4. Developing support and sustaining the momentum

The project has allowed us to explore our flexible side and provide an opportunity to discuss how this will influence the way work. We are still working towards this and it will be ongoing in 2010. Some of the main points include:

• Apply for a Bright Ideas Faculty Project 2010 to implement Mentoring Program


• Develop an online site for information diffusion ensuring it based on active behaviour rather than information


• Develop and implement workshops to assist with Business and Planning (This is being trialled over the next few weeks.


• Implement a range of communication strategies with HT; use of Sharepoint, SMS rather than email. Incorporate opportunities for discussion in Faculty Meetings rather than information giving and receiving.

Managing the Current to the Desired State

At this stage of the project we needed to determine what is the desired state?

WE had a meeting on 12th November 2009 to discuss this very important statement. A group of head teachers from the Faculty came to discuss ho we might be able to achieve this. Today we were fortunate to have Jenni Harding, SWSI Manager Workforce Capability and Development come along and speak with us about the Institute Induction Project. Part of our project was about developing and implementing an Induction package for the Faculty. This had been developed as a written package and uploaded into Moodle. A head teacher had started with us from Sydney Institute and gave feedback on how it could be improved. Today we wanted to make sure we were not duplicating any of the resources from the Institute Project. We were able to provide some useful feedback and discuss how our Induction Package may sit with the Institute one.

We spent the next hour discussing how we might be able to determine what is the desired state. We reviwed Moodle, Wiki and Sharepoint to discuss which system may be used. It was generally felt that Sharepoint should be the main platform and anything developed could come of this site. We are still exploring this as to the best way to communicate and manage information and how to incoporate what the desired bahaviour might be. Final discussion was to map the processes a HT needs to implement and what mechanisms could best support this.

Innovation and Business 29th October 2009

Today was the last of our workshops and it focused on Innovation and Business.
We started with a warm up activity: 5 minute Lift conversation. You have 5 minutes to describe your business or latest innovation. Definitely a skill to develop and we all need to focus about being articulate: being able to do this in a minimum of time.



We were fortunate that Grant Casey from Centre for Learning and Innovation provided some useful ideas about Innovation and ways to identify and foster this in our day to day operations.

Grant started with the following video:




The definition put forward was What is Innovation?
The usual definition relates to “something new”. However, true innovation needs to be a lot more than simply a new idea. True innovation needs to have 3 key components:

1. innovation involves a creative process
2. it results in something distinctive
3. it yields a measurable impact.

Source: Chen and Kai-ling Ho page 2

Think of a common activity in workshops where new ideas are brainstormed. Often that is the end of the exercise. Innovation can only effectively happen when something happens to these ideas. Innovative organisations have “formal processes to generate and nurture innovation from idea to realisation” (Martin, 2006).

How long does it take from the moment the idea is generated to its being adopted? “Do all those ideas have a process to follow, or do they go right down the drain?” (Phillips, 2006)

A Case Study
Cathy Moore in the podcast interview described her ideas on learning design which truly engages students. Cathy’s key message is that effective learning design focuses on behaviours i.e. what the student needs to do rather than what they need to know. True learning occurs when behaviour is changed rather than by regurgitating content.
Futurelab
The report from Futurelab “Overcoming the barriers educational innovation” is an excellent piece on describing innovation, outlining the steps for successful innovation and giving strategies for overcoming the barriers. The executive summary of this report is copied in this appendix to this handout. They tell us that “if the idea is new to an individual, it is an innovation” (p10).

There are 2 types of barriers to successful innovation :

1. barriers due to the work environment e.g. access to resources, time constraints, lack of training and technical problems
2. barriers related to individuals such as confidence, willingness, motivation or no sense of why change is needed (p13).

Much of the current innovation we are experiencing in TAFE relates to technology. Futurelab tells us that “teachers tend to adopt a new technology when that technology helps them to do what they are currently doing better” (p14).

Of particular importance was the following example:

We talked about examples currently in the Faculty. A range of ideas and strategies were discussed. This included:

• Developing an Industry Reference Group
• Promotional materials and ways they could be effectively used
• Growing the Business: ways to increase non-core funding.

We finished with a current Example: Productivity Placement Program. A Quick Reference Guide had been developed and we discussed what is needed. Talked at length about the value of having access to to the explicit knowledge but how do we diffuse the information. Grant provide some very useful ideas about how we focus too much on knowledge which is passive. We need to move to the active- it is about the behaviour in the real world. Should be relate more to simulations and scenarios. certainly something for us to think about when we determine the diffusion of information.

Knowledge Creation and Management 22nd September 2009

This workshop was for all aspiring and beginning Head Teachers. Outcomes for the session included:
•Contribute to the Faculty Head Teacher Development Framework and Strategy.
•Describe the roles of mentor, mentoree and coach.
•Demonstrate an awareness of the professional development opportunities available for Head Teachers.
•Reflect on the role of a Head Teacher by sharing your experiences with others.
•Identify strategies that would support beginning Head Teachers.


The HT Framework and strategy were shared with the group and then we had a discussion on:

• Explicit knowledge
• Tacit knowledge.

The bright ideas project highlighted that it is easy for explicit knowledge. This is knowledge that can be articulated, documented, transferred, shared, and communicated. For example: Policies – Procedures through Intranet - Sharepoint – Email – Newsletters. So to support HT there is many explicit forms of knowledge avaiable. The main issue here is the management of this knowledge so you can find it when you need it!!

For tacit this is more complex and depends on your networks and identifying supporting information. That is tacit knowledge is knowledge that comprises experience and work knowledge that is with the individual.
For example experiences shared through conversation, story-telling


So for this project the goal is to:
Transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and share this knowledge in innovative ways. Strategies to support the Application to Management of Knowledge include:

Learn
1.Train
2.Reflect
3.Collaborate

Access
1.Orientation
2.Quick Reference Guides
3.Head Teacher Kit

Coach
1.Communicate
2.Develop confidence
3.Synthesise Ideas

Mentor
1.Personal Goals
2.Self Learning
3.Feedback

The next part of the session was presented by Robyn Bosley, Head Teacher Community Services using Appreciative Inquiry to determine strategies that would support aspiring and beginning new head teachers. This will be provided in the next post...so stay tuned.

People Are Our Business Workshop 17th September 2009

This workshop introduced the CHAPS Head Teacher Framework and Strategy and commenced on the focus area of PEOPLE.

We revisted the TMS Team profile which all head teachers of the Faculty had completed. This provides an overview of people's preferred approaches to work. For example:
•How you relate to others
•How you gather and use information
•How to make decisions
•How to organise yourself and others

For the CHAPS Faculty the first graph shows the three work preferences of all of the Faculty with a high concentration towards assessor developer/ eplorer- creator. This was further demonstrated in the overall percentages for the Faculty.

Sharyn Kucher from Human Resourecs provided a session on how to profile staff in each and everyone's section and then we did a round table discussion on what support strategies are needed for our Head teachers.

We started with a reflective exercise which included:

1. How many years had you been a Head Teacher? We had 8 teachers and in the room we had 48 years of experience!!!

2. Why did you become a Head teacher? Some responses included:

"Didn't want someone else to do it, liked the work, fell into it, liked challenges and making change, natural progression and encouraged to take on the role."

3. What do you like about the role? Some responses included: "Love the job and SWSI, everything, mood dependent, depends on the time of the year, like to manage, new things, get to know staff, share ideas, planning and working with policies and procedures"

We had two case studies that day.

First presentor was Melissa Arnold, Head Teacher Hairdressing: talke about implementing change to a procedure with her team. She had unsuccessfully tried to change the way CLAMS was managed in the section and have an improvement in the way roll books were managed by staff. Used a variety of strategies: meetings, unduction, training, one on one. Ended up using a tried model from Caterin Harb, HT Beauty Therapy. This was introduced by Caterina and the model is now in place. Small team approach, systems procedure and positive reinforcement. Now in roll book audit has had an 80% compliant increase. Great example!

Second presentor was Julie Walker who provided an overview of the mentoring system that is used in the section to support new staff. An overview of the way the system works, including proformas were discussed. Ensures staff develop quicker, and smoother transition from practitioner to teacher. Natural process and soon assesses those who will be successful. Another great example.

Final question: so what changes can be made for the Faculty?

1. Induction process inlcuding mentoring and coaching and needs to be resourced.

2. Faculty staff meeting can there be more opportunity to share and collaborate?

Faculty Head Teacher Framework

After discussion, reflection and much thought the CHAPS Head teacher Framework was developed. This was to put onto paper the many messages that had come from the Bright Ideas project as well as annecdotal information.

1. Head Teacher Continuum:

• Aspiring: this level is staff interested in becoming head teachers and would like to know more and develop skills and knowledge about the role.


• Beginning: this level is staff who are acting or new to the Head Teacher Role


• Career: this level is staff who are substantive Head Teachers

2. Skill Development

• Develop: this is understanding and appreciation of models, frameworks, cycles, concepts and strategies operating in the TAFE system.


• Apply: provides opportunity to apply knowledge and to develop practical skills through experience.


• Lead: is the ability to lead and mentor others.

3. Strategies:

For Aspiring Head Teachers developing skills will be achieved through:

• training


• task performance goals and


• shadowing.

For Beginning Head Teachers applying skills will be achieved through:

• Induction


• Section Goals


• Coaching


• Mentoring

For Career Head Teachers who will lead others they will achieve this through:

• Leadership


• Self Development Goals


• Strategy

3. Head Teacher Focus Areas

• People: staff are developed to meet the needs of customers.


• Planning and delivery: meet business requirements


• Administration: Polices and procedures are implemented.
  

4. Head Teacher Development Strategy

Mentoring Session - Anne Rolfe

Today we had a session with renowned Mentoring Queen Anne Rolfe. This session was to design a mentoring program for sections and the Faculty. It was an interesting session and the written materials was very detailed and gave us some interesting ideas. As a group we decided that a Faculty Mentoring Program should be developed. Lots of ideas and interest.

Managing the Current to the Desired State

A survey of Head Teachers identified a strong commitment that the following activities were needed:

• TMS Profiling teaching section
• Mentoring program

The following areas of interest were prioritized;

1. Innovation
2. Operational : developing quick reference guides
3. Growing your business
4. Effective management
   

This was further discussed at a Head teacher meeting and the following workshops were identified:

1. Faculty Mentoring Program – Anne Rolfe
2. Developing you staff Sharyn Kuchar SWSI HR
3. Appreciative Inquiry Session : New Head teachers – Robyn Bosley
4. Innovation – developing and growing your business – Grant Casey

A final workshop is planned n November to determine how to support and maintain the change,

The Vision

After much thought and discussion it was detrmined that our Head teacher suupport is crucial if effective and sustainable change is to occur. It is about translating strategy into action and nurturing our staff. This will be achievged through a range of strategies but the skills outcomes have been defined as:

· Leading thinking
· Developing practice
· Growing potential
· Collaboration
· Increased trust and encouragement
· Innovation and creativity
· Developing resiliance and moving past comfort zone

So the plan is:

To develop the capabilities and effectiveness of the CHAPS (Community Health and Personal Services Faculty) FMT (Faculty Management Team)
BY
Profiling the team to determine current work preferences and skills and review current strategies, cultures and structures
THEN
Identify where we need to be now and in the future and translate vision into action.

So what are the next 2-3 key steps forward ?

The next two step in the Change Managment process is to:

Managing the current to the desired state in fact balancing continuous improvement with compliance. The following strategies have been identified.

· Mentoring programs will be developed across the FMT and sections
· Champions identified and supported
· Workshops provided on mentoring, innovation and growing your business

CHAP'S vision

When considering the input I thought it useful to search other organisation's visions and how this might impact on CHAPS vision.

COAG is the peak intergovernmental forum in Australia, comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). Seems as through it is about working cooperatively with no mention of a vision.

DEEWR this is the Department of Emplyment, Education and Workforce Relations. The only vision I could find was "Study in Australia - Live. Learn. Grow"

DET NSW has the DET Coporate Plan 2008-2010 with the vision statement of : "Improved social and economic well being of the people of NSW through the provision of high quality education and training."
For TAFE NSW this is Doing Business in the 20th Century. "A more flexible approach to delivering services."

When searching TAFE NSW Institute's the folloiwng was of interest:
NCI - Providing personalised vocational education and training to build prosperity, sustainability and innovation.
WSI - Position the Institute as the provider of choice for individuals and enterprises.
SI - To be progressive and influential – to change lives
SWSI - To be recognised as an innovative and responsive provider of education and training services and solutions that enable people and organisations to optimise their capacity for success.

So do we need something special for CHAPS??? Time to consider....

Creating the Vision

The first stage of the project was to create the readiness for change. This was the Big Day Out held in May. The following is an overview of the feedback. The next part was to profile the team's work preferences. This is the feedback from the session.

The next question related to scoping the project. What activities would be most beneficial for all involved.

Finally what would be the outcomes. These are the results.

Faculty Management Team Meeting 16th June 2009

At the monthly faculty meeting we discussed the project and brainstormed ideas of where to now. It was decided to create a survey and determine the priorities from there. The survey has had a huge response and can be viewed at survey.

Session 2 9th June

This session was more in detail looking at the way the profiles came together for the Faculty Management team. Interesting to hear ideas and thoughts of the process. ideas were discussed as to where to from here - developing the vision. Ideas included:

1. Clarify work roles and responsibilities
2. Develop networks and mentoring in the FMT
3. Support the commitment to expanding knowledge by staff and develop strategies on how this could be achieved
4. Refresh skills that relate to new business priorities
5. Develop confidence to apply new skills and knowledge

A plan will be put together on how this might be achieved and discussed at the next FMT meeting.

Session 1

The profiles were completed and we came together to review the system and learn more about the managment wheel.

Types of work wheel, the following questions were posed:
What kind of work is most likely to energise you?
Why do you feel motivated by some tasks and not others?

There are eight spokes on the wheel with linking being in the middle holding it all together. So what work do you enjoy the most?
1. Promoting
2. Developing
3. Organising
4. Producing
5. Inspector
6. Upholder
7. Reporter
8. Creator

The next part if the Work Preference measures and the following questions were asked:
How do you prefer to :
1. Relate to others the scale is extrovert - intorvert
2. Gather and Use Information the scale is practical - creative
3. Make decisions anyaltical - beliefs
4. Organise yourself and others structured - flexible

The next part was to look at the team management wheel:
What role do you prefer to play in a team?
Do you know what team success looks like?

The roles were identified as:
1. Explorers
2. Organisers
3. Controllers
4. Advisors

We were given our workbooks which included our profile. Work to be done before next week was to discuss your profile with someone else. Next meeting 9th June. Lots of interest and discussion.

Team Management System (TMS)

People tend to practice what they prefer and therefore perform better in those areas that match their work preference. Understanding work preferences is a critical component in developing individual, team, and organizational performance. Team Management Systems' Team Management Profile Questionnaire (TMPQ) is a 60-item assessment focused on enhancing understanding of an individual's approach to work. Based on the responses to the TMPQ, the Personal Team Management Profile provides constructive, work-based information outlining an individual's work preferences, based on the Team Management Wheel, and the strengths that an individual brings to a team.This will identify how the team:
· Relate with others
· Gather and use information
· Make decisions
· Organise themselves and others

The Faculty Management Team completed the online profile. Two sessions staff were provided by the Human Resources Business Partner, Sharyn Kuchar.

BIG DAY OUT

This was the Faculty Networking Day to create the readiness for change.
Is change necessary? What needs to be changed? How do we change?

A range of sessions and speakers provided the starting point for the Bright Ideas Project. The following is an over view of the day:

Key Note Speaker Anne Bartlett- Bragg Managing Director, Headshift
The end is nigh! The adult educator has been registered on the endangered species list and faces certain extinction within the next decade. How has this happened? Can this dwindling profession be saved from extinction? What survival strategies must be implemented urgently to support these rare practitioners? Or should we just accept an evolutionary change and spend our resources supporting the new breeds of educators?
Great way to start to have everyone consider what will happen to the VET sector in the future.

Re-designing the learning landscape
This session will be hands on workshop to develop ideas for re-designing our learning landscape. Focus will include strategies for creating innovative learning environments. What would this look like? What do we, our learners and industry need in the learning environment? How can we continue to engage our learners whilst meeting diverse learning needs? By attending this session, you will walk away with ideas on what you can do to make an impact on the learning environment.
Anne Bartlett- Bragg Managing Director, Headshift

Bouncing back better than ever 3 simple ways to be more resilient
The ability to bounce back from adversity is a vital skill for anyone who wants to survive and thrive in the competitive business world. Successful people are the ones who are willing to take risks and make mistakes, which means they deal with a lot of adversity. However, many of us have lost the ability to be resilient and we need to learn how to get it back. Becoming more resilient is easy when you know how. This practical session will give you real life examples of how to boost your resilience levels so you actually look forward to the challenge of overcoming any adversity that you face. Karen Schmidt CSP Re-engagement expert

How to grow your comfort zone
We all know it’s a good idea to physically stretch ourselves on a regular basis to prevent our body becoming rigid but how many of us remember to do some mental stretching as well. Your brain can also suffer from thinking and acting in the same ways for too long. To be successful in the current work environment you need to be continually growing and expanding your comfort zone. In this fun and interactive session learn all about the how’s and why’s of stretching your comfort zone so you can grow to your full potential. Karen Schmidt CSP Re-engagement expert

Using Technology Interactive Workshop

Practical demonstrations on how people are using a range of tools such as wikis and smartboards including ideas on how technology can support you and your learners. - Innovation & Technology Based Learning Unit

Information Speed Session: systems to support you in your job role.
PD ’09: Find out what is professional development is available for you in 2009. You will gain an overview of the how, and what including SWSI Business Kit, accessing resources and making the Workforce Guarantee work for you.

Make PoD work hard for you!: Our much loved PoD has had a complete make over undergoing a strict workout regime in 2008 and is now looking trim, taut and terrific! Come and find out what has changed not only on the surface, but under the bonnet. Where have all the documents gone? How are the documents arranged? What are the tips to quickly finding what you need on PoD? How do you upload a document to the new PoD?

Sharepoint can do what?? :Sharepoint can store information and documents but what else can it do? Come to this session and find out wikis and blogs, surveys and collaborative functions that you can use in Sharepoint.

The Missing Link
Teaching is a bit like a jig saw puzzle. You need to find teaching and learning resources. You need to create resources. You need a way to get your message across to students. Today technology can help fit some of these puzzle pieces together. In this session we will look at why you would want to use technology in your teaching and learning, where you can find quality resources and what to do with the resources when you have found them. Grant Casey Centre Learning Innovation

Tips for engaging learners
Learning is effective when it engages and motivates people and the experience is as personal as possible. You can't make people learn; they must want to learn themselves. Different people learn in different ways, so it is dependent on learning styles and personal objectives. You can make it easier for your learners. In this session you will come away with a variety of ideas and experiences that will engage and motivate your learners. This will be a practical hands on session. Hillie Higson Outreach Coordinator

Change Management Process

Change Management is the process of modifying or transforming organisations in order to maintain or improve their effectiveness. The Cumming and Worley model best describe the current changes and the environment in which the VET practitioner will be operating within. For our project we will be working through the following:

1. Creating the Readiness for Change (TAFE 21st Century, Current Funding models, Institute Strategic Directions 2009-2011 drivers for the change) This stage will be set at the faculty networking day where a range of discussions will take place to identify the importance of change to meet the current business needs of the Faculty. (Institute and TAFE NSW)

2.Creating the Vision (Where we need to be, what we need to look like and act like in the future) A self assessment of Faculty staff will be managed by the Human Resources Business Partner, Sharyn Kuchar through the Margerison –McCann Team Management Profiling tool which will identify work preferences. This will identify how the team:
· Relate with others
· Gather and use information
· Make decisions
· Organise themselves and others
Results will be analysed and workshopped to create the vision for the Faculty. Focus groups will identify barriers to implementing change and will develop strategies to support an innovative culture and practices. This will be documented and discussed at Head teacher meeting and section meetings.

3. Managing the current to the desired state (balance between continuous and compliance) This stage will focus on overcoming the obstacles and resistance and encourage staff to try new approaches by building skills and confidence. This will be a range of professional development activities. Good news stories will be documented and shared to encourage the focus on continuous improvement.

4. Developing support and sustaining the momentum (developing milestones to evaluate effectiveness) This stage will determine the effectiveness of the strategies and incorporate any feedback from sections. This will be developed into an action plan and fed into the new business planning model.

Action Plan

The aim of the project is to develop the capabilities and effectiveness of the Community Health and Personal Services (CHAPS) Faculty Management team (FMT) by:

• Profiling the CHAPS FMT and determine current work preferences and skills;
• Reviewing the current strategies, cultures and structures operating within the Faculty;
  Then
• Identify where we need to be, what we need to look like and act like in the future;
• Translate vision into strategies to achieve an innovative and responsive culture;
  Evaluate and review the project outcomes to determine effectiveness;
• Plan strategy to support continuous improvement and best practice within the Faculty.

So what does this all mean? How we will manage this? Lets have a look at chnage management.

About CHAPS

The Bright Ideas project will focus on bring together the FMT (Faculty Managment Team) which include head teachers (16 in total) and Faculty staff (5 in total). The Faculty provide courses from Statement of Attainment to Diploma level in the following disciplines:

• Aging and Disability
• Beauty Therapy
• Children's Services
• Community Services
• Hairdressing
• Nursing
• Sport and Recreation

Bright Idea 2009

South Western Sydney Institute has provided funding for staff to further develop skills to ensure high quality service to our customers. The Community Health and Personal Services Faculty has been successful in gaining funding to participate in a Bright Ideas Project. The project will support innovation in the Faculty to explore learning pathways to meet the needs of students and workforce development requirements of industry and communities. The aim of the project is to increase the productivity of our workforce and contribute to the economic and social development of our community.