Outcomes from Policy Lab UK working session with the Civil Service Policy Profession on accreditation.

1. Policy Profession
Support Group
Lab Light Workshop
02/12/2014

2. Structure
1 Intro to Policy Lab and our approach.
2
3
4
5
Theoretical background of learning & skills acquisition.
Creating personas for Policy Profession Learners.
Learning Journeys.
Refining principles of learning & assessment.

3. Introduction to Lab
& our approach

4. Intro to Lab &
our approach
What is Policy Lab?
We are a creative space where
policy makers can develop
skills and knowledge to make
policy in a more open, digital
and user-centred way.
No physical office, “pop up”
concept.
Systems design concepts and
techniques.

5. Intro to Lab &
our approach
What do we do?
Test out open policy-making
tools and techniques.
Evaluate and refine new tools
and methods through practical
projects and experiments.
Work on ‘real life’ policies.
Aim to make better policies that
succeed, make a difference to
people and don’t waste
taxpayers money.

6. Intro to Lab &
our approach
Collaborative approach
Help Government and public
services view their work from the
outside.
Involves many different people
and uses different perspectives:
service users, academics and
experts, the public and ‘frontline’
professionals.
Ensure policy works for people it
affects.

7. Intro to Lab &
our approach
How do we work?
Demonstration projects
Specialist support for policy
makers interested in applying
new thinking, approaches and
techniques.
Real policy challenges.

8. Intro to Lab &
our approach
How do we work?
Lab Light
Is an opportunity for policy
makers to quickly try out
experimental techniques, from
data science to co-design,
building confidence, skills and
new knowledge.

9. Intro to Lab &
our approach
What we’ve done so far
Demonstrator Projects:
• Police Digitisation: to improve crime reporting and developed digital tools
being tested by 2 forces.
• Family Mediation: encouraging people to use mediation rather than
litigation after separation or divorce.
• National Insurance Numbers Project: encouraging young people to
understand their NI numbers and value them.
Developed a toolkit that has been shared with over 500 civil servants through
‘Lab Light’ events.
Organised the “Northern Futures Ideas Day” across 8 cities in the north
simultaneously where around 200 people came together to create solutions for
creating a “Great North 2030’, the best of which were showcased to the DPM.

10. The
Session
The Session
On the 2nd December 2014 Policy Lab held a two hour ‘Lab Light’ workshop for 17
people from the Policy Profession Support Unit (PPSU).
The aim was to help PPSU produce ‘learning journeys’ for people in the policy
profession and consider where assessments could be integrated.
The group created four personas of typical policy profession learners considering
their backgrounds, qualifications, existing skills and learning goals.
A ‘learning journey’ was plotted for each persona, thinking about how they learn
and the challenges they might face.
The groups also considered where assessment might be placed in the learning
journey and the forms it should take.

11. Tools &
Techniques

12. Tools & Techniques
Stages of design process
Stages of the design process
Brief
Discover scope Develop proposals
Mandate Inputs Scope Options

13. Tools & Techniques

14. Ideas from the PPSU
Workshop

15. Theoretical Background
Kolb (1984) experiential learning theory/learning
styles.
Dreyfus (2004) model of skill development.

16. Hopes & Fears

17. Hopes
• Creative, responsive &
relevant.
• Make good use of digital
media.
• Assessment is organic &
natural.
• Being open & expansive to
see the big picture.
• No borders or limits to utilise
internal and external expertise.
• Standardised high level of skill
& ability.
• A clear knowledge & skills
base.
• Clear path of progression &
attainment.

18. Fears
• Too regimented.
• Too unstructured & hard to
negotiate.
• Bureaucratic monstrosity.
• Narrow & and insular.
• Closed off and closeted.
• ‘Flash in the pan’ then fades
away.
• Mired in management speak.
• Unwilling to learn from
mistakes.
• Lots of process & admin but
little tangible gain.
• Style over substance &
papering over the cracks.

19. Name Age
Draw the learner
My policy skills and knowledge
Technology usage habits
Current role, grade
& department
Policy challenges I’m working on
I’m motivated to learn
because…
I learn best through….
(circle the top two)
Previous roles &
departments &
education
Social media
E-learning
Home usage
Less confident More confident
1
2
3
Novice Advanced
beginner
Competent Proficient Expert
Personas
Concrete
experience
Active
experimentation
Reflective
observation
Abstract
conceptualisation
4
Current level
Desired level
Current level
Desired level
Current level
Desired level
Current level
Desired level

20. Personas
Alex 1
• 41-year-old woman.
• Grade SCS1 but new to grade.
• Works in the Cabinet office,
previously at the MOJ.
• Entered civil service as
Faststreamer.
• Previous secondment to local
government.
• Lawyer by training but chose not
to practice.
• Currently working on Scottish
devolution.
• Moderate user of social media,
minimal user of e-learning and
moderate to high home digital
user.

21. Personas
Alex 2
• 37-year-old man.
• Grade 7, works at DECC on wind
farms.
• Engineering degree.
• Previously worked in the private
sector for Ford.
• He is tech-savvy and always
carries his iPhone, Macbook and
headphones.
• He is motivated to learn so he
can apply his knowledge to make
a difference.
• Heavy digital user, particularly
social media & gaming.

22. Personas
Bob
• 38-years-old.
• Grade 6, head of Cyber Crime
Policy (Home Office/FCO).
• Studied medieval history.
• Faststreamer.
• Strong public service ethic &
interest the job.
• Motivated by getting a salary,
has a mortgage & two children to
support (aged 3 & 5).
• Likes having flexible working
hours.
• Previously introduced a
biometric passport system at BA.
• Bob is a heavy digital user for
shopping and a moderate user
for e-learning and social media.

23. Personas
Dwain
• 25-year-old man.
• New to civil service, trained as a
teacher and taught for 2 years.
• Second year Faststreamer.
• Works on Universal Credit on
the ‘front end’ digital claims
process.
• Enthusiastic and career
focused.
• Work priorities include analysis,
digital, political awareness,
social impact and
implementation; proficient only
in digital.
• Dwain is a heavy user of digital
media at home, particularly
social media and gaming.

24. Find out
about it
Preparation/o
n-boarding
Structured learning Right
after
Putting it to use: impact on
policy making
Learning Journey
Web
Face to face
Email
Printed material
1 Map out the phases of the journey and interactions with
other people and formal and informal learning “touchpoints”.
2 What are the three important “moments of truth”?
3 Where does assessment fit into your journey?
What
touchpoints or
channels does
your learner
interact with?
What does s/he
do, know, say,
feel…

25. Learning Journey
Alex 1
“Moments of Truth”
• Developing links with academic experts increases
understanding of policy content & background.
• Supportive SCS2+ mentor giving useful & constructive
feedback.
• Positive 360 degree feedback increases confidence .
“Hot Spots”
• Difficulty establishing a Scottish network (closed
community? resistant to outsiders from Westminster?).
• Difficulty getting academics and experts on board.
• Time pressures.

26. Learning Journey
Alex 2
“Moments of Truth”
• Positive feedback on initial wind farm study.
• Well received submission as part of a policy project.
• Supportive & encouraging SCS mentor.
“Hot Spots”
• Poorly received submission as part of policy project.
• Poorly supportive line manager who doesn’t understand
engineering background.
• Negative response when advising ministers.

27. Learning Journey
Bob
“Moments of Truth”
• Inspired by research into ‘best in class’ practice.
• Being able to lead and drive the agenda and propose
expenditure.
• Reflection on own performance and recognition of
progress.
“Hot Spots”
• Lack of motivation to get started and do preparation, needs to be a
self-starter.
• Time constraints or the need to be away from home and family.
• Having to write up a long report after the learning experience.

28. Learning Journey
Dwain
“Moments of Truth”
• Self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses, identifies own
potential.
• Identifies the opportunity to try out skills and gets feedback.
• Positive experience of shadowing senior colleagues &
ministers.
Hot Spots”
• Negative experience of shadowing senior colleagues &
ministers .
• Resistance from line manager about learning, training &
development.
• Poor feedback and assessment results.

29. What we learned…
• Needs for the process not to be bureaucratic.
• Any training & qualifications should stand the test of time
& not be a ‘flash in the pan”.
• Continuous assessment to assess progress.
• Different types of assessment needed appropriate to the
skill being assessed.
• Any training or assessment should be user-centred.
• Policy professionals are enthusiastic about new ways of
working like co-design.
• Any training or qualification should have currency inside
and outside of government & the civil service.
• Recognition of experiential and ‘on the job’ learning.
• Need to further define knowledge and skills base &
develop a set of principles & standards.
• Needs to be attractive to candidates inside and outside
the civil service.

30. PPSU Workshop
Thank you, please keep
in touch.
Please feel free to leave
feedback via email or
twitter:
andrea.siodmok@cabinet-office.
gsi.gov.uk
@policyLabUK
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I
remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Benjamin Franklin