300 words or Discussion Acctng responses wk8 in 24 hours

Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ posts in one or more of the following ways: (150 words or more each Colleague)

· Ask a clarifying question about the situation that your colleague identified or about the positive change outcome(s).

· Offer an insight that you gained from the way in which your colleague asked their question(s), including how it may have had an impact on the outcome.

· Provide additional suggestions for how your colleague could take a different approach when faced with a similar situation in the future, including any insights that you may have gained from watching the video and/or participating in this Discussion.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned or any insights you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

1st Colleague to Respond to:

My example of a time in my professional life in which I asked one or more critical questions that helped to bring about positive change is from when I first began my career in higher education. About eight years ago, I left the health insurance business and began a new career as a Compliance Manager for a small nursing college. My job was to modernize and bring the processes of compliance into the digital age. I knew this was a big undertaking that would take a very long time and certainly not a job for one person. I had many questions about how things had been done in the past and knew I would need to make many changes to bring the school into the digital age and at the same time become compliant with new rules and regulations from the state regulatory bodies and accreditation agencies. I knew I needed buy-in. I was the “new kid on the block,” and I was coming in from the outside with no experience in higher education.

For the first few months, I reviewed the historical data, reviewed processes, and procedures and learned the regulatory requirements from the State Board of Nursing and the nursing accreditation agency. As I analyzed the data, I found discrepancies, and I came up with several questions that I needed answers to. I knew I wanted to be a solution to the current problems, and I knew that I would need to be careful how I asked the questions to ensure questions were open and honest without people becoming defensive. First I came up with a list of questions and then began to tailor them to ensure positive change would happen. Next, I set up meetings with each person to ask the questions I believed I needed to clarify and create new policies, processes, and improvements. I made sure they were questions that would not seem accusatory or offend anyone, and I made sure to use open-ended questions to try to encourage conversation. Two of the questions I asked were:

· Can you help me understand how the data has been calculated?

· Can you help me understand why we calculated the data this way?

By asking open questions and not passing judgment, I was able to not only learn how and why processes were done previously, but I was able to create rapport and start building a foundation of trust and get buy-in.

Asking questions is one of the best ways to communicate especially in the professional world. Asking questions effectively is something that for most takes time. When new, we need to ask more questions that are basically informational to help us learn our role, or how to perform certain tasks. As we grow and advance we start asking different types of questions which tend to be more probing questions. To ask probing questions one must be very aware and tailor your approach based on your audience. For me, this took time. When I first started my professional career, I was shy, felt inferior, and was fearful to ask any questions. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to have amazing leaders who empowered me, gained my trust, and taught me to ask questions. As the video  Business Skills for Good: Questioning stated, it is important to frame questions so your audience knows you are wanting collaboration and support rather than interrogation to ensure I am achieving my larger goal, to understand (Walden University, 2021n).

 

References:

Walden University, LLC. (2021n).  Questioning [Video]. Walden University Blackboard.  https://class.waldenu.edu

2nd Colleague to Respond to:

 In today’s world, we are faced with changes and growing challenges in areas such as public health, education, social inequality, and diversity. Change is the only constant in the universe. It prevails in every society across the world, it is dominated in the society which desires to satisfy its citizens or fulfill their needs. A society requires change as it can transmit the old procedures into new one (Nworah, 2005). Change occurs within our world and beyond in national and international events, in the physical environment, in the way organizations are structured and conduct their business, in political and socioeconomic problems and solutions, and in societal norms and values. Planned change takes conscious and diligent effort on the part of the educator or manager. Kanter (1983) originated the concept of the change master: a person or organization adept at the art of anticipating the need for and of leading productive change.

In winter of 2019 there was a manger (hereafter called, Suzan) that is always in the wrong and when faced or confronted never admit to her doings or failures. Her behavior resulted in staff continuously being transferred or resigned from the post leaving gaps in meeting targets and fulfilling objectives. The outburst of her behavior started to negatively impact the department in the eve of 2020 when Jamaica starts experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and the health industry was under severe pressure. Suzan’s constantly failed to advise her team of important deadlines, duties, and emergency matters and when called upon to explain the tardiness, she blamed the team. Mid year during our monthly management meeting, I raised the questions; what are the measures in place to foster positivity and motivation in team as managers? When was the last time we conducted a need analysis for staff training to identify the training need for staff and managers? How do we ensure we function in a cohesive manner and practice effective communication? The questions raised led to strategic implementation of policies, process flows and plans to create dedicated channels for tasks to be completed and foster a culture of inclusion.

As mentioned, the questions were raised in a formal setting and were fit for the persons in the session. The questions were very open and did not directly refer to any of my colleagues in the meeting.  I ensure I included myself by using the word ‘we’ to show i am coming from a team perspective (we are in this together). The questions posed allowed for a discussion to take place and for the team to implement corrective actions to remedy the gaps identified and mitigate any future risk on acheiving the goals. Upon reflecting, I would not have asked the questions any different. The positive outcomes from the discussion lead to the implementation of strategies, improvement of team function, cohesiveness and communication which all contributed positively to the department strategic objectives.

References:

Kanter, R.M. (1993). The Change Masters. New York, Simon & Schuster

Nworah U. (2005). Global Politician: Social Change in Nigeria: The Top - Down Management        Approach. www.globalpolitician.com