When my boss pulled several of us into his office, I had no idea what to expect. I knew that it was not bad news, but I also knew that it did not pertain to any promotions because there were just too many of us in there. Once he gathered all eight of us, he asked us if we would be interested in taking part in a pilot program. He explained that while some of us did have MBA degrees, there were many who did not. He had found a Mini-MBA online, and he wanted us to test it out.
There were four of us with a degree in business, and four of us who did not. He wanted us to take the course together to see how well it went. Those of us with degrees were to see if the course was adequate enough to teach those without a degree the basics that they would need. He also wanted the four without degrees to see how easy or how hard the course was. He felt that having a test group of four with degrees and four without a business degree would show if this was a tool he could use in the future.
I thought it was a great idea because there were some things that those without a degree just could not do because they did not understand the steps that needed to be taken. We all agreed to be a part of this, and the course was much better than I expected. Now it did not teach everything that I had learned in school, but I felt that it genuinely did the job of filling in the gaps that were essential in our business. Since we all took the course together, the four without degrees have really stepped up with what they can do. That in itself makes the course a success, and it is a tool that my boss is definitely going to use moving forward.