Conference 7.286::digital

    
    Please keep in mind that for each of us who makes the sacrifice and
    does not sign up for this course, we can support 300 needy noters for a
    whole year...
    

    
    Oh Goodie. Another fluff course. Can I bring a regular pair of sissors
    or do I need the ones with the rounded ends?
    

>Lecturettes, group discussion and experiential exercises form the basis of this
>course.  Indeed, the absence of formal structured learning techniques has been 
>a noted highlight!

"Lecturettes"?

"Experiential exercises"?

>COURSE OBJECTIVES:
>
>Participants will:
>* Create and describe, through the use of collage, their current reality, core 
>  values and potential future possibilities.
    
    Collage?!?!?!  
    
    They've GOT to be kidding!

re: .-1, Porter

> "Experiential exercises"?

This is also known as "Navel contemplation".

I'm glad someone started this topic. For the past several years we've seen a
big downward trend in the offerings of touchy-feely courses, and I for one
had been glad to observe that we were getting serious about cutting out fluff.

But within the last few months, I've been seeing more and more of the kinds
of courses we probably _don't_ need to be investing in. When I saw this one
in my mail the other day it pretty much tied it for me.

We cut this stuff out years ago for good reason. Why on earth would we want
to begin offering it again?

Just what we need. Send a bunch of DECcies off to some remote site to play
head games for three days . . . 

sigh,
-Jack

    I too believe that this kind of course is a waste of company money.  I
    live in Atlanta and get a message that this course is being offered
    @PKO.  Do we really think that this course is worth a couple of
    thousand dollars in travel money, plus the cost center cross charge,
    plus 3 days away from the job?  I have a hard time believing that
    thinks fits within the current environment.
    
    Bing

    They have got to be kidding!  (Or has that been said??)
    
    They won't let us order stationery, and they blow big bux on things
    like this, my god, now I understand why they think they have to save
    that $2.00/employee/year that non-business notesfiles cost.  Wherever
    else would they find the money to to pay the ripoff artists who put
    these gigs on?

We need a VP of Employee Spirit and Outlook Broadening to make sure everyone
obtains the invaluable benefits he or she can derive from educational programs
such as these.

    now, lets see, if these courses were not good for DECeees, then why,
    for crying out loud, why, do you think they are offered?
    
    one of these days iam going to take one of these courses to proof
    the point.
    
    \nasser

I got notification today about a simular type course for techies.
Some thing about resolving technical conflicts. It also mentioned collages, etc
etc, in fact it mentioned that each participant should bring some magazines
which represent 'what they are', i.e. SKI if they ski, auto mechanics if they
tinker, etc, etc. along with a pair of scissors and a glue stick.

I wonder what would happen if I showed up with scissors, glue stick and
a supply of "PLAYBOYS" and "PENTHOUSES"....


- George   (-;

    .-1
    
    >I wonder what would happen if I showed up with scissors, glue stick and
    >a supply of "PLAYBOYS" and "PENTHOUSES"....
    
    Geroge, i bet the teacher will send to stand on the corner of the room
    for being a nauty boy.
    
    \nasser

re: .11
    
    >>I wonder what would happen if I showed up with scissors, glue stick and
    >>a supply of "PLAYBOYS" and "PENTHOUSES"....
    
    >Geroge, i bet the teacher will send to stand on the corner of the room
    >for being a nauty boy.
    
I dont think that would happen, but I might be assigned the last seat in the
last row. When I attended grammer school that seat was typically reserved for
the 'nauty' boys and conversely, the first seat in the first row was for the
'teacher's pet'. Before you ask, no, I'm not talking about a dog, cat or any
other animal. I wonder if I could get my cost center to spring for the 
magazines, scissors and gluestick, hmmmm.

- George

    
    since the facilitator was identified in the base note, do you feel this
    is fair to critize his career in an open forum?

Au contraire, I'm not critizing his career, I'm critizing DEC's willingness
to pay him for providing the course. I cant get paperclips but I can spend
$600.00 for this course.

- George

    Such courses may on the surface appear to be a waste of money but lets
    not forget that human beings are Digitals most important asset. ( In
    spite of recent attempts to downgrade and devalue the human dimension
    of Digitals work by the cutbacks we are all enduring ).
    Some organisations seem to believe that the best results are obtained
    by negative control of human emotions, such as threats, intimidation
    and fear while others make use of more positive methods such as
    encouragement, reward and the building up of each persons concept of
    self worth amd self esteem.
    I have worked for people who were so intimidating and negative in their
    attitudes that every minute I worked for them was begrudged and hated.
    I have also worked for people for whom every minute was a pleasure and
    there was no such thing as drudgery or toil because I enjoyed it.
    There are no prizes for guessing which methods each of these people
    used or which of the two sets of methods is to be preferred.
    Any course which sets out to allow people to know themselves and see
    their personality as it is seen by others is a step in the right
    direction. Any course which increases a managers awareness of people
    and how they behave and what motivates them is well worthwhile.
    I'd question the $600 cost though, could these type of courses not be
    done nearer home or in the workplace to save money? Does one need
    expensive hotels and conference facilities for such courses? Are these
    facilities just a cover up for a good old-fashioned perk? THese are the
    questions that need to be answered rather than questioning tha subject
    matter of the course or its methods.
    

>    Any course which sets out to allow people to know themselves and see
>    their personality as it is seen by others is a step in the right
>    direction.

	I disagree, I've been on a few of these courses now, and none of them
	have come up with anything that I don't already know.
	
	They have also had a detrimental affect on some people, to whom it
	is a shock, and there's no-one around after the course to help them 
	with that.

>    Does one need
>    expensive hotels and conference facilities for such courses? Are these
>    facilities just a cover up for a good old-fashioned perk?

	A perk? to be away from home, from family and friends, from social
	activities and from doing useful work..........you have a different
	idea of the word "perk" from me.

	Heather

    How much non-work-related noting would this crap pay for?
    
    Laurie.

re: .16

>    I'd question the $600 cost though, could these type of courses not be
>    done nearer home or in the workplace to save money?

Believe me, the last thing that you want to have happen with a touchy-feely
course is to hold it at a bonafide facility where the activities and
participants can be observed by others. What would your opinion be if you
saw 15 people wearing blindfolds being led around by 15 others? Etc.

-Jack

	I personally think it would be a good idea, put a bit of reality
	into the situation

If, by "put a bit of reality into the situation" you mean "point out the
bizarre concepts and principles involved", you most likely have a point,
Heather. The issue of course, is that the facilitators would likely have
none of it, since they are acutely aware of the fact that the exposure
would cramp not only their style but the level of "open" participation
by the attendees.

I'm not trying to defend this. I was tricked into attending a "course"
of this type or two in the past and I have little good to say about them.
But the facts are that they can't be done "in public".

-Jack

>>>>    Such courses may on the surface appear to be a waste of money but lets
>>>>    not forget that human beings are Digitals most important asset.
    
           whatever gave you this idea?

    Did this come out of washington? Did slick willie do this? You have to
    watch out for this stuff, it gets on your shoes!!

>If, by "put a bit of reality into the situation" you mean "point out the
>bizarre concepts and principles involved", you most likely have a point,
>Heather. The issue of course, is that the facilitators would likely have
>none of it, since they are acutely aware of the fact that the exposure
>would cramp not only their style but the level of "open" participation
>by the attendees.

	One of the ones I went on was quite interesting, we cramped the styles
	of the facilitators and they went on the defensive.........
	......we had quite a lot to say about how their behaviour
	was percieved by us.

	funny how they want you to be "honest" about each other, but can't
	take it themselves.

	And then they tell you not to discuss the courses outside - I'm not
	surprised - I would be embarrassed too, if I were them.

	Heather

    Re .24
    
    I am of the opinion that anything that is not to be discussed to
    outsiders smacks of mumbo-jumbo and the in-crowd.  If it has to remain
    a secret, I wonder why.  What does it have to hide?

re: .25, Dick

> If it has to remain a secret, I wonder why.  What does it have to hide?

The typical "rationale" is that the desription of events which took place,
individually and out of context, would fail to convey the appropriate
message, and, perhaps more to the point, succeed in conveying an inappropriate
message. "It is necessary for one to experience the entire context in
order to have an understanding and appreciation of the exercises and
activities that take place."

That's what the facilitators say. That's what the literature says, as well.�

I tend to agree with you, however.

-Jack

� "Reading Book for Human Relations Training", � 1979, NTL Institute

    
    HEEEEYYYYYYY...
    
    How about turning NOTES files into touchy feely courses?
    
    No facilitator to pay for...it would then ONLY cost us $500.00
    a year per employee.
    

    When I first worked for DEC at Acre Rd. in Reading, back in '85, all
    the permies were going on a touchy-feely course. "New Age Thinking" it
    was called, if I remember correctly. I remember laughing out loud when
    I was told what it was about, and then, in my naivety, wondered who on
    earth would pay good money for it. The cost, for all employees (it was
    compulsory) must have been tremendous. Mind you, they did get a nice
    box and some cassettes to record over, sorry, listen to.
    
    That such crap still goes on beggars belief.
    
    Laurie.

Just because some other course somewhere else was either taught by
people who weren't as competent as they needed to be, or was taught
to the wrong people, or was taught to people who weren't able to get 
the right benefits from it, doesn't provide enough evidence to say that 
this particular course is wrong or being taught to the wrong people.  
Blanket statements are rarely correct.

I haven't taken this course, or anything close to it, but I have attended 
a couple of change management seminars.  Two things are clear:

	Digital has been undergoing radical changes for a couple of
	years, with mixed success, and will continue to change.

	These changes involve emotion, and therefore, if Digital wants
	to change successfully, it's appropriate to expend energy,
	effort, and money on teaching people to cope with change, 
	including the emotional issues, either in their own roles, or as
	leaders helping others to change.

Maybe if managers got to do some role playing as people being TFSO'd, we
wouldn't have all the TFSO notification horror stories.  Maybe if
the SLT got to experience what it was like working on the network as an 
individual contributor, we wouldn't have proposals to shut down
notes files.

   Gary

re.28:

New Age Thinking is not a touchy feely course. I've attended it twice, the 2nd
time was in my own time over a weekend. I did this because I found many of
the principles taught to be very enlightening. I still use the stuff I learnt
everyday even after all these years.

Dave.

    
    Now,
    
    Everybody go out and get a quartz crystal and wear it around you neck.
    Chant OMMMM......
    
    Are we profitable yet?
    
    ;-)
    

    re-.19
    
    Great response!
    
    However, doesn't that occur in all our offices these days? Though
    physical blind folds aren't neccessarily used.

>    When I first worked for DEC at Acre Rd. in Reading, back in '85, all
>    the permies were going on a touchy-feely course. "New Age Thinking" it
>    was called, if I remember correctly...... 

>    That such crap still goes on beggars belief.
   
 
   	Laurie, I went on that thing, compulsory, even though I told them that
	watching TV videos in the dark caused me migraines, I was still
	put through it (well, about 50% of it, the other 50% I was in the sick 
	room)

	The time in the sick-room was more productive than the time on the 
	course.

	And then there was management modules 1, 2 and 3, (yup 2.5 weeks) and 
	the assertiveness course, and a positive power and influence course..
	....and probably more I've forgotten.

	And guess what, they all told me I was assertive, and for those who 
	may be timid, I can across as agressive.

	So, when are they going to tell me something I don't know?


	Heather

The original request asked if anyone had taken this course:

I took the course two months ago and recommend it *highly*, particularly in
light of what is happening in industry, Digital, and the world around us.  I
believe keeping up with (never mind ahead of!) the accelerating rate of change
and complexity of today's world requires a new approach to understanding and 
dealing with change; the course provided me with that and more.  The benefit 
has been well worth the investment.

Regards,

Kristy

Is this anything more than the socialization skills we should have learned in
kindergarten?

You remember, treat people fairly, don't be mean, don't hit others, don't spit,
don't threaten, lead by example, and don't forget to do your work.

OK, so there are some people who haven't learned those lessons.  Hopefully they
will someday, but this class seems like something will be best received by 
those that already believe those things.  Those that don't know those things
will probably not be changed by one class.  Self improvement is a constant
on-going process.
Matt

    re .35
    
>Is this anything more than the socialization skills we should have learned in
>kindergarten?
    
    Many of the engineers I know must have missed that particular class.
    
    /Butch

    Re: kindergarten lessons:  own up to it when you have done something
    wrong or didn't complete a task.  We grownups are now calling it
    "accountability."
    
    

	I found this in my email.

	Has anyone taken this course?

	It's only $250/day.

	Do you suppose this one goes beyond the "kindergarten" level noted
	in earlier replies?

	(I'm not going to ask for opinions and adivce on any more of these
	course announcements:  I'm getting good at separating the wheat
	from the raisins, and after all, how much can we hone the point?
	But this one is just too good to let by (see the students' comments,
	below...))

	Regards, Robert.


	              ___
	             |  _|_   
	             !_|_! |  SOFTWARE LEARNING GROUP
	               !___!


  *** REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED - SET HOST WECARE - USERNAME = CRS ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TITLE:      	COMMUNICATION/CONFLICT RESOLUTION

DATE:   NOVEMBER 15,16 & 19, 1993	TIME:     8:30 - 5:00

VENDOR: NICK CRAIG			LENGTH:   3 DAYS	COST: $750.00

FORMAT: SEMINAR				LOCATION: GALILEO CR (ZKO3-3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                 Communication and Conflict Resolution
			Skills for Engineers
                       From Mystery to Mastery


Comments from Students:

	" The best learning environment I have seen at Digital"

	"It was the 1st time I was shown why conflict arises and concrete,
	 simple tools to handle conflict."

	" I am glad DEC offers this course to it's employees."


Intended Audience: 

Managers, supervisors, individual contributors 

Prerequisites: None

Course Description:

This course is designed to take the mystery out of how to
successfully interact in today's engineering environment. The 
rate of change in technology, the shorter product life cycles, the 
increased level and quality of competition, and the complexity of customer 
demands place greater emphasis on communication skills than ever before.  
Luckily there is learnable communication technology that enables 
engineers to:

	*  Transform tense interactions into comfortable ones
	*  Resolve difficult/recurring conflicts
	*  Discover the source of misunderstandings quickly

This course is designed for ANYONE working in an engineering environment.  
When you will have taken this course, you can interact with managers, 
other engineers, and customers in an enjoyable, rewarding and precise manner.  
The design of the course invokes the Mastery Model of Milton H. Erickson 
as follows:

	*  Learn the skills at an unconscious level
	*  Practice the skills
	*  Master the skills
	*  Expand use of the skills to situations outside the learning 
	   environment



DAY 1		Transforming Interactions Through Rapport		

Upon completion of this module students will be able to:

	*  Create rapport with people allowing previously tense 
           conversations to now be comfortable.
	*  Capitalize on your natural strength's in rapport.
	*  Bring people back into a conversation after they have drifted off.	
	*  Obtain willing assistance from others without inadvertently
	   being perceived as manipulative.	


DAY 2		Resolving Conflicts

Upon completion of this module students will be able to:

	*  Resolve routine conflicts as they occur.
	*  Use a feedback process to prevent conflicts and to clear up      
	   long standing conflicts.
	*  Understand the difference between what is spoken and
	   what is being communicated but not spoken.
	*  Present your best side (as a matter of choice) in important     
	   interactions.


DAY 3 		Source of Misunderstandings - The Unspoken Message

Upon completion of this module students will be able to:

	*  Determine what is said but not actually spoken and its
           impact on interactions.
	*  Generate unspoken messages of choice and significantly 
           impact the outcome of a conversation.
	*  Resolve misunderstandings quickly.
	*  Integrate all that has been learned, during the course, 
	   into a simple, elegant model for communication.


COURSE INSTRUCTOR:

        Nick  Craig  has  9  years  of  Digital  software  development
experience.   He  currently  works  in  the TNSG Management Consulting
Group providing organizational consulting to Digital  software  groups
and  external customers.  Nick has an undergraduate degree in Computer
Science/Math and a masters degree in Organizational Development.

    
    Re: .38
    
    I would encourage you to take it.  In my experience, technical
    stuff is rarely the root cause of why projects get into trouble.
    In my experience, it's much more because we don't know how to
    work together.  Learning conflict resolution helps address the
    problem of not knowing how to work together.
    
    fwiw,
    Steve
    

    any course that improves your communications skills i encourage you
    to go ahead and take.

    we life in a fast moving world now a days and communications is more
    and more important. we cant afford to slip in that area.

    \nasser

    
    Nick Craig is an excellent instructor. This particular course might be
    a bit too generic for my taste, but he also presents another one that
    specifically address the problems of leading a technical project,
    including communication skills and conflict resolution.
    Can't remember the exact name, but ut was something like "Leadership
    Skills for Technical PRofessionals".