case studies training and learning From this page you can access TFPL case studies of training and learning related projects. Developing enterprise information management skills TFPL developed and delivered a four-day residential development programme for a global oil company. The programme focused on the skills required by information managers to develop their capability as internal information management consultants by exploiting the organisation’s internal resources in records, information and knowledge and to promote the global mobilisation of knowledge. The programme included: breakthrough thinking skills; developing as an internal consultant; information and knowledge architecture and enterprise information management. 100% of the course participants stated that they would recommend this course to a colleague. contact: Val Skelton Records management organisational development Integrating records management and knowledge management A major global financial institution sought TFPL assistance to review its records management function as part of an organisational redesign. A TFPL consultant met with the records teams and with key members of the organisation's knowledge management group to produce 1) recommendations for integration and re-structuring and 2) a re-definition of the services offered by the records management group. The recommendations were accepted by the client and implemented in full. contact: John Davies Records management roadmap Defining records management requirements for a university TFPL produced a records management roadmap for the university to 1) define future work required and 2) support the recruitment of a records manager and an archivist. The work was based around a series of interviews with staff across the organisation together with a number of audits of record collections. The university accepted TFPL's recommendations and has made appointments to the two posts. A TFPL consultant is now working with the records manager in a coaching capacity to develop the records management policy and standards framework. contact: John Davies A training programme for a changing organisation This government agency was undergoing a period of organisation-wide change that impacted on all employee levels across the organisation. As part of an ongoing programme to support employees through the change process, TFPL worked with HR and senior managers to advise on workshop content and to provide trainers to roll out a range of workshop sessions. The courses aimed at line managers dealt with managing staff through challenging times; coaching employees; and motivating others. The workshop aimed at front line staff focused on working effectively through times of change. The trainers provided by TFPL needed to be flexible to ensure that the workshops were effective with varying numbers of delegates and a wide range of previous experience. The trainers received excellent feedback from delegates who appreciated, in particular, the flexible approach demonstrated to meet the specific needs of individual delegates at each workshop. contact: Val Skelton Designing and facilitating a team away day for a government department TFPL worked with a government department and its client-side advisor to design and facilitate a programme team event. Since launch the programme had been running at a very fast pace, with little time taken to pause and reflect. The Away Day event provided the opportunity for all in the team to review the work completed and successes to date and to provide time and space to consider the wider programme roll-out, risks, and actions that should be taken. The event enabled delegates to: Identify the enablers and barriers to implementation and on-going service delivery Review the risks and mitigations to the phased implementation and roll-out of the complete National Programme Share lessons learnt from progress made to date and actions that should be taken to future activities Identify the key information flows and knowledge assets required to deliver a National programme and on-going operation of the service The Away Day event used a mixture of structured conversations, round table discussions, and facilitated ‘an audience with’ the Programme Director and Deputy. contact: Val Skelton Designing and facilitating a planning workshop TFPL worked with the head of knowledge and information in a government agency to design and facilitate a team service planning workshop. The agency was well advanced in its strategic planning cycle. This workshop was designed to help the two teams that sit within the knowledge and information management division to develop action oriented plans, which are demonstrably aligned to the agency’s business plan. The workshop enabled delegates to: Understand key elements of the corporate business plan Participate fully in the service planning process Prioritise team activities and resources for the next 12 months Map out key components and key performance indicators of their service plan Identify the knowledge and information activity links and dependencies across all themes of the agency’s business plan Using a series of café conversations combined with presentations and round table sessions the workshop enabled the team leaders and members to jointly design a deliverable action plan. contact: Val Skelton Developing knowledge management competencies We worked with the knowledge management team of a global professional services firm to develop a customised competency framework for knowledge managers. The competencies were developed to link into organisation wide general competencies. Grouped into four levels of expertise, the knowledge management competencies will help KM team members structure their personal career development and develop their KM competencies. contact: Val Skelton Defining role specifications for a new information team As part of a massive change programme that aims to improve operational efficiency, this Council recognised that sound information management was the crucial first step towards developing a successful knowledge based organisation. In order to progress this, the Council sought to develop a new Information Management team. We worked with our client to: define the roles required by the new organisation draft role descriptions benchmark salaries. We then worked with the Council to recruit the new team. contact: Val Skelton Information Science and Information Architecture workshops This client wished to respond to staff requests for training in the 'fundamentals' of information science. The requests were made by senior researchers who, although undertaking advanced research on a daily basis, wished to understand the foundations of information science. We worked with the client to identify the key gaps in staff understanding and developed two one-day workshops to meet staff requirements: Foundations of Information Science Foundations of Information Architecture contact: Val Skelton Performance improvement at a local authority We worked with a local authority to help them focus on improving communication across the organisation in order to improve service delivery. Our client was seeking to: break down barriers between its directorates facilitate improved understanding of what each directorate does improve information flows across the organisation ensure that healthy information flows engender excellent performance The project began with the design, delivery and analysis of an electronic questionnaire that was sent to 600 members of staff. The outcomes were discussed with senior level management and an interactive workshop was designed that addressed the key issues raised by the workforce. The workshops were designed to be interactive and participative and were focused on improving organisational communication. After the workshops a second questionnaire went to all the delegates to monitor changes, capture lessons learned and obtain feedback. We then facilitated a half day event with senior managers to share feedback, develop next steps and agree action points. Following on from this project, we worked with our client to develop a communication plan to ensure that key lessons learned and good practice was shared across the organisation. This resulted in the creation of a tabloid style newsletter outlining outcome of the events short ‘tabloid/headline’ influenced paragraphs shared across the organisation an unleashing performance toolkit published on the web which shared the tools and techniques used in the workshops contact: Val Skelton FoI staff awareness events We worked with this local council to develop and deliver awareness raising sessions in readiness for the Freedom of Information Act. The content was developed to reflect local processes and procedures and over 500 delegates were put through the programme. contact: Val Skelton FOI training and development TFPL worked with a County Council to develop and facilitate two FOI training events: a half day training course that was rolled out to 250 front line staff and managers over a period of three months a full day facilitated event for senior managers focused on exemptions and decision making processes We worked with the FOI Policy team to ensure that the training provided part of a blended approach that reflected the Council's own Policy and procedures. Members of the Council's FOI team participated in the workshops as internal experts. The workshops also enabled the Council to identify potential issues and concerns and to address these in advance of implementation. The Council is now in an advanced state of readiness. Our client said: "I wouldn't hesitate to recommend TFPL to any public authority considering undertaking a training programme in respect of FOI" contact: Val Skelton Performance Improvement Through Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Two-day workshop for a local authority directorate, facilitated by TFPL. The purpose of this event was to further improve the performance of the Directorate by identifying how the different service areas could work together most effectively to deliver maximum value to schools. Thirty participants from across four service areas attended the event and identified a number of key priorities for action that will support the Directorate’s overall focus on performance management. As a result of the two days together, they felt they had achieved a better understanding of each others’ issues and priorities and that more effective collaboration and mutual support across the Directorate would develop from this. The Director had participated in the IdeA's Accelerated Improvement Consortium on Mobilising Knowledge (facilitated by TFPL) and felt the approach used on the consortium events could benefit his own directorate. contact: Guy Johnson Creating an information skills e-learning programme TFPL worked with a large government department to develop the content for a modular information literacy e-learning programme. The e-learning modules were supported by facilitated sessions and a network of coaching and tutor support. Called 'Analytical Thinking', the learning was designed to help the users: identify information needs find appropriate information analyse the information construct and analyse arguments present conclusions contact: Val Skelton Building better relationships – a team workshop We worked with a newly created team to help them practise techniques to build more effective relationships. Team members learned to recognise their own social style and were then able to consider the contrasting social styles of other team members. Delegates were able to investigate shared success models and explored how trust is built in relationships. By the end of the day, the team had practised methods to help them ‘walk in each other’s shoes’ and had developed a shared language to assist in future team communication. contact: Val Skelton Facilitated customer advisory panels We have worked in partnership with a global information provider to develop, facilitate and report on regular global customer panels. The panels bring together key clients in a facilitated forum that enables key issues and challenges to be debated and ideas and lessons learned to be shared. The workshops are structured to enable input from the information provider and facilitated debate with various groups of clients. The attendees at the workshops have benefited from being more closely associated with the product and service development processes of the provider, while the panels have ensured that the provider engages regularly and effectively with key clients. contact: Val Skelton Developing a competency focused knowledge team Working with a new team created following an organisational merger, TFPL undertook an intensive project to: review and define the roles that existed within the knowledge management team at the client define the competencies required for each role benchmark the salaries for comparable roles and skills levels in the marketplace provide insight into areas where the team may wish to develop its capability The project consisted of the following stages: Preparation - including preparatory meetings with both knowledge management and HR representatives from the client. Workshops - several two-hour workshops were held with participants grouped with ‘contemporaries’ where possible. The goals of these workshops were: to collect as much information as possible from the participants about how they defined the primary purpose and objectives of their role and the skills they needed to perform this role effectively. This information was then used by TFPL to create a first iteration of a role description. One-to-one meetings - each knowledge management team member then participated in a one-to-one discussion in which the role description was further refined, and roles were reviewed in more detail. Role descriptions development – finalised role descriptions were drafted and each role was linked to the required competencies Salary benchmarking – the roles were benchmarked by TFPL against pertinent market data using similar role types in the market place and considering market conditions. The process produced the expected salary level for such roles, and also the costs of recruiting equivalent staff from the open market. This data was further refined after the role descriptions had been grouped Competency dictionary – competency definitions to support development were refined and edited following input from participants. Deliverables competency based and outcome focused role descriptions for all team members, including recommended new job titles. salary benchmarking data outlining value and replacement values for all roles identification of competency gaps within the team with recommendations for future training and development programmes In addition, the project process built trust across the newly formed team and gave all participants the opportunity to contribute their ideas and concerns to its development. contact: Val Skelton Knowledge management briefings for senior executives TFPL worked with the Knowledge Manager of this public sector organisation to outline and develop the appropriate content for two lunchtime briefing meetings aimed specifically at capturing the 'hearts and minds' of senior management. By working with the internal champions, we were able to ensure that a shared understanding and language was agreed by the senior team. A solid foundation for future development was established. contact: Val Skelton Freedom of Information (FoI) staff awareness seminars Working with the Freedom of Information (FoI) champions at this local council, we created the content for, and presented, two large staff awareness seminars designed to outline the key drivers and practicalities of the Act for the council workforce. A TFPL associate, an FoI expert, presented the main content and chaired lively Q&A sessions in which key questions were asked of the internal FoI team as well as our Associate. The sessions ensured that the workforce was informed of the implications of the Act and that the internal FoI project was recognised and validated. contact: Val Skelton Strategic information visioning This two-day intensive facilitated workshop helped a group of delegates to undertake 'information visioning' for a government department. The workshop was structured to encourage the delegates to consider current positioning and preferred future status across the broader information landscape. Paths to reaching the preferred future were considered and a consolidated future vision was created with an outline of the next best steps in the strategic planning process. contact: Val Skelton Scenario planning at a Team Awayday Over a two-day Team Awayday, three TFPL advisors facilitated a large team through a scenario planning process that built on a senior level 'state of the organisation' input. In a relaxed and creative atmosphere, team members were encouraged to respond to their senior manager's year-end report and challenges for the three years ahead. Small mixed teams were facilitated and guided through the scenario planning process to outline possible future challenges and opportunities for the organisation. The workshop acted as a launch event for future strategic planning exercises. contact: Val Skelton Developing knowledge management skills and competencies in an NHS organisation TFPL advisors developed a two-stage project to identify the key training priorities for 120 knowledge and information focused staff at an NHS organisation. First, working with the senior management team, an electronic questionnaire was developed, rolled out across the workforce, and analysed. The key learnings were captured and used as a foundation for a facilitated development workshop in which the senior management team were guided through a process that helped them to: discuss the shared vision for the team for the next twelve months identify how the key activities outlined for the team would support organisational strategy understand the key challenges and needs expressed by the wider workforce prioritise training priorities and agree contents of a knowledge management skills programme develop an outline for a team awayday outline a successful marketing strategy for a new knowledge management skills programme contact: Val Skelton Knowledge management strategy implementation We worked with this client to develop and facilitate a participative workshop that would be rolled out in the UK, Europe and the US. The objectives of the workshop programme were to: explore ways in which knowledge sharing were already taking place around the organisation consider the barriers and enablers for knowledge sharing identify the skills that are needed to help embed knowledge sharing in everyday work identify the skills that make knowledge sharing successful and rewarding We also undertook to identify a new guest speaker for every workshop and to ensure that lessons were learnt from knowledge leaders in other organisations as well as those within the client. contact: Val Skelton Redefining information and library services for a knowledge environment This review was commissioned by the Information and Library Service of a Government Agency, operating on multiple sites across England. Key drivers for the review were the goal of the ILS team to increase the value that they delivered to the organisation: the organisation’s increased focus on the need to optimise the use of its own knowledge and to build on its experience; the importance of individual learning to organisational performance; and an increasing emphasis on the Intranet as ‘the’ information resource for staff. The project process was based on the identification of new roles for the ILS as a key component of a knowledge-based organisation, validating the needs for these roles in workshops and interviews, and using a questionnaire to assess the value of current services as well as the interest in new information products. The outcomes of the work have been two fold – firstly, the need for integration of the ILS with other groups to create a Knowledge Services team - and secondly, several opportunities for information and library skills to support the organisation’s activity more directly. Current ILS services were confirmed as essential with opportunities identified for outsourcing some of these. The new Knowledge Services team will be responsible for the organisation’s information architecture, information classification and standards, records management, the external information supply chain, scanning and alerting services that directly contribute to business processes, and specialised information research services. The team will sit at the heart of a wider network of information champions across the organisation. The new direction will build a platform of information skills, systems and processes that will facilitate the capturing and sharing of both external and internal information. It will also provide the organisation with the core expertise required to develop its information governance agenda and will drive education for good information management. contact: Vivienne Winterman Anticipating future skills for employees in the knowledge economy TFPL was commissioned by ISNTO to research the future needs for information and knowledge skills in both the public and private sector and from the perspective of not just information professionals but knowledge workers across the organisation. Using scenario planning techniques, TFPL developed a workshop product to enable the participating organisations (eight in total) to develop future scenarios for their businesses, determine the factors that would influence the probability of these scenarios happening and identify the impact on the organisation in terms of its success and failure and the need for information skills. The workshop attendees were drawn principally from the business, rather than the information teams. From this, TFPL developed a report which maps the future skill requirements in this area with competency models and a web-enabled skills toolkit to be used for assessment and development of competencies. The work was published in November 2001 as Scenarios for the knowledge economy: strategic information skills and it has been highly regarded, providing input to the professional development framework currently being developed by CILIP. contact: Val Skelton back to top