Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Gamestorming breakfast session

What an amazing session this morning with over 50 learning and development and HR professionals who were exploring the different tools and techniques that are used to create more meaningful meetings where everyone participates and contributes.  MCI is always keen to share our methodologies with everyone in the community so that standards are raised and innovation emerges.
The group from private and public sectors was invited to look at the key challenges that are facing businesses right now.  The tables went through a process of individual brain-storming, followed by creating an affinity map and finally completing a template to demonstrate how in such a short space of time, ideas can be floated, organised and converged in to some real discussion and solutions.
The post-its, brain-dumps and templates reflected the following challenges facing organisations right now:
Top of the list seems to be change management!  I think our next session has its theme...
Next on the list was management and leadership and there was a great deal of discussion around what was within the sphere of influence and control of the group and what was not.
Some of the solutions suggested included:
  • Raising the profile of L and D and HR in the organisation
  •  Focus more on recruitment and retention strategies
  • Lift engagement scores - measure before and after
  • Ensure that you know what you are recruiting for - have guidelines in place
  • Get clarity on organisation's vision
  • Train more managers and create leaders
  • Look at flexible work arrangements
Here are some photos of the templates created and they provide an indication of some of the key issues that are top of mind across many industries: