Thriving Through Change: a workshop for staff supporting researcher development13 December 2010

Event overview

Audience: Trainers and other staff supporting researcher development.

The end of Roberts ring fenced funding, increased pace in implementation of the Concordat, and adoption of the new Researcher Development Framework means that all of us who support researchers are facing more change than ever before. This workshop will help you to create an action plan in relation to achieving sustainable researcher development during times of change.

So what can we do to make sure that we meet the challenges of change? Whether we are managing change or responding to changes made by others, there are some simple processes, techniques and tools that we can all use to make managing the change, and our response to change, more effective.

Vitae is offering this practical, participative and interactive workshop during which participants will:

• Look at change itself - what it is and why we find it difficult
• Explore how to successfully implement changes within the workplace
• Examine the steps that we need to go through to thrive during times of change
• Look at some techniques that you can use to:
  • manage changes going on around you
  • manage your reaction to change
  • enable you to make the most of the opportunities that change can deliver
• Create an action plan in relation to achieving sustainable researcher development during times of change.

In the morning we will look at the 5 key elements that make for effective change, and what we can do to influence success, namely:

1. Creating a clear and compelling vision
2. Identifying and understanding the needs of  different stakeholders
3. The need for communication to a range of stakeholders
4. The risks involved
5. How to involve and engage those affected

In the afternoon we will explore the concept of resilience; the set of skills and attributes that allow people to do really well in the situations that can sometimes cause others to flounder.  We will look at the 10 key characteristics of resilience, and the techniques that you can use to increase both your own resilience and that of the people around you. Finally you will create an action plan.

After the workshop you will be invited to join an action learning set to help support you through your action plan.

This highly interactive one-day workshop is presented by Dr Caron King, a change expert who works with a large number of UK higher education institutions to support the Robert's agenda.