Target Audience:  Staff who have taken on new management responsibilities in the last 2-3 years.  ** You will be working on projects that require the co-operation of both direct reports and colleagues from other parts of the university. **

Application:  In applying, please submit to traininganddevelopment@ucc.ie an overview of a complex issue you are currently grappling with. You will use this issue to apply learning from the programme across the two days.  This will support you to make the most out of the programme, where you will have the opportunity to develop your agency for taking action.

INTRODUCTION

How we manage situations depends on what we think the problem is. Complexity science and systems thinking ideas and tools can help us develop a fresh vantage point. A project, programme, or process-whether at the initiation stage or already under way and feeling stuck-can benefit from a systemic lens and an action plan based on sound systems tools.

Programme Aims:

This programme supports the development of systems thinking skills through their application to a practical challenge, enabling learning in action. It is designed to help you:

• Reframe a challenge as a complex situation in context
• Explore your personal role and contribution within the situation
• Identify what is stuck and where opportunities for learning lie
• Develop practices for creating sufficient safety to bring others on board
• Design an action plan for managing the situation strategically using systems tools

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the two-day programme, you will:

• Be able to distinguish between complicated, complex, and chaotic situations, and design appropriate interventions for complex situations
• Be able to describe a challenging situation and its complex interdependencies; establish an appropriate boundary around its scope; and engage colleagues with different perspectives
• Have a basic understanding of systemic approaches to working beyond silos and within given constraints
• Have a good understanding of their own personal style and commitment to action learning
• Be better prepared to convene a different kind of conversation around a challenge with key stakeholders