String, Spaghetti and Scotch Tape

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Sounds like the title of a movie but really they are just tools in the HR training toolbox. So are scavenger hunts and marshmallow challenges. Recent graduates of the Dynamic Management Seminars (DMS) made the discovery during on-the-job training.

Employees with management potential were nominated from all five groups to take part in the latest round of seminars so they could get a broader idea of how the County operates.

So what does that have to do with string, spaghetti and scotch tape? All three are part of the marshmallow challenge.  Teams compete to see who can build the tallest tower with those three items and still have it withstand the weight of a marshmallow. The key word is teams. The marshmallow challenge is a team- building exercise.     

In another lesson, the 33 DMS participants read clues on cards, then took part in a scavenger hunt at the County Operations Center to learn about the three different County initiatives: Safe Communities, Sustainable Environments and Healthy Families.

FGG CAO Staff Officer Andrew Strong was surprised at the ‘out-of-the-box’ training methods but more importantly he gained a new appreciation of the County’s inner workings.

“I thought the content was well thought out and it gave you a thorough look of what’s behind the curtain of County business,” said Strong. 

And that’s just it. Fun and games aside, the seminars have a serious purpose. Participants already know their piece of the puzzle, how their department works. The seminars are designed to show them how all the pieces come together to create the big County picture. The program ran every Friday for eight weeks, sometimes for half days and other times for full days. Some students were impressed at the amount of time and resources the County devoted to the training.

“The training was an eye opener to me,” said Treasurer/Tax Collector Assistant Manager Ezequiel Vasquez. “The General Managers and even Helen came to speak to us.”    

That would be Helen as in Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer. She talked about regional leadership during one of the sessions. County Counsel Tom Montgomery discussed the County’s scope of authority at another. The five group general managers took part in a panel discussion where they talked about their experience at the County and how they got to where they are today.  

“As a manager, your ability to grow and learn will be a valuable asset as you move through the organization,” said Assistant Chief Administrative Officer/Chief Operating Officer Don Steuer.    

The seminars also allowed participants to work on presentation and communication skills. They took the Myers Briggs personality test which helped them learn more about themselves and how to work well with different personalities.

“One of the strongest things I learned was to identify who we are (in terms of personality type), what they are and how to work with them,” said Environmental Health Specialist Bao-an Huynh.   

Not only did these students learn about personality types, they also learned more about each other and the departments where they work. Normally, they wouldn’t come across each other in their day-to-day lives. But now, if one has a question about another department or group, they know who to contact and get the answers they need.

Remember the string, spaghetti and scotch tape? These students will. As odd as it might sound, those three items were among the building blocks of a dynamic management course. No matter where they go at the County or what they do, they’ve learned skills that will hold them in good stead throughout their careers.