Some group processes LO14864

Bob Williams (bobwill@actrix.gen.nz)
Sun, 7 Sep 1997 18:00:44 +1200

Hi,

I am part of a team putting together a programme of four one-day sessions
on "getting started" on workplace change. Each session will deal with
different aspects of workplace change and the first steps that can be
taken in each of these. The sessions will be a month apart, and
participants will be expected to do some things in their own workplace in
between.

The sessions are aimed a small to medium sized enterprises (in NZ that
means less than 50 employees) from all employment sectors. We expect 10 -
15 people; with no more than three from each enterprise.

We are trying to design the program so that it models the principles and
practices we are promoting. Therefore there will be a strong emphasis on
teamwork, action learning and dialogue in the sessions.

We are looking for a range of games, simulations, and exercises which will
help demonstrate the following :-

i. The need to understand organisations as open systems (we are using the
7S model as a conceptual framework - which can be a bit "closed system"
if you are not careful)

ii. The importance of shared visions, values, missions etc compared with
those "imposed" from the top (or anywhere else for that matter).

iii. How to find out how systems work, and how they don't always work in
the way you think they do (the Beer Game is an obvious example, but has
its drawbacks)

iv. The components and influence of organisational culture

v. The concept of dialogue (including the mental models stuff)

vi. Work design (although we may use variations of Emery's PD)

We think we have enough resources on issues to do with teamwork, and
organisational structures.

The potential range of activities is vast, so here are some essential
constraints :-

They must be in the public domain - we can't afford royalties
They mustn't need skillful facilitation (we would like participants to try
them out at work)
They must last less than an hour (excluding debrief)
They have to be relevant to very small businesses (say 10 people or less)
They have to be relevant to a wide range of business types (the world is
awash with manufacturing examples of little relevance to any other sector)
They do not need extensive preparation, pre-briefings or equipment.
They allow for very rich debriefings.

I don't mind if you email me directly or choose to post your reply to the
discussion group. Others on the group may not be so sanguine, if the
volume of replies is large. There's no perfect answer to this one.
Perhaps someone can suggest something.

Cheers

Bob

BOB WILLIAMS
bobwill@actrix.gen.nz http://www.gil.com.au/comm/profcounsel/elogue.htm

"Only Connect"

-- 

Bob Williams <bobwill@actrix.gen.nz>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>