Participation in Class and On-the-Job

Posted by jlubans on June 22, 2012

Dr. Jana Varlejs, my esteemed colleague at Rutgers, gave me some feedback about the Democratic Workplace syllabus. “My only ‘quibble’ is with so much of the grade (45%) going to participation, which is a squishy thing to measure - needs some criteria, or less weight. You probably have criteria in your head, but the students will want to know.”
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Caption 1: The Mohawk Walk, taking all of your team across the cable requires intense participation.
Dr. Varlejs makes a good point, one I had not thought a lot about. Is participation not obvious? Certainly not as evident as in the above picture of outdoor team building! Well, what does participation look like? What student behaviors demonstrate class participation?
A few minutes freethinking produced these criteria:
- Doing assigned work ahead of class.
- Preparing for discussion of readings and topic discussion.
- Encouraging others through word and gesture.
- Being there!
- Asking questions and making observations based on course content, personal experience, group activities.
- Being an effective follower, independent in thought and action-oriented.
- Listening to what others say.
- Volunteering to do more than your share.

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Caption 2: Up-close participation.
As I made the list, I had second thoughts about using it as a hand out. Would it not be regarded as yet another prescription from Herr Professor?
Instead, I am going to ask the students to define participation through small groups, of 4 or 5 students. Their charge will be to tell me five key participant behaviors (in English). Once I know what the students think, I’ll merge with my perspective. If we are miles apart, then we’ll discuss and resolve.
Since this class is about working, any definition of what it means to participate in class could be relevant to the workplace.
Here’s the adjusted list:
- Doing assigned work ahead of decision-making meetings.
- Preparing for discussion of agenda topics.
- Encouraging others through word and gesture.
- Being there!
- Asking questions and making observations based on expertise, personal experience, and on what needs doing.
- Being an effective follower, independent in thought and action-oriented.
- Listening to what others say.
- Volunteering to do more than your share.
I know workers, regardless of title, who participate fully. For some reason, they are less about themselves than they are one-for-all in support of their colleagues. They think about their work and tinker with ideas to make the work more efficient. If they have ideas to share they do not hold back. (Chapter 13, Leading from the Middle, “The Spark Plug: A Leader’s Catalyst for Change" discusses my experiences with these exceptional people.)
What role does a leader have in encouraging and protecting this kind of staff member? What actions can organizations take to make participation the expected and enforced norm?
I also know workers who are stingy in their participation. Now, I know that organizations and their cultures have a lot to do with shutting down participation. An organization’s culture or a controlling boss probably has more to do with non-participation than any individual worker’s unique intransigence or taciturnity.
What does non-participation look like? Flip each of the statements to the negative, presto!
- Don’t prepare.
- Don’t ask questions.
- Don’t listen.
- Don’t support others.
- Do not volunteer.
If you as a leader want more staff participation, you might ask your staff - just like I will query my students. Have a conversation. Mention what you observe and what you would like to see changed and why. Ask for their help in identifying what you and the organization can do differently. I will guarantee (money back!) three things about this conversation:
1. The staff will know you much better.
2. You will know the staff better.
3. You will “liberate” at least one staff member to think and make suggestions, independently.



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Comments

Posted by miriam on June 22, 2012  •  09:35:55

YOU ROCK JOHN...please keep changing the ways that people work together...oh...and tell Sheryl that we are very sorry about the finals..

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