Headstart
Workshop
W kh
2008 actKM Conference
Cory Banks
Knowledge Manager
PB (Parsons Brinckerhoff)

Who am I?
Who am I?

\"A learning experience is one of those things that says,
gy j
‘You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' \"
Douglas Adams

What is a Headstart ?
What is a Headstart ?
The Headstart is designed to give staff the
The Headstart is designed to give staff the
advantage of leveraging the collective wisdom
and experience of colleagues who have
undertaken similar work in the past.
undertaken similar work in the past
This leads to developing a ‘knowledge’ network
of people who can assist in a formal and informal
manner.
The activity should be undertaken in the first few
weeks of a person starting in a role or
weeks of a person starting in a role or
assignment.
Attribution: The format is based on the Peer
Assist model developed by Chris Collison and
Geoff Parcell as published in their book “Learning
to Fly” (www.learning‐to‐fly.org).

What is a Headstart ?
What is a Headstart ?
• A number of experienced people are invited to
A number of experienced people are invited to
share their knowledge with someone who is
starting a piece of work in an area similar to
their experience.
th i i
• This Experience could be:
This Experience could be:
– in that Business Unit (Customer Service)
– working with the same Stakeholder(s) (GM)
g ( )( )
– similar in complexity (Group‐wide Program)
– using the same Vendor
– l f (
similar type of Project (Approval System)
l )
– similar role (Project Manager)

What is a Headstart ?
What is a Headstart ?
Purpose
•
•
“Map making”
Map making
Learning
A
• Discovery
• Sharing
• Not Cheating
Not Cheating
• Working Smarter
• A K A Peer Assist
A.K.A. Peer Assist B

Workshop Agenda
Workshop Agenda
• Overview
• The Challenge
The Challenge
• Conceptual Plan
p
• Q & A
• Responses
• Reflection

Ground Rules
Ground Rules
• No Rank
• Safe Environment
• Open, Honest, Adult,
Professional Discussion
• No Blame
• No Repercussions
p
• Not Performance Based
• Learning/Improvement Focus
Learning/Improvement Focus
• Group Values Based Conduct

Workshop Agenda
p g
FACILITATOR HOST PARTICIPANTS
Overview
Agenda, Ground Rules
The Challenge
Setting the Scene
Conceptual Plan
Draft Map
Questions
Clarifying Points
Responses
Share Experiences
Reflection
Value, Improvement

The Challenge
The Challenge

Conceptual Plan
Conceptual Plan

Questions

Example Story
Example Story
• SOE Rollout
• ~ 9,000 Desktops
9,000 Desktops
• >400 Project Staff
• Initial Narrative Capture
• Sensemaking
• 4 Themed Workshops
• Findings Shared

Map

Reflection
Headstart Activity
• What worked well?
What worked well?
• What didn’t work well?
• Could you use this?
Other Questions?
Oh Q i ?

Thankyou
Cory Banks
• cbanks@pb com au
cbanks@pb.com.au
– Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/corza
– Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/corza
– Blog: http://corzandeffect.blogspot.com
og p //co a de ec b ogspo co
– Twitter: corza

Blatant Plug
Blatant Plug
Queensland Knowledge Management Forum
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/qkm