Nurturing Team Collaboration: A Journey of Transformation
Shared by Terence Yeung I recently had the incredible opportunity to facilitate a workshop for a senior management team in the multinational property development and sales business. The challenge was to address the need for change management training within their international business division. However, after thorough assessment, it became clear that the underlying issue was team calibration rather than change management. Taking an effective approach, I proposed a real team intervention using the Five Behaviours of Cohesive Teams (5B) framework. This framework emphasizes the crucial elements for building a highly functioning team: building trust, mastering conflict, achieving commitment, holding each other accountable, and focusing on collective results. The HR manager agreed that focusing on these aspects made more sense than traditional change management. The international business division was composed of independent country managers who rarely interacted, except for occasional collaborations during international exhibitions. I challenged them to consider why they were a team beyond the fact that all country heads reported to the head of international business. This question sparked introspection and a realization that they had not fully leveraged the potential of working collaboratively across countries. During the workshop, we helped the team define their true meaning as a team and establish a common goal critical for their future success. The most precious outcome of the seminar was the team's unanimous agreement and commitment to a significant thematic goal: "Establishing a Framework for Collaboration among International Business Offices." This goal encompasses reshaping the entire incentive system, human resources management, and internal processes. We further discovered tremendous business opportunities, including referrals from international clients, talent exchanges for personal growth, increased employee retention, and the sharing of best practices. As the team collectively envisioned this goal, their astonishment and excitement were truly touching. Some even cannot believe as it was too idealistic to be true. To ensure the realization of this vision, we assigned responsibilities and developed a follow-up implementation plan. I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome of this workshop. It exemplifies the true meaning and impact of my work. Together, we have unlocked the potential for collaboration, innovation, and growth within the international business division.
Artificial Intelligence in Learning and Development: Five Surprising Facts You Need to Know
Artificial Intelligence in Learning and Development: Five Surprising Facts You Need to Know The last few years have been a roller coaster for learning and development professionals around the world. First, there was the abrupt transition to the hybrid workplace, which required entire organizations to upskill and reskill employees under immense pressure. With the ever-evolving world of work, C-suite executives were driving a strategic focus on organizational performance, putting learning and development and human resources professionals, as well as managers at large, in the position of having to implement large-scale initiatives under unprecedented circumstances. If that wasn’t enough, we are now seeing emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) opening new doors (and new risks!) for industries across the world, and the field of learning and development is not exempt from the impact of AI. As lifelong learners, we wanted to learn more about how AI is impacting the world of work, and by extension, learning and development. Wiley Workplace Intelligence surveyed 3,000 people across industries to hear what is happening in the workplace. 1. Nearly One Third of Workplaces Are Actively Using AI Almost one-third of those surveyed said their business has adopted AI technology in at least one business function. While AI has been around for many years, it exploded into our mainstream culture in 2022 with the launch of Chat GPT. Promised to unlock productivity, organizations around the world are actively testing AI across a range of functions to best understand its potential impact on performance. As such, we expect to see AI technology adoption accelerate in the coming year. 2. AI is Being Leveraged in Every Organizational Function AI technology is most often being adopted in operations, marketing and sales, and product/service development. This is to be expected as these business functions would benefit from leveraging automation capabilities to increase efficiency and streamline processes. We asked participants to select the business function(s) which have incorporated AI within their organization. Business Function Utilizing AI 17% Service Operations 15% Marketing and sales 15% Product or service department 9% Supply chain management 8% Manufacturing 7% Strategy and corporate finance 7% Human resources and development 6% Risk (Note: Results will not equal 100% as participants could select multiple options) As illustrated above, service operations, marketing and sales, and product development have the highest AI adoption rates. Human resources and development, as well as risk, have the lowest adoption rates. 3. Budget is the Biggest Barrier to Wider AI Utilization Why aren’t organizations adopting AI in more business functions? Curious to find out what obstacles were keeping organizations from adopting AI, we asked participants to pick the biggest obstacle they face. Organizations have strategic priorities they must focus time and money on that will bring the most benefit to the business. For 19% of people, AI adoption is not a strategic priority which means it likely won’t get the funding needed to move forward. 25% of people said budget constraints are a significant barrier to AI integration in their organization. AI adoption is likely a complex, costly, and time-consuming process that can require upgrading current infrastructure, software, training, and ongoing maintenance. Combined with getting buy-in from both learners and facilitators, organizations potentially face a daunting task. 4. People Still Prefer Humans to AI in Learning and Development People crave human connection with 59% wanting an instructor to direct their learning. When we explored preference about content development, we found that people have strong opinions about who should create material. 5. Learning and Development Professionals Are Optimistic About Benefits of AI How does this impact learning and development practitioners? When strategically incorporating AI into specific areas, it can have a positive impact. AI as an automation tool for administrative tasks allows learning and development professionals to focus their efforts on more value-added activities like curriculum design, instructional design, and learner support. This in turn allows for more meaningful and relevant learning opportunities. Knowing people seek human connection when learning, learning and development practitioners should consider ways to continue meeting that need while incorporating technological advances into their practice. Although people may not be ready for AI-directed learning, AI capabilities can be leveraged to help find skills gaps through assessments to create learning paths for employees. Combining AI capabilities and human interaction can be an effective way to embrace technological advancements while retaining the personal connection that comes with facilitated learning experiences that increase connection and cohesion in the workplace. Whether you implement trust-building teamwork solutions like The Five Behaviors, empathy and cohesion-building experiences like Everything DiSC, or leadership development solutions like The Leadership Challenge combining the power of AI and the power of human connection can elevate your entire organization. *Source from Wiley Workplace Intelligence. Quick Take by Mark Scullard, PhDLeadership Rules for The Never Normal
Leadership Rules For The Never Normal By James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner It wasn’t that long ago that normal meant slow and steady. Today, normal means expect the unexpected, requiring a new set of leadership rules. To help leaders fully engage people and strengthen their resilience in uncertain times, we took a fresh look at our cases of what leaders do when they are at their personal best. We identified six common strategies you should incorporate into your leadership practices to be successful in turning adversity into opportunity. Broaden the context View what’s happening from a historical perspective. Doing so provides an understanding of how others have dealt with challenging times. Research has shown that people who first reflect on their past during stressful circumstances and tell positive stories about handling hardships are more effective in dealing with adversity and rebound more quickly. Defy the verdict People want to know the truth, even if it’s bad news. If you want your team to respond with fierce determination during periods of adversity, you need to increase your level of communication about what is really going on. Defining reality and accepting it as fate are two different things. Exemplary leaders acknowledge reality, but do not dwell on the threat. See change as a challenge and move quickly to mobilize resources in order to defy the verdict. Fully commit to what’s important Periods of adversity remind you what values are important. During tough times, exemplary leaders make certain everyone understands the purpose that guides decisions, so as to gain alignment between people and values. Take charge Michele Goins, a veteran CIO in high-technology firms, said to us, “Leadership opportunities are in the moment. What makes the difference between being a leader or not is how you respond in the moment.” You have to seize the opportunity to lead. You have to respond assertively to moments of trial and adversity. Engage others Collaboration and trust among your team are essential to building capacity to get through difficulties. Neuroscientists are discovering that our brains are wired to connect. People engaged with one another are motivated to strengthen their relationships with one another, resolve interpersonal conflicts, and find win-win solutions. Show you care Ajay Godbole, IT principal consultant with Oracle, notes that “Leaders who have the courage to show how they care for the team and the organization build strong interpersonal connections among their team. This bond is the difference between a team that can overcome challenges and a team that disintegrates at the first challenge.” Individual team members need to feel that they belong and that their contributions make a difference. Showing you care is personal. But if you want people to hang in there when times are tough and continue to give it their all, let them know – regularly – they are valued. Adapting these six leadership rules to your circumstances will enable you and your organization to leverage the power of The Leadership Challenge® and take the initiative to move forward in the never normal. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner are coauthors of the award-winning, best-selling book The Leadership Challenge. Now in its seventh edition, The Leadership Challenge has sold nearly three million copies worldwide. For over forty years, James and Barry have collaborated and co-authored more than a dozen other award-winning leadership books. Together they developed the widely used and highly acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) for assessing leadership behavior.
Leaders in the New Normal Find Silver Bullet with eTACSEN’s Unique Learning Experiences
The global pandemic has forced leaders of companies from every industry to reinvent the way they compete for market share. Mr. Terence Yeung, Managing Director of eTACSEN, shares how practical leadership development solutions that have stood the tests of time put companies ahead of the competition today. Terence Yeung, Managing Director of eTACSEN Celebrating 20 years of service since being established in 2002 in Hong Kong, eTACSEN is a training consulting firm providing talent development and corporate training services in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The company was rated as one of the Most Valuable Companies in Hong Kong in 2012 and remains the only training service provider on the top of its rank. eTACSEN is also rated as one of the Top 7 in China’s Training industry by TopHR, and won the Talent Development Leader of the Year recognition in 2017. “Leveraging on extensive management consulting experience and best practices for global clients, we formed a strategic partnership with Wiley, and became the only authorized partner of The Leadership Challenge ® in Hong Kong and southern China since 2014,” says Mr. Terence Yeung, Managing Director of eTACSEN. “As a Certified Master (the top honor in The Leadership Challenge community), I was invited as a guest speaker in the global ‘The Leadership Challenge® Forum’ for 3 consecutive years to share our success stories from Hong Kong and Mainland China. I was fortunate enough to be the only Chinese with this honor.” “In 2018, we hosted a ‘Great Leadership Creates Great Workplaces’ event in Hong Kong with over 200 senior executives, which was the largest event of its kind. I shared the stage with Barry Posner, one of the co-authors of the best-selling leadership book ‘The Leadership Challenge®’, to discuss the trends of leadership development in Asia and around the globe. These are proud milestones for me personally and for our company,” he adds. The Future of Learning 2020 was a significant year for eTACSEN as the company formally introduced “blended learning”, i.e., a combination of holistic online and offline experience, believing that this will be the trend for future learning. “We rebranded ourselves as eTACSEN. “e” symbolized our commitment to online learning. This commitment is further exemplified by forming a strategic partnership with Skillsoft, the world’s leading digital learning provider. This has enabled us to cover different levels of staff training needs, in addition to management and leadership training,” says Mr. Yeung “Our rebranding to eTACSEN signifies a historic new chapter of our company reflects a formal commitment to digital transformation and revamps our offerings to fit the changing clients’ needs. The world is changing fast, and so is our learners’ preference,” he continues. According to Linkedin Workplace Learning Report 2018, 58% of learners prefer to learn at their own pace, and 49% prefer to learn at the point of need, 90% of corporations nowadays offer online learning. People tend to use fragmented time and online tools to achieve their learning objectives much more than the traditional way in the past. Rebranding helps us adapt to this digital age. Tailored Solutions for the New Normal “While the global pandemic did have an impact on the corporate training sector because companies have downsized or even closed down, there were also opportunities since many companies needed to train their leaders on how to reinvent their operations for the new normal,” says Mr. Yeung. “Today there is a need for corporate training programs that offer practicability as well as tangible business results. eTACSEN has been implementing these in our solutions since day one. Furthermore, our learning solutions are bundled together with action learning projects so that the real application of what has been learned can be testified. This unique approach results in the learning projects directly adding value to the business of our clients,” he says. With the rapid growth of China’s economy, more Chinese enterprises are marching to the international market, while more Hong Kong companies have been expanding into China or augmenting their operations there. “eTACSEN is well-positioned to provide tailored solutions that can meet the needs of both situations because we have on-the-ground experiences in both Hong Kong and China for 20 years, and most of our consultants can eliminate language barriers since they speak Mandarin (Putonghua), Cantonese and English, plus we have flexible learning solutions,” says Mr. Yeung. “We believe the development of Greater Bay Area is full of potential, especially for the finance, medical treatment, retailing, and internet-related industry. There is a great need for leadership training in these industries because mid-level managers are in the majority.” “Our solutions fit the exact needs of companies because they are all about acquiring practical skills that can be applied to our clients’ daily tasks. We will continue to grow our team of specialized consultants in order to serve the needs of our customers in the new normal,” he concludes. The Mediazone Group congratulates eTACSEN for achieving 20 years of service to our region, and for winning the Asia’s Most Innovative Leadership Development Consultants recognition at the 2022 Asia’s Most Valuable Companies in Hong Kong Awards. We wish the company more successful in its future endeavor.
Terence Yeung was Invited as the Only Certified Master from Greater China to Speak at The Leadership Challenge Forum for 3 Years
TACSEN attended The Leadership Challenge (TLC) Forum in California held between 15 and 16 June 2017, which invited leadership scholars and experts around the globe to gather for networking and sharing their views and experience on latest leadership development. Having demonstrated its commitment in the promotion of TLC program in the Greater China, TACSEN was once again privileged to be invited to share its practical and valuable leadership development experience in front of leadership experts from the world. Being a Certified Master of TLC and the representative of TACSEN, Terence Yeung, who appeared as the guest speaker of TLC Forum for three years in a row, shared with the community this time a powerful tool advised to be used in the “Challenge the Process” session, one of practices of The Leadership Challenge. His contribution to the enrichment of TLC program was highly praised and encouraged by TLC community. Using CRA to Challenge the Process This year, the topic shared by Terence Yeung is “CRA – An Innovative Thinking Tool that Revamps your Business”. CRA is a simple yet powerful thinking tool that helps challenge long standing tradition in almost any kind of organizations to produce innovative business ideas. Organizations which used this tool appropriately yield such great benefits as cost savings or total revamp of business model. During his presentation, Terence shared insightful examples with millions of dollars of savings by using CRA and some examples of creation of new business unit after adopting such innovative thinking tool. Not only introduced CRA and its application in leadership development, Terence also offered personal tips when implementing the tool. Terence’s efforts in the perfection of knowledge and skills for implementing TLC program have gained wide recognition from the audience of his speaking session.
