Here's a round up of the learning and development events and reading.
External Events
AI
- How AI may impact government policy areas like service delivery, government operations and the future of work
- How to prepare for government approaches to AI regulation
- Of ways that generative AI can be used in work and government
- About the launch of Apolitical’s brand new programme, the Government AI Campus
Communications
- Recognise effective techniques to remain calm before and during your presentation
- Understand how to tailor your speeches to resonate with your audience
- Identify strategies for incorporating visual aids, technology, and interactive elements into your public speaking
- Recognise the key elements of a well-crafted policy brief
- Understand the importance of setting clear objectives and priorities in your policy briefs
- Identify different formatting and stylistic approaches to enhance the readability of your policy briefs
Digital
Data Bites #44: Getting things done with data in government – 10 July – 18:00
- In an exciting, quickfire format, each speaker has eight minutes to present on data in government.
How to Develop a Digital Mindset (ongoing – 3 hours self-directed study)
- Being and doing digital in government is about much more than just implementing new technologies and tools: it’s about completely rethinking the way you work in the public service.
- In this course, you’ll explore key digital mindsets to develop in order to succeed in the modern public service. This course complements How to Develop a Digital Mindset, which outlines mindsets you’ll need to develop yourself, while this course focuses more on interpersonal mindsets that will help you successfully work with others in a digital environment.?
- Digital collaboration
- Working in the open?
- Applying Agile to government teams
- Risk leadership
- Strategic, ethical digital transformation
Leadership
- Join us for a fascinating, informative and relevant discussion where we look at how leaders can use their skills and experience to elevate others. From sponsorship to the importance of living your own message, we’ll be looking at some of the best ways to build an inclusive and successful workplace. In addition, we’ll be covering:
- The difference between mentorship and sponsorship
- Equipping leaders to lead effectively
- The value of advocacy
- The building and leveraging of leadership networks
- Fostering belonging
- Recognise how to handle difficult conversations in the workplace
- Understand how conflict may arise in a professional setting
- Identify techniques to diffuse tricky situations in the workplace
Online resources
Artificial Intelligence
- The key players shaping the UK’s artificial intelligence plans as Rishi Sunak seeks to position himself as a global leader on AI governance.
- “as more people use AI to produce and publish content, an obvious question arises: What happens as AI-generated content proliferates around the internet, and AI models begin to train on it, instead of on primarily human-generated content?”
- Automation, algorithms and machine learning are taking over recruitment and hiring. How do we compete with the rise of robots?
- “The term “AI” evokes extreme emotion these days. Some are excited about the prospect of automating work and offloading tasks, while others fear computers will take over their jobs. The key to using AI effectively is to weave it into your current processes. Don’t be afraid of what AI can offer – many are finding that it’s a valuable part of their toolbox.”
- “Artificial intelligence is likely to harm underprivileged citizens most, the European Union’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said, as speculation grows over AI’s threat to humanity.”
- From "radical efficiencies" to "hallucinations", we explore the implications for government officials of large language models like ChatGPT
Communication
- “A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on”. It’s a well-known saying. But a more accurate version would be: “A confidently told lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on”.
- New research reveals why sometimes sticking to the facts is your best bet.
Inclusion
- What does it mean to lead in this new age of employee activism? Megan Reitz offers a four-point crash course on what employees want from their organizations and how leaders can rise to the challenge of building proactive and productive workplaces where every voice and perspective has the chance to make a difference.?
- One-size-fits-all diversity training programmes. Short-term business interventions. Poorly facilitated sessions. 30-minute training videos. It’s no wonder that diversity training can often be ineffective, particularly if organisations take a ‘siloed’ approach, focusing on particular protected characteristics in isolation.
- In a new blog post, Bullet Journalist Brittany Luckham talks about her experiences with autism and how she has built on the Bullet Journal method to better understand herself and her needs.
- “Employers are keen to show their support for diversity and inclusion, particularly at times such as Pride Month or International Women’s Day. But how employees and customers respond to D&I messaging can undermine some of the good work they’re doing behind the scenes. How should organisations respond?”
Leadership
- What causes underperformance?
- How can you solve for the different causes?
- “…giving feedback is a necessary component to building a high performing team and keeping your team members continually growing. You can’t avoid the conversation, even if it’s uncomfortable.
- Why is the discussion so difficult, and how do we make it less painful?
- Part of why it’s so difficult is that most people don’t know how to approach the conversation. They lack a framework. Also, they wait until the moment of feedback to start the dialogue instead of laying the groundwork.
- So how can you prepare?”
Kim Scott "Radical Candor" INBOUND Bold Talks
- “The author has conducted in-depth interviews with hundreds of CEOs and other executives for the New York Times feature “Corner Office” and his leadership series on LinkedIn, and he has coached hundreds of high-potentials. In this article he shares the lessons that emerged about the mental shifts needed to make a successful transition to a senior leadership position. The process involves identifying and communicating your core values and learning how to approach tough decisions. It requires setting the bar for your team’s performance and learning to compartmentalize so that you can find the right pace for yourself. And it requires expanding your self-awareness and paying attention to the stories you tell yourself about your experiences—your successes and failures, your bad times and good ones—when you contemplate the arc of your career and life”.
- “CEO succession planning has never been harder. But there are questions leaders can ask today to help better prepare for tomorrow.”
- Don’t be put off by the title’s focus on CEOs, there is a lot of interesting insight here for leaders at any stage.
Personal effectiveness
- “These are posts from a special 43 Folders series looking at the skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way.”?
- A deceptively simple productivity and management tool
- Wanna see me cut and paste a large block of text without formatting? Wanna see me do it again?
- You can also?change the default behavior?in Word to always paste without formatting. To do so, navigate to File > Options. In the Options menu that opens, click “Advanced” in the sidebar, then choose “Keep Text Only” in the “Cut, Copy, and Paste” drop-down menus. This way, you can make Ctrl+V always paste as “Keep Text Only” in Word. Good luck, and happy pasting!
- Struggling to get your relationship with your emails under control? Check out this simple hack for setting boundaries.
- Bookmark this post for when you "need" to be productive.
- Paradoxically, time management often increases the stress we face instead of reducing it.
- “the solution isn’t to become more efficient to accommodate more tasks, more decisions, and more distractions. The imperative is clear: simplify. Reduce the number of tasks you take on, replace decisions with principles, and put structure in place to eliminate distractions.”
- “There are three simple techniques for saying no effectively. Using them gives you power and legitimacy, it promotes collaboration, and it drives impact. And anyone can do it.”
- What separates thriving organizations from struggling ones? Author and thinker Seth Godin explains that it’s all about soft skills.
- Marcella Arguello is a walking business. As a comedian, she’s tasked with being her own marketer, manager, and more — on top of actually performing. However, she’s found that the unfiltered honesty that captivates an audience often gets her in trouble in business meetings. Needing help to manage these conflicting expectations, she turns to Anne and Frances for help. Together, they design a strategy for Marcella to be her most authentic self without compromising her career.
- “How do you navigate life's growing number of transitions with meaning, purpose and skill? Writer Bruce Feiler offers a powerful way to handle uncertain, painful and confusing times -- or "lifequakes", as he calls them. Learn how to equip yourself with the essential tools and mindset to ride out (and rewrite) the toughest chapters of your life story, and turn unease and upheaval into growth and renewal.” (CW: Mention of suicide)
- Make people laugh, keep a praise file, deal with your inner critic – and avoid comparison-itis. Here is how to connect with colleagues and feel more positive
- The science of stamina has advanced to the point where individuals, teams, and whole organizations can, with some straightforward interventions, significantly increase their capacity to get things done. by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy
- Recognise what imposter syndrome is
- Understand how self-doubt poses barriers to achieving your potential
- Identify how to eradicate feelings of uncertainty around your work capabilities
Useful resources
Policy making
Do We Collaborate Too Much?
- “…Garber is right, of course: our collaboration tools and norms can demand so much of us that we never have time to get actual work done. Peer reviews, status updates, standups, team working sessions, cross-functional alignment meetings, leadership check-ins, kickoffs…what are we actually accomplishing? What if we stopped collaborating all the damn time and just got something done?
- And yet: I stand by my original premise. Too often, teams aren’t collaborating when they need to. How can both be true? How can we need more collaboration and less collaboration at the same time?”
- Collective decision making made efficient (yes, it’s possible!)
- Gain a working understanding of the 4 key elements of the Results Framework?–?a practical, proven, public-sector method to executing change and delivering results
- Take-away tips and tools that can be immediately helpful in your work
- Identify methods to create culture of collaboration and cooperation
- Recognise potential barriers to policy implementation
- Identify key elements in policy design and implementation
- Understand the value of user-centred design in policy development
Project Management
- Gantt charts. Waterfall. Agile. Excel spreadsheets. When you think of project management, chances are that these are the kind of words that come to mind. But project management is about so much more. At its heart, project management is about people.
- Whether you have the title 'project manager' or not, you probably do a great deal of project management in your job. In this course you’ll get started with essential project management skills, from how to operate in uncertain times to leading with emotional intelligence and discover how to use every project as an opportunity to grow as a public servant.
