© ccmc method engineers training manual 1996 (2010 update) ccmc corporate comprehensive management...

© CCMC Method Engineers Training Manual 1996 (2010 update)

CCMC Corporate

Comprehensive Management Consultants

“People Drive the Process of Excellence”

File-3


How to Prepare a Method based on your critical experience in

workplace

Look for a significant episode in the recent past that you know intimately


Objective of the exercise

Primary objective:• To provide some hands on experience to

prepare a Method draftSecondary objective:• To develop an insight about the

importance of systematic principles and methodologies in Method development.

• To give an idea of Method engineers Tasks


Method Engineer’s rule of Personal Conduct: 6 Principles

• Principle-1: Episode to be taken from real life and you must have intimate knowledge about it

• Principle-2: It must simulate some important or critical part of the job of the target group

• Principle-3: The episode must have key issues over which “reasonable people or potential participants can differ – needs some working with data/ information to arrive at a judgment

• Principle-4: Episode to comply with Good Method Practice (GMP) the cast must have 4 essential structural elements (CCMC)

• Principle-5: Consciously plan a point of view • Principle-6: While writing be as descriptive as possible


Principle-1: Episode to be taken from real life and you must have intimate knowledge about it

• If you have selected the episode from real life it will have potential to elicit near reality behaviors. [Note: Experimental design based method is not a banned concept but it is beyond the scope of current exercise]

• The important purpose of your Method is to find out how participants deal with real people, real information and real issues. A real life episode simulates the reality and creates a proxy to observing the participants in real life.

• An episode from real life may need to disguise people and institutions (protection of privacy). This can involve changing the names of people, of places, and of organizations. You can change the name of a father/boss and a son/subordinate, but not the fact that they are father/boss and son/subordinate

• Overall structure of the episode and its components must remain same or constant. As for example, the time sequence of events, relationship among characters etc. should remain unchanged.


Principle-2: It must simulate some important or critical part of the job of the target group

• Does it simulate some important or critical part of the job of the target group?

• Suppose a group discussion takes place on the episode, people can demonstrate their skill in making decisions and other such targeted competencies.


Principle-3: The episode must have key issues over which “reasonable people or potential participants can differ

• Does the episode contain key issues over which “reasonable people can differ.” If there is only one correct “answer” as to what should be done or the correct answer can be simply deduced by manipulating data, the episode is of little use.

• A good episodes often deal with decision-making dilemmas; competing ideas; or a conflict of values, ideas, strategies etc. There should be no one right answer; there may be many options, some of them perhaps “better” than others.


Principle-4: Structure the cast around four essential elements of the episode [CC2MC].

• In a good episode there are four elements:– The Core Theme – The Context or the background; it has two parts

viz. the historical context, and the current context

– The Evolution Management and – The Closure

It is easy to remember [CC2MC]


Essential elements of the episode [CC2MC]: detailed.

• Core Theme. Is the key issue, critical concern, or the core problem. The beginning and the closure both must link to Core Theme. A brief paragraph opens the episode describing the major actors in the episode at the point where he or she is at the conclusion of the episode. This prepares the participants for what follows by enabling him/ her to know what to look for as the episode unfolds. It is like a flash back in a movie script, e.g. “Mr. Anjani Kumar the CEO wondered what he should do next, now that his two most valued VPs had resigned”.– The episode may have one simple Core Theme or a set of complex Core

Themes, i.e. what is posed as the key issue, may not be the actual critical concern. The participant is expected to dig out the actual problem.

– It is the Method Engineer’s task to determine what complexity fits the purpose of the Method in the context of a DC or AC design. The rule is neither ‘Simple’ nor ‘Complex’ Method; it has to be fitting Method (close to target task, demands reasonable resources; duration, sequence, available level of Assessors skill etc.)

(contd.)


Essential elements of the episode [CC2MC]: detailed (contd.)

• Context: It has two components, namely the historical context and the current environmental context. The historical context may include the history of the business environment where the episode is embedded; it could be the Industry history; it could be the history of the Organization – whatever is relevant that takes the participant up to that point where the Evolution Management begins. This may contain information about: geographic location, previous history, finances, demographics, roles, duties and relationships between people involved in the episode.

• Evolution Management. In the “Evolution Management” section of a episode, the Method Engineer seeks to trace a piece of history that eventuates in the “Core Theme” with which the episode began. May be broken into sections if the developments are complex and are on many fronts. At this point, the participant should have all the data that are needed to carry out desired tasks or make a decision/(s).

• “Closure”. This is the “decision point” in the real life where the Method Engineer wants the participant to be placed and start actions. It is often a restatement of the Core Theme or problem that the Method Engineer has articulated in the beginning.


• Here is an interesting departure in the role of a Method Engineer from a creative writer. The creative writer ‘if willing’ can be “inside the head” of all his/her characters and can illustrate whatever is happening inside the minds of characters to reconstruct a social phenomenon or to establish a fictional identity. In which the writer is “inside” the head of everybody and knows what they think and feel. In contrast the Method Engineer ‘Consciously plans a point of view (could be with multiple epicenter)’. As for example, National point of view, Industry point of view, Management/Workers point of view, Customer point of view, Finance professionals point of view, a particular position’s (CEO/MD/VP) point of view, or a group or a person’s point of view. Whatever point of view fits the objective of the Method is allowed, but it must be limited. If the Method Engineer decides the cast to be from the point of view of the CEO, for all other characters describe behaviour, give conversations, present observable data only; narration of Feeling & Thinking to be limited to the CEO character only. In case someone else's feeling is important, explain how was it a part of observable data; as for example, write “ ... VP Finance came out of the CEO’s cabin and whispered to VP HR, “I am really feeling frustrated with all that happened in the meeting … VP-HR said “I think someone is playing dirty politics”. Notice feeling and Thinking are part of observable data to all the participants whoever is reading the script.

• As Method Engineer Consciously plan a point of view (or views) and meticulously stick to it.• In a Case based role play, for the Role player, the Method Engineer may write a separate note

introducing the inner self (thinking & feeling etc.) of the character (content of the Role Player Brief).

• Planning of the point of view is not a random choice of the Method Engineer. It has to link with purpose of the Method and DC/AC design. Choice is guided by practical creativity.

Principle-5: Consciously plan a point of view


Principle-6: While writing be as descriptive as possible

• As Method Engineer be as descriptive as possible, and avoid use of evaluative language; verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Present data, information, behaviors and open up scope for understanding, application, analysis, synthesis, inference (by the participants). Avoid writing “Mr. X tackled the problem brilliantly” provide instead evidence based on which the brilliance can possibly be inferred. It’s ok to write “ … Mr. A wrote to Mr. B that Mr. X “tackled the problem brilliantly”. It is someone's opinion and observable data or information.

• Avoid evaluative language unless it is a design requirement.


Summary of Principles• Take the episode material from real life.• Disguise it do not distort it• Select material which presents problems on which “reasonable

people can differ” and which will demonstrate the competencies to be observed e.g. analysis, problem solving, decision making

• Present the material in good episode structure.– (C) Core Theme– (C) Context (historical & current environment context) – (M) Evolution Management– (C) Closure

• Maintain a Consciously planned point of view (or views).• Be descriptive as far as possible. • Write the episode in past tense, use past perfect tense for actions

that are past from the point of view of the people in the episode.


Congratulations!

• Your first draft is ready

• Solicit critic (analysis and interpretation) from another colleague Method Engineer

• Edit the script

• You are through with 20% of Method Engineer’s task (but very critical 20%)


• Q & A


Thanks !

© ccmc method engineers training manual 1996 (2010 update) ccmc corporate comprehensive management...

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