"That Was Great!": More High Impact Exercises For Teaching Or Consulting On Organizational Change 14
A two-hour interactive Academy of Management Annual meeting PDW workshop in Chicago, Friday, August 10 9:00am-11:00am
Hyatt Regency Chicago in Columbus AB,CD
Do you teach, research, or have an interest in organizational change?
For the 14th consecutive year, we offer a PDW to provide a forum for educators, researchers and consultants to showcase high impact methods for teaching organizational change in its many contexts (undergraduate, EMBA, MBA, corporate training, consulting). The workshop covers high impact classic and contemporary exercises that receive very positive responses in change programs. Two key features underpin this workshop:
- The workshop has a "hands-on" approach where participants get to experience, in part, the actual exercise or activity being undertaken.
- The teaching philosophy underpinning the workshop is a "multiple perspectives" approach which assumes that a variety of approaches, assumptions and methodologies may be employed to explore the many areas associated with organizational change.
Presenters will introduce their exercise, provide the audience with a short, hands-on sampling of it and the method for debriefing it, and will provide more detailed take away notes.
1. Gary Wagenheim (Simon Fraser U) and Keith Hunter (San Francisco U) will present The Rolling Ball Change Exercise, an interactive organizational change activity. This exercise highlights the difficulties inherent in balancing coordinated actions between interdependent participants to accomplish an organizational goal. The session facilitator will use the exercise to help participants learn the importance of developing appropriate support skills for leading members through the change process while concurrently balancing the need for efficiency in performing routine organizational tasks.
2. Mary Nash (Vidant Health), Michael Manning (Benedictine University) and E. John Heiser (Magnetrol International, and Benedictine University) will present A New Approach to SWOT Analysis: Best Strategic Planning Hack Ever!, a simulation of a quick, effective, participatory method to complete a SWOT analysis. When SWOT analyses are undertaken in organizations, there is commonly confusion around what belongs in each of the four categories, and the exercise tends to be conducted in isolation, given only superficial attention, or takes frustratingly long. The exercise offered here helps clarify and educate as stakeholders participate in a more efficient – even enjoyable – process. Participants in the session will engage in a simulated analysis of forces for and against a particular, commonly experienced goal.
3. Cindy Martinez (U. Southern California) will present Colorblind, an interactive verbal problem-solving activity based on the exercise developed by Dr. Geoff Cox. This exercise has been used to facilitate individuals' understanding of their communication style when called upon to communicate change. Colorblind helps teams reach a common understanding of meaning, and recognize problems caused with imprecise communication patterns. Colorblind is easy to set up and can be used at the start of a class or training session. The objective of the exercise is for each team (between 4 and 28 members) to establish the shape and color of the missing pieces while blindfolded. Participants will receive instructions for facilitating and debriefing the exercise.
4. Susan Adams and Tony Buono (Bentley University) will present the exercise Exploring Personal Reaction to Change. The exercise involves a card game that provides participants with the opportunity to explore how they react to change, especially when new norms are not fully understood. The exercise helps participants examine how they act and feel when they are faced with situations where they do not fully know the rules or understand the norms. Debriefing focuses on what participants experienced and how they reacted to "new" rules, assumptions they made, whether they realized that the rules had changed, and what actions they took. The discussion will also focus on the experience of the presenters and variations in the exercise
5. Along with Gavin Schwarz (UNSW) presenters will discuss How to Effectively Debrief High Impact Exercises focusing on outcomes for organizational change teaching and consulting.
No pre-registration is neccesary to attend the session.
For information on the session contact Gavin Schwarz (g.schwarz@unsw.edu.au ).