Lab Light Workshop

Policy Profession

02/12/2014

Support Group

Structure

Intro to Policy Lab and our approach.1

2

3

4

5

Theoretical background of learning & skills acquisition.

Creating personas for Policy Profession Learners.

Learning Journeys.

Refining principles of learning & assessment.

Introduction to Lab

& our approach

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Intro to Lab &

our approach

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.

The Session

Tools &

Techniques

Tools & Techniques

Stages of design process

Stages of the design process

Brief

Discover scope Develop proposals

ScopeMandate OptionsInputs

Tools & Techniques

Ideas from the PPSU

Workshop

Theoretical Background

Dreyfus (2004) model of skill development.

Kolb (1984) experiential learning theory/learning

styles.

Hopes & Fears

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.

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.

Name Age

Draw the learner

My policy skills and knowledge

Technology usage habits

Current role, grade

& departmentPolicy challenges I’m working on

I’m motivated to learn

because…

I learn best through….(circle the top two)

Previous roles &

departments &

educationSocial media

E-learning

Home usage

Less confident More confident

1

2

3

Novice Advanced

beginnerCompetent Proficient Expert

Personas

Concrete

experienceActive

experimentation

Reflective

observation

Abstract

conceptualisation

4

Current level

Desired level

Current level

Desired level

Current level

Desired level

Current level

Desired level

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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