Replying to LO27742 --
No thoughts about sociograms, and I may be playing with semantics (not for
the first time)
"training initiative, which includes teambuilding as an objective"
My understanding. A team is an OUTCOME of an environment that supports
team working. The ENVIRONMENT is an aspect of the system we have in place
and seek to manage to achieve some set of objectives, intent etc.
If we do not have groups of people working as teams we have evidence that
we have an environment that opposes team working. Ie performance
appraisal, devolved budgets, performance related pay etc will all mitigate
against teams existing.
If we have identified that we need to build our teams (teambuilding as an
objective) this indicates that there are two (black and white here)
possible reasons. Either that we do not have an environment that supports
teams or that there is a skills deficit within the staff. Gut feel based
on no data is that if we are looking at the latter then we would need a
small but on going skills acquisition programme -learning rather than
training. If it is the former then through training we need to be
addressing the understanding of the system in place and how this is
working against team working / building and change the system. Would the
team building then be an objective, a primary outcome or a secondary
outcome? EG if I am an archer my objective will be to hit the bull of the
target with all of my arrows (aim) the outcome of this will be a score,
secondary to this, if my score is greater than any of the other bowmen I
will win.
I do not know the large training programme in question, I do not know what
it was addressing and how. I do not know where in the list of objectives
and outcomes team building sat. I find it interesting however that it is
identified as an objective (what you seek to do) when it is an outcome
(what you seek to get) but this could be semantics. If not, however, has
this company been addressing the 5% deliverable by working harder /
smarter / differently or the 95% deliverable by addressing the system (Dr
Demming). And if so why?
I just thought - on the back of a raft of assumptions - that if the
training initiative has been identifying outcomes as objectives and
addressing people rather than the system should not any evaluation
identify this and the potentially poor use of resource and sustainability
of any gains made?
>I am about to undertake an evaluation of a large training initiative,
>which includes teambuilding as an objective. The client has expressed
>interest in using sociograms as an evaluation tool. Does anyone have any
>experience of this or other appraoches to assessing the impact of training
>on teamwork?
>
>"kim whitaker" <kimwhitaker@onetel.net.uk>
--Roger.
---------------------------------oooOOOooo--------------------------------------Roger C. Key mailto:roger.key@onet.co.uk Prescient - The Whole as One (44) 01639 871062 Web based training for Organisations, http://virtual-deming.com Leadership and Life!
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