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Back to the Performance Improvement Journal Home PageNovember/December, 2003 Editor’s Notes Commentary: Migrating From ISD to HPT…You, Me, and the Society Conflict as a Virtue
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Executive Summaries
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| Conflict as a Virtue by Dale A. Jadzinski Although current literature on conflict frequently describes conflict as a natural, normal consequence of everyday life and often promotes learning as one of its positive outcomes, many organizations hold a negative view of conflict. To effectively manage conflict, performance technologists need to understand why conflict is a natural outcome of life, how it facilitates learning, and how this view of conflict may be used as a framework to understand conflict within organizations. This article suggests that conflict begins with change, that change brings new information that influences people to think or act in new and different ways, and that when conflict results in new ways of thought or action, learning occurs. Jadzinski introduces the idea of conflict as a virtue and presents the five characteristics of its virtue in organizational contexts, supported by current literature on conflict. The article concludes with the suggestion that when conflict is viewed as a virtue, performance technologists can use it as a framework to help organizations reduce its negative effects while increasing the positive effects of conflict. Measuring HPT Interventions: The Dilemma, Challenges, and Solutions by Greg Wang, PhD, and Jie Li, PhD This article discusses the dilemma and challenges faced by HPT professionals in evaluating and measuring performance improvement interventions. By reviewing the existing popular evaluation and measurement models and their evolution over time, Wang and Li clarify commonly held misconceptions and misunderstandings about the four-level model and traditional return on investment (ROI) model, as well as their functions. Three obstacles -- technical, business, and analytical -- are discussed to address the challenges in developing sound ROI measurement approaches. By introducing several emerging measurement approaches, the article also calls for further development of sound measurement systems. Asking and Answering the Right Questions: Collecting Useful and Relevant Data by Ingrid Guerra, PhD Sound decisions are made on the basis of relevant, reliable, and valid data related to important questions. These data should come from measurable indicators of the results we want to accomplish, thereby allowing us to prove the value of our efforts, without relying on opinions about what we should be doing and accomplishing. Whatever the results you seek and the related questions for which you want answers, the data-collection process should be systematic and designed to render pertinent data that will enable you to make sound decisions. Structuring Strategic Conversations Around Work Design and Performance by Irving H. Buchen Giving organizations and employees a stronger voice and say requires that managerial monologue be replaced by manager-worker dialogue. The use of strategic interviews, problem solving conversations, and scenario plans can bring about a more interactive and productive community of collaborators. It also can yield more self-reflective and self-examining performance evaluations. Implementing Knowledge Management: The KM Grid by Frances Horibe In an information economy, it is becoming increasingly evident that those organizations that undertake to seriously manage their knowledge will have a competitive advantage. However, how to do this is often a mystery. Through the use of a knowledge management grid, this article demonstrates how to move through a four-stage process of knowledge management, each of which has three phases. Organizations need to work their way through all four stages, and they must successfully tackle the tasks in each stage to effectively manage their knowledge. 360° Assessments -- Where Do I Start? by Marcie Levine A 360° or multi-rater assessment allows for the evaluation of a person, team, project, or organization by many of the people who work with that person or team, on a project, or in that organization. This article focuses on the use of a 360° assessment for individual feedback. When employees receive feedback only from their managers, they act on limited information. If employees receive feedback from other co-workers -- 360° feedback -- they gain a more complete picture of performance. In this discussion, a series of seven steps provide a guide through the 360° feedback process. This article provides an introduction to some of the areas of discussion, methods, and decision points important to the effective implementation of a 360° assessment process. |
