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Tapping NASA’s Greatest Resource: Its People

NASA Connect Home page.
Image Credit: NASA

NASA recently launched an online mentoring resource that takes much of the uncertainty out of making professional development connections.

Many people consider mentoring an important part of professional development. But if you work at an agency that spans 10 centers across a nation, connecting with the right mentor—or mentors—isn’t always simple. APPEL News sat down with project lead Margaret Truitt to learn about a novel online tool that breaks down barriers between centers to maximize professional connections and development. Its name? NASA Connect. But don’t just call it a tool—call it a movement.

APPEL News: Let’s start at the beginning. How long have you been at NASA and what do you do at Kennedy Space Center (KSC)?

Margaret Truitt: I’ve worked at NASA-KSC for about four and a half years in the Human Resources (HR) Office. I’m the HR communications lead and also manage various training and development programs, including the Mentor Program.

APPEL News: How did you get involved with mentoring?

Truitt: I was asked to take over the mentor program about two years ago. I didn’t know much about mentoring back then, so I read as much as I could online and attended a bunch of webinars. One that was particularly profound for me was a webinar on how to create a modern mentoring culture. That’s where I began this movement. I held a variety of employee focus groups and brain storming sessions, particularly with groups like the Spaceport Innovators and Launching Leaders. I wanted to understand what was working well with the [current mentoring] program, what wasn’t working, what could be improved upon. I did all that legwork for the first half a year or so. I reached out to my mentoring counterparts across NASA and also benchmarked firms in private industry that appeared to have innovative mentoring programs. So that’s where it all started.

APPEL News: “Modern mentoring”—is that different from the kind of mentoring most of us are familiar with?

Truitt: Modern mentoring has principles that embrace the fast-paced, tech-savvy world we live in to transfer knowledge and improve productivity. Those principles include reciprocal learning, expanded purpose, and expanded boundaries.

Margaret Truitt’s NASA Connect profile picture shows her wearing traditional Thai garb while in Bangkok. She deliberately chose the picture to spark conversations and connections with anyone viewing her profile. Photo Credit:  Edwin Sosa

Margaret Truitt’s NASA Connect profile picture shows her wearing traditional Thai garb while in Bangkok. She deliberately chose the picture to spark conversations and connections with anyone viewing her profile.Photo Credit: Edwin Sosa

Reciprocal learning already happens in the best kinds of mentoring relationships. The idea is that no matter who you are, or where you are in your career, you can wear either the “learner hat” or the “advisor hat” at any point in any conversation. To continue to grow as an individual and leader, you should be open to interchanging those roles.

Expanded purpose is about changing the concept of mentoring from a single-goal focus to an overall development focus. In the past, people may have only solicited mentors to reach a certain job or a certain objective in their careers. But with modern mentoring, the idea is that you’re never done developing. With a little self-awareness, you realize that no matter where you are, even if you’re at the top of the career ladder, you’ll always have skills to develop and hone continuously. This is because we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Lastly, there’s this idea of expanded boundaries. Previously, people were told to find a mentor in their discipline to help them learn the ropes in their organization. But modern mentoring encourages people to seek out as many advisors as possible. You can learn different things from each one. You can never have too many mentors or advisors! It’s looking to see how you can expand your diversity, your perspective, as much as possible by learning from as many people that are different than you as possible. It’s a move from this formal idea of mentoring, where you often meet one person, once a week, in an office environment, to something as easy as sending an IM to someone or calling someone and asking them to lunch to pick their brain about a particular topic or challenge.

Mentoring itself is not a new thing. It’s been around since the time of the ancient Greeks—it’s a basic form of knowledge transfer. What’s evolved over time is the way we mentor, how we mentor. The what and the why have stayed the same, but the how has changed. And it will continue to change based on how we grow as a society.

Of course, this does not discount the traditional form of mentoring. Rather, it amplifies the ways we learn from and share with each other.

APPEL News: How are you applying the concepts of modern mentoring to your work at NASA?

Truitt: I’ve started giving modern mentoring training to begin the conversation about what it is and how to embrace it. I’ve also led events, such as Speed Mentoring, which I’ve infused with the idea of “learning from anyone.” Speed Mentoring is a fun event where employees have brief one-on-one conversations for short intervals of time. Conversations lead to connections, which is what this is all about.

I’ve also used concepts from modern mentoring to create a new tool to better connect employees across the agency. It’s called NASA Connect.

APPEL News: What is NASA Connect?

Truitt: It’s an online tool to help enable conversations and connections across our workforce. It connects people who want to be mentored with people who want to mentor, and vice versa. And it does so in a way that’s simple, inviting, and fun to use. Employees can search the system by employee name, by center, by “last updated,” or by skillset. They can use the search box to see who may be willing to help them meet their goals, whatever those goals may be. For example, if they’re looking to hone “social media” skills, they can type that into the search box and see which profiles come up.

APPEL News: How does someone get started on NASA Connect?

Truitt: You start by creating a profile. You enter your NDC credentials and the tool automatically populates your profile with your name, where you work, what center you’re at. Then you write a little about what you do at NASA in your own words. This is important because we do so much great work across the centers and the agency, but we don’t really know what everybody does. How do you know if you want to shadow someone if you don’t know what they do?

Then there’s a section where you list the skills you’ve developed throughout your lifetime that you’re willing to share with others. You can also list the skills you’d like to develop yourself. We’re all unfinished masterpieces, so there are always things we have to work on! Finally, you pick the kind of connections you’re open to: mentoring, being mentored, being shadowed. If you’re open to mentoring, do you want to meet one time only, or every week? Or once a month? Do you want to connect by phone? In person? Online? You can really tailor it to your preferences. And once people view your profile, they understand what you’re open to. There’s also a button you can click if you’re open to any and all interactions.

You also upload a photo. It doesn’t have to be a picture of you—just of something you’re passionate about. It could be your dog or your cat, it could be your favorite travel destination. Something that you would be happy to talk about. That’s how you start a conversation, a connection. Most people have something they’re passionate about, something they can talk to people about forever. For me, it’s travel. My profile picture shows me dressed in typical Thai fashion in Bangkok. So I’ve already had multiple people contact me and say, “Hey Margaret, that’s a cool picture, where is that from?” I’m more than happy to talk about my experience in Thailand, and so far that has led to some great new connections.

APPEL News: Is NASA Connect only available at KSC? Who is it open to?

Truitt: It’s a KSC tool, but it’s open to all centers. That’s why we’re calling it NASA Connect. It’s the same website for anybody who wants to be a part of it. An important part of modern mentoring is that your mentor doesn’t have to be someone who’s physically near you. Nothing’s stopping you from reaching out to someone and having a phone call with them or using any of our technologies: Skype, or Adobe Connect, or Lync, we can all have videoconferences. Physical barriers should not be a reason not to reach out to somebody. As for who it’s open to, currently it’s only open to NASA civil servants.

APPEL News: Who do you expect will use this tool? Will it work for people who are introverted or find networking stressful?

Truitt: Yes! I’d love for all NASA civil servants to create profiles. The more people who create profiles and list their skills/strengths, the more effective the tool will be.

Some people are more natural at creating networks and reaching out to people. But it isn’t as natural for most of our technical workforce. That’s why I’m really excited about NASA Connect: it helps employees have an awkward-free introduction to reach out to people. People can search the tool, review profiles, and find others who have skills they want to learn and who have stated they’re open to being a mentor or being shadowed. They then get in touch with that person and set it up. They don’t have to approach the person cold: they do it through the tool and so know the person is likely to be receptive. Without the tool, they may never know that that particular individual is open to being a mentor and/or has a job with skills they want to learn.

Also, on the tool itself, there are resources that will help people who are a little reluctant or unsure about getting involved. There are one-pagers that tell you how to start a conversation, which questions to ask—things to walk people through the whole process. I’ve gotten feedback that that’s very helpful to individuals who wouldn’t naturally be comfortable starting conversations.

APPEL News: Why do you believe this tool is a good fit for NASA?

Truitt: We have a challenge to retain and engage our workforce. And what better way than to encourage more employee collaboration and sharing? NASA Connect will help by teaching people to engage with others. The fact is the workplace landscape is changing. Baby boomers represent the majority of our workforce. But in five years, 33% of our workforce here at Kennedy will be eligible to retire. There are all kinds of studies out there that show that by 2020, the Millennials will represent 50% of the US workforce. At NASA, that number might be even greater because of all of the people that are going to be retiring. So what’s important to know is that each generation tends to view mentoring, or the idea of learning, differently. The Traditionalists tend to view mentoring as an obligation: something they have to do. Gen X views it as a way to get ahead. The Baby Boomers view it as collaboration. But Millennials view it as connections. Eight-nine percent of Millennials think it’s important to be constantly learning at the job. And 98% of Millennials believe working with a mentor is a necessary component in development. NASA Connect is just one of many tools to help foster a culture of training and development. The cool thing is you can use it in a way that makes sense to you.

APPEL News: What is your vision for NASA Connect?

Truitt: I’d love to hear about success stories where employees were able to connect through this tool. Right now, I see limitless possibilities for how it can evolve. We’re open to any and all feedback to make it more user-friendly and helpful.

The goal is for employees to reach out to each other for help. To not feel like they’re alone at their computers. Reach out and maybe find someone to help them get their job done more easily. We all have a responsibility to work smarter. And what better way than to leverage our greatest resource, which is our people? We don’t hire just anybody to work at NASA; we were all hired for a specific skillset. So if we maximize that resource, there’s no telling what we can do. We’ll definitely be able to put our boots on Mars—and anywhere else we want to.

I’m calling it a movement. This is a culture shift. We’re not there yet, but that’s what the movement is trying to promote. It supports the idea of one NASA. Yes, we have 10 centers, but we all have one goal, a shared vision. NASA Connect helps us realize that vision.

NASA Connect officially launched on August 18, 2014. Currently, the mentoring tool is available to NASA civil servants only. NASA employees interested in learning more are encouraged to contact Margaret Truitt, Training Specialist, who can answer questions or help with creating a profile on NASA Connect.

Visit the NASA Connect website (NASA civil servants only).

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