L&D: Create the space and hold it

Angela Bingham, Executive Director People and Capability at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, looks at how learning happened within her organisation, even despite the country being in lockdown. What were the critical factors for ensuring that this happened?

Ki te kotahi te kakaho ka whati,

Ki te kapuia e kore e whati – Alone we can be broken. Standing together, we are invincible.

Every morning, since Wednesday 25 March 2020, I told myself today was going to be a good day. My team and I had to take a leap of faith and believe in ourselves and our teams. With learning at the core of our organisation, I had to create the space and hold it. This article reflects on my time as a leader and a learning professional during lockdown. I share with you the evidence that learning has happened despite a lockdown. I look at what made this time unique in the context of learning and what we can learn from this.

Four important things happened:

1. we prioritised pastoral care

2. we communicated

3. we were clear on the principles

4. we activated authentic leadership.

Prioritising pastoral care

I started to do a bit of reading, and I was reminded of Maslow. In an organisation where the basics (equipment, pay, health and safety) have been taken care of, individuals were able to get their heads around ‘this new way of working’ in a matter of days. We acknowledged the different makeup of bubbles, we connected with what was going on at home, and we welcomed dogs and children to online meetings. Essentially we cared at a very fundamental level. We met psychological needs through fostering belonging and connection with our colleagues.

We checked in on wellbeing daily, before anything else.

My team (as did many teams) started each day with a stand up: successes from yesterday, intentions for today, perceived blockers and a number from one to five on how we were feeling at that moment. No trying to bring the number up or justifying the high or low number – it was just a number. One of my learnings is that my team members were sharing problems, blockers and issues that I couldn’t solve. And I shouldn’t have solved. I listened and acknowledged, and that’s all I could and should do. Create the space and hold it.

The reality was, we didn’t roll out new software or policies. We turned up the dial on our pastoral care, thereby creating space for learning and change. It happened right before our virtual eyes.

Communicating; not just delivering messages

Meetings were shorter (although slower to start). By the time we all had sound checks sorted, people were concise. No one wasted time to speak for the sake of speaking. Brilliant.

Organisational communications were short, sharp and action-oriented (no one felt the need to provide the history of pandemics). People compensated for the lack of body language by working on messaging. People asked how I wanted to meet (phone, Skype, Zoom, MS Teams, FaceTime, Google Hangouts and so on). Communication truly became two way.

I have loved being involved in all the just-in-time learning that happened across our organisation. We took to MS Teams like it was our new water. We carried on with karakia, we giggled at jokes and made formal decisions. We did all of this without a training guide, without a policy and without a change management plan. We did it because we had to, and there was no negative peer pressure (nay-sayers).

Josh Bersin, world-known industry analyst and thought-leader on learning, has provided me with much reflection. He has been writing about what we are learning about leadership in times of crisis. I have summarised his findings and how they have related to us at the Open Polytechnic.

• Pastoral care was at the top of our ‘to-do’ list. Then it became a habit. Josh Bersin tells us that, in a crisis, leaders focus on “empathy and compassion first, business second". 1 When people feel a sense of safety, trust and empowerment, growth will return.

• We had committed to financial security. We pledged to be honest with our employees about the financial viability of the Open Polytechnic, and this too helped instil a sense of understanding from the staff.

• Teams were talking daily. We were sharing ideas of new tools we had found, we were communicating about how we best worked from home, sharing the highs and the lows. It led to more cohesion and connectedness. We were practising social distancing, yet we were more connected than ever.

• People were learning just in time. People were phoning more experienced team mates to ask for a solution on a project. We used our networks to find subjectmatter experts. We have now become used to finding tips, cheat sheets and so on just when we need them. Our students have set the example for us – they have continued syncing their academic learning with their at-home schedules. We took our lead from them.

We were tired, but no one said they had change fatigue. Extroverts leaned on introverts. Life did become simpler.

Clarifying principles

As the approach to lockdown became intense, we relied on principles. We didn’t have time for a new policy environment, and we were running alongside an everchanging environment.

By being clear about our principles, we could be agile with our protocols. We were tired, but no one said they had change fatigue. Extroverts leaned on introverts. Life did become simpler. Examples of our guiding principles were:

• following the government guidelines

• making our own self-assessments

• continuing with as many services as possible (including online fitness workshops)

• making our own assessments of equipment needed to work from home

• making our own schedules to meet at-home commitments.

Activating authentic leadership

When we turn up to work, we have that sense physically that we have our ‘armour’ on, and we’re fortified to start the day. When you dial-in to work, people are curious about the little faces that pop up, the seventies coffee mug, the fabric of the curtains or the artwork on the walls. It promotes curiosity and a moment of authentic leadership and learning.

The Oxford Group talk about five conversations leaders should have. The first is to “establish a trusting relationship”. Talk about the person, find out how they like to be communicated with and then do it.

I heard several providers communicating “bear with us, we are learning too”. Or meeting

participants being a little more charitable, as individuals sorted audio and video difficulties. And then we celebrated the small wins, “Well done you found your mic and camera”.

The remaining four conversations from The Oxford Group are as follows:

• agreeing mutual expectations

• showing genuine appreciation

• challenging unhelpful behaviour

• building for the future.

We met psychological needs through fostering belonging and connection with our colleagues.

All of these conversations will become increasingly relevant for leaders as we navigate the next stage of business recovery and rebuild.

What does the future like look like for me? Belief. Believe in ourselves, set the principles, determine communication, be authentic and focus on pastoral care. These are the headliners for learning and change.

Mauria te pono – believe in yourself.

Angela Bingham He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata! Angela Bingham started as Executive Director People and Capability at the Open Polytechnic in October 2018.

Before that she held a variety of leadership roles, with an emphasis in learning and development. She has worked for Kineo (Pacific), ACC, Endeavour IT Limited, Rugby New Zealand, Department of Internal Affairs and ANZ, among others. Angela has a strong people agenda, which she has developed from her degree in Community and Family Studies from the University of Otago. Angela’s philosophies are that an effective leader works for the good of others with a firm foundation in strengthbased conversations.