Draft Safety Team Teambuilding / Safety Leadership / Excellence in OHS for XYZ organisation Workshop(A workshop for the team of OHS professionals in an organisation)

Draft for approval after input from team members and management.



Objective

Build a highly effective safety team that will lead organisations to safety greatness.

Review the effectiveness of the current Safety Management System.

Process

1 Seek out and take advice from management on the issues. Examine any past audit reports, past accident experience and the current Safety Management System. A review of current health & safety training and health & safety management plans would be appropriate.

2 Spend time in the field getting to know the field safety personnel, what they do, how they do it, how well they do it and what the issues are from their perspective ( in the process would gain a better understanding of the operational environment).

3 Float the concept of a three day “Teambuilding / Safety Leadership /Excellence in OHS.” workshop for safety team members. Seek comment on draft proposal from stakeholders and management approval for the content.

Discussion

The following is based on the author’s Leadership / Team-Building learning in the Australian Army, Leadership l Team-building learning the author participated in with a past employer, Leadership / Team-building work the author has done with the “Connect” Program for at risk youth, examining Intel and McDonalds leadership learning programs and wide reading on leadership and team-building. A few drinks and discussion with experienced learning facilitators has also helped.

Initial thoughts on the content of the two day “Teambuilding / Safety Leadership /Excellence in OHS.” workshop.

Note-An experiential learning approach will be used for the workshop with lots of activities, discussions, case studies, and practical exercises. We will then reflect on the lessons to be learnt from the activities .Program is tight & we need to be on time for all sessions. Workshop will commence 0800hours sharp, those from out of town will have to travel to Brisbane the previous day.

Pre-reading

LEADERSHIP-George’s “ OHS Leadership” (Participants to prepare a 1-2 page summary for presentation), OHS-George’s “What makes a safety management system fly” and TEAMBUILDING-George’s “Team-building notes”( Participants to prepare a 1-2 page summary for presentation)as pre-reading.



Day 1

0800-0815- Opening by a senior manager.

0815-0830-Facilitator gives an overview of the learning program-subject to change dependent on participant needs. Define the rules or principles the programme will be run by. Inform participants they will be required to nominate the most outstanding participant on the workshop. There will be a prize for all who participate in a meaningful manner towards the workshop. Inform participants they will be required to develop a safety WOW project. Mobiles to be switched off during workshop sessions, no exceptions. If you cannot comply with this there is no place for you on the workshop. If you are going to feel compelled to rush off and do some business after you receive a phone call in a break and not be available for the workshop, do not bother attending the workshop. The only acceptable approach is 100% focus on the workshop. Please advise any dietary and medical restrictions. Discuss adventure-based exercise emphasising roughing it in the bush and no amenties, discuss Adventure handout and checklist of what to bring.

Allow participants to opt out if they believe they have valid reasons to do so.

0830-0930-Participants give a professional and personal self-introduction (about 5 minutes), what they expect from the program and discuss their needs.

0930-0945 Morning tea.

A Team-building

1 0945-1030 Participants to talk to the 1-2 page summary of George’s Team-building notes they have prepared. Identify the characteristics of highly effective teams, group discussion.

2 1030-1130 Explore what is necessary to have a highly effective safety team in XYZ organisation-explore in groups & report back.

3 1130-1215 Role clarity is an important part of having a highly effective team. You will be encouraged to express your thoughts on your role and the roles of others.

* Homework You will be encouraged to prepare a Personal Action Plan for making the safety team at XYZ organisation a highly effective team. This is to be sent to George within 2 weeks of the conclusion of this workshop.

1215-1300 Lunch- Sandwich, juice, fruit lunch.

B Leadership

1300-1400-Participants talk to the 1-2 page summary they have prepared of George’s OHS Leadership paper and explain what safety leadership means to them.

1445-1530-Guest speaker on leadership-Ideal if it is a senior, articulate manager with leadership ability and credibility, and /or a senior OHS professional or get a commercial speaker.

1530-1545 Afternoon tea.

1545-1630-Group discussion “What makes an excellent safety leader”.

Evening function 1900 -2200hours(bar closes)- Dinner & Guest speaker Geoff McDonald-“My life as a safety professional”. Catch a cab or have a designated driver if you are going to have more than a couple of drinks.

Day2

Leadership continued

0800-0900-Participants share stories about the best leadership efforts they have experienced (Theirs or others).

9.30 am-Leave for canoe trip at Fernvale

Travel to Fernvale

Buy your Lunch at the Fernvale Bakery.

Brief on canoes, canoe trip(will bring out team building and leadership issues) Overnight camp (shelters &thin, foam camping mattress will be provided but bring sleeping gear, toiletries, , plates, cutlery, any medication, etc.) You will have to bring non-perishable food for 2 meals. Hopefully it will not rain, a raincoat and change of clothes may be necessary. There are no amenities and limited mobile phone coverage where we are going.

Will cook tea over open fire( bar-b –q plate available), whatever you take will have to be carried on the canoe with you. Soft drink, orange juice and a few beers & wine will be provided)

Erect shelters, probably time for a swim & a drink

Cook tea,(preferably before dark), overnight camp, guided discussion around the campfire (Discussion on what is important in your personal and professional life(appropriate self-disclosure), develop an action plan to improve your general effectiveness and particularly effectiveness as a leader), few beers & wine, go to bed.

7am,pull down shelters, pack gear, have breakfast, return to Brisbane

Day 3-10am-Back in the training room

1000-1030 “Where to from here?”-What additional assistance is needed to assist participants in their journey to becoming excellent safety leaders?

1030-1045 Morning Tea

1045-1145 Discussion “Rate yourself as a OHS leader and share steps and plan to become an excellent OHS leader”.

*Homework-Participants will be encouraged to submit a plan to improve their safety leadership efforts within 2 weeks of the conclusion of this workshop

Excellence in O.H.S.

1145-1245- Force-field analysis(see attached description of the force-field analysis process) on the current state of O.H.S. in the organisation-Facilitated by George.

1245-1330 Lunch- Sandwich, juice, fruit lunch.

1330-1430 Force field analysis continued

1430-1530 “Where to from here?”-What additional assistance is needed to build an effective OHS team, improve safety leadership and have an effective Safety Management System?

1530-1600-Develop a set of rules, principles or charter the O.H.S. team would operate by. Individuals will identify a health & safety “Wow” project that they will contribute to. Discuss the concept of introducing an annual “WHS Achievement Award” for safety team members who have achieved significantly.

1600-1700 De-brief on workshop and presentation of prizes. Presentation of Kouze & Posner’s text The Leadership Challenge” to all workshop participants who made a meaningful contribution.

Presentation of the text “Leadership Lessons from West Point” to the participant judged by peers as the outstanding participant on the workshop.

After the workshop

You will be encouraged to prepare a Personal Action Plan for making the safety team at XYZ organisation a highly effective team. This is to be sent to George within 2 weeks of the conclusion of this workshop.

Participants will be encouraged to submit a Personal Action Plan to improve their safety leadership efforts within 2 weeks of the conclusion of this workshop.

George to provide a summary of above homework to all workshop participants and management.

George to provide a summary of workshop discussions and recommendations to participants and management.

Write a reflective journal reflecting your efforts to implement the learning from the workshop and your implementation efforts for at least 3 months, at least weekly, discuss monthly with your team leader, share with team as appropriate.

Monthly discuss with stakeholders progress on the safety WOW project.

Celebrate success of the safety WOW project.

Recognise the best safety WOW project.



Force-Field Analysis

Force-field analysis(similar to S.W.O.T. analysis) is a simple, yet powerful technique, useful at the,6-8, stakeholders is required. Defining the scope of your deliberations is important-Put some boundaries around your discussions.

The process goes something like this-

1 Revise the brainstorming rules

BRAINSTORMING RULES

Say the first thing that pops into your mind

Do not be judgemental of your or others ideas

The wilder the idea the better the idea

Do not be constrained by convention

Think out of the square

Quantity not necessarily quality

Every person and every idea has equal worth

Build on the ideas put forward by others



2 Brainstorm an objective for the Safety Management System The objective may be zero harm, zero permanently disabling injuries, may reflect a number of positive performance measures, may include financial measures and so on. Caution is urged in using measures such as the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate.

3 Brainstorm the promoting / facilitating forces acting towards the objective

4 Brainstorm the constraining / restraining forces acting against the objective

5 Develop an action plan to boost the facilitating / promoting forces and negate the constraining / restraining forces.

Discussion needs to be recorded on butchers paper, on a recording whiteboard or on the fly with a lap-top & data projector. One of the outcomes of the above discussion is that you will define a number of the things you are already doing in safety, in itself, not a bad thing to do.



Creating high performing teams

Get the vision, scope and objectives right

Create expectations

Call a spade a spade

Get the right people

Require people to do their homework

Never move slowly on critical personal issues

Constantly upgrade skills

Build trust through appropriate self-disclosure

Consider “What’s in it for me” from the perspective of the other person

Create short-term wins

Celebrate success

Clearly defined roles

Have fun

Be a bit crazy when appropriate (calculated risk-taking is good!)



Ten Commandments of Leadership



(Source: Kouzes JM and Posner BZ 1995 The Leadership Challenge)