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8. DESIGNING A SOLUTION
DESIGN DIRECTIONS
The researchers have identified the following design directions for a solution enabling the development of workers’ skills and competencies requirements for effective team problem solving in the creative economy. These elements have emerged from the research findings and will be captured in the solution:
Drivers of the changes emerging from political, economic, technology and social changes.
Environments of workers such as work, social, cultural and physical environment.
Workers’ needs for a productive work and successful life balance. A holistic approach to address worker needs.
Customized strategies and tactics that consider the workers needs, environments and other life activities.
Value proposition addressing both worker and coach/navigator needs.
Competencies of the coach/career navigator. Impact of the value solution.
These design directions have been captured in the descriptions of the following user personas.
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APPLYING USER PERSONA
The researchers use a “user persona” technique to reflect each major finding of this research and to introduce elements of the design solution.
“A user persona is a representation of the goals and behavior of a hypothesized group of subjects. The persona descriptions include behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes, and the environment, with a few fictional personal details to make the persona a realistic character” (Wikipedia).
The personas have been carefully constructed from 30 hours of interviews data from a total of eight thought leaders and experts, four Baby Boomers and five Millennials. The World Café workshop included a total of 15 participants composed of eight Millennials, four Baby Boomers and three Generation X participants. The researchers have also drawn on their trends scan and literature review in developing the personas.
The researchers constructed three personas who work in the creative economy: a mature adult (a Boomer) in her 50s, a Millennial in his late 20s, and a team manager. Each persona is depicted within two scenarios. The first introduces the personas as they struggle through the challenges facing workers of the creative economy. The second scenario pictures each persona after tapping into the services of a coach or career navigator. The fourth persona researchers developed is that of a professional coach/career navigator for workers in the creative economy.
THE MATURE ADULT: JENNA
Jenna is in her mid-50s and she has spent the majority of her career in corporate and government organizations. A busy mother of two teenage children who copes daily with the demands of running a household, Jenna has worked hard to achieve her professional and personal goals.
Over the last two years, Jenna has struggled to stay up-to-date with the latest office technology advances. First, there was Dropbox, then Google Drive, and now there is Slack. Most of the internal office conversations seem to be taking place on Slack, and Jenna cannot figure out how to turn on her notifications. She cannot participate in this group conversation and feels, suddenly, like an outsider.
Jenna works in the Ministry of Health drafting new guidelines for the administration of opioids. She has a pharmacology degree and depth of knowledge this area. However, she has become increasingly frustrated as her views have been ignored, although she believes she can bring much problem-solving expertise to this issue.
She also noticed that she is no longer being nominated to attend key trainings or conferences. She feels that management overlooks her needs for training, even though she knows budgets have been cut dramatically. She feels a loss of agency. Jenna is having difficulty keeping up with the changes in information technology and the need to deal with big data.
OPPORTUNITY SCENARIO FOR THE MATURE ADULT
Jenna shares her feelings of frustration with her friend, Maya. She relates the story of a colleague experiencing similar challenges until she retained the services of a professional coach/career navigator, certified by the International Coach Federation. By working in partnership with his clients, Maya, reports, the coach enables them to identify the problems and select goals and strategies for long-term success.
Jenna mentions that her workplace does not offer coaching services to employees at her level. John encourages Jenna to pursue coaching, not only to help her in the short term, but also as an investment in her future career.
Jenna meets with Laurent, a coach/career navigator. Laurent explains the many changes that have an impact on how we work and manage our lives, that we cannot compartmentalize work from the rest of our lives. The new work reality includes greater use of technology, more contract employment, and greater pressures to do things better, smarter and faster.
At the same time, Laurent explains, there is great opportunity for someone of Jenna’s deep knowledge and experience.
They discuss all the issues that are holding Jenna back, and create a customized plan of options for her to consider, all of which are within her budget. Jenna emphasizes that she cannot leave her full-time job, so the learning activities must be offered online or must otherwise fit into her busy schedule.
Laurent introduces the idea of Meet-ups, and how useful they can be in widening her current circle of contacts and knowledge.
Laurent and Jenna work together over the next month, outlining where Jenna sees herself in the next number of years. They use a technique called “back casting”. Laurent has used it with many clients and finds that it often delivers breakthrough results. Through these conversations, it becomes clear that Jenna would like to remain with her current organization, but would like to be given more challenging assignments. With further investigation, the coach uncovers that it is Jenna’s lack of technological proficiency that is holding her back.
FAST FORWARD THREE MONTHS.
Excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, Jenna approaches her boss about enrolling in the computer courses at Brain Station. It offers courses after work hours in web development and other technology- related areas. She works with Laurent to identify opportunities for government funding to pay for the training.
Her employer agrees to cover part of the training costs, as long as Jenna heads up a task force to look at the underlying conditions for opioid use. During this period, Jenna also asks for Laurent’s help in identifying a training course in project management. Laurent recommends Global Knowledge. Jenna agrees to enroll in the course and pays the fees from her line of credit.
Jenna, on a roll now, signs up for a number of free newsletters and forums. She hires a social media coach who conducts one-to-one tutorials with her and remains available to help when she gets stuck. As Jenna experiences success, she finds ways to connect with the younger employees of her organization on Slack and even shares some of her favorite articles. These Millennial co-workers appreciate her candor and generosity in sharing knowledge with them. They reciprocate in kind, by making valuable contributions to the taskforce Jenna leads.
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