s strategy was. We started what turned out to be a 4-year engagement, by working on their strategy, then on their product line offerings and go-to-market plan. The engagement was especially worthwhile for the client as it moved their business into a direction much quicker than they had imagined.
Are most of your engagements that long and complex?
By its very nature, the work that I do involves many elements of the client’s business. Whether it’s creating a marketing strategy or developing a program for customer retention, the consulting work tends to be more complex. However, there have been many instances where the project was straightforward and the goals were clear so the work that we did was mostly to execute the project.
What are the most common types of work that you do for your clients?
Our clients in B2B, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and non-profit organizations look to us for:
short-term help on a business issue
long-term advice on operational improvements
growth strategies for a lagging product line
skills development for teams and individuals
guidance on how to develop marketing initiatives
leadership for change and transformation initiatives
operating model and process improvement development
special, unstaffed projects
The projects and engagements span a wide range: we’ve gone to Capitol Hill with a client to support their lobbying efforts as part of their business development strategy. We’ve developed distribution plans and processes with Amazon for another client. We’ve worked with a large pharma to understand the impact of their investment in medical education. Dozens of engagements have included product launches, services implementation, press and analyst relationship development and staff development. And every single engagement is unique.
How do you stay up to date on tools and happenings in your industry?
In addition to my consulting practice, I am an Adjunct Professor at Boston College and a Professor of Practice at Hult International Business School where I teach Leadership, Strategy, and Marketing. The combination of in-the-field experience with my clients, and teaching and collaborating with students and faculty in higher education are a great source of information and inspiration. In addition, we invest our resources in continuing education and ongoing personal development.
Can you name a few trends that you think will have an impact on the consulting industry?
The landscape of the workplace is changing. The concept of a “job for life” doesn’t really exist anymore. The distinction between a contractor (someone who is between jobs or who is a person-for-hire) and a consultant (someone who follows a specific competency framework and builds a business) is confusing to companies that are looking to hire a competent supplement in their organization. Often, the alternative of a large agency or a big consulting firm is too cumbersome for companies that want to get a job done quickly without a lot of overhead.
The trend of “talented resources on demand” will continue and offers an opportunity for consultants like me and the BLUE SAGE team to provide value to clients who are looking for proven results from a team of experts who have years of experience in a number of businesses and challenging situations.
Does this mean that you work alone?
Actually, it really depends on the needs of the client and the requirement of the engagement. In some cases, I work alone on a particular project or as a retainer-based outsourced consultant. Other times, the project may require subject matter expertise or additional bandwidth to be completed. In that situation, I call on BLUE SAGE Associates with whom I’ve worked over the years. They work for the client as part of my team. In addition, I often work with internal teams in the client organization to get the job done.
What are some of the pitfalls of the business?
I’ve spent thousands of hours on 100s of projects helping my clients to navigate through change, build their strategy and run their businesses. I can typically get a sense of how the working relationship with the client will be, based on how discussions go as we figure out how to work together. I can also get a sense of how challenging an engagement will be based on early interactions with potential clients.
Sometimes, the early interactions are an indication that the working relationship is not a good fit. Take, for example, the company in New York that was looking for help to get their marketing activities and infrastructure in shape as they were preparing to seek another round of funding from an investor. I was introduced to the company through one of the key stakeholders and had several conversations and meetings with their leadership. After that first meeting, it became very clear that the President of the company didn’t understand how a “solid” company might run – as they themselves had very little business experience. That’s not unusual, and it allows a consultant to be a “teacher” as well as a consultant. It also became clear during that first meeting that the President was more comfortable doing the work that he had always done instead of taking on more of a leadership role. He spent his days writing copy for the website and code for the product instead of building a team to take that product to market and sell it.
I’m a firm believer in studying best practices and learning by them. I believe in having a sense of urgency and driving toward a goal in an organized fashion. In this case, indecision and “business as usual” were the way that this company runs, and they were not prepared to take action to change. So for them, the timing wasn’t right and it was clear to me that the client was not a good fit for BLUE SAGE as I could not serve them well. In this case, I respectfully pulled out of discussions and I continue to stay in touch with the stakeholder if I can help them in the future.
What is the best way to determine if working with a consultant is the right thing for a business leader?
I rarely come across a leader who thinks that they “need a consultant” in their business. Typically, there is a business need – a pain, a challenge, an opportunity – that needs some attention. Sometimes an objective perspective from an outside third party is what’s required. In any of these scenarios, a qualified consultant should be able to get a sense of the business need and outline areas that might be explored. There are different methodologies that we use depending on the nature of the business problem and the level of complexity. In some cases, it may be as simple as defining a plan and then moving to implement and manage the plan. Either way, the best way to understand whether or not a consultant is a good solution for a business leader is to start a conversation.
