Personal perceptions developing a learning organization
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This presentation was given to show how mental models are formed by internal customers and how perceptions influence stakeholder confidence. Additionally, the slide outlines methodologies to reduce negative perceptions through: identification, testing, and disqualifying or resolving.
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Personal perceptions developing a learning organization
- 1. Personal Perception Modeled: Challenges of Negative Perceptions Resulting From Poor Customer Service EDWARD B. VILLANUEVA DR. SUE LOWE DEVELOPING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION – HRM 560 JUNE 2, 2013
- 2. 1. Identifying internal customer mental models. Perception of internal customers that exist personally and within the IT department. Internal customers are quick to ask for assistance rather than resolve issues locally. Attribute to laziness. Internal customers are confused by new technology. Internal customers are unwilling to develop and update their skills and abilities. Internal customers think that IT is inefficient and is unwilling to assist with their needs. Internal customers take every opportunity to blame the IT department for their lack in productivity due to minor IT issues.
- 3. Origins of persistent mental models Historical Past IT directors perpetuated the animosity through stories. IT Department Culture Stories of internal customer ineptitude are discussed daily. IT Department meetings include discussions about internal customer issues that incite laughter. Arrogance due to confidence in job security since many IT personnel feel their skill sets are hard to replace easily.
- 4. Life span of internal customer mental models Time of Hire Part of the onboarding process includes warning about internal customer skills deficiencies. Reinforced by other IT team members during on- the-job training. Self Fulfilling Prophecy The perception is perpetuated due to the level of help requests that are received. Requests reinforce the perception that internal customers are inept.
- 5. Reasons for development of mental models Lack Of Departmental Leadership and Consistency The IT department historically had high turnover rates with management and personnel. Internal customers began complaining about lack of support but were unaware of turnovers. New IT managers began pushing new technology without training employees. Employee skills were quickly becoming obsolete as new technology was introduced without any training. This delay resulted in generalization about internal customers not being competent with current tech.
- 6. Reasons for development of mental models Incoming IT Personnel New IT Personnel quickly identified lack of skills in internal customers. IT personnel began blaming internal customers for their lack of skills and internal customers began distrusting IT due to their lack of customer service skills. Perceptual defense occurred as mechanism to cope with distrust and proceeded with “business as usual” mentality without resolving issues.
- 7. 2. Leaps of Abstraction and Perception Errors Generalization IT Department culture perpetuates stereotype of specific internal customers. Self-fulfilling prophecies are reinforced through story telling. Lack of needs assessment or gap analysis to determine where the skills deficiencies are located within internal customers. Perceptual Errors Overweighting of negative information. Overreacting to negative information as an excuse to blame customers. Similarity error. Predisposing positive attitude to internal customers who have technical skills similar to our own. Halo Error. Negative characteristics of specific internal customers dominate the perception of that employee.
- 8. 3. Debunking Mental Models Test the Generalization Identify common generalizations that exist. Gather objective data to prove or disprove generalization. Implement action plan to qualify or disqualify the generalization. Document findings and bring to an open forum for discussion. Engender a Culture of Candor Develop core values such as openness to overcome perception errors. Create opportunities for informal discussions about generalizations. Align communication policies to promote facilitated discussions between two disagreeing parties.
- 9. 3. Debunking personal mental models 1: Historical and Cultural Considerations Understanding where the generalization originated and how it developed can help debunk them. Personal mental models are debunked by understanding that they originated from stories passed down and were not based on any objective data. 2: Lack of Training The root issues that perpetuate the idea that internal customers are incapable is due to the lack of training. IT often assumes that all employees should have some level of technical ability, however different generations and personalities exist within an organization that prevents that from being a reality.
- 10. 4. Barriers Esprit De Corps – (The Lack Thereof) A feeling of camaraderie and teamwork is not realized when mental models exist that promote animosity. Shared visions become hard to accomplish. Productivity is reduced due to infighting. Distrust is engendered through mutual dislike between departments and individuals. Political routes of action are taken to disqualify departments and pass them off as incompetent.
- 11. 5. Preventing the traps of mental models. Step 1 Identify Determine negative perceptions that exist. Articulate the perception into a problem statement that others can agree with. Research the origin and historical relevancy of the perception. Step 2 Test Gather data through surveys and interviews. Communicate perceptions in an open discussion amongst colleagues. Test to see if the generalization is mutually held or one sided. Step 3 Disqualify or Resolve Debunk the generalization by brining to light data that proves contrary to popular belief. Create an action plan that encourages openness. Find solutions to quickly resolve future generalization errors that may occur.
- 12. References: Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J. W. (2011). Organizational Behavior. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Editor's Notes
- Much of the generalization that exist personally and within my department which is IT is that of negativity towards internal customers. Internal customers are defined as anyone within the organization that requests technical assistance with their computers, phone systems or any other information management systems.
- Hellriegrel and Slocum (2011) identified that much of organizational culture is perpetuated through story telling. It reinforces certain ideas that exist within an organization. Unfortunately this can cause damage if the ideas that are being reinforced are negative and damaging to certain departments or individuals within an organization. We unknowingly continue to perpetuate the negative mental models during our meetings when we joking discuss the past week’s issues.
- Early on, the development of negative internal customer mental models were established. I’ve heard stories about some of the issues that existed prior to me coming on board and this became an ongoing process. The IT director and other IT personnel would talk about these problems in passing and in a light hearted manner. Eventually the time came when I would have to respond to requests and immediately I would identify issues that I’ve heard about before and I would attribute it to internal customer ineptness as did my colleagues. This is described as a self-fulfilling prophecy in which a generalization in created instantly by connecting an observable action and a mental model that existed prior to the observation Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).
- Inconsistency in IT leadership and personnel due to turnover led to many customer related issues. As new managers would enter the department, they would introduce new solutions without properly informing employees of the changes. A gap soon began to develop due to the lack of training and communication.
- Senge (2006) defines leaps of abstraction as a rapid connection between an observation and a generalization without testing. When this occurs, many perceptual errors become apparent. This can result in the formation of mental models that are difficult to overcome because we’ve rationalized them through our observations.
- Two ways to debunking mental models are identified by Senge (2006). Defining and developing tests to prove a generalization can aid in disqualifying certain perceptions that may exists. A cultural change that promotes candor and openness can also reduce the impact of mental models that exist internally. The two methods have different implementation timelines. Testing can be a quick solution however changing culture can take several years and requires a significant amount of effort and planning (Kotter, 1996)
- Reflecting on where the mental models originated and how they are perpetuated is a logical approach to debunking many generalizations. Identification is the first step in implementing a cultural change initiative. The major generalization that persists is the lack of internal customer skills. Assuming that these skills should and do exist within an organization perpetuates the idea that internal customers are unskilled. In reality the skills that the internal customers lack are present because they were never trained. A needs assessment can help determine what needs to be done in order to debunk the generalization that internal customers are technically handicapped.
- A major barrier that exist when internal mental models exist is the lack of teamwork. The French phrase “esprit de corps” is the feeling of common purpose. This is often unrealized when a mental model prevents teamwork from occurring. Not only does team work exist within an department but it must also exist throughout the organization through common purpose or shared vision (Kotter, 1996). Distrust and politics become an issue and stifles productivity due to distractions.
- Mental models that create a negative perception of any internal or external stakeholder stifles progress. To prevent this from occurring, management should implement a system that quickly identifies, tests, and resolves the issue quickly so as not to perpetuate the mental model.