Guidance to jointly deliver Working with Adults (09) and Skills of Leadership (08)

Guidance to jointly deliver Working with Adults (09) and Skills of Leadership (08)

During the review of the modules ‘Skills of Leadership (08)’ and ‘Working with Adults (09)’, it was discovered that a number of Counties deliver these modules together as part of a training day. The question arose whether these modules should be combined, but this proposal was rejected for a number of reasons, one of which was to preserve the modular nature of the programme. A combined module would have huge content, making it essentially a ‘mini course’ with no realistic alternative delivery method for a group or individual.

However, if the modules are going to be delivered together, then by reordering the sessions slightly to deliver elements in a different order, the trainees may get a better learning experience which appears more logical and allows for different training methods. The following, is a suggestion for combining the modules in such a way. Your thoughts and reviews would be welcome if you try it.

Combining the modules will only be appropriate however if all the participants need to complete both modules.

Those needing only one or the other will inevitably repeat some learning if attending this joint module and the County will need to ensure they are still available in some format as single modules.

Suggested programme

The following will need a full day to deliver. It is based on the assumption that the participants will be split into groups and be supported by a facilitator. It would be extremely demanding for a single trainer to deliver the whole programme, so either a number of trainers will be needed or, at a minimum, the facilitators should be capable of leading a small group session on a given topic on their own.

Timing is a critical factor. In total the modules have a combined delivery time of 10 hours which is probably an unacceptable length for a day, given travel times will be added. So, to fit the programme into a roughly 9 – 5 day, the content has to be delivered more efficiently or reduced. Suggestions on where this might be achieved are detailed below. Note though that the temptation in this situation is to cut out exercises as they take time to complete and report back. However we need to use effective learning techniques and be mindful of how much more is learnt through experience - by doing – and leadership and teamwork are practical skills. Wherever possible, therefore, we should be economical and concise with the trainer input rather than reducing practical experience.

The training is loosely broken down into 3 elements which you may wish to use as an overview for the day - Achieving tasks, Working with Teams and Individuals and Skills.