Tag: workshop

FREE online workshop: Matching user needs with tech capabilities

A while ago I shared a post with a template showing how you can take a capability-based approach to picking technology by focusing on user needs.

There has been a fair bit of interest in it since it was published, so I thought it might be useful to run a short online workshop running through how it works with a smallish group of people. As I have at this stage no real idea what I am doing, it will be free for public sector people.

Book your place now!

The workshop will run on Zoom on Wednesday, September 15 at 11am. I anticipate it will last around 45 minutes, but keep an hour free just in case.

At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

  • Understand the benefits of approaching technology decision making through capabilities
  • Understand the core ideas around user needs and how they should impact technology choices
  • Confidently run your own workshops following the process in your own work
  • Come up with loads of ways to improve the whole thing!

The running order is as follows:

  • Quick intro to the session and what we will cover
  • Everyone says hi (and I’ll probably ask a silly question about your favourite something or other)
  • I’ll run through the idea behind the process and template and what it is meant to achieve
  • We will work through the example of the intranet as used in the blog post
  • We will then work through an example or two that people on the session suggest – hopefully real scenarios they are currently dealing with

Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? So what are you waiting for? Book your place now!

Achieving digital transformation workshop

This workshop will equip anyone involved in digital transformation and channel shift projects with the skills and tools they need to deliver fantastic results.

Book your place now!

The workshop will be led by the needs of those attending, focusing in on those areas of strategy, leadership, delivery and capability that have been identified as of key importance.

Things that will be covered include:

  • How to design and deliver an effective digital strategy for your organisation
  • How to design online services people actually want to use
  • How to manage technology projects in an agile fashion to reduce risk and increase user satisfaction
  • How to design capability programmes to provide people with the digital skills and confidence they need

Book your place now!

Who should attend this workshop?

  • People leading change programmes within their organisations
  • Folk who are working on digital capability programmes to improve their colleague’s confidence is using technology effectively
  • People delivering channel shift to encourage services users to switch to more efficient ways of delivery
  • Those wanting to understand better the role senior people can play in digital and transformation

Much of the background thinking that informs this workshop can be found in the 10 ‘Think Digital’ principles I developed, and which you can find out more about on my website.

Book your place now!

For a sneak peak, the video below is a recording of a webinar I gave in September 2014 discussing digital strategy, leadership and capability:

Book your place now!

Using Trello to help run a workshop

trello

I’m a bit ambivalent about Trello as a project management tool – I know others love it, but me, I prefer something that looks a bit more spreadsheety.

If you’ve not heard of Trello – here’s a video that explains it.

Anyway, I did manage to make use of Trello in a pleasing way during a session at Channel Shift Camp, which I facilitated, which was called ‘transformation ticklist’.

The aim was to produce a checklist of things that really ought to happen when redesigning a product or service. With only 45 minutes we weren’t going to all the whole thing done, but we could at least make a start.

My original plan was to use a traditional post-it note and flip chat approach, but being lazy, I didn’t fancy doing the write up afterwards. What else could I use to get the same effect?

I settled on Trello. I created a new project board, cleared it of all lists bar one, and displayed it on a big screen in the room so everyone could see it.

The first thing we did to start building the transformation ticklist was to have people shout out ideas for things that need doing in a transformation project, in no particular order. All these were recorded in a list as individual cards in a list called ‘activities’ in Trello.

Then we identified the stages we’d need to go through that each of the activities could be put into, and these were created as new lists on the board.

The final activity was spent taking activities from our first list and distributing them around the various stages.

You can see the public version of the ticklist. Also email me if you’d like access to it for editing and so on.

What went well

Using Trello for this workshop went pretty well. People liked the idea, possibly because it was a bit new, and it certainly saved time on writing up, messing about with post-its and so on.

What went not so well

The system isn’t as hackable as pen and paper. We wanted activities to take place across the life of our ticklist, rather than being part of a linear process and this was difficult to make clear. Also, the writing on the screen was too small at times for people to be able to read comfortably.

I’ll definitely be trying this again in future, and would love to hear if others give it a go!

 

Introduction to Public Sector Digital Engagement LONDON & SE

Tuesday 25th October 2011

Feedback from previous Digital Engagement workshop

The workshop provided me with a better understanding of the advantages & pitfalls of social media – Tourism Development Officer, Ceredigion County Council
The workshop was informative and lent itself well to interaction with well thought out activities – PR Officer, Coleg Morgannwg
Useful insights and experiences shared. Very knowledgable and practical. – Information Systems Consultant, Newport City Council
Dave is very engaging and informative – E-Communications Officer, Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service
Very engaging and knowledgable – Head of Consumer Strategy, Remploy
Interesting. Good use of examples. Relaxed interactive discussions. Good mix of activities & discussions –  PR Officer, Coleg Morgannwg

We are delighted to announce this workshop introducing Public Sector organisations to the opportunity offered by the web and social media to enable effective engagement with citizens and communities.

Facilitated by Kind of Digital’s Director, Dave Briggs, who has a wealth of experience advising government on digital engagement at all levels; from small local authorities to 10 Downing Street – attendees will come away with a full grasp of the background and potential of this work as well as a practical toolkit to get underway.

The agenda, a blended mixture of engaging talks, group discussion and practical exercises, will include the following sessions:

  • How local authorities can use the web and social networks to engage citizens and communities
  • Case studies of good practice use of emerging technology to engage by those involved in local government
  • How to develop a digital engagement strategy for your work
  • Choosing the right tools and approach to meet your objectives
  • Getting around organisational barriers to implementing your plan
  • Further support

As well as the training on the day, attendees will benefit from post-event support and learning. This includes exclusive access to a follow-up web conference and an online support forum.

Click here to book your place.

AGENDA

9.30am: Registration

10.00am: Introductions and housekeeping

10.15am What is digital engagement, and why is it important?

* The background to digital engagemen
* The opportunities it offers for local government

10.45am: Introducing the digital engagement toolkit

* What are the key tools?
* How have they been used across the public sector

11:15am: The importance of a strategic approach

* Why having a strategic approach to social media activity matters
* The best way to balance strategy and experimentation

11.30am: Coffee break

11.45pm: Strategy development workshop – writing your own digital engagement strategy

* Objectives
* Implementation
* Evaluation
* Risk management

1.00pm: Lunch break

1.45pm: Overcoming barriers

* What are the blockers in many organisations for getting social media activity going?
* How to manage them

2.15pm: Planning a social media campaign exercise

* Group exercise to design effective social media projects, using the right tools and involving the right people

3.45pm: Coffee break

3.55pm: Social media question time

* An opportunity to ask questions of the group and facilitator to work out issues in more depth

4.25pm: Close and next steps

* Further online support: webinars and forum

4.30pm: Workshop ends

Delegate Costs : If you book your place before 19th August, you receive the benefit of an early bird discount, so don’t delay!

Early bird price – £200 + VAT
Standard price – £250 + VAT

Address:
CCT Venues Smithfield
2 East Poultry Avenue
London
EC1A 4PT
Map and Directions

Start Time: 9:30 am
End Time: 4:30 pm

Click here to book your place.

Social Media for Emergency Planning & Resilience

A quick plug of this great workshop being delivered through the Public Sector Web Network (about which I will shortly have some very exciting news!).

Social Media for Emergency Planning & Resilience

Thursday 22nd September 2011, Park Plaza Hotel, Leeds

This workshop is aimed at all Category 1 Responders as identified in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 which includes the usual “blue-light” emergency services as well as others:

  • Police forces, including the British Transport Police
  • Fire services
  • Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
  • HM Coastguard
  • Local authorities
  • Port Health Authorities
  • Primary Care Trusts, Acute Trusts, Foundation Trusts (and Welsh equivalents), Health Protection Agency
  • Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency

A category one responder or other organisation planning for major incidents should:

  • have the capacity to process between 3,000-20,000 items of social media traffic per day during the response phase of an emergency *routinely monitor social media for operational data and potentially for triggers for emergency response
  • understand the potential of the global online community in emergency response
  • understand the implications of online culture in managing an emergency.

This workshop will help attendees to not only maximise the benefit of situational intelligence but also manage social media flows robustly and warn and inform the public effectively.

Please contact Nick Hill at nick@publicsectorforums.co.uk to reserve a delegate place!

Workshop Facilitator: Ben Proctor 

Ben has a background in Public Relations, Information Technology and Emergency Planning. In 2008 he saw that emergency response and crisis communications were going to be strongly affected by developments in mobile and online technology so he set up Likeaword to become a centre of expertise in digital skills for emergencies. Ben is based in Shropshire, UK but works across the country with category one responders and other organisations looking to manage their response to emergencies. He works with emergency planning and business continuity professionals as well as with corporate communication specialists.

Agenda

1 Welcome and introduction

2 Check we’re all on the same page

  • quick summary of civil contingency arrangements, the roles and responsibilities of responders and individuals within responders
  • quick round up of social media, related online technology, and relevant mobile technology
  • introduce an emergency scenarios to be explored during the day as a desktop exercise

3 Use of social media for warning and informing the public

Social media offers responders a simple, low cost broadcast medium and many responders have begun to use it in this way

  • case studies of effective uses of the technology
  • discussion on strengths and weaknesses of the technology and the risks inherent in its use including discussion of the implications of power and telecoms failure
  • discussion on how social media for warning and informing can be integrated into emergency plans
  • run desktop exercise to examine how social media for warning and informing could be introduced into management

Lunch

4 Managing feedback in the social media space

Social media allows all individuals and organisations access to the same simple, low-cost broadcast medium. Individuals may ask for clarification, they may challenge or may spread rumours or contrary information.

  • case studies of effective uses of the technology
  • discussion on strengths, weaknesses and risks of various approaches (passive, reactive, proactive)
  • discussion on integration into emergency plans
  • discussion on the training and exercising implications of effective management of feedback
  • re-run desktop exercise with new injects to model social media feedback

5 Working with the online community

Social media and online technology gives responders potential access to a worldwide community of relevant skills. This section will introduce the topic.

  • case studies and examples of interesting and effective community engagement in emergencies (and independet community response)
  • discussion on the implications for responders

6 Wrap up

  • re-cap over the day’s learning
  • opportunity to cover points that may have been missed
  • some suggestions for further reading and discussion

Address:
Park Plaza Hotel
Boar Lane, City Square
Leeds
LS1 5NS
Map and Directions

Start Time: 9:30 am
End Time: 4:30 pm

Price: £200.00 + £40.00 Surcharge

Please contact Nick Hill at nick@publicsectorforums.co.uk to reserve a delegate place!

Social media strategy seminar roundup

Photo by @bredadoherty

The seminar yesterday in Edinburgh went pretty well, I think. We had a great turnout – about 30 people – which was surprising as we were only expecting 25, and meant we had to find some extra room. Luckily the staff at COSLA were very accommodating!

Thanks also to Mike and the team at the Improvement Service for their help in laying on the seminar.

The session was run on the lines of going through the stages of a social media strategy, with me doing some introductory words, then groups discussing the issues, and then filling in the relevant section of their workbook, and some feedback. Rinse and repeat for each section…

Here are the slides I used. The most useful bits are probably the questions to consider when completing that bit of the strategy.

If you can’t see the embed above, then here’s a PDF copy to download.

Here’s the workbook.

Here’s a Word version if you’d like one you can edit and play around with.

Would anyone else be interested in attending a session like this? Let me know!

Dave @ NCVO Conference

I’m going to be running a session at the NCVO Information Conference on 24th November. I’m facilitating one of the practical workshops, playing the social media game to help delegates put some of what they have learned on the day into some kind of context.

It looks like it is going to be a great event, with some top speakers including Euan Semple and Ed Mitchell. It should also mean that I get to meet Laura Whitehead for the first time, despite having known her virtually for quite a while now!

Social Media Big Day Out

I’m the (or rather now, ‘a’, but more on that later) facilitator at an online community of practice for social media and online collaboration using the Communities of Practice platform put together by Steve Dale at the Improvement and Development Agency. It’s ostensibly for local government, but I like to operate a big tent, and so anyone with a public sector interest can come along.

Yesterday we ran our first face-to-face meeting ludicrously entitled the ‘Big Day Out’. Given that it was held where I work, at the LSC National Office in Coventry, it wasn’t much of a day out for me, but hey! who cares. I took a few photos, some of which are below, the rest here.

The day ran pretty well, starting with a short and probably quite boring introduction from me:

[slideshare 283861 social-media-cop-intro-1204122043184802-4]

We then moved onto more interesting stuff, notably chats from Hadley Beeman and Shane McCracken on what they have been up to recently.

(That’s Hadley, by the way. Not Shane.)

Later on we played a little game, a cut-down version of David Wilcox‘s Social Media Game – although as Tim Davies pointed out mine is best overall because the cards are laminated. Two teams set each other scenarios which they had to solve using different social media and web 2.0 tools.

I think it was a useful exercise as everyone got to learn something about a web service they didn’t know existed before.

Next up was Steve Dale, chatting to us about the latest developments tech-wise on the CoP platform. There’s going to be some really interesting new features added, which will at the very least make facilitating the communities an awful lot easier.

Finally we had a little chat about the future of the Community, what we could do to improve participation and what we got out of it all. Michael Norton of the IDeA had a wicked-cool idea about setting group social media challenges, making us go out and try new stuff, and reporting back on our findings. One is already under way on YouTube. Nice one!

Throughout the day, the ever resourceful Carl Letman was doing a great job of videoing some of the action, and soon I should be able to post some highlights up here. If you need any video work doing, whether on or offline, Carl really is your man.

I also requested a bit of help of the facilitation side, and thankfully I got a great response from Michael, Hadley, Steve and Carl. So hopefully we should be able to keep the Community active and ensure that everyone gets the support they need.

What was also nice was that everyone said they would like to do it again. Hopefully if the word gets out that it was a fun day, then more folk might be encouraged to come along. Noel Hatch of Kent County Council has already offered to host, and suggested we could run it virtually in parallel using Second Life. He’s mad. Let’s do it.