By Chally Kacelnik
At several times during our longer leadership development programs, we ask participants to present on the tasks they’ve undertaken as part of the programming. For both nationally accredited programming (such as Certificate IV and Diploma Leadership & Management programs) and non-accredited programs, this is a great way to quantify and communicate participants’ achievements in completing the program, as well as improve presentation skills.
For a few minutes, each person has the stage among their own leaders and fellow program participants, to demonstrate how they’ve applied their new knowledge and skills to practical matters back at work. These practical changes might be to their own leadership practice, finance, safety, system design, or something else. This practice is great on its own terms and it’s a great opportunity to network and share improvements that can apply more broadly across the organisation, like a team’s new process that can be rolled out everywhere.
In their presentations, we ask participants to address four areas for each task on which they’re presenting:
- What I’ve done
- What I’ve achieved
- What I’ve learned
- What’s next
These areas reflect that our programs require real changes back at work while the programming is underway in order for participants to pass. There’s the task itself, its impact, the knowledge gained from the experience, and the next steps for the future – whether this is wider roll out, the next prototype, monitoring, or something else. This is a meaningful and resonant snapshot of their work.
Amongst other things, our advice is always:
- To tell a story, because that’s how people connect and remember best
- To focus on a few things that represent their achievements
- To quantify any financial or time savings
- To link their achievements back to the business plan, organisational values, and major policies and procedures
These presentations are a real highlight of the programs, for participants and everyone in attendance. We’re always glad to be a part of them.
At LKS Quaero, we deliver leadership development programs that benefit participants and their organisations in direct, trackable ways. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.
