A. Describe an existing organization with which you have had personal experience and its
objective(s).
● The organization that I have had a personal experience with is America’s
Environmental University, my current employer. This is a university based in
Maine, that focuses on providing all types of students access to environmental
degrees. At this organization, I work in the instructional design department. Since
a large goal of the organization is to provide education to working students, my
team designs online, asynchronous courses for the various online programs
offered.
a. Describe three leadership practices of the current leader, other than yourself, in
the existing organization.
● The leader that I will be describing is my department supervisor, “Allie”.
Allie has been my supervisor since I started at this organization, and has
had leadership practices in place that have made my employment there
all the more enjoyable. Three leadership practices that Allie uses are
encouraging communication, fostering collaboration, and setting clear
timelines for projects.
● Allie encourages communication by demonstrating clear communication
herself. Timelines, due dates, and meetings are all communicated well in
advance and reiterated throughout projects. For example, when a project
is assigned to us, Allie sends us that notification in an email, including the
timeline for the project, contact information, agendas, and resources all at
once. Once the project gets to its halfway point, she meets with us to
ensure everything is running properly, and communicates any
updates/changes to the end product. This makes it much easier to plan a
project, and to communicate with my own clients, since this level of
communication is consistent in the leadership as well.
● Allie also fosters collaboration on projects that she and my peers are a
part of. She does this by setting up regular meetings for the team to bring
forward issues, questions/concerns, and other items for discussion.
During these meetings, Allie encourages us to work on issues we’ve
encountered in the projects we’re in the middle of. Our team then works
on coming up with solutions together. This practice has helped me solve
, many issues, and has allowed me to help my peers when they run into
similar issues.
● Lastly, Allie also sets clear timelines for projects she assigns. This
ensures everyone involved in the project is aware of expectations from
the beginning. In her timelines, she breaks down every major milestone,
and gives smaller goals for each; Because of this practice, I’ve been able
to accomplish goals within projects easier, since I know what’s expected
for each step. When working with experts on projects, I’ve also adopted
this practice to make sure they’re also aware of each major milestone and
how long they’ll typically take.
b. Discuss how the current leader has affected organizational culture.
● Allie’s impact on the organizational culture has been massive, just in the
time that I’ve been with the company. Her positive attitude and leadership
style has increased morale amongst my team. From my peers who have
worked at the company longer than me, I’ve learned that the person in
her position before her wouldn’t meet with anyone on the team, wouldn’t
include the team on big decisions, and was very negative about goals and
timelines. Allie on the other hand, has encouraged communication
amongst the team. The level of collaboration has increased, which brings
new ideas to the table, and, in turn, makes building courses easier and
more interactive. Allie encourages us to be creative in our course builds,
instead of following the same formula when creating new assignments for
students. I have no fear bringing new ideas or problems to meetings
because I know they will be received positively and I will find an answer
because of the culture that Allie has created.
i. Conduct a SWOT analysis evaluating the chosen organization by doing
the following:
1. Evaluate two of the organization’s current strengths.
● One strength of the university is the level of technology
use. All courses are very up to date with current
technology trends. AI is integrated into all aspects of the
courses, as well as the building of the courses. My team
regularly meets to share knowledge and attend training
objective(s).
● The organization that I have had a personal experience with is America’s
Environmental University, my current employer. This is a university based in
Maine, that focuses on providing all types of students access to environmental
degrees. At this organization, I work in the instructional design department. Since
a large goal of the organization is to provide education to working students, my
team designs online, asynchronous courses for the various online programs
offered.
a. Describe three leadership practices of the current leader, other than yourself, in
the existing organization.
● The leader that I will be describing is my department supervisor, “Allie”.
Allie has been my supervisor since I started at this organization, and has
had leadership practices in place that have made my employment there
all the more enjoyable. Three leadership practices that Allie uses are
encouraging communication, fostering collaboration, and setting clear
timelines for projects.
● Allie encourages communication by demonstrating clear communication
herself. Timelines, due dates, and meetings are all communicated well in
advance and reiterated throughout projects. For example, when a project
is assigned to us, Allie sends us that notification in an email, including the
timeline for the project, contact information, agendas, and resources all at
once. Once the project gets to its halfway point, she meets with us to
ensure everything is running properly, and communicates any
updates/changes to the end product. This makes it much easier to plan a
project, and to communicate with my own clients, since this level of
communication is consistent in the leadership as well.
● Allie also fosters collaboration on projects that she and my peers are a
part of. She does this by setting up regular meetings for the team to bring
forward issues, questions/concerns, and other items for discussion.
During these meetings, Allie encourages us to work on issues we’ve
encountered in the projects we’re in the middle of. Our team then works
on coming up with solutions together. This practice has helped me solve
, many issues, and has allowed me to help my peers when they run into
similar issues.
● Lastly, Allie also sets clear timelines for projects she assigns. This
ensures everyone involved in the project is aware of expectations from
the beginning. In her timelines, she breaks down every major milestone,
and gives smaller goals for each; Because of this practice, I’ve been able
to accomplish goals within projects easier, since I know what’s expected
for each step. When working with experts on projects, I’ve also adopted
this practice to make sure they’re also aware of each major milestone and
how long they’ll typically take.
b. Discuss how the current leader has affected organizational culture.
● Allie’s impact on the organizational culture has been massive, just in the
time that I’ve been with the company. Her positive attitude and leadership
style has increased morale amongst my team. From my peers who have
worked at the company longer than me, I’ve learned that the person in
her position before her wouldn’t meet with anyone on the team, wouldn’t
include the team on big decisions, and was very negative about goals and
timelines. Allie on the other hand, has encouraged communication
amongst the team. The level of collaboration has increased, which brings
new ideas to the table, and, in turn, makes building courses easier and
more interactive. Allie encourages us to be creative in our course builds,
instead of following the same formula when creating new assignments for
students. I have no fear bringing new ideas or problems to meetings
because I know they will be received positively and I will find an answer
because of the culture that Allie has created.
i. Conduct a SWOT analysis evaluating the chosen organization by doing
the following:
1. Evaluate two of the organization’s current strengths.
● One strength of the university is the level of technology
use. All courses are very up to date with current
technology trends. AI is integrated into all aspects of the
courses, as well as the building of the courses. My team
regularly meets to share knowledge and attend training
