Mission
Since 1981 we have been Changing
Work, helping people come together to contribute to a mission, learn
and grow.
Methods
The basic reason for excellent results
over the years is that I spend at least twice to three times as much time
up-front as facilitating or training. I have no canned programs, only ingredients
which I combine depending on the particular purposes and needs. In addition
to reviewing basic information like organization charts and mission, and
talking with the client in depth, I interview people in the group I'll be
working with directly. On that basis, I come back to the client with a proposal
which we can discuss and modify as needed. At the end of the process, we
evaluate mutually to ensure that everyone, including me, learns from the
experience.
Mentoring
About
half of the Changing Work practice is mentoring -- designing programs to
fit a particular organization's needs, developing the required support systems,
publicizing programs, training the organizers and participants, facilitating
the year-long process, and evaluating at the end. Where a formal mentoring
program (in which pairs are matched) isn't appropriate, I provide strategies,
including training, to encourage people to do it anyway.
I believe in mentoring so strongly because it is what worked for me, in helping me make the transition in 1971 from an underutilized secretary to a highly motivated writer editor, in 1978 to program management, and in 1981 to entrepreneur. I began working with mentoring programs in the late seventies within the Environmental Protection Agency, then developed a more structured approach with the Department of Labor which has been the model for many other organizations. Beyond the results in my own career, I've seen mentoring work well for innumerable people -- scientists questioning whether they want to go into management, secretaries seeking a different career direction but unsure what it should be, program staff trying to find their way around an unfamiliar bureaucracy, or people from under-represented groups exploring the invisible system.
Retreats and Team Processes
Design and facilitation of retreats and team processes is another
specialty, to help people raise their eyes from their desks, forget their
lists, and look at what's really important: how they are working together,
what their dreams are about where they are going, and how to make it happen.
I've worked in situations where the goal was the redesign of a complex regulatory
process; or unification of a group of disparate individuals who were in
conflict; or re-establishment of communication within a team which wasn't
working together; or persuading a group of employees to give self managed
work teams a try; and many, many others. Rather than applying a formula
or the latest management fad, I try to learn as much as I can about the
particular organization, its people and culture, and to create an approach
that will work for them. The benefits are always greater when people know
that the process is relevant to their specific needs at that particular
moment.
Participatory Training
Finally, I design and facilitate participatory training on a wide
range of subjects: facilitator and trainer training (especially for technical
experts and other specialized audiences; career enhancement (such as self
leadership, goal setting, interview skills); communications (such as The
Journey of Listening, or Communications Under Stress); and team skills.
All training is carefully tailored, and built on principles of discovery
learning for adults, not the lecture model. My preference is to work with
groups of 15 to 20 to ensure individual attention and results, and the evaluations
reflect that. My approach is highly personal, with a real effort to reach
every person in some way, and to bring the group together as a whole.
Federal Women's Program
Because I was the Federal Women's Program Manager at the Environmental
Protection Agency, I do everything I can to support the Program now. My
experience there was extremely rewarding, including the establishment of
a network for executive women; an informal mentoring program; the first
Secretarial Advisory Council in government; and the first support group
for women of color at the Agency. This Web site includes resources to help
with the successful development and marketing of a Program that responds
to the conditions today.
Diversity in Action
Underlying
all of these activities is a strong commitment to diversity in action. I
do everything I can to bring people together across the lines that usually
divide them -- race, hierarchical level, gender, education, age, sexual
orientation, disability, and others.
© 1996 - 1998 Mary Dingee Fillmore, Changing
Work <mfillmore@usa.net>.
All rights reserved.