What is resilience, and why should we look to build resilience at a personal and organisational level?
These were some of the key questions that Dr Mark Gilman and Dr Simon Raby, academics of Kent Business School, addressed in front of an audience of 40 professional and administrative staff as part of a forum for the University’s Developing Management Skills (DMS) programme.
As well as exploring resilience, the day also provided an opportunity for participants to debate, with the support of facilitators from various University of Kent departments, the professionalisation of clerical and administrative roles, explore the role of assertive rights and new sources of power, and consider the challenges of supervising across shifts and sites. In the afternoon, participants shared their experiences of learning approaches and methods for self-development, and experienced the process of ‘action learning’, a particular learning technique that:
“…provides a facilitated and safe environment for individuals to explore, work on, and solve problems that they encounter, along with developing skills for working in a non-directive and inquiring manner” Dr Simon Raby, Kent Business School
The aim of DMS is to support and develop critical management skills of professional services staff and research staff at grades 6 to 7, who supervise or manage teams or aspire to move into a management role. Further DMS programmes will be running in 2014 and 2015, so watch this space!
For further information or help on resilience contact Dr Simon Raby on S.O.Raby@kent.ac.uk
For further information on the DMS programme contact Alison Whelan (A.J.Whelan@kent.ac.uk) or Learning & Development (ldev@kent.ac.uk )