Partnerships in the social sectors

April 18, 2010

“Partnership” is the new buzz word in the social sectors. We know that more power can be harnessed and more potential can be realized when we work together. We can think about building partnerships (or undertaking business development in general) in three ways:

Organically Grown Partnerships – A somewhat passive approach that involves making the most of things that come our way. Another way of looking at these types of partnerships is “picking the low hanging fruit”. These types of partnerships aren’t ones you go after, but rather those that simply appear before you along the path. You see an opportunity and pick the fruit. This is, by far, the gentlest way of developing partnerships because you simply take advantage of an opportunity that presents itself.
Positive – Good things can come from unexpected sources. There is potential for a nourishing relationship that entails very little work.
Negative – Unfocussed and not strategic. It may not be what you need right now. The worst case scenario is that the situation is poisonous to your end goals.

Aggressively Acquired Partnerships – Pinpointing exactly who we want to go after and pursuing them, leaving all others aside. The process is active, deliberate, focussed and relentless. This approach is not typically used, or well received in the social sectors.
Positive – Goals are set and achieved.
Negative – Excellent opportunities may be lost due to a myopic approach.

Mindfully Cultivated Partnerships – This is a thoughtful combination of the above – Examine potential partnerships that come our way, carefully evaluating the possibilities while at the same time, strategically pursuing potential partners we have identified (or that have been identified for us by other sources).

I recommend the third, with a caveat and that is the focus on always being cognizant of what we are doing, constantly reflecting on if what we are pursuing will get us closer to our goals, meet our standards and are aligned with our values. This means of course:

Having clear goals for partnerships – We need to know what we want to achieve from our partnerships. Often partnerships that have a common shared goal, as opposed to simply going through all the pomp and circumstance of signing a formal Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, have significantly more longevity and vitality. If you don’t have any goals, the vitality is likely to wither after the hype of the ceremony is over.

Defining our standards – Having rigorous standards and a focus on quality are important not only for our own organizations, but also to our partnerships. The bar sits where we set it. Focussing on excellence in all that we do, including how we cultivate and nurture our partnerships, is time well spent.

Articulating our values – I would argue that if we tackle this one first, the other two will be much easier. When it comes to developing partnerships, we are more likely to have success when we have clearly articulated what is important to the organization and those who work in it.

_____________________________

Share this post: Partnerships in the Social Sectors – http://wp.me/pNAh3-2Z

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Partnerships in the social sectors | leadership, social sector | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Building Multicultural Teams Means Building Success

April 18, 2010

Does your team lack cohesiveness and understanding because it comprises members from different—even conflicting— cultures? Would your productivity increase if team members from different cultures could work together more effectively? If so, you may benefit from multicultural team building.

In Canada especially, where multiculturalism is an integral part of our national identity, workplaces are filled with employees and managers from all corners of the globe. Sometimes, the cultural differences that arise in the workplace can create conflict, miscommunication, and diminished productivity. In certain industries, such as health care or manufacturing, these conflicts and miscommunications can increase the risk of injury to others.

So, how do you build and solidify a multicultural team? The first step to bridging cultural differences is awareness. Recognizing that things would run smoother if everyone communicated and respected each other is the first step to solving the problem. In too many cases, managers from the dominant Canadian culture will overlook or brush off cultural issues, because they are difficult to define and, at times, delicate to talk about. People worry about being called bigots or racists when they speak about diversity issues in the workplace.

In my experience, the opposite is true. If a manager has the courage to say, “We have some issues around diversity to examine. By facing up to them, we will build a stronger team, and we will each learn something,” then the veil of embarrassment or discomfort is lifted and an open dialogue can begin.

This dialogue is the second step. It means giving everyone in the group a voice, and creating a safe space for others to speak and be heard. A moderated dialogue, facilitated by an experienced diversity consultant, will help to keep things focused, and ensure that everyone feels respected. Awareness and dialogue are not enough, however, to solve the problem. From there, we need to move to action. This involves creating a new culture that is focused on neither traditional Canadian culture, nor the other cultures involved, but on building a strong, diverse, productive, multicultural team. It means shedding old stereotypes, to make way for a new team identity that gives each member an equal voice, and promotes both diversity and productivity.

This new culture establishes a new benchmark for tolerance within the organization. It also lays the foundation for new policies, procedures, and other governance issues pertaining to operations and personnel that will keep your team focused and productive.
A new team culture can be built in various ways. It may include:

  • identifying key issues and concerns for your organization—what specifically needs improvement? what situations, circumstances, or personnel issues do you need to target?training for managers and staff in cross-cultural awareness, management, and conflict management;
  • training for staff in expectations of the Canadian workplace, and managerial and operational styles;
  • language and/or accent-reduction training to enhance communications for non-native speakers of English;
  • cross-cultural communications training for all staff and managers.

This final step to building a successful multicultural team is crucial. Once communications and awareness issues have been successfully managed, you can move on to applying the new model to enhance your team environment, productivity, and even the bottom line.

With increased trust and awareness, team members will be open to adopting new ways of thinking and working. You will be able to identify specific areas within your team or organization that require attention and find effective solutions that all team members support and are willing to put into action. If you previously had personnel issues rooted in cultural differences, you will be able identify them, explain why they must be addressed, and, most importantly, you will have the tools to ensure that your staff and managers work effectively and respectfully.

Building multicultural teams is about increasing awareness and tolerance, and eliminating, or at least diminishing, resistance and even conflict. Some of the team-building strategies familiar to North American businesses may work, but multicultural teams have some unique characteristics. Learning to use these productively will benefit you, your team, and your entire organization.

Copyright © 2002 by Sarah Elaine Eaton

_____________________

Share this post: Building Multicultural Teams Means Building Success http://wp.me/pNAh3-2f

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Building Multicultural Teams Means Building Success | Communication, leadership, Multiculturalism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

How to find a good ESL agent: Tips from the trenches

April 12, 2010

One question that comes up time and time again is, “How do you find a good agent?” I think that part of the answer is to avoid wasting your time with unproductive potential agents. Sound harsh? It’s not, really. If you’ve ever been in the classroom, chances are that you’ve had a student who wants to monopolize your time in ways that don’t contribute to the overall lesson or are just plain distracting or even bothersome.

As teachers, we learn how to handle students with all kinds of personalities and motives of their own. We learn to set boundaries with them while keeping the lesson focused and hopefully avoid too much disruption in the classroom. We call that good class management. We try to achieve this without embarrassing the student, if possible, while making it clear that as the teacher, we’re the one in control of the class and that’s the way it should be. In fact, if we don’t do that as teachers, we may lose others respect and not be taken as seriously.

The same idea applies to business relationships, particularly when it comes to others outside your school who want to work with you or represent you. The larger your program grows, the more people you will have knocking on your door wanting to work with you. Annoying though it may be, this is a good sign. It means you are being noticed and your image is one of success.

One of the ways that businesses get more business is to let the world know who their partners are. If an educational agent or tour operator can say they are working with ABC Language School and that school is well known in the community, either locally or internationally, then it lends them credibility and prestige.

That’s precisely why you want to take your time establishing new business relationships. It just may be that you don’t want your name associated with that business.

One tactic that I learned while managing a university ESL program was to ask prospective new “business partners” or agents for a package in writing. Sometimes if the person was in the same city as me, either living here or just passing through, they would insist on a personal meeting first. I would gently but firmly state, in every case, that it was our policy to consider written proposal first, before a meeting. The reality was that the first few times I said that, I was fibbing. We didn’t actually have such a policy. Having said that, we quickly created an internal policy that stated we had to receive all proposals in writing before a telephone or an in-person meeting.

Once everyone in the office knew the policy, we all stuck by it, asking frontline staff to help prevent such calls coming through to us. One polite way for a frontline staff member to do this is to say, “If you send the written proposal to my attention, I promise that will hand-deliver it to our manager to ensure she receives it.” Anyone who took the time to send a proposal – even a one-page, detailed letter – would gain our attention, at least long enough for us to review the proposal.

If they couldn’t deliver, we would gently but firmly apologize and move on. I was able to stop wasting time on agents and others who may or may not have had good intentions.

That was the first step. From there, we would ask for references and examples of previous work done. If this caused our prospective business partner distress or caused them to become uncomfortable, we eliminated them from our list of possibilities.

Sometimes, the prospect would say, “Oh, well… our partners are located in a foreign country and no one here speaks the language.” We would always reply that we were prepared to hire professional, accredited translators to check references. Very rarely did we ever hire a translator to check anyone’s references.

The steps we followed were:

  • Insist on a written proposal first.
  • If you receive a form letter or pre-made package, request more details on how exactly they would propose that you work together. Get this information in writing.
  • Insist on references. If they can’t or won’t give these to you, the process ends there.
  • Arrange a phone or in-person interview during which they do most of the talking. Ask about the history of the business, the person’s credentials, and examples of experiences they have had working with other language schools.
    • Close the meeting saying that you will consider their proposal and you will get back to them within a fixed amount of time (usually not more than one week, unless you’re about to leave on a trip). Never agree to anything on the spot.

Part of the process involved abiding by our policies and the next step was to gauge the reaction of our prospective partners at certain points along the way. It became like a behavioral interview.  If the other party wanted to bend our rules from the very beginning, insisted on doing things their way instead of ours or if they became frustrated, aggressive or unwilling to cooperate with us at any time, we knew we didn’t want to work with them.

In the end, there can be any number of reasons why you would choose not to pursue a business relationship, including (but not limited to):

  • The relationship may not be mutually beneficial.
  • What the prospective agent wants to provide for you is not something you need at the moment (i.e. not a “good fit” from a business point of view.)
  • The timing of the proposal is off. This can happen if you are undergoing changes in your organization. You can always ask the other party to check back with you again in six months.
  • Your gut tells you that working with the other party would be a bad decision.

Although we sent some policies and procedures in place for dealing with prospective new business partners, the bottom line was for us to feel comfortable with the new person. You want your business partners to respect how you run your organization, be willing to provide you with what you need and be as interested in your success as you are.

Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients. You want to ensure you have the time and energy to cultivate strong relationships with your top 20%. Part of being able to do this is to avoid those who have big ideas and good intentions, with no way of ever realizing their goals or yours. Be polite, be considerate and be firm.

© Sarah Elaine Eaton

Related posts:

Tips for finding ESL educational agents

Tips for success at educational trade fairs

Finding an ESL agent – A open discussion (with link to webinar recording and slides)

_____________________

Share this post: How to find a good ESL agent: Tips from the trenches http://wp.me/pNAh3-2u

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

1 Comment | education, languages, leadership, recruitment, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Collegiality wins over competition when marketing educational programs

April 9, 2010

Often, we think of other language schools as being our competition. People who work at other educational institutions are colleagues first, and competitors second, not the other way around. This is a call for professional compassion and relationship building to help one another success.

The gap of compassion and understanding widens into a chasm when educational leaders who run schools that receive government see themselves as having nothing in common with private schools and vice versa. It gets worse when leaders from one type of institution look down upon fellow administrators who work in another type of institution. I have heard university program administrators  speak about  private schools as being “poor quality” simply because they do not have the history of the academy. Private school managers sometimes think universities are outdated and don’t listen to the needs of the students. On and on the arguments go.

The bottom line is that the people who work at other institutions are our professional colleagues.  Not only would I call for compassion in the profession, among teachers and administrators alike, but also, I urge us to treat one another with respect. This is a topic that could be discussed at length, so for now I will simply suggest that treating each other with more than professional respect alone is not enough. Together we form a community of language teachers, school administrators and managers. We are very proud and protective of our individual schools and programs, which is admirable. I suggest that we take it one step further and become proud of our profession and (heaven forbid someone should use the term when referring to education) our “industry”.

Every language school can benefit from developing excellent relationships with other programs. In order for this to happen effectively, we each will need to stay informed about what programs are offered by other schools and how you can help each other succeed. This may mean simply having a directory of local language schools on hand or a Rolodex full of useful contacts at other schools.

Share information about other schools. Recommend students to your competitors if you can’t help them. For example, if a student comes to you looking for a program that you do not offer, why not refer him to a nearby school that does offer that type of program? Even better, give the student the name and phone number of a person there who can help him out. That way, you won’t be sending the student on a wild goose chase, but you will be giving him a solid lead. This is not only professional courtesy, it will help the students.

Moreover, you will be giving the other school an excellent referral. In return, you can ask that your colleagues send students to you, if they can’t help them.

But don’t stop there.

Use this tactic to build relationships with other schools. If you receive a student because someone at another school recommended your program, give that person a call to thank them. Here’s an example of what you could say:

“Hi, Joe. It’s Mary calling from XYZ language school. Thanks so much for referring María García to our program. It was exactly what she was looking for. I sure appreciate you letting her know about us. I look forward to returning the favour when I have a student who fits well into one of your programs. I hope you’re having a super semester over there at ABC language school. Talk to you soon….”

By following up and acknowledging your colleagues for helping you out, you will help to create a bond with them that, over time, could develop into a strong professional rapport.

_____________

Share this post: Collegiality wins over competition when marketing educational programs http://wp.me/pNAh3-28

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Collegiality wins over competition when marketing educational programs | education, languages, leadership, marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

What Gandhi knew about marketing language programs

April 8, 2010

Language program administrators often struggle with how to promote their programs. They want to increase student enrollment and retention in the programs and yet, resources of time and money are often scarce. Moreover, many administrators lack training or interest in marketing and so, it gets pushed aside. Or half-hearted attempts are made through endeavours such as producing a brochure using a template from MS Word.

One question that must be asked is, do language programs have an inherent or intrinsic worth of their own or are they merely a means to an end, such as a way to get a job or to improve one’s chances of getting into a university program (extrinsic worth)?  Language learning and international education enriches a student’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them (and themselves) in ways that are difficult to evaluate and almost impossible to quantify. This personal and academic enrichment in the form of knowledge of language and culture is worthwhile in and of itself. In addition, the skills these programs provide in terms of foreign language communication and cross-cultural competence may lead to better opportunities in terms of education or employment, which are extrinsic to the program itself.

For Mohandas K. Gandhi learning languages was a way to better understand the world around him and ultimately, to change it for the better. Gandhi’s first language was Gujarati. His began to learn other languages in school, where English and Sanskrit were compulsory (Gandhi, 1948, p. 9).

It was during his time in law school that he became committed to learning other languages as a way to advance his work, noting that limited language skills for him meant that he would not work in his desired profession. He stated:

“My weak English was a perpetual worry to me. . . . A friend suggested that, if I really wanted to have the satisfaction of taking a difficult examination, I should pass the London Matriculation. It meant a good deal of labour and much addition to my stock of general knowledge, without any extra expense worth the name. I welcomed the suggestion. But the syllabus frightened me. Latin and a modern language were compulsory! How was I to manage Latin? But the friend entered a strong plea for it: ‘Latin is very valuable to lawyers. Knowledge of Latin is very useful in understanding law-books. And one paper in Roman Law is entirely in Latin. Besides a knowledge of Latin means greater command over the English language.’ It went home and I decided to learn Latin, no matter how difficult it might be. ” (Gandhi, 28)

In addition to learning, to varying degrees, Sanskrit, English, French and Latin, he also learned Hindi and Urdu, in order to communicate with others in his country, understand their situation better and work towards bettering their lives. In addition, while he was in jail he endeavoured to learn Tamil and Telugu (p. 176) and used his skills in these languages to communicate and work with illiterate soldiers in South Africa to help them fight for human rights (p. 88). Finally, he added Arabic and Persian to the list of languages he endeavoured to learn (p. 176-177) and did so through informal lessons with friends. That is a total of eleven languages, including his native tongue.

He saw learning languages as a way of communicating better with others and understanding the world more profoundly. Not surprisingly, he believed that everyone should learn more than one language, stating that, “It is now my opinion that in all Indian curricula of higher education there should be a place for Hindi, Samskrit, Persian, Arabic and English, besides of course the vernacular.” (Gandhi, 1948, p. 9). Gandhi not only understood the value of learning languages, he passed it on to his students. As with many who work with second and foreign languages, he was both a student and teacher of language.

The work of promoting a language program can be tricky. It is easier to focus on the skills that students will acquire that may increase their chances of meaningful employment when they graduate. Guidance counsellors and teachers can cite careers in the foreign service or international business as good reasons for taking courses in a foreign language. That’s because it is easier to talk about concrete outcomes and examples, than it is to talk about intangible concepts such as personal enrichment and knowledge.

While not everyone who learns another language may go on to have a profound effect on the world to the degree that Gandhi did, any person who learns a new language grows as a human being because they can communicate with others in new ways. This helps to develop a more profound curiosity about the world around us, which leads us to learn more about that world. Learning more about the world and those who live in it leads to deeper understandings of other cultures, other values and other ways of understanding life, love, politics, spirituality and all that is important to humans. Learning other languages opens up new possibilities for personal and professional growth, new opportunities to do meaningful work and ultimately, to value others more deeply because we can communicate with them better and understand them.

The best way to promote languages is to value them deeply, rather than simply focus on the skills that may be gained as a result of taking classes in them. When we learn a new language we change who we are, and we become better for it. That is the real reason we want our students to learn other languages. Focussing on that is in itself one of the best ways to promote our programs.

Reference

Gandhi, M. K. (1948). An autobiography or the story of my experiments with truth (M. Desai, Trans.). Bombay: Navajivan Publishing Centre.

(Originally published in the June 2009 issue of Zephyr, Newsletter of the Second Languages and Intercultural Council, Alberta Teachers Association. It is reprinted here with permission of the editor.)

___________

Related post: Leadership through Language Learning and Teaching: The Case of Gandhi

Like this post? Share or Tweet it: What Gandhi knew about marketing language programs http://wp.me/pNAh3-22

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

1 Comment | education, languages, leadership, marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »