Online Follow-UpUsing Technology

to Enhance Learning

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I

Participants in leadership development programs face a big challenge

once they get back to work: preventing the energy created during the

program from evaporating over time. To sustain the learning process

and effect substantive behavioral change, follow-up is needed, and a

technology-based approach, with coach support, is proving effective.

by Wynne Whyman , Laura Santana , and Le igh A l l en

t’s probably the most commonrefrain heard from participants inleadership development programs:“This has been a wonderful experi-ence, but what can I do to ensure Iwill be able to use what I havelearned when I get back to work?”Indeed. One of the biggest challengesfor both providers and participants isfinding ways to transfer what hasbeen learned during leadership devel-opment programs to the workplaceand to continue building on thatlearning. Even when participants ini-tially gain significant self-awarenessand make genuine commitments tochange their behavior, the energy andexuberance—the glow—derived fromthe safe and supportive environmentof a leadership development experi-ence can recede as the realities of the

day-to-day work world—the stresses,uncertainties, and old habits—reclaimtheir hold.

Why do some training and devel-opment opportunities fall short? Whydo some managers remain unchangedafter taking part in developmental ini-tiatives that on the surface appear tobe well thought out and executed?Often the reason is that no well-defined goals and action plans areproposed, and the best intentions ofapplying the learning fall by the way-side, largely because of insufficientfollow-up management and support.

It is CCL’s belief, based onresearch and experience, thatalthough distinct leadership-buildingevents do occur, effective leadershipdevelopment is predicated not on asingle event but on a process—in

Wynne Whyman is a CCL

design faculty member and

manager of the Center’s blend-

ed learning solutions project,

which integrates learning

technology with face-to-face

learning. She holds an M.A.

degree from the University of

Colorado at Denver.

Laura Santana is a CCL deliv-

ery faculty member and a

member of the Center’s blend-

ed learning solutions team. She

holds an M.S. degree from the

United States International

University’s Mexico City campus

and is working on her Ph.D.

degree from Antioch University.

Leigh Allen is chief assessor

at CCL’s Colorado Springs cam-

pus. She holds a Doctor of

Psychology (Psy.D.) degree

from the University of Denver.

other words, it takes place over time.This means that constructive follow-up—such as periodic assessments,continuous setting of goals and track-ing of their completion, ongoingfeedback, on-the-job training, andcoaching—are key to effective lead-ership development. By continuing touse and evaluate what they learn intraining programs, leaders can extendthe developmental experience.

For the past three decades, partici-pants in CCL’s LeadershipDevelopment Program (LDP)® havebeen asked on the last day of theweeklong program to identify, usinga paper form, how they will applytheir learning by setting one to threegoals. Soon after, CCL mailed partic-ipants a copy of their goals, alongwith a letter encouraging them tocontinue making progress on meetingthose goals and asking them to reportback on their progress. For such apaper system to be effective, how-ever, the participants must be self-starters and must feel empowered toaccomplish their goals, as there areno built-in supports such as coaches(although program graduates couldrequest personal, one-on-one coach-ing for an additional fee).

Under this paper system only asmall percentage of participantsreported back on their progresstoward their goals, and the forms thatwere returned indicated that only 24percent of the stated goals wereachieved. CCL felt there had to be abetter way to help LDP participantsengage in an ongoing developmentalexperience connected to their dailychallenges and opportunities.

GETTING BETTERIn an effort to find such a better way,CCL studied the use of an innovative,Web-based tool during a ten-weekpilot program running from July toSeptember 2004 at CCL’s three NorthAmerican campuses, in Greensboro,Colorado Springs, and San Diego.

The tool, called Friday5s®, wasdeveloped by the Fort Hill Company,a leading provider of follow-throughtechnology and know-how, and wascustomized for CCL. The tool’s tech-nology platform allowed CCL to fol-low up with each participant—some-thing that had never before beenpossible through face-to-face or tele-phone follow-up because of the sheernumber of attendees.

Every other Friday an e-mail wassent to the participants asking them totake five minutes to update theirgoals. The system gave these leadersthe ability to connect with their fellowLDP participants and to communicatetheir goals to their managers and col-leagues. It also provided online mate-rials and supports, including guidanceon action steps, a bibliography andbook summaries, and access to onlinecoaching from the CCL feedbackcoach with whom each participanthad had a four-hour, face-to-face ses-sion near the end of the LDP. At theend of the ten-week pilot, both partic-ipants and coaches were enthusiasticabout the online follow-up system.

Perhaps the most important andbeneficial aspect of the system wasthe access to coaching sessions, dur-ing which participants could requestfeedback and ideas for addressingtheir specific challenges. As noted in“In It for the Long Haul: Coaching IsKey to Continued Development”(LiA, March/April 2002), CCLrecently conducted a study with twogroups of LDP graduates: one hadparticipated in the follow-up coach-ing option and the other had not. Thestudy looked at the goals and self-reported behavioral changes of bothgroups. Those participants who hadfollow-up coaching were also askedwhat it was about the coachingprocess that they believed helpedthem achieve positive behavioralchange. The study results indicatedthat a follow-up coaching program,even a minimal one, offers significantbenefits in reinforcing the develop-

mental experience and producing on-the-job behavioral change.

CCL recognized, however, thatalthough the feedback coaches partic-ipating in the online system alreadyhad expertise in face-to-face andphone coaching, it would be helpfulto provide them with specializedtraining in techniques for the onlinesupport process, which requires anadditional and sometimes differentset of skills. CCL, drawing from itsunderstanding of online dynamicsand the field of facilitation, devisedthe following guidelines—somebroad, some more specific—forcoaches to apply during the onlinefollow-up process:

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A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S

• Write substantive and specificresponses.

• Suggest revisions to thecoachee’s goals that will make thegoals stronger.

• Focus on behavioral goals, andreinforce the coachee’s progresstoward attaining them.

• Look for behavioral patterns,and make them explicit.

• Remind coachees to be specificabout which problems can beaddressed.

• Consciously use language thatinvites further interactions. Forinstance: I’m looking forward toreceiving your update next Friday.Please let me know how I can behelpful.

• Keep responses short. Peopletypically don’t read every word onthe computer screen; they tend toskim.

• Make the main point first, thenadd supporting information. (This isthe opposite of the common coachingtechnique of first giving the support-ing information, then building to aconclusion.)

• Use capitals to emphasize a sin-gle word, and typographical devicessuch as asterisks and “smiles” toexpress emotion and emphasis.

FOUR R’SCCL believes that effective onlinecoaching principles, whether coachesare using e-mail, a collaboration tool,or threaded discussion groups, can belearned and can have relevance notonly in the online environment butalso in the workplace. Coaching isabout helping people to effect behav-ioral change, not about giving them ahow-to on accomplishing specificprojects. During the pilot program,many of the coaches did an excep-tional job, using solid online coach-ing techniques. Other coaches strug-gled. Using ten weeks of data, CCLanalyzed the factors that made feed-back from particular coaches effec-

tive or ineffective, as well as theways that coaches were engaging par-ticipants and the impact of stretchingparticipants to meet their goals. Afterreviewing more than ninety responsesfrom coaches, CCL identified the fol-lowing four R’s—components ofeffective online coaching:

Reignite the RelationshipMake statements that recall the con-tent and rapport of the feedback ses-sion that occurred at the end of theprogram. Let the coachees know thatthey can readily work with you again.For example:

Hi, Jane. It’s great to hear from you.I really enjoyed the time we spenttogether during the program, gettingto know you and learning moreabout the work you do. I hope thatyour learning experience continuesto be as meaningful now that you’reback home as it was while you werehere.

Recognize and ReinforceCoachees’ Progress Toward TheirGoals, and Acknowledge That ItTakes Hard WorkAffirm their feelings about workingon their goals, and recognize howothers—their colleagues, familymembers, and friends—may be react-ing. Focus on behavioral goals andreinforce coachees’ progress towardattaining those goals through theiraction steps. For example:

I can see that your goal of teambuilding follows from our feedbacksession, and I think you have chosenan important goal and a way ofimplementing it that is first-rate.

I know this was a sticky goal. As Irecall, you were going to have a con-versation with your boss.

I have a hunch that it seems easier toyou because you have really gotten in

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touch with the impact you desire.Although it does take a lot of disci-pline to stay quiet when you wouldlike to add more, I see that you aregetting the results you want by think-ing ahead and keeping your silenceand really listening.

I have found that true progress hap-pens in varying ways. There will besome bumps in the road, as you havealready experienced. The best partabout it is that you worked hard tostay present and realized what washappening. The more you do this, themore often you will have success.

I’m glad you liked the idea of havingpeople observe you in meetings andprovide direct feedback. That shouldbe productive to work on when youreturn from vacation.

Respond with SuggestionsLook toward a future direction with aspecific call to action. Describe thebenefit of the change. Integrate asappropriate with other resources orassessments. Ask questions and offersuggestions rather than being direc-tive. For example:

For those who are new to workingwith you, have you considered shar-ing specifically with them that youare experimenting with some newbehaviors (yours)? What aboutteaching them SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) so they can giveyou feedback?

I’d like to suggest to you that thereare two ways about thinking aboutyour style of decision making: con-sensus making and authoritarian.Short-term, urgent situations benefitfrom an authoritarian structure,whereas long-term situations affect-ing a broad population fit a consen-sus model better.

I like to use the SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) model in requesting

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feedback. My assumption is that youparticipate in meetings and briefings.Could it be useful to rotate the leader-ship of the team meetings quarterly?

If you want to run some ideas by me,I’d be glad to “talk” with you. Don’tforget the tips on downsizing the con-flict and practicing absorbing theenergy of the other person versusreacting. You can be in the driver’sseat here and keep your cool and feelgood about how it turns out.

As far as checking perceptions andinterpretations of others, rememberto take thirty seconds or so to askothers to summarize what they thinkis happening/being decided. “So,where are we on this?” and “Whatdid you hear me say?” are a coupleof leading questions that might getyou some helpful responses.

Reconnect ProactivelyBring closure to the online messagewith a description of a future time orevent when you will connect again.For example:

I’ll be very interested in hearingmore about the mentor program you

describe, both the mentoring youreceive as well as insights you gainfrom serving as a mentor yourself.

I look forward to an update from youas you take the first steps towardthese good goals.

I look forward to hearing in twoweeks about the progress you havemade.

STANDARD TIMEAre there ways for leaders to increasethe application of learning throughtechnology? CCL’s pilot programwith Friday5s indicates that an onlineplatform can be effective in manag-ing the intentional planning, time,and effort necessary to create thelevel of follow-through necessary tobring about successful and lastingbehavioral change. As a result, CCLhas made Friday5s a standard featureof LDP. Thus far about 80 percent ofparticipants have been active inFriday5s—a significant improvementover the previous paper-form sys-tem—giving them additional help insustaining and building on the pro-gram experience.

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Combining High-Tech with High-TouchTechnological approaches to learninghave a reputation for being imperson-al, but comments from LDP graduateswho participated in CCL’s Friday5spilot program indicate that onlineinteraction with their feedback coach-es gave a human face to the technolo-gy and provided a way for the gradu-ates to reach out and connect:

The act of staying in touch has beenimportant, and your feedback hasbeen so valuable to me.

Your feedback has kept me on target.

I feel a lot more in tune with my goalsand where I want to focus daily.

One person talked to me after ateam conference call and com-mented that it was the best meet-ing our team had convened. Heattributed it to the manner inwhich the meeting was conductedand to the listening skills you havebeen helping me with.

The comments I have received frommy coach, and putting in writingspecific actionable goals related to

improvement areas, have been mostvaluable.

Mentoring from my coach has provid-ed me with very good feedback andgiven me ideas to broaden my hori-zons. Her encouragement over thepast eight weeks has been terrific.

I know I have made more significantstrides in my two goals because ofyou and the graceful way that youhave communicated both the bad andthe good news to me. Thank you foryour help in reshaping my behaviors.