Leading, Developing and Managing People

Project - Developing and Managing Staff

1. Through analysis, demonstrate an understanding of the presenting problems.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the application of effective strategies to manage issues in a learning organisation.
3. Clear articulation and reflection of each principle and how each relates to your own personal leadership theory.
4. A demonstrated understanding of quality professional learning in learning organisations.
5. Presentation is clear; spelling, grammar and referencing is correct; and inclusion of literature is relevant/appropriate.

Scenario
You are leading a team in a learning organisation (e.g., school, early childhood centre, university). You determine the team isn`t working effectively. From your observations, you identify two main areas that require improvement. Firstly, some team members are not motivated to engage in ongoing learning. They believe they already have all the skills and knowledge to do their jobs competently. Secondly, there is increased conflict amongst team members. You decide to focus on observing the situation first to try to understand the current situation and then plan how best to lead a positive change.

Over a month you observe a range of interactions and behaviours by your team. Matt and Fredrick often complain to other colleagues outside of the team about the amount of work they do. Any new initiatives are met by dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation. Their negative attitude is causing conflicts within the team. Other team members are sick of listening to their negativity. Mary, an experienced educator who is close to retirement, doesn`t engage much with the team but has been observed telling Matt and Fredrick to "stop complaining so much". You notice she completes her work but isn`t interested in making any changes or engaging in professional learning. She does not attend optional staff events. Another team member, Sarah, has three year`s experience and is always enthusiastic. She champions new ideas and often shares resources and ideas she has sourced in her own time with you. She has explained to you privately that she doesn`t enjoy team meetings as there is too much conflict and negativity in team. The other team member, Vihaan shy`s away from any team conflict or interactions and prefers to work in isolation. You have noticed a clear divide between team members during lunch breaks. They don`t sit together, and you have heard various side comments from all team members criticising their team to other colleagues in the organisation.

Task:
There are three parts to this task.

Part A (2500 words)

I. First, identify three problems in the scenario. Using empirical research and literature, form a position around these three problems by explaining why a leader must address these problems (300-400 words).

II. Now that you have established three problems, you need to consider how to resolve them. Select three journal articles from 2013 onwards that report empirical research associated with your three identified problems. These articles should NOT be subject readings. For each article, develop a heuristic statement that expresses a principle you have distilled from the research article that will support your response to the problem. Details on what a heuristic statement is will be provided in class. Accompany each heuristic statement with a short summary of the research article and then a detailed explanation of how the research helps inform an evidence response to the identified problem (1600-1700 words)

III. Conclude Part 1 with a short reflection on what insights from the three articles informs or modifies your personal leadership theory on decisional capital, professional learning and/or staff management (300-400 words). You can use first person for this section.

Part B (PowerPoint)
Next design a 10-12 slide PowerPoint (PPT) presentation to use in a professional learning session you will lead with your team. The presentation is aimed to directly engage the team in working more effectively and dissolving the three problems you identified. In your PowerPoint, you should consider both the appropriateness of the content of what you are presenting as well as the way you will engage your team in effective professional learning.

Part C (Speaking notes)
Write up a set of speaking notes to accompany your PowerPoint. You can find a template on Moodle to support this. The speaking notes are NOT a repeat of information from the PowerPoint. Instead think of them as key ideas that you would use if you had them in front of you when presenting the PPT. They should include bullet points that elaborate on your ideas that you have presented in the PPT. Importantly the speaking notes should help demonstrate your understanding of the content you are presenting. Aim for half a page of speaking notes for each slide. Use in-text referencing to show the research behind your ideas and include a full reference list at the end of the document.