Organizational Culture Theory. Those who comprise an organization defines the organization. In basic terms this is how an organization is run by its members. The members have already their "norms and traditions" in their organization and it is their generally accepted behavior. It is like an organization would have an extra set of unwritten rules in addition to the written rules of an organization. An example of a written rule in an organization can be something like this: "Always log in when coming to work and log out when leaving" and an example of an unwritten can go like this: "Do not bring bring food that would make a lot of noise when chewed or bit."
Before college (yes I mean high school) I was almost never part of any extra-curricular activities, but now (college) there are different organizations and stuff. I never had the experience of doing any work except school work of course. This year, my sophomore year, I signed for only one organization which is my home organization ACTM. In my freshman year I had 3 orgs including ACTM, but I never did anything productive in any of them. I was just a member in all of them. I think what prompted me to lessen my extra-curricular activities is my laziness and my schedule. I never found out the "culture" of the other 2 orgs I previously joined though I still get notification e-mails from them until now. In ACTM this year I tried being active so I am now part of the finance core/team/department (I'm not sure which) and without any previous experience obviously I do not what to do in my work. From my views and experiences with the organization I can say that members are close and pretty much everybody knows each other especially the active ones. Everybody is very hardworking also although I might be an exception. Honestly I have no idea what to do so I just follow what I'm told and observe around and learn from what's happening around me.
I do not plan to stay active for long because even though I am not part of any major activities in the organization the stress of school has already been overwhelming me, but hopefully I will still stay active. I would still need to learn how ACTM fully works though and from that maybe I can probably be a proper member or active member in the future.
Being the new guy is hard right ? It will take some time before one gets to know the "trends" that go around the workplace and sometimes you doubt the things you do because you are not sure whether or not they will be accepted or your colleagues would be please with you. But sooner or later, the system sinks into you and you not just become a part of the organization, you become a part of the system.
ReplyDeleteJust like you, I never liked doing extracurricular activities in highschool. College introduced it to me and subsequently, immersed me to it. I grew fond of organizations, their activities and crowd. Soon enough, I knew more about its culture or identity in the Atenean Society. I soon began to consider extracurricular activities (orgwork) as relaxations from the traditional learning methods, while continuously adapting with the trends of the organization. By the end of the day, should I like the company, I'd tend to become closer with the organization, and that is the start of how organizations are able to shape my personality.
ReplyDeleteI also signed up for ACTM last year, but I didn't really do anything that is related to the org. For some reason, I was only active in another org which is AIESEC AdMU. But since most of our block are doing work for our home org, I'm now currently taking part in ACTM activities just like you.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've been able to take a peek at how things are in ACTM, I can say that I can differentiate its culture from AIESEC's. Although both organizations are from the business cluster, each has their own structures and way or style in getting things done. I'm really looking forward to experiencing more of both, since I'm sure that it will help me gain skills and insights which I could use once I bid school goodbye.
Honestly, I like doing org stuff more than acads. HAHAHA. Oh well, I understand that being the "newbie" in an org isn't an easy thing. You still have to adjust and try to absorb the norms that the organization has. Like you, I am also a newbie in ACTM but with the opportunities of being more active in my department, I had the chance to bond with more people and know more about the organization as well. Maybe that's what you need to do - try to look for more people who can guide you through your org experience. :)
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