Introduction By Paul Obidinski, J.D., and Story by Dana Anderson, MPS PSYLD Alum, Class of 2020

Introduction

All students within the MPS Psychology of Leadership program are required to take PSY 894, the Capstone Experience (“Capstone”), as their final course in the MPS program before graduating. The Capstone course affords students an opportunity to practically apply what they have learned throughout the MPS program and to design an intervention that will address a “real-world” leadership issue or problem identified by the student. Typically, students will base their Capstone project around a leadership problem or issue within their current workplace though projects may also be built around issues or problems seen in prior work environments or other organizations with which a student is familiar. While the Capstone course is an academic requirement and the culmination of a student’s journey in the MPS program, it is also designed in a way that allows students to formally implement their proposed interventions within their current workplace or other applicable organization. Several of our students, upon becoming program alumni, have reported success in the “real-world” implementation of their Capstone projects!

The following is an account from Dana Anderson, a 2020 graduate of the MPS PSYLD program, detailing the scope of her Capstone project and the manner within which she was able to successfully implement much of what she designed as part of her Capstone within her current organization. In short, Dana was able to address an issue created in part by the global COVID-19 pandemic and to work with her senior leadership team on some strategic initiatives to address the problem. We thank Dana for sharing her story!

-Paul Obidinski, J.D., Professor of Practice, MPS Psychology of Leadership

Capstone Success Story

First, I am very happy to have had the opportunity in PSY 894 to design an intervention, based in large part upon MPS program content, that could add practical “real-world” value for my employer after my graduation from the MPS program! The following is a summary of my organizational issue along with some of the actions I outlined within my Capstone project that have since been implemented by my organization.

I currently serve as a senior human resources leader for a global industrial technology company that consist of 22 manufacturing facilities and 4400 employees. As was the case with many organizations in early 2020, my company underwent a very rapid and unplanned transition to a remote work environment when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020. The problem that this created – and that I looked to address within my Capstone project – was Leadership’s perception of a loss of productivity and human connection within the new and unplanned remote work environment.

Before being able to craft any potential solutions to this perceived problem – both for my Capstone project and for potential practical purposes within my organization – a little more research had to be done to determine how much of this perception was real. To this end, I created a survey that would be completed by both remote employees as well as a limited number of employees that were still working on-site to assess the extent to which productivity was lower, and the overall impact being felt operationally and in terms of human connections by the unplanned remote work operation. The survey results demonstrated a slight loss in productivity in production and shipping functions. The survey results also revealed the existence of technology barriers with remote office setups and existing tools, as well as conflicts or uncertainty related to department priorities, expectations, and employee accountability.

With the above-noted survey results in hand, I created an intervention design for my Capstone project (and, ultimately, for use within my company) that would leverage existing resources to (1) reduce technology barriers, (2) increase/improve communication across the company, (3) clarify job expectations and business priorities; and (4) use metric and assessment data to increase leader effectiveness by emphasizing a focus on trust, respect, and autonomy between leaders and followers. My intervention design activities were supported by principles of servant and transformational leadership, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and self-determination theory among other concepts and theories studied in the MPS program. After designing my intervention steps, I met with our CEO to discuss the implementation of the proposed intervention, which was very well-received!

While some of the intervention activities remain ongoing or have not yet begun, we have managed to formally implement much of what I prepared within my Capstone project. In term of reducing technological barriers, the HR team classified every job as onsite, hybrid, or fully remote so that the Information Technology (IT) team could publish a standard for remote work setups. This enabled employees in hybrid and remote roles to expense certain equipment and get proper training on tools and software. In addition, a new “meeting protocol” and a “meeting free day” was implemented so that all employees would have clear expectations on how and when to meet and to ensure (on the “meeting free” day) that there were no distractions faced when completing required tasks. Finally, data on productivity under these new standards is reviewed weekly so that how much production is being impacted can accurately be monitored and adjustments, if needed, can be made.

In terms of increasing and improving communication across the company, seven affinity groups (Women, Color, Asian, LatinX, LGBTQ+, European, mental health) were created over the last twelve months with an executive sponsor for each group. Topics are coordinated by a volunteer committee and meetings are held quarterly for one hour and open to any employee who wishes to attend. Topics have covered social injustices for people of color, Asian hate, pay disparity for women, imposter syndrome, culture issues, allyship, and many more. In addition, the company hosts a “Midweek Mindfulness” call for anyone in the company to attend that covers a wide array of topics around change management, work/life balance, cultural values, and expected behaviors with breakout groups so employees can connect to others and discuss details in more intimate settings. These weekly meetings have been taking place for the last 18+ months and reinforce the company’s values and culture while creating a space for expanded connection and networking.

In terms of clarifying job expectations and business priorities, much of this was addressed via the job reclassification efforts and revamped meeting routines referenced above but, these actions allowed for a formalized record of expectations and methodologies for communicating about immediate business needs that did not exist previously. These efforts are in the early stages and thus remain a work in progress, but early indications are that employees appreciate the clarity and feel they can be more productive as a result.

Finally, with respect to increasing leader effectiveness, training has been created and rolled-out that highlights how leaders should communicate with remote and hybrid employees. This training also provides guidance on how to discuss accountability and performance issues with employees remotely and on how to give constructive feedback with respect. While much is still to be developed in terms of initiatives that will be intended to increase overall leader effectiveness (and metrics to measure success), some of the initial steps have been taken with more to come moving into 2022.

In sum, we certainly live in an evolving world and there will always be new issues for leaders to assess and address. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to develop some of the solutions as part of my Capstone project and believe that we are well on our way to making some long-term sustainable improvements in the workplace!

-Dana Anderson, MPS PSYLD Class of 2020