Interactive Executive Education

1
Interactive Executive Education

• What Works, What Doesnt
• and Why

2
My Experience

• 15 years first global teams in 1993
• Multiple cultures US, Latin America, Asia,
  Central Europe
• Varied context EMBA to company offsite
• Cross-cultural, multinational
• Situations where I did not speak students
  language

3
Executive Education?

• Mature students
• Hold or have held responsible position
• Manager or professional
• Usually 45 or older
• Presently working
• Not able to study full time
• Intensive study
• Varying duration
• Single course or offsite training program
• Full EMBA

4
Executive Student Characteristics

• Experienced
• Short attention span
• Critical
• Want whatever they get to be clear and make sense
• Want practical knowledge
• Want to use their experience

5
Interactive?

• Teams
• Foundation of course design
• All or part of the course activity

6
Considerations

• Learning objectives
• Language
• Experience level
• Geography
• Commonalities
• Work/organizational objectives
• Larger program objectives and constraints

7
Types of Interactive Learning

• In classroom
• Web-based
• Off-site
• Simulation/exercise
• Case-based
• Self-created

8
International Considerations

• Language
• Students have common language
• Same as instructor
• Location
• Education center (EMBA)
• Offsite (hotel or conference center)
• Web-based)

9
International Considerations (cont.)

• Time
• Coordinated (synchronous) or uncoordinated
• Duration
• Relationship to work
• Relevance
• Work demands (mobile telephones)

10
Web Technology

• Real-time, synchronousstill in the dream stage
• Technology inadequate to support (1,3,6,10,15)
• Webex, Adobe Connect (Macromedia Breeze),
  Microsoft Net Meeting
• Chat (MS Messenger, Yahoo Buddies, ICQ)
• Video or teleconference
• Asynchronousactually works
• Viable, effective
• Email (or Lotus Notes) commonly used
• Blackboard or other posting system

11
What Works?

• Cases
• Time sequenced (A-B-C, e.g. PG Japan)
• Role play (board committee, e.g. Otis)
• Deliverable
• Formal or informal
• In-class

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What Works?

• Team building
• Face to face time (language or cultural
  differences)
• Commitment, role effectiveness
• Self-created
• If enough in common (same company or group)
• Within larger context (final exercise)

13
What doesnt work?

• Simulations (does with MBA or undergrad)
• Game
• Not use experience, capabilities or imagination
• Synchronous distanceespecially across time
  differences.
• Work time or off time (e.g. streaming English)
• Technology limits group size
• Language response processing time (chat)

14
What doesnt work? (cont.)

• No deliverables
• Lose interest
• Distracted
• Extended time
• Work interferes
• Lose interest, teams disintegrate

15
What Helps?

• Tight time schedule organization
• Push schedule
• Definite commitment
• Role play or job related
• Clear roles
• Consistent with tasks and deliverables
• Company support
• Not interfere
• Give credence (accelerate career, cohort)

16
What Hurts

• Teaching
• Instructor owns outcomes
• Right answers
• Loss of interest
• Lacks relevance or canned, cases not real
• Goes on too long
• Vague tasks or deliverables
• Not use experience and capabilities
• Work interference
• Time conflicts
• Work deadlines
• Mobile telephones, laptop computers