What is a learning organisation? - Judi Apte

“Developing as a Learning Organisation – Judi Apte, EOS Management Consultant and Trainer

This is a brief summary of Judi Apte’s presentation and discussion at the March meeting of the Training Directions Network.

• Judi’s background is in adult education and social work
• Her interest is in engaging organizations and teams in learning practices
• Last year, a project that assisted family support services in the Blacktown area looked at different aspects such as how staff absorb new ideas, how ideas are presented and followed up through supervision and skills levels.
• Through FWTDP the project aimed to lift practice and encourage organizations to become solid learning organizations.
• Some aspects highlighted through the project were: staff need to engage managers and management committees to become a learning organization.
• It is easier to invest in supervision and training but looking at the practical use of these acquired skills is another story
• Learning organizations require the support from management
• Another example of a good learning practice is the development of cultural intelligence. Therefore the organization will be able to respond better to new client groups
• Sometimes the issue is not the quality of the training. On the contrary the issue is how we move to the next level – excellence
• What is a learning organization?: it creates knowledge for current and future work, rather than responding to experiences in a reactive way.


What is a non learning organization?

• People “fixed” with a certain ideas
• “I don’t need new knowledge” attitude
• Being stuck in old habits
• Being in a position and keep the old ways of working
• Issues of territoriality
• Strong sense of ownership
• Ideas of superiority
• Not allowing people to stay in a position for a long period of time
• Become defensive


Steps to become a learning organization

• Strengthen what we know. If we make our tacit knowledge more explicit we can strengthen, extend and promote our capacity to be effective more and become more confident
• In our industry we need to re-value supervision and be clear why we need to learn
• A lot of our working knowledge is not documented, shared and promoted – we need to do this explicitly
• Create space to share our learning through team meetings and what we are learning from our clients
• Improve our environments: organizational learning environments are about developing optimum conditions for effective learning within agencies at both individual and organizational levels
• The value of staff meetings to explore new ideas
• A learning organization strongly values informal learning as only 10% to 20% of our learning comes from formal training


Characteristics of a Learning Organisation

• Curious, solution finding and adaptive to its environment, seeking information and opportunities
• Taking a learning stance in response to difficulties and pressures
• Less defensive, blaming and stuck
Learning disabilities
• Some teams or team members are closed to new ideas and remain out of date in their responses to issues
• Organizations who are chaotic are normally overwhelmed with information and lack focus and future direction
• The pace to a learning organization is a slow process
• The organization needs to have a strategy to deal with learning disabilities

Vocational Education and Training Workforce Report - Productivity Commission

Dear TDN members
the "Vocational Education and Training Workforce" Report produced by the Productivity Commission is available now:


http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/98598/vocational-education-issues.pdf


MF

Sydney Facilitators Network - March Meeting

Dear TDN members. The Sydney Facilitators Network is meeting on Monday 14th of March. Further information is included on this blog entry:


“Playing to Learn” - is this an oxymoron [like ‘”fun run”] - or a viable option for today’s complex world?
With Dr Elyssebeth Leigh

Dr Elyssebeth Leigh enjoys playing to learn and considers learning as the most vital and continuing task we all undertake everyday. Considering ‘learning’ as a ‘serious’ task critically inhibits our capacity to adapt ‘in the moment’ to changing demands on our thinking and our capacity to act sensibly.
Considering ‘learning’ as a plaything and observing ourselves learn through play is what we did as children all our early years. Then we encounter the ‘formality’ of ‘school learning’ and begin to lose that capacity to ‘play with’ knowing and doing.

In this session Elyssebeth will invite everyone to revisit your childhood, recapture those moments when you knew you were learning something important and were nowhere near a classroom. This series of fun ‘mind games’ will help you address your own unique take on your childhood and your present approach to learning in the hope that you too will see how much fun you can have while playing to learn.

About Dr Elyssebeth Leigh:
Elyssebeth leads FutureSearch - an educational consultancy using action and experiential learning and simulations and games for organisational development and personal improvement.
As an experienced communicator and learning facilitator, as well as a designer of simulations and games, she works in multi-cultural contexts. She has been an educator of adults for more than 20 years in business and academic contexts, and was a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference on “Public Administration in the XX1st century – traditions and innovations” hosted by Lomonsov Moscow State University.
Elyssebeth publishes books and articles - the most recent being Wills, S. Leigh, E. Ip, A (2010) The Power of Role-based e- Learning, New York, Routledge. She leads the Technical Committee for the SimTecT conferences (http://www.siaa.asn.au/)

Venue: ** Note change of Venue for this Meeting***
University of Technology Sydney (UTS),
Room CM05C.01.05
UTS (University of Technology) Sydney
Haymarket Campus
(Opposite Market City Shopping Complex and Paddy's Markets)
Cnr Quay St & Ultimo Rd
Haymarket, NSW, 2000


Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up

"What makes a great presentation" - articles

Dear TDN members
I found two articles that provide two different perspectives on what makes a great presentation.

http://www.presentationadvisors.com/100-presentation-tips

http://www.presentationadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/100_tips.pdf

http://blogs.hbr.org/johnson/2011/02/the-essence-of-a-great-present.html

MF

Workforce Interview - Trevor Hobday

Miguel Ferrero interviewed Trevor Hobday who is the Training Promotions Officer - Learning and Development Unit of the Mental Health Coordinating Council and this a summary of the conversation

What is your current role?My role at the Learning and Development Unit (LDU) in the Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) is increadibly varied. My official role title is Training Promotions Officer. My major role is around promotion and marketing for the LDU both within the community sector and beyond. I am also a qualified Trainer and Assessor.

What were you doing before this?I am registered nurse and a member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses. Before joining MHCC in 2008, I had experience working as a Team Leader (Clinical Nurse Specialist) with a Mobile Assertive Treatment Team (MATT) in Sydney and over ten years as a Mental Health Nurse, including the development and facilitation of training in areas such as aggression minimisation/management and suicide prevention. I have also worked for the AIDS Council of NSW as Manager, Enhanced Primary Care and Counselling Services, including the facilitation of forums and committees with government and other non-government agencies on issues such as drugs and alcohol, same sex domestic violence and mental health issues.

I hold a Master of Clinical Practice (major in Mental Health), a Graduate Certificate in Mental Health Nursing, B Nursing, a Certificate IV in Assessment & Workplace Training and an Advanced Certificate in Nursing (Enrolled Nurse).

What do you find challenging about the industry?The sector is quite challenging as there are a range of philosophies which all have value and provide a source of much discussion. The community managed mental health sector is moving toward Recovery Oriented Practice, which is holistic, collaborative, strengths based and person centred. Some of the challenges lie on how to retain the benefits of the historical medical model and bridge the gap between the two. There is still some evidence of a "silo" based mentality in the MH sector and it is hoped that incorporating and seeing the value of Recovery Oriented Practice will encourage services and individuals to work far more collaboratively with each other.

Funding arrangements have many benefits, but also can create a sense of "competitiveness" within the sector, we we need to be far more creative in how to develop healthy partnerships and share resources as part of our core business.

The significant growth of the community managed mental health sector over the last 5 - 10 years means there is an ongoing need to support workers to develop their professional capacity and provide the opportunity to broaden career pathways. Mental health needs to be incorporated as a core subject in training, rather than just an elective or "add-on", to empower staff to be more confident in being able to respond to consumer' needs and promote emotional health and well being.
Training in the sector has improved immensely over the last few years and it would be great to see more of a connection and collaboration between the tertiary education sector and Registered Training Organisations providing nationally accredited training.

What in your opinion are the key workforce issues faced by the community sector?The ageing workforce is an issue and replacing staff with many years of both clinical and community based experience is challenging - however, a lot of younger recruits are coming into the sector which is also an advantage, as a mix of skills and knowledge are very beneficial.

Lack of mentoring and supervision seems to be an ongoing issue, as is access to appropriate training for rural workers. Training needs to be supported at all levels of organisation, including funding bodies, management so as workers feel supported and able to be released from their workplace as necessary to attend training.

There is also a need to promote awareness around the value and necessity to recruit more consumers and carers to participate in development and delivery of training, employing specific marketing and promotional strategies and collaborating with other services.

What strategies the sector could develop to address these issues?- Flexible delivery methods - e.g. online learning to address access and equity issues
- Integration into CORE training
- Attracting a diverse workforce, improving sector pay and conditions, continual lobbying of government for longer term funding
- Building sustainability into the sector by providing training for consumers and carers
- More defined career pathways within community sector
- Mentoring and supervision
- Networkin/building partnerships with key stakeholders
- Training to be holistic, person centred, reflective, workplace relevant, and address issues such as self care

There are a number of ways the sector could respond to some of the challenges presented.
- Adopting flexible learning options integration of MH training to develop core skills sets and providing mentoring and coaching models within the workplace
- Providing training, subsidized by government or other funding would make relevant training more accessible to workers, carers and consumers and also build sustainability into the sector
- Providing more defined career pathways would also attract new workers into the sector
- Forming partnerships and being members of key peak bodies is also essential to promote best practice principles and keep abreast of current research in the sector

What is your advice to the Community Sector that could be helpful to face these issues?- Help desmystify what recovery is
- Incorporate Recovery Oriented Practice into all aspects of service delivery and philosophy
- Include prevention and education strategies as a key part of service delivery
- Continue to support the importance and value of training within the sector
- Support workers with appropriate measures e.g. training, management practices and workload management
- implement evaluation and review mechanisms according to national and international standards and practice guidelines
- incorporate research and development into education and training

"Speaking about Presenting" - Blog

Dear TDN members
I found this blog which provide good presentation tips to trainers and facilitators.

http://speakingaboutpresenting.com/

happy reading

MF

"Planning for the Future" - Sydney Facilitators Network - February Meeting

Strategic planning is an organisational constant. In fact, planning is a constant in our personal lives. But how often do events arise that derail that beautifully documented strategy plan? That, in hindsight, we kick ourselves and say, ‘I should have seen that coming’.

Most strategic planning processes start from the current state and propose a future, based on what we know now. Because of the way our minds work, this often means we miss those events or relationships which could have been turned into real strategic advantage for organisations, or ourselves!

You are invited to this workshop to explore the use of a strategic planning process that works from the future backwards. It has been successfully been used in government, the not for profit, the corporate sector to help leaders and their teams navigate their organisation. Drawn from the complexity field, and initially developed by Snowden and his team at Cognitive Edge as a response to complexity in organisations, this updated process integrates the known and unknown dimensions of the future, requiring people to use both their mind and their heart.

As facilitators, you will experience and examine the process, learn about the fundamental principles of complexity and chaos and see their application in strategic planning. You will see practically how creating the future from the future, helps us identify those diffusion and tipping points so many of us experience in complex change.

About the facilitator Lee Carsley:
Lee has worked in a variety of roles, from economist, business advisor, stage manager, OD Head, and change practitioner consultant over the past 25 years. Her organisational experience has ranged from strategic planning, leadership pipeline and individual leader development, to running multiple service delivery teams, globally and in Australia. She has facilitated large and small groups, virtually and in real time, in organisations and the community. She was Vice President of the Society for Organisation Learning Australia for 5 years, from where her initial experience and passion for complexity tools started. Over the years, as the research and practice in complexity evolved, Lee has incorporated these developments in her complexity toolkit. She is currently in final stages of writing a leader fieldbook on complex change, titled ‘Change Matters’.

Venue:University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street.
Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium foot bridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up