Sociological imagination homelessness

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Contents Before you begin v What you will learn v

What is expected of a Certificate II learner vii

Assessment vii

Employability skills vii

How to work through this unit ix

Resources x

Chapter 1: Identifying opportunities to do things better 1 1.1 Understanding your role in workplace innovation 2 1.2 Identifying opportunities for improvement 6 1.3 Gathering and reviewing information 13 Chapter summary 17

Assessment Checklist for Chapter 1 17

Assessment Activity 1: Identifying opportunities for improvement 18

Chapter 2: Developing ideas with others 21 2.1 Identifying people to provide input 22 2.2 Approaching people 24 2.3 Seeking feedback 28 2.4 Following up ideas 29 Chapter Summary 32

Assessment Checklist for Chapter 2 32

Assessment Activity 2: Developing ideas with others 33

Chapter 3: Addressing the practicalities of change 35 3.1 Implementing routine changes 36 3.2 Identifying issues and processes for implementing ideas 40 3.3 Presenting ideas and suggestions 42 Chapter Summary 45

Assessment Checklist for Chapter 3 45

Assessment Activity 3: Addressing the practicalities of change 46

Contents

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Final Assessment: BSBINN201A Contribute to workplace innovation 49

Employability skills 51

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Chapter 1: Identifying opportunities to do things better

Chapter 1 Identifying opportunities to do things better Great organisations need people who seek ways to improve what is being done and who enjoy contributing to the innovation effort. In any role, you can help your workplace to become more effective and to produce the best results possible. Be curious about the work practices that are not as productive as they could be, rather than just accepting things because ‘that’s the way they are’.

You can identify opportunities to do things better. Be aware of your role and those of others around you. You need to be able to identify what exactly needs changing, and to obtain the right kind of information to help you put forward a case for change.

In this chapter you will learn about: 1.1 Understanding your role in workplace innovation 1.2 Identifying opportunities for improvement 1.3 Gathering and reviewing information

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1.1 Understanding your role in workplace innovation

The first step in innovation is to pay attention to what we do and the way we do it. This helps us to do our jobs well and to make them even better – for our own benefit and that of our organisation. The next step is to think creatively about our work both individually and in teams. The final steps include engaging others, reviewing, planning and implementing the innovation.

Knowing the requirements of your work role does not just mean following orders. You might think of how to do something better than the way it is being done. You might discover something that is being done incorrectly or that does not meet a particular standard. It is important to share this information, and it is your responsibility to advise the right person or people so that changes can be made.

What is innovation? Innovation can take many forms. It might involve creating new products, services or systems or building on existing ones. It might be about changing attitudes to our jobs, our organisation or our customers. It might involve new approaches to the way we do our work, such as changing team structures or developing new work teams.

For example, Susan is a receptionist for a local council. Her job is to attend to customers at the counter and assist with incoming phone calls. She regularly has long queues of customers at the counter; some with quick enquiries, others who require more time. She and the switchboard staff discuss ways to create at least two queues at the counter, how customers could choose which queue suited their needs, and how the staff could better share counter duties while still managing the phone calls. They present their ideas to their manager and include a way to pilot this innovation.

Another example involves Spence. He was working in a paper factory and developed an adhesive. It was not strong enough for his purpose as it kept papers together but was too easily pulled apart. Colleagues used the adhesive to attach notes in work files as it didn’t damage anything. A few years later the company (3M) realised the value of Dr Spence Silver’s innovation and renamed it the ‘Post-it Note’.

Why is innovation important? Innovation is good for business, helping organisations to achieve commercial success through the provision of new and better products and services, often delivered at lower costs. Doing things differently can also help to create better, more productive workplaces and make staff happier to be at work and to feel more involved. Clients also benefit, and so they should, after all they are the reason the organisation exists.

Innovations can benefit organisations by helping them to: make the most of technology – programs and equipment making it easier and ƒ faster to produce goods and to operate generally compete globally – lowering production costs and times and enabling competitive ƒ access to the world market maintain and grow their business – enabling constant adaptation to changing and ƒ diverse customer demands

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Chapter 1: Identifying opportunities to do things better

work smarter not harder – improving time management and streamlining systems ƒ and processes, producing greater output make workplaces more pleasant and productive – helping reduce absenteeism and ƒ staff turnover give staff a sense of ownership in their working life – building on their expertise and ƒ encouraging workers to take pride in their work and therefore to do their best.

Innovative organisations will outperform others. They can respond faster and better to changing environments, grasp opportunities and develop necessary partnerships to generate and act on ideas.

Your role in innovation Everyone can contribute to making changes for the better. You don’t have to wait to be asked to be innovative at work, nor do you have to be at a particular level. Changing work practices to meet current needs is part of your work role and can help keep you interested. You also develop new skills, which benefits your organisation as a whole.

Many of the small changes you will make on a daily basis won’t be all that obvious, but everything adds to your sense of job satisfaction and to your organisation’s effectiveness.

A small change might be something as simple as moving a visitors’ couch to a more ideal location and adding some up-to-date reading material about the organisation, its products or services in order to attract new business.

Some innovative work practices that occur might be someone else’s idea, or you might work in a team where everyone does things a little differently. Recognising that we all do things differently will also help us to use our individuality to advantage.

If you have an idea for innovation, you should always: include others who need to know about it and who need to be involved ƒ be able to show how it will help your organisation ƒ follow any set procedures in your organisation for presenting new ideas ƒ accept that the final decision may not be yours ƒ implement changes only when you are sure you have the approval to do so. ƒ

The following examples shows how can employee can use their initiative in the workplace.

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Example Gina works for a large organisation that has 2000 staff. Part of Gina’s job is to sort and deliver the mail each morning. This usually takes an hour and a half, but in December sorting takes her all morning and she gets behind with her other work. Other people rely on Gina to prepare an updated account list by lunchtime each day and are not happy when she falls behind.

Gina realises that this is not an efficient or effective way for her to work (showing self- management employability skills) and that she needs to find a better way to do things (thereby demonstrating initiative and enterprise). She does a bit of research (managing her own learning) using the Internet (technology) and also discusses the problem (using communication skills) with her work group so she can make sure she knows what everyone needs (demonstrating a good approach to teamwork). She problem-solves by locating a new product that will help her sort the mail more efficiently and works out a new daily routine (using planning and organising skills) that will help her attend to all her tasks in a way that satisfies the needs of others.

Practice task 1 Describe something innovative that you have done (it might be work-related or outside work) and how it benefited you and anyone else. If you can’t think of anything you have done, interview someone else (a relative, friend or team member) about an innovative activity they have been involved in. Identify which employability skill or skills were displayed.

How do organisations encourage innovation? More and more, organisations are seeing the benefit of encouraging staff to present innovative ideas. While just about anyone will welcome a good idea, some organisations actively encourage innovation through a range of methods including: