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Increase your personal effectiveness through interpersonal awareness and "flex to the person you are working with" skills.
  Incorporating one or more Competency Styles® work books into your client activities ... ...
 

The Competency Styles® work books are a versatile and inexpensive way to add a
"self and other" insight component to a personal development experience.
You can do this in a variety of ways. This page describes a number of examples.

 
Page Menu    

By clicking on the title on the right, you will go directly to each example.

(Click on the green up arrow at the end of each example to go back to the top of this page.)

(The examples have been kept on 1 web page so that you can print all of them with 1 print command in your browser.)

 
  1. A working professional seeking to increase interpersonal skills after a performance appraisal commenting on the need to improve teamwork

  2. An personal performance coach working with an individual client

  3. An adult educator teaching a class on organizational behavior

  4. An adult educator teaching a class on group dynamics

  5. An HR consultant delivering a professional development program on supervisory skills to new managers and team leaders

  6. An external consultant working with a group of department managers to develop their teamwork abilities

  7. A mediator working with a couple in crisis

  8. A task force leader charged with developing a sense of team in a new formed project team

  9. A business coach working with the two partners who own a business

  10. An independent consultant, trainer, or group facilitator looking to expand the services offered to clients

One    

A working professional seeking to increase interpersonal skills after a performance appraisal commenting on the need to improve teamwork

4covers

Click on the center of any cover to get more details about that work book IWO details GUI details MD Details SPA details IWO page

 

 
  1. After meeting with the boss, a working professional meets with an HR consultant to talk about how to address performance appraisal comments that suggest improving teamwork skills.

  2. The HR consultant recommends that the individual start by working through the Interacting with Others Competency Styles® work book.

  3. The individual orders the work book, completes the questionnaire in the front and reads the interpretation section.

  4. Following the self development suggestions in the back of the work book, the individual start to work through each of the five behavior areas in turn, trying out new behaviors in team meetings and work sessions.

  5. After 2 months, the individual repeats the process with the Making Decisions work book.

  6. Over the next 2 quarters, the individual works through the Gathering and Using Information and the Structuring Personal Activity work books.

  7. In the following year's performance appraisal, the individuals is complimented on the steady increase in teamwork skills exhibited over the year.

 

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A personal performance coach working with an individual executive


The coach in the example to the right is using the steps of the personal competence development cycle shown below to structure the client's development of new skills.

cycle



Coaches and their clients may find a"Guide to Coachees" useful as they plan their work together.

 
  1. After initial meetings with the executive client, the coach determines that the executive needs focused competency development in effective decision making in one-on-one and group situations. As well, the coach concludes that the individual will benefit from deeper insight into the dynamics of work in groups.

  2. The coach acquires a copy of Making Decisions and Interacting with Others work books and asks the client to complete them. They meet to discuss the client's results over two sessions, using the Personal Profile (page 35) in each to organize their dialogue.

  3. In subsequent sessions, the coach and the client use the Personal Profile (page 35) in the Making Decisions work book to make guesses or "hunches" about the likely behavior patterns of each of the client's subordinates in each of the five decision making behavior areas. The coach "assigns" the client in-between session "homework". The client is to observe each subordinate's behavior, and see if their actual behavior during the week matches the hunches about each person recorded on the Personal Profile page.

  4. The coach and the client review the "homework" and refine the client's ability to to determine others' behavior patterns based on observation. The coach leads the client in dialogue about the most effective behaviors that the client can use to interact more effectively with each subordinate. The coach assigns this behavior change in one behavior areas in Making Decisions as in between session "homework". They discuss the result in their next session. They work their way through all of the remaining Making Decisions behavior areas over the next weeks. They then repeat this process for the five behavior areas in Interacting with Others during the following month.

  5. As the client's interpersonal skills increase, the coach leads the client in the same "hunch - observe - confirm - change behavior" learning sequence for each of the client's peers, and then superiors. The coach has structured the learning sequence to go from less risky interactions (subordinates) to more risky ones (peers and then superiors). They now focus on specific the behavior areas in Making Decisions and Interacting with Others that are most relevant to the client's interaction with each individual. The client becomes more and more capable of moving from insight (conscious competence) to new behavior (unconscious competence). The client is developing effective "smart habits" based. More and more, the client applies these new effective smart habit "spontaneously", in response to behavior on the part of others. The coaching process has moved the client through a development cycle that results in behavior change on-the-job.

 

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An Adult Educator teaching a class on organizational behavior

 

IWO Cover

Click on the cover to get more details about the IWO work book IWO page
 
  1. A professor at a community college is planning the curriculum for a course on organizational behavior. One module of the course covers self awareness and managerial effectiveness.

  2. To ground the students, and provide them with insight into their own behavior patterns, the professor decides to incorporate the Interacting with Others Competency Styles® work book into the course.

  3. Each student gets a copy of the work book, after arrangements have been made to make it available as in the college bookstore as one of the required texts for the course.

  4. At the appropriate point in the course, each student completes the work book as a homework assignment. They all bring their results to class.

  5. The professor delivers a lecture on the importance of self-awareness, and awareness of others' behavior patterns, in effective managerial behavior. Specific references to the 5 behavior areas covered in Interacting with Others allow the professor to discuss differences in effective managerial behavior in a systematic way.

  6. Students move onto a short assignment. They must prepare a brief presentation in which they are to use their Interacting with Others Personal Profiles (page 35) to analyze how they interact with at least one other person, either at work, or in some other group activity. They must document the other person's behavior patterns by giving specific examples that document the location of the other individual in each Interacting with Others behavior area, thereby increasing their observation skills and their awareness of differences in others.

 

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An Adult Educator teaching a class on group dynamics

Wal Poster

Making Decisions Group Profile Wall Poster

(approximately 3.5 by 5 feet)

completedpad

Completed Making Decisions Group Profile

(8.5" by 11")

 

 
  1. A professor at a university is responsible for a senior level course on group dynamics. The course includes an experiential module in which the students are required to analyze group decision making dynamics .

  2. The professor uses the large Making Decisions wall poster, as well as a pad of the small Making Decisions Group Profile forms (both available directly from WCI Press). As well, he has included the Making Decisions Competency Styles® work book as one of the required texts for the course.

  3. Early in the course, students complete their Personal Profiles (page 35). The professor makes arrangements for students to photocopy this page for each other student in the course.

  4. At the appropriate session in the course, the students post their personal results on the large Making Decisions wall poster. Each student has been supplied with one of the small Making Decisions Group Profile forms from the pad. They use it to prepare a personal copy of the group profile.

  5. The class moves onto a business simulation in which they break into small groups and compete against one another through making a series of product, pricing and marketing decisions.

  6. At the end of the simulation, the professor sets an assignment in which the students are to analyze their decision making process in their small groups, using their copies of the Group Profile, as well as their understanding of the Forming, Norming, Storming, Performing model of group development, . They are explicitly told to focus on how they made their decisions, and not on the content of the decisions they reached. The professor's intent is to help understand that group decision making involves both group development as well as interpersonal dynamics.

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An HR consultant delivering a professional development program on supervisory skills to new managers and team leaders

SPA cover

Click on the cover to get more details about the SPA work book SPA details
 
  1. An HR consultant is responsible for updating the supervisory skills development program delivered to all new supervisors and team leaders in the organization.

  2. The HR consultant incorporates the Structuring Personal Activity Competency Styles® work book into the module of the program that deals with work assignment and task delegation. The consultant knows that new supervisors, managers and team leaders often assume that others work the same way that they do. As a result, they do not have the mental models and interpersonal awareness to adjust their work assignment behavior to the personal work style of each subordinate.

  3. The participants complete the work books before they attend the program. They bring their completed copies to the program.

  4. During the module on work assignment and task delegation, the HR consultant describes a number of examples of each, and shows how it would be done differently for individuals at each end of the Focus Through Schedule - Focuses Through Variety, the Structures in Advance -Lets Structure Emerge, and the Creates in Advance - Creates Under Pressure behavior areas.

  5. The participants move onto a case in which they explore effective delegation to different subordinates.

 

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An External Consultant working with a group of department managers in order to develop their teamwork abilities

Wall Poster

Making Decisions Group Profile Wall Poster

(approximately 3.5 by 5 feet)

 

 
  1. A consultant has been hired by an organization to work with a group of managers who have difficulty collaborating with one another. Recent product and organizational structure changes will require them to do so more and more in the future.

  2. After talking with a number of the manager's superiors, the consultant decides to do a "developmental intervention", concluding that the managers' problems based on a lack of experience with teamwork, rather than on specific personality dynamics and historical conflict between the individuals.

  3. The consultant schedules a one day "learning" workshop on group decision making and conflict. The consultant asks each manager to complete the Making Decisions Competency Styles® work book on their own time. In the morning, the consultant follows the workshop design included in WCI Press's Making Decisions Workshop Facilitator's Kit.

  4. In the afternoon, the consultant facilitates a working session on the collaborative processes that the managers will require in the future. The consultant asks the managers to start designing the processes that they will use to carry out their joint work. The consultant has left Making Decisions Group Wall Poster has been left hanging on the wall. Its presence influences the managers as they carry out their dialogue. By the end of the afternoon, they realize that they have only begun to discuss what they will need. They conclude is that they will have to make an ever increasing number of "unstructured" decisions in future, in two, three's and in small groups. Information will be a vital component of this work.

  5. Based on their conclusions, the consultant suggests that the group get together again to extend their work. The consultant suggests that they use the same format - a morning workshop based on the Gathering and Using Information work book followed by an afternoon session in which they resume their work on the new processes that they will need. The managers agree.

  6. Once again, the consultant uses WCI Press's Gathering and Using Information Workshop Facilitator's Kit to structure the morning. Over the lunch break, the consultant hangs the Making Decisions Wall Poster up on the wall, and uses small Post-It notes to re-create the group's profile. As a result, the group has both group profiles (Making Decisions and Gathering and Using Information) up on the wall as they resume their work on their new processes. By the end of the session, the managers have made significant inroads on how they will work together in future. Their experience in these two days together has started their collaborative process.

  7. Over the next months, the consultant will meet with the group once a month in a two hour meeting. They will discuss their progress, and refine the processes that they are using to collaborate with one another.

 

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A Mediator / Counselor working with a couple in crisis

RS cover RS details

Click on the cover to get more details about the RS work book











Individuals involved in family dispute resolution may find David Schnarch's work on the integration of martial and sexual therapy useful.

 

 

 

 

 
  1. An individual who practices in family mediation and counseling is working with a couple who is considering divorce. They have several children, and are each concerned about the impact that a divorce could have on them. At the same time, they are deeply frustrated with the dynamics of their relationship. The mediator contracts with them to work with them until they make a final decision about divorce. If they decide to do so, the mediator agrees to work with them to outline the terms of their divorce agreement.

  2. As the three of them meet and dialogue about their current feelings and the state of the relationship, the mediator realizes that these two individuals do not have a good framework for understanding their individual and mutual decision making and communication behaviors. They appear well intentioned towards one another, and seem to want to stay in the relationship. However, they seem unaware of the fact that they do not "synch" well. As a result, they miss important information about one another's' needs, feelings, opinions and values. They do not have an effective joint decision making process. They each often make decisions that impact the other person without dialoguing together. This leads to considerable anger, which is usually suppressed until it comes out at inappropriate times in hurtful ways.

  3. The mediator suggests that they work through the Relating Styles Competency Styles® work book together. Because one individual will have to travel for a week on business, the mediator gives each individual a personal copy of the work book and asks them to complete them by the time they meet for their next session.

  4. During the next meeting, the mediator guides the couple through the interpretation of their results.

  5. In subsequent sessions, the mediator begins to use the language and the framework provided by the Relating Styles work book to point out how each person often does not "hear" the other person. The couple begins to modify their interaction based on the insights they achieve during this process. As they do, they can begin to address the difficult and often painful issues that are leading them to consider divorce in a more productive manner.

  6. As a side benefit, each individual begins to use the Relating Styles framework in order to improve their interaction with their children and the significant others in their life space.

  7. As a result of their progress, the couple agrees to work through a marital counseling process for several months before they come back to the issue of possible divorce. The mediator contacts them with colleagues who will help them address their relationship dynamics in an integrated marital/sexual therapy framework.

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A Task Force Leader charged with developing a sense of teamwork in a newly created project team

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IWO details GUI details MD Details SPA details

 
  1. A small consulting / software development company has won a major new project contract for a new client. The project team will be composed of members from both the client and the company. None of the individuals, including the team leader, have ever worked together before.

  2. The team leader needs to quickly develop a sense of team among the project team members. The team leader consults with a senior project manager and an internal HR consultant. They develop the following plan for the first week of the team's life.

  3. Day One - Hold a working meeting in which the whole team is introduced to one another for the first time. Once the introductions are other, have the team listen to two presentations - one by the project sponsor on the project goals, anticipated deliverables and general time framework, and a second by the team leader on the methodologies, processes and software tools that will be used by the team.

  4. Day Two - Follow-up with a 3 day off-site session to start up the project. Day One will be spent on a "high ropes" session in which the team members will work with a group of outside "adventure" facilitators to complete a high ropes course at an off-site location. This will give the team members a very informal way to get to know one another. This day will be concluded with a relaxed team dinner at the hotel where the team will spend the next 2 days.

  5. Day Three AM - Start early next morning and ask each individual to complete the Interacting with Others Competency Styles® work book . Spend the morning on the Interacting with Others workshop. The internal HR consultant will join the group for this session, and use the WCI Press's Interacting with Others Work Shop Facilitator's Kit to lead this morning session.

  6. Day Three PM - Spend the afternoon discussing team roles and responsibilities.Team members will be asked to talk about their technical skills, past experiences and current roles. The team leader will facilitate this session. Conclude the afternoon by presenting a general outline of the project plan for the next 6 months. The team will have a relaxed supper together after this session.

  7. Day Four AM - Start early the next morning and ask each team member to complete the Making Decisions Competency Styles® work book. Spend the morning on the Making Decisions workshop. The internal HR consultant will join the group for this session, and use the WCI Press's Making Decisions Work Shop Facilitator's Kit to lead this session.

  8. Day Four PM - Spend the afternoon breaking into the project's working sub-groups to plan the detailed work to be done in the next 4 to 8 weeks. Review the results in the whole group. The team leader will take responsibility for turning this material into a detailed project plan to be shared with the entire team.

  9. Day Four Evening - At the concluding supper session, the team leader will thank everyone. Each person will leave with a project information package that includes the presentations and the documentation from the working sessions. As well, the package will include Gathering and Using Information and the Structuring Personal Activity Competency Styles® work books. The team leader will suggest that the project team members may find it useful to complete these two work books over the life of the project.

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An Business Coach working with the two partners who own a business

RS cover RS details

RS details
 
  1. The partners who own a successful small business have contacted a business coach to work with them on re-structuring their firm, so that they can start to develop a management team below them. Both partners believe that the business has grown to the point where they can spend more time away from it.

  2. The coach uses Michael Gerber's E-Myth framework when working with small businesses, as well as the Relating Styles Competency Styles® framework for helping business partners talk explicitly about how they communicate and make decisions together. The coach has discovered that business partners are often "unconsciously competent" in their communication and decision making dynamics. They assume that subordinates will understand how they do do things, and can easily figure out how to best work with each of them, as well as with the two of them together. However, this is often an issue that causes concerns or conflict for the people who work for business partners.

  3. Each partner completes the work book, and the business coach discusses the results with them. The partners discover "what they already knew". But they realize that they now have a language for communicating with both their new and existing subordinates. They can make explicit what was implicit before. It also gives the coach quick insight into how to best work each each partner and the two of them together.

  4. Based on this initial success, they move onto using the E-Myth framework to develop their future business and management development plans.
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An Independent Consultant, Trainer or Group Facilitator looking to expand the services offered to clients  
  1. An independent is looking to add an "essential" skill component to a practice. Clients are asking for help in developing working professionals at all levels in their teamwork and interpersonal skills. Clients want cost effective ways of delivering "just-in-time" training to individuals and small groups, at a those points in time when each individual's motivation to look at their own behavior, and expand it, is at its peak.

  2. The independent surveys the variety of "self development" books and training program materials that are available. Many of them are focused on supervisory positions or on developing leaders. Others involve the use of psychometric instruments required extensive training or specialized certification.

  3. The independent talks to friends and colleagues. One of them refers the independent to the Competency Styles® web site (this site). The independent explores the site and decides to order one of the work books as a "look-see".
  4. After completing the work book, the independent goes back to the Competency Styles® web site to see what support is offered to individuals who wish to incorporate Competency Styles® into their practices. The independent sends an e-mail to WCI Press expressing interest in the various Workshop Facilitator's Kits. After e-mail and telephone dialogue with WCI Press, the independent adds Competency Styles® workshops to the services offered to clients.
   
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Interacting with Others / Gathering and Using Information /  Making Decisions / Structuring Personal Activity
 Development Styles /  Relating Styles / The GPS Profile / The Managing Others Profile

Our Core Adult Learning Frameworks:
Professional Development and the Skill Extinction Effect
Our Design Principles
The Four Levels of Learning

 


Talent leverages everything,
Interpersonal talent (soft skills): the key to successful team work.

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