Friday, April 08, 2005
More Final Reflections
Final Reflections
Since my portfolio presentation was divided into phases, I will organize my reflection in a similar process.
Phase 1 - Preparation
Looking back at my initial reflections about my own mentors and their impact on me and each of the different ways they interacted with me made me really analyze how I had mentored people in the past during the preparation phase. I explored my own role in these relationships as well as the role of my mentors. I realized there were points in time when they as mentors received and learned from me as much as I did from them.
Looking at that information now, after my mentoring project has come full circle, these initial reflections take on a deeper and different meaning. All of these relationships I described in my artifact “Who Mentored You” were individual relationships, mentee-mentor relationships. I feel that much of my preparation was surrounding mentoring, but more geared towards one on one mentoring, not necessarily group mentoring or guidance. If I were to mentor another group, I would extend my preparation phase to include exploration of how I benefited from a group that grew and expanded and my role as a member of a community(group) as well as my previous roles as a group leader. I would also spend a significant amount of time reflecting on group dynamics and team leadership.
Phase 2 - Negotiating
Thinking back to this phase of “making the deal” the mentoring plan was especially helpful. It provided a tool for synthesizing the expectations, needs and goals of the upcoming mentoring process. Although I think my analysis of the community was quite accurate, what I didn’t realize at that time, but has since become clear to me, is the difference between a “want” and a “need”. Although my CoP WANTED to create this virtual community resembling their face to face community, it wasn’t a need or even necessarily a very motivated desire. This in conjunction with the timing issues, I believe pushed the community’s motivation for contributing to this online community somewhere further down on their lists.
Timing is another thing I would have explored a little deeper, although unexpected occurrences surface any time, sometimes there are planned events that might impact the community. In my case, there was a significant group project which consumed nearly all the members free time which contributed to the lack of motivation to get the virtual community off its feet.
In my plan, I didn’t have very specific goals since I was unsure of what to expect from thr community, however if I were to be involved in a similar process again, I would have a better idea of how to crystallize some realistic goals. I think reflecting back on my plan, the main goal was to create this online community and transform it from a face to face community to a virtual community. As my plan specifies, the measure of success was pure participation. Analyzing this success indicator, my mentoring process was not successful. However, I don’t think I realized how persuasive I needed to be to ignite participation in a group. That was something I definitely underestimated the difficulty of motivating members to participate when their time was being demanded elsewhere.
As I think about this negotiating process of jointly determining goals, needs and expectations next time around I would be more specific of the expectations for the members of the group. I don’t believe I could have known what those expectations would have been when I created my plan, however this process has given me a much more vivid understanding of realistic expectations and the time frames associated with them.
During my face to face time with the group when we discussed the plan and the technology we would use, I found out that only 3 of the 39 people had every participated in a virtual forum or message board. This awareness made me understand the scope would be a little different than I originally thought. At this point, education and exposure would become more likely goals than merely participation since this was a new technology for the majority.
Phase 3 - Enabling
Nurturing a group, I found is really about nurturing many individuals simultaneously. As this phase was well underway, I decided it was more difficult in many ways to mentor a group rather than an individual. I found that the best way to build trust and demonstrate respect for the group was to demonstrate it with members of the group. Since this group was 39 people, establishing trust and respect with every person in the group was nearly impossible. As with any group, there are key people which impact the overall attitudes and opinions of the entire group. I found that observing the group and determining which people these might be was helpful and efficient. I could then, concentrate on establishing relationships with some of these people. In my correspondence artifact, is an example of how I interacted with members of the group by going above and beyond my normal role, to assist them with a need. This actions on my part, I found made significant impact on how the group felt towards me, the presence of me as an insider of the group became more apparent, as more of these interactions occurred. I noticed members of the group would communicate things to me that were part of the “inner circle” of the group, this was an indicator to me, that I had made significant headway in establishing trust and respect with both members of the group, as well as the group as a whole.
I found that working with a few people or individuals made tremendous strides in the affect for the virtual community. Although I clearly didn’t accomplish the goals I originally set out to attain, I do believe I made headway with the group by elevating the “want” to a more motivated desire. I also know based on my final survey results, I educated and exposed the group by making them more aware of this virtual forum technology and in turn, more comfortable with the medium for establishing this virtual community.
On a related note, I also think that size of the community was a significant factor, I believe this group of 39 was too large to create a community. I think with this size of a group, there was a sense of anonymity which worked against participation. I believe the group was big enough, where people felt like there were enough others to participate, even if they didn’t.
These factors of size, creating trust and respect among a group are also addressed in the “How Are We Doing” artifact.
Phase 4: Closure
The closure really came earlier than I expected, since I determined that my original goals were not met. Despite that, I consider this to be a success since mentoring is a process where both parties learn. With that being an indicator, success occurred. I made major strides in understanding dynamics, traits, motivators and needs of virtual communities indicated in the prior 3 phases, the members of the community succeeded by exposing themselves to a new technology for communication and further establishing trust and respect with me.
In the survey artifact, I’ve gathered a sampling of responses. My results indicated 100% of the community is interest in being a part of a virtual community despite lack of prior exposure. The survey also indicated these members saw benefits to using this technology and had a clearer understanding of it’s uses. Many of them also indicated this technology might be a tool for accomplishing goals they had set for their personal development. This question specifically helps me to understand they equate value with the tool and the forum which is critical.
Overall, I’ve made significant gains in all 4 phases of the mentoring process. I feel this project has prepared me for future mentoring both individually but especially when working with a CoP or CoL.
The culmination of this closure process was the recognition of the good and the bad in this process and beginning a new process with a smaller, more focused group. I have actually already begun that process. I have used the process of reflecting on this entire process to come up with the next phase of this group mentoring. I have laid out specific expectations and goals and asked for only those that are interested in participating and can meet the expectations to participate. I am in the 2nd week of this process and just beginning the 3rd phase of nurturing. I have 9 people participating in this group and I’m very excited to see how this CoL will evolve and what I will learn.
Since my portfolio presentation was divided into phases, I will organize my reflection in a similar process.
Phase 1 - Preparation
Looking back at my initial reflections about my own mentors and their impact on me and each of the different ways they interacted with me made me really analyze how I had mentored people in the past during the preparation phase. I explored my own role in these relationships as well as the role of my mentors. I realized there were points in time when they as mentors received and learned from me as much as I did from them.
Looking at that information now, after my mentoring project has come full circle, these initial reflections take on a deeper and different meaning. All of these relationships I described in my artifact “Who Mentored You” were individual relationships, mentee-mentor relationships. I feel that much of my preparation was surrounding mentoring, but more geared towards one on one mentoring, not necessarily group mentoring or guidance. If I were to mentor another group, I would extend my preparation phase to include exploration of how I benefited from a group that grew and expanded and my role as a member of a community(group) as well as my previous roles as a group leader. I would also spend a significant amount of time reflecting on group dynamics and team leadership.
Phase 2 - Negotiating
Thinking back to this phase of “making the deal” the mentoring plan was especially helpful. It provided a tool for synthesizing the expectations, needs and goals of the upcoming mentoring process. Although I think my analysis of the community was quite accurate, what I didn’t realize at that time, but has since become clear to me, is the difference between a “want” and a “need”. Although my CoP WANTED to create this virtual community resembling their face to face community, it wasn’t a need or even necessarily a very motivated desire. This in conjunction with the timing issues, I believe pushed the community’s motivation for contributing to this online community somewhere further down on their lists.
Timing is another thing I would have explored a little deeper, although unexpected occurrences surface any time, sometimes there are planned events that might impact the community. In my case, there was a significant group project which consumed nearly all the members free time which contributed to the lack of motivation to get the virtual community off its feet.
In my plan, I didn’t have very specific goals since I was unsure of what to expect from thr community, however if I were to be involved in a similar process again, I would have a better idea of how to crystallize some realistic goals. I think reflecting back on my plan, the main goal was to create this online community and transform it from a face to face community to a virtual community. As my plan specifies, the measure of success was pure participation. Analyzing this success indicator, my mentoring process was not successful. However, I don’t think I realized how persuasive I needed to be to ignite participation in a group. That was something I definitely underestimated the difficulty of motivating members to participate when their time was being demanded elsewhere.
As I think about this negotiating process of jointly determining goals, needs and expectations next time around I would be more specific of the expectations for the members of the group. I don’t believe I could have known what those expectations would have been when I created my plan, however this process has given me a much more vivid understanding of realistic expectations and the time frames associated with them.
During my face to face time with the group when we discussed the plan and the technology we would use, I found out that only 3 of the 39 people had every participated in a virtual forum or message board. This awareness made me understand the scope would be a little different than I originally thought. At this point, education and exposure would become more likely goals than merely participation since this was a new technology for the majority.
Phase 3 - Enabling
Nurturing a group, I found is really about nurturing many individuals simultaneously. As this phase was well underway, I decided it was more difficult in many ways to mentor a group rather than an individual. I found that the best way to build trust and demonstrate respect for the group was to demonstrate it with members of the group. Since this group was 39 people, establishing trust and respect with every person in the group was nearly impossible. As with any group, there are key people which impact the overall attitudes and opinions of the entire group. I found that observing the group and determining which people these might be was helpful and efficient. I could then, concentrate on establishing relationships with some of these people. In my correspondence artifact, is an example of how I interacted with members of the group by going above and beyond my normal role, to assist them with a need. This actions on my part, I found made significant impact on how the group felt towards me, the presence of me as an insider of the group became more apparent, as more of these interactions occurred. I noticed members of the group would communicate things to me that were part of the “inner circle” of the group, this was an indicator to me, that I had made significant headway in establishing trust and respect with both members of the group, as well as the group as a whole.
I found that working with a few people or individuals made tremendous strides in the affect for the virtual community. Although I clearly didn’t accomplish the goals I originally set out to attain, I do believe I made headway with the group by elevating the “want” to a more motivated desire. I also know based on my final survey results, I educated and exposed the group by making them more aware of this virtual forum technology and in turn, more comfortable with the medium for establishing this virtual community.
On a related note, I also think that size of the community was a significant factor, I believe this group of 39 was too large to create a community. I think with this size of a group, there was a sense of anonymity which worked against participation. I believe the group was big enough, where people felt like there were enough others to participate, even if they didn’t.
These factors of size, creating trust and respect among a group are also addressed in the “How Are We Doing” artifact.
Phase 4: Closure
The closure really came earlier than I expected, since I determined that my original goals were not met. Despite that, I consider this to be a success since mentoring is a process where both parties learn. With that being an indicator, success occurred. I made major strides in understanding dynamics, traits, motivators and needs of virtual communities indicated in the prior 3 phases, the members of the community succeeded by exposing themselves to a new technology for communication and further establishing trust and respect with me.
In the survey artifact, I’ve gathered a sampling of responses. My results indicated 100% of the community is interest in being a part of a virtual community despite lack of prior exposure. The survey also indicated these members saw benefits to using this technology and had a clearer understanding of it’s uses. Many of them also indicated this technology might be a tool for accomplishing goals they had set for their personal development. This question specifically helps me to understand they equate value with the tool and the forum which is critical.
Overall, I’ve made significant gains in all 4 phases of the mentoring process. I feel this project has prepared me for future mentoring both individually but especially when working with a CoP or CoL.
The culmination of this closure process was the recognition of the good and the bad in this process and beginning a new process with a smaller, more focused group. I have actually already begun that process. I have used the process of reflecting on this entire process to come up with the next phase of this group mentoring. I have laid out specific expectations and goals and asked for only those that are interested in participating and can meet the expectations to participate. I am in the 2nd week of this process and just beginning the 3rd phase of nurturing. I have 9 people participating in this group and I’m very excited to see how this CoL will evolve and what I will learn.
Friday, April 01, 2005
What are goals if you don't revise them?
When I looked back at my original goals and expectations, i know they were indicitive of where i was at the time. I also realize looking back on these, how far I have come. People always say hindsight is 20/20 but I think it's actuallly a little more than that. I think hindsight provides you with a lens of looking back at what you thought with the new knowledge you have acquired enabling you to actually "see" what you have learned. What better way to see how far you have come, than to look back to where you were coming from. This process of reviewing all of my blog and assignments allows me that opportunity, to see the progress I have made. Even more exciting, is my particular situation, although it didn't turn out as I expected, I am able to revise and continue...a real ARP. This process alloweded me to more deeply understand what I set out to do, so now I can set out to continue my original goals. Although some variables have changed, such as the size and scopr of the community I originally set out to work with, one of the major goals remains, that is to establish a virtual, cohesive community. And so the process continues....
Friday, March 25, 2005
Mentoring Assignment
How Are We Doing?
Mentor’s Worksheet
My mentee and I have been meeting for ___________ (amount of time).
Approximately 6 weeks
I feel we have established enough trust between us that we can work well together.
Yes
I'll say that since I'm mentoring a group that with some of the group , definately and with others in the group no.
If s/he’s upset or unhappy with me or our relationship, I’m confident my mentee would talk to me about what’s going on.
Disagree. I don't think as a group we have reached this level of intimacy where they would tell me if something was wrong. AGain, I think gthe group is too big. I feel like a few of the members within the group would probably feel comfortable doing this, but not everyone in the entire group.
If I were upset or unhappy with my mentee or our relationship, I would feel comfortable talking with my mentee about what’s going on.
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Again, I'm going to say in general it is hard to say because I feel like with the group, some I would be comfortbale talking with and others I wouldn't.
I feel we’ve made real headway in helping my mentee set goals and take steps to implement them.
Agree. Again, this question is more geared for one on one mentoring but as a whole, I believe I've made headway with the group in establishing trust among the group and within the group close relationships have developed. I cannot take credit for all of this, since the group is part of a pseudo cadre which I interact with but am not responsible for. I'm able to use these relationships they are developing within the group and leverage them, however. Now that this group has completed their face 2 face time, I feel like my role is just beginning. I'm allowing for them to communicate virtually via phpbb. I'm not sure I have buy in from the entire group as I mentioned above, however I do believe I will be able to narrow this group down to a more focussed and committed core group which I will contineu to work with for this project and for my ARP.
Five things I feel are going great in our mentoring relationship are:
1. I've definately established trust with a handful of people in the group. I feel like if they need something or would like to talk they will have no problem contacting me.
2.The group as a whole has continuity and tightness.
3. I've established the means for the virtual communication of the community which will begin being utilized as the group returns to their respective offices
4. I feel I have made significant headway with some key members of the group and that I can have those members buy into the smaller core group I'm working on establishing.
5.As a member of the group but not an equal, I feel like I will receieve as much from this relationship as they fhopefully feel they will benefit. I see the yin-yang effect at WORK!
One thing I wish I could change about how we interact with each other is…
I wish I could get more participation as a whole by the entire group. I feel like the group is too big and I wish I would have thought more about that prior to the relationship. I still have learned tremendously from this, I realize how important intimacy is in a mentoring relationship and that just can't be accomplished when the group is too big. For both this and for my ARP I'm in the process of breaking the group down into a smaller "sub-group". I probably should have done this sooner but it took me a while to realize and a fair amount of reflecting to figure out exactly how to accomplish this!
Mentor’s Worksheet
My mentee and I have been meeting for ___________ (amount of time).
Approximately 6 weeks
I feel we have established enough trust between us that we can work well together.
Yes
I'll say that since I'm mentoring a group that with some of the group , definately and with others in the group no.
If s/he’s upset or unhappy with me or our relationship, I’m confident my mentee would talk to me about what’s going on.
Disagree. I don't think as a group we have reached this level of intimacy where they would tell me if something was wrong. AGain, I think gthe group is too big. I feel like a few of the members within the group would probably feel comfortable doing this, but not everyone in the entire group.
If I were upset or unhappy with my mentee or our relationship, I would feel comfortable talking with my mentee about what’s going on.
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Again, I'm going to say in general it is hard to say because I feel like with the group, some I would be comfortbale talking with and others I wouldn't.
I feel we’ve made real headway in helping my mentee set goals and take steps to implement them.
Agree. Again, this question is more geared for one on one mentoring but as a whole, I believe I've made headway with the group in establishing trust among the group and within the group close relationships have developed. I cannot take credit for all of this, since the group is part of a pseudo cadre which I interact with but am not responsible for. I'm able to use these relationships they are developing within the group and leverage them, however. Now that this group has completed their face 2 face time, I feel like my role is just beginning. I'm allowing for them to communicate virtually via phpbb. I'm not sure I have buy in from the entire group as I mentioned above, however I do believe I will be able to narrow this group down to a more focussed and committed core group which I will contineu to work with for this project and for my ARP.
Five things I feel are going great in our mentoring relationship are:
1. I've definately established trust with a handful of people in the group. I feel like if they need something or would like to talk they will have no problem contacting me.
2.The group as a whole has continuity and tightness.
3. I've established the means for the virtual communication of the community which will begin being utilized as the group returns to their respective offices
4. I feel I have made significant headway with some key members of the group and that I can have those members buy into the smaller core group I'm working on establishing.
5.As a member of the group but not an equal, I feel like I will receieve as much from this relationship as they fhopefully feel they will benefit. I see the yin-yang effect at WORK!
One thing I wish I could change about how we interact with each other is…
I wish I could get more participation as a whole by the entire group. I feel like the group is too big and I wish I would have thought more about that prior to the relationship. I still have learned tremendously from this, I realize how important intimacy is in a mentoring relationship and that just can't be accomplished when the group is too big. For both this and for my ARP I'm in the process of breaking the group down into a smaller "sub-group". I probably should have done this sooner but it took me a while to realize and a fair amount of reflecting to figure out exactly how to accomplish this!
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Progress of my mentoring
I've been working with my group but the timing hasn't quite worked out in my favor. Again a little background on the group is that there are 40 employees of the company in town doing a training and next week they will return to their respective national offices. Group mentoring, my goals were to help them to develop as a group that could continue virtual relationships and sharing of resources. The face to face time hasn' t involved me quite as much as I would have liked although I've had a fair amount of interaction with a wide rand of the group one on one. I've come to realize they do value me as a resource and respect my knowledge and expertise.
Today I spent some time doing some specific training with 4 of the members of the group. I find that this one on one (or small group) time is invaluable in bonding. I stayed later after nearly all the others were gone and helped answer some other questions and provide as a resource to them. Although there were only a few people left, I felt a more intense bonding happen "after hours". I also found that going above and beyond goes miles with estblishing trust. This I see as being invaluable to working with the group. I feel I have definately furthered my relationship with the group as a whole as well as many of the individuals. I find that having bettered my one on one relationships definately spreads throughout the group.
In addition, I find that when I become more interested in them and ask genuine interests, they become more interested in me. I think this helps them see me as a person and vice versa.
Today I spent some time doing some specific training with 4 of the members of the group. I find that this one on one (or small group) time is invaluable in bonding. I stayed later after nearly all the others were gone and helped answer some other questions and provide as a resource to them. Although there were only a few people left, I felt a more intense bonding happen "after hours". I also found that going above and beyond goes miles with estblishing trust. This I see as being invaluable to working with the group. I feel I have definately furthered my relationship with the group as a whole as well as many of the individuals. I find that having bettered my one on one relationships definately spreads throughout the group.
In addition, I find that when I become more interested in them and ask genuine interests, they become more interested in me. I think this helps them see me as a person and vice versa.
Monday, March 07, 2005
What would I Do Differently...Next Steps
So to continue from the last blog.
Here is what I would do differently next time I mentor a group or help to build a CoP or CoL.
1 - Fill a Need/Build Value
Although I believe the group I worked with saw value in being able to share information virtually, in hindsight, I see the importance of making sure you are filling a need the group has. I also think this helps with building value, if the members of a group have a void and you are helping to fill that void, value will be inherint in the process.
Value can also be built by discussions or examples and benefits.
2 - Intimate Group
I think that the group I worked with was too big. I think that the size of the group created anonyimity in the group so no one felt accountable for particpating. They all felt like someone else would particpate.
3 - Consier Timing and Build Immediacy
Again, hindsight is clearly 20/20 but I think I should have done a better job outlaying the goals to the group and incorporating the timing with each goal. I think if they would have had a better idea of what the particular time frames were, they would have felt more compelled to participate now, rather than later. In addition to that, I believe the timing for this particular group was bad. They had so many other outisde pulls during the time that I was to mentor them that particpation in this group became a low priority.
Those are just a few things I've learned.
My next steps will be to ask for particpants with out right expectations and time frames to provide me a group that is willing and motivated to particpate.
Here is what I would do differently next time I mentor a group or help to build a CoP or CoL.
1 - Fill a Need/Build Value
Although I believe the group I worked with saw value in being able to share information virtually, in hindsight, I see the importance of making sure you are filling a need the group has. I also think this helps with building value, if the members of a group have a void and you are helping to fill that void, value will be inherint in the process.
Value can also be built by discussions or examples and benefits.
2 - Intimate Group
I think that the group I worked with was too big. I think that the size of the group created anonyimity in the group so no one felt accountable for particpating. They all felt like someone else would particpate.
3 - Consier Timing and Build Immediacy
Again, hindsight is clearly 20/20 but I think I should have done a better job outlaying the goals to the group and incorporating the timing with each goal. I think if they would have had a better idea of what the particular time frames were, they would have felt more compelled to participate now, rather than later. In addition to that, I believe the timing for this particular group was bad. They had so many other outisde pulls during the time that I was to mentor them that particpation in this group became a low priority.
Those are just a few things I've learned.
My next steps will be to ask for particpants with out right expectations and time frames to provide me a group that is willing and motivated to particpate.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Building In Value
When I look back at my original vision I posted in January, it makes me kind of sad. I can feel my excitement as I read through what I thought would unfold, but it hasn't. As I wrote in my last blog about trying to get a group of people to do something, I feel like I'm herding wild dogs or something. After I realized the group did not seem to be latching on to the virtual identity, I've thought of several other changes I could make. I think because the group is so big, that each person feels like they blend into the group and there is a sense of anonymity. In this case, I don't think that is good. When we talked about one on one mentoring, we discussed setting up commitments and expectations as well as two engaged learners. Although I realized this was important for a group, I don't know that I fully realized how to do this with a group. The group I worked with existed prior to mentoring as CoP (although they would not recognize this term) so my goal was to help them with their virtual identity. The difficult part was building value into this. I believed they saw the value but in hindsight, I'm not sure they did.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Dynamics of a group
Although I’ve mentored people before, I must admit that I haven’t ever thought about it as much as I have over the last few months. I truly believe the awareness of all of the different things involved in mentoring is truly beneficial for both mentee and mentor. I feel like I’ve significantly increased my knowledge about mentoring in general as well as my awareness of all the capacities involved.
My group mentoring project has particularly enlightening. I believe I knew prior to this class that mentoring involves both parties being committed and learning but the group mentoring for me has taken on a different meaning and understanding. As discussed, the mentor definitely can learn as much as the mentee(s) but I think you have to be in a position to open up for that learning. The visual from the Tao of Mentoring book we read comes to mind, that the mentor with the full cup can’t fill it up anymore, he/she has to empty some of his/her cup in order to be open to new knowledge. I’ve tried to keep that mentality. I believe that has helped me tremendously. Instead of being particularily caught up with “directing” the group I have tried to be more like the “encourager” and direct them in a more indirect way. I have learned with a group, the dynamics are very different. Like each person is different, each group is different too. I do believe, however that groups have similarities. For example, I found that it is important when working with a group, to be an active part of the group, preferably an equal. Although, the group I’m working with I’m on a slightly different level, this can work too but there are different dynamics. When mentoring a group, getting buy in from key people or leaders within the group is critical. To me, mentoring a group is much like mentoring multiple individuals and I believe the dynamics are much trickier than they are with a single individual.
I feel like with my particular situation and group, has made me acutely aware that influencing a group and trying to get a group to do something willingly and not by force, is no small task. It requires recognizing the dynamics of the group, identifying leaders, establishing value, and getting buy-in, to name a few.
My group mentoring project has particularly enlightening. I believe I knew prior to this class that mentoring involves both parties being committed and learning but the group mentoring for me has taken on a different meaning and understanding. As discussed, the mentor definitely can learn as much as the mentee(s) but I think you have to be in a position to open up for that learning. The visual from the Tao of Mentoring book we read comes to mind, that the mentor with the full cup can’t fill it up anymore, he/she has to empty some of his/her cup in order to be open to new knowledge. I’ve tried to keep that mentality. I believe that has helped me tremendously. Instead of being particularily caught up with “directing” the group I have tried to be more like the “encourager” and direct them in a more indirect way. I have learned with a group, the dynamics are very different. Like each person is different, each group is different too. I do believe, however that groups have similarities. For example, I found that it is important when working with a group, to be an active part of the group, preferably an equal. Although, the group I’m working with I’m on a slightly different level, this can work too but there are different dynamics. When mentoring a group, getting buy in from key people or leaders within the group is critical. To me, mentoring a group is much like mentoring multiple individuals and I believe the dynamics are much trickier than they are with a single individual.
I feel like with my particular situation and group, has made me acutely aware that influencing a group and trying to get a group to do something willingly and not by force, is no small task. It requires recognizing the dynamics of the group, identifying leaders, establishing value, and getting buy-in, to name a few.
Thoughts on mentoring a core group
Thinking about my group that I'm mentoring. I'm hoping I made the right decision. I feel like the group is difficult. I do know them already but the group is really big but I guess that's ok. I feel like maybe I need to spin this a little into a group of power users'. I'm wondering if I could hand pick some users and ask them to participate in my BB. This could be like the "core user group" for my ARP too which would help others to try it.
Some of the things we talked about in Florida really helped me to think about mentoring a group. The biggest thing I want to get is to help to build a community that calls on one another after the face to face trainings are done. So they not only remember each other but communicate virtually on a regular basis. I think establishing a community is somewhat there but they have no framework for continuing the community. I think this will give them that. I hope the rest happens like I think it will.
Some of the things we talked about in Florida really helped me to think about mentoring a group. The biggest thing I want to get is to help to build a community that calls on one another after the face to face trainings are done. So they not only remember each other but communicate virtually on a regular basis. I think establishing a community is somewhat there but they have no framework for continuing the community. I think this will give them that. I hope the rest happens like I think it will.
