Module 1 discussion
Action Research and Organizational Development Videos
There are a huge number of individuals and firms who are out
there selling their organizational development services. Take a look at videos
and/or webpages of OD consultants and find a company or individual that really
stands out in a good or bad way. Share the link to the video or webpage, and
explain what made this particular consultant or consulting firm stand out to
you. Also, discuss whether or not the material presented in the video or
webpage seems to be consistent with what you read about in the background
readings. For example, does this consultant seem to practice a form of action
research or do they do something entirely different?
One consultant whose videos or webpage you may want to check
out is Dr. Jeremy Lurey, as he is the author of one of your readings for this
module and the CEO of Plus Delta Consulting.
Module 2 discussion
Gurus of Large Group Interventions
Sandra Janoff and Marvin Weisbord are the original
developers of the Future Search method and are the founders of the Future
Search Network. Corporations pay a lot of money for their services, but
fortunately they have a few videos up on YouTube so you can get a taste of what
kind of material they go through when giving a seminar. Find some videos from
one or both of them and share the link to the video that you find the most
useful.
Harrison Owen is the developer of Open Space Technology. He
also has a few videos up on YouTube as well. Take a look at some of his videos
and share the link to one that you found to be the most useful.
Answer the following questions concenring the videos on
Future Search and Open Space:
Did the videos help you understand any of the concepts from
the background readings? Be specific as to what concepts were covered in the
videos that were also covered in the readings.
Was the video well organized and presented? Based on the
video, are you surprised that Weisbord, Janoff, and Owen are successful
consultants?
Module 3 discussion
Job Design and Job Crafting Surveys
For this discussion, you will be filling out some surveys
based on the concepts of job redesign and job crafting. The job design survey
is pretty simple, self-explanatory, and follows the five core job dimensions
discussed in the background readings: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/jobsurvey.html
The job crafting survey appears in a complicated article,
but the survey is relatively straightforward and appears on page 177 of the
article linked below. For each question, a “5” indicates strong agreement, a
“4” means moderate agreement, a “3” means neutral, a “2” means mild
disagreement, and a “1” means strong disagreement. There are four dimensions of
job crafting on this survey. All of these dimensions have five questions, with
the exception of “decreasing hindering job demands,” which has six questions.
The total possible score on each dimension is either 25 or 30, depending on the
number of questions:
http://www.academia.edu/2796261/Development_and_validation_of_the_job_crafting_scale.
You may also click the following link to access the Job Crafting Survey.
Report your scores on both surveys to your classmates and
explain whether or not the results accurately describe your current job
situation and the overall usefulness of each survey.
Also, discuss any practical implications that the results of
each survey has on your organization. Do the results indicate that any specific
job redesign or job crafting intervention should be done? Would you recommend
either survey be used for a wider range of employees at your organization to assist
in deciding on a job redesign or job crafting strategy?
Module 4 discussion
Appreciative Inquiry Interview Questions
Suppose your supervisor has asked you to lead an
Appreciative Inquiry process and as a first step you need to conduct some
interviews with your coworkers. Do a search on “Appreciative Inquiry Questions”
or “Appreciative Inquiry Interview Questions” and find two or three questions
that you think would work best for interviewing your coworkers.
For your first post, list the questions that you found and
the links to the Web pages where you found the questions. Explain why you chose
the questions and why you think they would work well with your coworkers. Don’t
just use the first two Web pages that pop up when you do your search unless you
really think these links provide the best questions.
Remember to follow up and comment on the posts of your
classmates. For those of you who are brave or are especially interested in
Appreciative Inquiry, try asking a coworker or two some of the questions that
you found and see how they respond. Share your experiences with your classmat
Module 4 reflective
discussion
Summary and Reflection
For this discussion, carefully reflect upon what you’ve
learned both in this class and in your elective concentration. Many of you may
be taking this class as a capstone for the management or leadership
concentration so think about how this class builds upon prior classes that
you’ve taken.
More specifically, answer the following questions in your
first post:
What concepts from this class did you find the most useful
or most likely to use for your career?
What concepts from prior management or leadership classes
did this class reinforce the most?
