Last week we sat down with valued Roffey Park alumnus and former participant of the Organisational Development (OD) Practitioners Programme, Rebecca Gane. Rebecca shared some fascinating personal insight into her journey on the programme, her thoughts on the course content and how it related to her experiences within her organisation as well as any advice she might have for those thinking of enrolling.
As Organisational Development Practitioner for the Co-operative Group and self-employed Systemic Coach, Rebecca had been in the space of OD for quite some time before participating in the programme. However, she explained how she had not had much teaching in the theory of OD, what it stemmed from, the humanistic paradigm and the nature of the work.
“I sometimes struggle with things that are of surface level and that is why I have taken to OD as it allows me to drop down into something much deeper.”
How did you hear about the OD Practitioners Programme?
Several of my colleagues had studied at Roffey Park Institute before on a number of different courses. They highly recommended Roffey Park after seeing the impacts and outcomes the courses have had within their contexts. Only a handful of institutes offer courses on OD, and Roffey Park was the one that impressed me the most. After I researched the programme, I liked the way the modules were organised online – from an accessibility perspective, this was great.
What did you make of the programme content?
To be honest, when I first saw the programme content outline, specifically the Action Learning Sets, I thought to myself ‘Am I going to get enough out of this? What are the types of conversations going to be like? What will the dynamic of the groups look like? What are the experiences of my fellow participants? Do I perceive that the greater value for money is being with the tutors all the time because they have expert knowledge?’ However, my questions were soon answered. In fact, I still meet every month with my action learning group!
Building that network and continuing to learn is brilliant. We still genuinely do come together and talk about OD. We talk about our roles, we talk about our lives, and we talk about what is going on in our contexts. I’ve learned so much through that process; being able to share stories and talk about what’s going on in my world, get other people’s opinions from it, and then translate the theory into something that feels more tangible and more practical.
I feel like I have gotten lucky because I’ve met a great bunch of women who are all on the same page. Perhaps not everyone is going to have that experience, but I certainly think if you throw your sceptical view out of the window and approach it in a positive mindset you will really enjoy it.
What are you doing differently now – yourself and the organisation?
“I think the programme has enabled us to make a greater distinction between the relationships of change management, project management, and the human element of OD.”
The programme has really helped me shape the lens that I look through with the work that I do. It is not just the theory that I can talk about now, it’s a mindset, a way of life and a way of living from a professional perspective, particularly when looking at behavioural or human-centric change. My organisation was probably very much in that traditional change management mindset. I think it’s enabled us to make a greater distinction between the relationships of change management, project management, and the human element of OD.
We have also introduced the dialogic element of OD into the organisation, which was not particularly present before. Furthermore, we were not leveraging whatever diagnostic data we had, to incorporate it into how to create structural change. Now, we have started to create a new reality and ways of working through great dialogue and conversation.
As a result, we’ve had some successful changes. It’s long-term changes, so it has taken a while to turn the ship, but by using more emergent, generative and dialogic approaches, I feel like it’s opened something up. The future is exciting.
Did you find that the OD Practitioners Programme positively challenged you at points?
Yes, it was constructively challenging. You might call it constructive conflict with your own mind because you are dropping into a level of depth that perhaps you were not expecting.
I sometimes struggle with things that are of surface level and that is why I have taken to OD as it allows me to drop down into something much deeper. Equally, it’s finding a way to bring that to life and be practical.
What was your highlight of the programme?
The action learning set was definitely a highlight because I met some brilliant people. Having had the time to reflect on the programme’s impact, the highlight for me is being able to walk away with something tangible – a common language, common dialogue, and a way of thinking about culture in organisations that has allowed me to translate theory into practice.
A lot of my work at the moment is around work culture and I was really struggling to figure it out. The programme has given me a framework to have conversations about how we might consider a healthy culture and a healthy environment and relate that to performance, which is ultimately the driver of much of the work.
Also, having the workbooks was really beneficial. Even still I look at my workbooks because there is so much beneficial and helpful work in them.
“The programme has given me a framework to have conversations about how we might consider a healthy culture and a healthy environment and relate that to performance, which is ultimately the driver of much of the work.”
Do you have any advice for future participants?
I would say to go into the programme with an open mind. Forget lots of what you think you know, embrace the facilitators and the group that you’re in and be a part of it – bring your whole self to learn. I would also say to be willing to have some of your thinking a little bit challenged.
What is the next step?
Our OD Practitioners Course has long been established as the leading course for OD practitioners and professionals across the world. If you also want to increase your knowledge and understanding of OD as a discipline, providing opportunities to develop your skills and equip you with practical tools, thinking strategies and a strategic mindset that will shape your personal approach and fit your business context, enrol today.
