Well done to Alan Veitch of VicPol who responded with: A bird in the hand, ill in bed & generation gap. This week’s question is:

A lion and a tiger have a race to decide who is the fastest. They race between two trees that are 100 metres apart. The tiger wins by a ten metre margin and suggests a return race. This time the tiger starts off ten metres behind the starting line , giving the lion a 10 metre head start. Each runs at the same speed as the first race. Who crosses the finish line first?

The first CIN member in with the correct answer will receive a copy of The Organisational Zoo.

The CIN is pleased to be able to partner with the Melbourne Knowledge Management Leadership Forum, the Knowledge Management Round Table Community and Anecdote in presenting Michael Sampson, organisational IT collaboration guru and the creator of the Seven Pillars of IT enabled productivity .

Michael will be joining us on the evening of July 23 where he will be sharing his experience and learnings around online collaboration. Session topics will include:

• What to do when that expensive collaboration tool is not being used.
• How to get your IT and Corporate Comms departments using and supporting social software.
• How to get the best out of the new social media.
• What’s the best way to introduce a tool like Microsoft’s Sharepoint into a large organisation.

Join this unique confluence of four knowledge networks to hear from Michael and network with a range of subject matter experts in the fields of knowledge, information, content, collaboration & Web 2.0.

When: Wed July 23, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Where: Treasury Theatre, Lower Plaza 1 Macarthur St, East Melbourne

Light refreshments will be provided

RSVP by July 18 by clicking here.

The Service Delivery Area of Victoria Police is currently looking at the issues of customer management and the responsiveness of services to community need. As a part of the unit’s commitment to continuous improvement and learning, one of the team recently visited the Hong Kong Government Efficiency Unit while on a recent trip to China.

The Efficiency Unit reports directly to the Chief Secretary for Administration in Hong Kong and is concerned with enabling government agencies to respond efficiently and effectively to the needs of the citizens of Hong Kong.

One of their strategies is around the issue of customer management which incorporates a customer management framework. To assist this process an assessment tool has been designed and successfully trialled within a number of government departments. The tool aims to provide information upon which a department can develop a continuous improvement plan for meeting customer needs. The assessment maps the current capability of a department in its practice of customer management and requires the active participation of senior and middle level management. The Efficiency Unit acts as a consultant and support to the assessment process which takes around 12 weeks to complete.

The results of these assessments are providing improvement opportunities, continuous learning and opportunities for developing a service response that better meets the diversity of customer’s needs.

For more information on the Efficiency Unit, Click Here.

Drawing on input from knowledge, content and information management communities, KM Australia 2008 has been developed with the specific needs of KM, IM and CM practitioners in mind.

This July 21-23 conference in Melbourne will provide opportunities to hear a number of keynote addresses from innovators in the fields of knowledge, collaboration, content and Web 2.0.

In addition to the national and international keynote speakers a range of practitioner case studies will also be presented along with interactive sessions and master-classes presented by the Aust Bureau of Statistics, Anecdote and the KM Round Table.

KM Aust 2008.pdf

For more conference information and to register, Click Here.

To mark the 2nd birthday of this website and co-inciding 500th article, the CIN has 20 x DVD copies of our luncheon session with Tony Buzan from Feb 20 to give away to members. The high quality DVD runs for over an hour and includes Tony’s ppt presentation and a session introduction by Deputy Commissioner of Victoria Police, Simon Overland.

The CIN would like to thank Mindwerx for their session input, and a big thank you to Deakin University and Ross Monaghan for their expert assistance in filming and editing the session.

For a copy of the DVD, simply use the Comments function below to tell us three practical applications within Government for using a Mind Map.

Well done to Phil Holmes of Justice who responded with: language, which is the 3rd word in “the English language” This week’s challenge involves deciphering these three cryptic puzzles.

THE HAND aaaaaaaaBILLEDaaaaaaa GEN ERATION

The 1st CIN member in with each of the three answers will receive a copy of Developing Your People.

The Direct Thinking Attention Tools (DATT) make up a suite of tools for directing attention and helping to develop a broader and more inclusive view of a given topic. Each of the tools, developed by Edward de Bono, carries out a defined function, and collectively the tools provide a strategic framework for a wide range of thinking including, consequential, problem solving, assessment, evaluation, exploration, analysis, prioritising and pathways to action.

The tools provide 10 simple pathways for making thinking more strategic, more comprehensive and to assist in forming a framework for defining problems and situations, thereby improving capacity to move forward with considered and effective action. The DATT tools can be learned, practiced and applied in a deliberate fashion in much the same way as a carpenter selects certain tools to undertake a specific function.

Each tool has its own abbreviated name and accompanying graphic so that each in turn comes to exist as a reusable operating concept (or tool) in the mind, and becomes part of a distinct toolbox that can be called upon at will when a specific type thinking is required.

For those wishing to take this toolbox on board, the CIN will be offering training in DATT later this year, and over the coming weeks will provide an overview of each of the 10 tools.

5S is a basic, fundamental, and systematic approach for productivity, quality and safety improvement in all types of business.

The approach involves a structured process to systematically achieve organisation, cleanliness and standardisation in the workplace. 5S has been developed along the principle that a well organised workplace results in a safer, more productive and more efficient operation. It aids in boosting the morale of workers, promoting a sense of pride in the workplace and improved ownership of responsibility.

5S was invented in Japan and stands for 5 Japanese words that start with the letter “s” - Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu & Shitsuke. To preserve the acronym five similar words have been developed in English, these are:

• Sort - Cleaning up, organising and throwing away rubbish and unrelated materials in the workplace.
• Set in order - Organise, identify and arrange things into the best places for quick retrieval and storage.
• Shine - Regular cleaning and maintenance, with all involved.
• Standardise - Making it easy to maintain, by simplifying and standardising practices.
• Sustain - Maintaining the discipline of what is achieved and committing to the discipline.

The under-pinning tasks listed above appear to be simple common sense - and they are, but most workplaces find many of the basic principles required in running an efficient and safe workplace have been neglected or allowed to lapse, when they systematically implement a system such as 5S.

5S is one of the continuous improvement processes that is routinely used when developing a visual workplace and applying Lean processes.

Lateral thinking to reduce recidivism: Many of the workshops have helped me to gain a wider perspective and gain some expert knowledge. For example a recent seminar with the de Bono tools helped me to understand the importance of thinking as a skill in helping keep people out of jail!

Effort Appreciated: The network put considerable time and effort into the planning for our recent business unit full day workshop. Feedback from staff has been very positive about the activities organised that allowed them to the opportunity to share ideas with others from beyond their work team. I was very pleased with the workshop outcomes and the data obtained provides us with a way forward to delivering a better service to our clients.

Risk adverse VPS bureaucrats: The main impediment to uptake of CIN initiatives is senior people in each department who are stereotypical public servants lacking in creativity and leadership. A lot of the stuff presented can be very threatening to these types, who got to where they are now through hoarding red tape and empire building. Imagine a business unit or dept sponsoring a lateral thinking session to try and solve some of our intractable problems - it won’t happen, they are too structured and risk adverse and anything different is a change and therefore a new risk.

Helping cope with change: I haven’t yet established direct outcomes in our workplace that are measureable as a result of CIN events. However my staff come back to work after attending these sessions greatly energised and keen to do new things, so there is value in that alone. The sessions help staff cope with change, which around here is non stop.

The Five Whys technique is a brainstorming technique that helps to identify the root causes of accidents or problems by asking why those events occurred or the conditions existed.

By repeatedly asking the question “Why?” - five is a good number, you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead to the root cause of a problem. This technique helps to identify the root cause of a problem, helps to determine the relationship between different causes of the same problem and can be applied simply without statistical analysis. The technique is most often used when there are problems associated with human interactions and in day to day business it is often used within a Six Sigma project or a lean thinking environment.

The five whys can sometimes be limited in its application due to brainstorming taking some time in larger groups, the results are not reproducible or consistent if a different team looks at the same issue and there is no guarantee of ensuring the root cause will be found in a complex situation.

It is said the the best way to solve a problem is with an enquiring mind and the best way to do this is by questioning with methods such as the five whys.

The CIN has a membership pin for the first six people to name the inventor of the Five Whys technique and where it was first applied. Place your responses using the Comments function below.

Here is a great quality and low cost opportunity for facilitators, community engagement practitioners and anyone who needs to chair or facilitate meetings.

This day long seminar is being organised by members of the Victorian Facilitators Network (part of the AFN), the International Association for Public Participation and the DSE & DPCD Community Engagement Community of practice. The programme will include a range of workshops that will cover:

• Practical facilitation tips
• Managing challenging behaviour
• Managing ourselves
• Community engagement
• Tools and techniques
• Process design, and
• What works and what doesn’t

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet, share with and learn from a range of experts in the field who will be able to provide you with handy tools, techniques, insights and ideas to add value to your skills as a facilitator. The early bird cost per person is $70.00+GST up until July 31, and after July 31 $90.00+GST

Date: 11 September, 2008

Time: 9:00am - 5:30pm

Where: Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Hellers Street, Abbotsford

To register Click here.

For more information contact martin.butcher@dse.vic.gov.au

While visiting a large organisation recently, someone proudly handed me their latest glossy internal communications magazine and suggested I might find some interesting things to report on in this forum. My immediate Red Hat response was to say “I don’t think so.” When asked why this was the case, I had to stop for a few minutes to think before validating my response.

There has been a general tendency over time for part of the corporate communications function to devolve into what is now a classic public relations role. With organisations more focused on public image and the mitigation of risk the nature of their communications have changed. Pick up most publications these days and you’ll find that after a couple of pages you start to get dizzy from the “spin.” This is not to say they are misleading, but semantics, interpretation, omissions and other sleights of hand can make a very big difference.

Worldwide, people are realising this change and sourcing their information from more “unofficial” sources such as blogs, where the nature of the communication tends to be more diverse, more authentic and less likely to walk a corporate line. Having got used to reading a number of online sources offering diverse and alternate perspectives, it becomes a bleak prospect going back to our traditional sources of information where the content is carefully selected, word-smithed and formulaic.

Hence, the “I don’t think so”.

Congrats to Steve Muir of VicPol who correctly responded with : A window (of course) This week’s question is:

Think of the words ending in -gry. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? It’s something you use every day and if you read the question carefully you’ll find the answer within it.

The first CIN member in with the correct response will receive a copy of Developing Your People.

In this full day workshop offered by Benchmarking Partnerships, learn and network regarding best practices in how to attract and retain employees, how to build capability and how to create a great place to work.

Unemployment levels are the lowest they have been for several years and there is a skill shortage which will only get worse in the foreseeable future. This presents a major challenge - how to attract and retain employees when supply is less than demand. Why would employees want to stay at the one organisation ?

In this case study and networking based session you will hear from a number of key speakers from organisations including: LeasePlan Aust, Dept of Eduction & Children’s Services (SA) and Australian Air Express and network with like minded colleagues from across government and private sectors.

For more information on this session Click here.