Welcome! Aims To identify and explore the role of the Programme - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Welcome!

Sheffield Hallam University Programme Leader Development 17th January 2019

Aims

• To identify and explore the role of the Programme Leader, including

challenges, opportunities and key considerations in maximising student learning experience and attainment;

• To provide a space and support for participants to reflect on their own

programmes, considering aspects from across the two days.

• Reflection on highlights and opportunities for future development

A Day in the Life of a Programme Leader

Allocating Roles

Players throw a dice to allocate the six roles for the first round. The first person to throw a 1 takes on the role of Programme Leader. The remaining roles are allocated clockwise in this order: Experienced Tutor; Professional Services; Student; Head of Department; Independent Observer. Players display the identity card for their role. For subsequent rounds, roles are transferred one place to the right. After six rounds everyone has had a turn at being Programme Leader.

Background

Because formal Programme meetings are so infrequent and ineffective, the Programme Leader has introduced a system where a sub- committee comprising the roles that have just been allocated meet every Monday morning for

• ne-hour to identify any concerns that colleagues

might have .

Concerns

In front of each player there are cards, face down, that contain concerns. Each player takes the top card for their role and informs the Programme Leader what their current concern is. Each person must work to make sure that their concern is addressed.

Programme Leader role

The Programme Leader now addresses each of the concerns presented. It is not expected that solutions will be found straight away – rather, the PL has the task of creating an action plan that engages with each concern seeking trade-offs and consensus.

Observer Role

The role of the observer is to evaluate how well the PL managed the meeting – their facilitations skills; ability to recognise important and urgent concerns; ability to work appropriately with different colleagues and decide actions.

Capturing actions

The PL decides what actions are to be taken and shares them with the team.

Feedback

Each player now gives feedback to the Programme Leader on how they chaired the meeting and the conclusions they reached.

Next round

Everyone now moves one place clockwise and a new round can begin. The cards from the first round are placed on the bottom of each pile and new ones taken from the top!

Coaching the PL

Once everyone has taken on the role of programme leader the team should now get into pairs and take it in turns to coach the programme leader. The programme leader takes a card from the programme leader stack and shares its contents with his/her partner who has the role of coaching the programme leader about this issue.

GROW

You may find it useful to use the GROW coaching approach where G = Goal R = Reality (of the situation) O = Options W = Wrap and what to do next

Skill/ Will

With other colleagues I have found the Skill/ Will tool really useful…..

Developing programme leaders skills.

• Being effective
• having difficult conversations
• managing up
• manging resistance

Better Habits & Systems: Being Effective

Introducing Chris….

Following the unexpected retirement of the previous incumbent, Chris has just been made a programme leader… …. Chris wants to do a good job and recognises that this is a great

• pportunity but is unsure whether they have the capability to be

a course leader and has therefore made an appointment with the Dean to discuss the matter. In particular, Chris is worried about the extra time this will take on top of all the other things that need to be done.

Is there any initial advice you would like to give Chris?

The Dean began by re-assuring Chris that their apprehension was sector wide, that …….

The changing university landscape

• Traditionally, low stress

environments

• Rapid and wide-ranging

change

• Intensification: rising demands

and pace

• Intensification: rising demands

and pace profile; greater use

• f ‘customer service’ metrics
• Increasing managerialism
• Less control and influence;

increasing reliance on metrics and audits

• Growing casualisation and

and job insecurity

• Sense of loss and

disenchantment; rising stress Source: Gail Kinman

The Dean, an experienced and wise person, started by asking Chris to identify their goals….. … their SMART goals; for their Subject and for themselves! What are your goals following the completion of LTLT13?

Chris completed the list of goals including the

• introduction of new curricula following professional body

requirements;

• completing the article that had been sitting on the computer

for some time;

• and submitting for a Senior Fellowship of the HEA, and returned

to see the Dean a couple of days later…..

….. Having discussed these goals, the Dean asked Chris to identify where there would be an easy completion and where there might be difficulties…. Chris wasn’t sure. “How about completing a personal SWOT analysis?” suggested the Dean

A Personal SWOT analysis

“What’s a personal SWOT analysis?” asked Chris suspiciously. “It looks like this” said the Dean

Having completed the Personal SWOT analysis, Chris reflected. “This is all well and good and very helpful but so what? I just don’t have enough time and don’t know where to start to get things done” Time for another chat with the ever patient and always available Dean!

Get the right things done

1440

Get the right things done

1439

Get the right things done

1438

“The point is” said the Dean when they met up later that day, “there is simply too much to do. No amount of time-management training and ‘smart’ working can get over the fact that, in today’s universities, there is more to do than the time we have to do it!”….

Show me your calendar and I will show you your priorities!

“… but don’t despair. There is a solution!” As Tim Ferriss said

• Prioritisation and getting things done
• Introducing some tried and tested systems….

Urgent or Important?

Eating Frogs…..Brian Tracy

Always Work From a List ABCDE Method Place letter next to each item A: task you must complete, very important, major positive/negative consequences (rank many A items with A-1, etc.) B: task you should complete, mild consequences C: task is optional, would like to do but no consequences attached D: task can be delegated, do so ASAP E: task can be eliminated without any real difference Never do a B task when an A task is left incomplete

Tricks to Get Started

• It is easier to commit to doing a small piece of work, and momentum
• ften keeps us working beyond the initial steps
• Divide large/complex projects into distinct smaller steps, and resolve

to do one of them

• Resolve to work for a specific short time period, as little as 5-10

minutes (even shorter works too)

Create Deadlines

• Imagine you have to leave town tomorrow, what absolutely

must be done before you go?

• Set deadlines (and sub-deadlines as appropriate) for every task

and activity

• Determine how many minutes/hours each task will require, add

a 20% buffer, then make it into a game to beat your own estimates

Create Blocks of Time

• Set aside 30/60/90 minute blocks for important tasks
• Getting up early and working before going to work is a key productivity habit
• Time planner on day/hour/minute level enables you to see and consolidate

blocks of time

• Plan your day in advance and schedule fixed time periods for particular

activities (e.g. writing 10-11 AM)

• During these work times, turn off electronic communication, eliminate any

distractions, work nonstop

• Use transition periods (“gifts of time”) to complete small steps in larger tasks
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKOMTZ7PPLg

Chunks of Time

• The Pomodoro technique

1. List all of your tasks 2. Identify the 5 main contributions you make to your institution – these are your priorities 3. Four key factors to consider when delegating

1. Availability 2. Time 3. Opportunity for Growth 4. Priorities

Delegation

1. Organizational level. 2. Strengths and skills. 3. Development potential 4. Current workload 5. Reliability

Who should you delegate to?

We have to talk

Dealing with Difficult Conversations

What is a difficult conversation?

What are the types of issues or situations have you found lead to difficult conversations in the workplace? What are some of the factors that can make the conversation difficult?

Difficult topics of conversation include:

• Providing critical feedback on an individual’s performance;
• Raising an issue of misconduct, or a complaint made against

them or an individual’s personal hygiene;

• Delivering bad news, for example informing a staff member

that they are in the pool of employees being considered for redundancy;

• Addressing a member of staff’s attendance record;
• Informing an individual that they have not been selected for

promotion.

• Addressing a conflict between colleagues; and
• Discussing issues arising from an employee grievance.

The Top Three

The Tricky Ten

• Pay packets – 33%
• Inappropriate behaviour in the workplace – 31%
• Feedback on poor performance – 30%
• Promotions – 23%
• Sex – 19%
• Relationship break ups – 17%
• Family relationships – 16%
• Money – 16%
• Health – 15%
• Letting someone go from a job – 10%

What makes it difficult?

On the plus side…

• Giving critical feedback may give an individual the
• pportunity to improve performance, which may prevent

them from facing formal proceedings;

• Where you address difficulties between colleagues, this may

be an opportunity for a staff member to talk about an issue that they have bottled up for some time; and

• Addressing issues of misconduct can elicit information about

the reason for the misconduct, which may help to find a solution to the issue.

Early Intervention…

• Delaying a difficult conversation until a suitable opportunity presents itself

can result in the issue not being dealt with;

• A problem will not usually resolve itself, and may grow;
• Even if you consider that the issue that needs to be addressed is a

temporary one, the problem may reoccur in the future if it is not dealt with;

• Not dealing with the issue can lead to further complications, making the

issue more difficult to deal with in the future;

• Unaddressed issues within teams can affect other team members,

affecting morale and leading to perceptions about your ability to deal with them.

• Escalation to formal stages e.g. disciplinary action, grievances and

Employment Tribunals.

Practical Tips

Practice, Practice, Practice A successful outcome will depend on two things: how you are and what you say.

• Prepare for the conversation (but don’t over plan);
• Know and return to your purpose at difficult moments;
• Don’t take verbal attacks personally;
• Don’t assume they can see things from your point of view;
• Practice the conversation with a friend before holding the real
• ne;
• Mentally practice the conversation. Envision the outcome you

are hoping for.

How do I begin?

• I have something I’d like to discuss with you that I think will help us work

together more effectively.

• I’d like to talk about … with you, but first I’d like to get your point of view.
• I need your help with what just happened. Do you have a few minutes to

talk?

• I need your help with something. Can we talk about it (soon)?
• I think we have different perceptions about … I’d like to hear your thinking on

this.

• I’d like to talk about ... I think we may have different ideas about how to ….
• I’d like to see if we might reach a better understanding about ….
• I really want to hear your feelings about this and share my perspective as well.

Managing Upwards

References

http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/july/the-10-most-difficult- conversations-new-surprising-research [Accessed online 23/11/2017] The Magic of Conflict, by Thomas F. Crum (www.aikiworks.com) Difficult Conversations, by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen (www.triadcgi.com) Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler (www.crucialconversations.com) FAQ about Conflict, by Judy Ringer http://www.JudyRinger.com

What are the ways that colleagues might resist? How can you prepare to counter them before they happen? Embrace a resistor What’s in it for them?

Managing Resistance

Pick a card, any card…….

‘Let me tell you what I do when I talk to the Pro Vice-Chancellor who is my boss’ ‘I try to manage upwards – that means making sure that I can support the PVC’s in meeting their objectives. Without sucking up I try to make the PVC look good and I never go to see them with a problem without having a couple of possible solutions’

And we have come to the end…. Any questions? steveoutram@protonmail.com