Three Questions . . .

Three questions is a series of interviews with experts who offer insights into how to address the issues that slow down the progress of provider organisations looking to gain TQS certification.

Recently I spoke to Karen Kimberley, a specialist in making communications work better in large organisations, about how managers working to achieve the TQS can ensure they get the support they need from their organisation.

Some managers in colleges and provider organisations really struggle to get senior management backing for their work on the TQS. What do you suggest they do to ensure they get the support they need to succeed?

“Struggling to get senior management support is a common problem in organisations.

If you’re going to succeed with the TQS you need to manage your stakeholders carefully.

Telling senior managers, governors, other managers and colleagues, – all your stakeholders, in fact, – about the importance of the Training Quality Standard isn’t enough to ensure it will become important to them and move up their agenda. Senior managers don’t always listen or hear what you say and, as often as not, they’re not fully aware of the scope of the situation you are dealing with.

You need to find creative ways of showing how gaining the TQS will be a benefit to them and to your organisation. It’s really important that they understand these benefits, and it’s your job to help them.

You also need to help them to understand the size of the task you are working on. Maybe you could come up with a visual analogy. For example, create a picture which shows 150 steps leading to TQS certification. Explain to senior managers that each step in your picture equates to an hour of work. You can then show senior people where your organisation is on the stairway and how much effort you still need to put in to succeed.

You need to think hard about how to get your point across. Doing something like this will help you to engage your audience’s imagination and get them on board.”

How can the manager with responsibility for the TQS ensure he or she gets the right amount of support from every one in the organisation, not just senior managers?

“Organise a steering group.

Large organisations do this. They know where they’re going. They plan what they are going to do. They have milestones and timelines.

This approach means they are able to devolve many responsibilities to quite junior people. The tasks they will be asked to do are clear. People are working within a structure and aiming to achieve defined goals.

It’s also important that you take steps to keep your steering group posted about progress with the project. Use the web, and your intranet, to share information.

You could, for example, use Google Documents to share your plans, and your application as you are working on it. It’s better to do this than just send round drafts. All the people who share the Google Document can see the most up-to-date version. They can also add their input to it. This approach will help to keep people informed and enthusiastic.”

What single, important piece of advice would you like to offer to anyone leading a TQS project in a provider organisation or college to help them sustain commitment to the TQS?

“You need to involve people. That’s really important. Get them working with you.

Remember your success here depends on face-to-face communications, not solely on e-mails and documents.

If people are close to something, if they experience it, they understand it better. They need to experience what you are doing with the TQS if they are going to want to support you.

You must help them to be aware of what you are doing, to understand why the TQS matters and how they can get involved to help you. That way you will make progress quickly.”

Karen has provided a free planning guide to stakeholder communications which she is making available to readers of this blog. Contact her via her website if you would like a copy.

http://www.karenkimberley.co.uk