Crafting conversation to create high performance: A Masterclass

Contact information

For further information or to request a quotation, please contact the Professional Education Courses Unit on:

Enquiries Phone: 02 5114 5573

Enquiries Email: ProfEdCourses@adfa.edu.au

In-house delivery

UNSW Canberra Professional Education Courses may be available for in-house delivery at your organisation's premises. In-house courses allow maximum attendance without the additional travel costs. Courses can be developed to suit the specific staff development and training needs of your organisation. Recommended for groups of 10 or more.

It is widely accepted that to achieve organisational high performance, individuals must be performing at their best. A major contributor to individual performance is the presence of regular and effective performance conversations. Such conversations should enable individuals to understand their purpose within the organisation, giving both goal and role clarity. This will necessitate managers clearly articulating their expectations of their team members.

This two day masterclass is designed for those who undertake performance conversations as a core component of their roles. We will consider alternative forms of conversation and discuss why recognising and utilising different conversational forms helps to create new patterns of behaviour and performance outcomes. The core principles of expectancy theory are considered when using these conversational forms, giving participants the opportunity to develop ideas for future approaches to managing expectations.

At the end of the masterclass, participants will:

  • Have insight into the impact of conversations and how actively managing expectations can create high performance;
  • Recognise a range of conversational forms and how they may be applied to create change or influence others;
  • Be able to use a range of conversational forms to plan and implement high performance.

Presenters

Professor Deborah Blackman will be facilitating this course.  Additional presenters may include Professor Michael O'Donnell, Dr Fiona Buck and Dr Samantha Johnson.

Professor Deborah Blackman

Deborah Blackman is a Professor in Public Sector Management Strategy and Deputy Director of the Public Service Research Group at UNSW, Canberra. She researches knowledge transfer in a range of applied, real world contexts. The common theme of her work is creating new organisational conversations in order to improve organisational effectiveness. Research projects have included leading a joint collaborative project with the Australian Public Service Commission which is working on Strengthening the Performance Management Framework; the role of social capital in long-term disaster recovery funded by the Toyota foundation, and an ARC grant considering Whole of Government from which she developed a new diagnostic model to support effective joined-up working. She has written extensively on performance management with articles in Review of Public Personnel Administration, Australian Journal of Public Administration and Journal of Organizational Change Management. For more information please see; https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-deborah-blackman

Dr Fiona Buick

Fiona Buick is a Lecturer in Public Sector Management and a member of the Public Service Research Group at UNSW, Canberra. Her research focuses on how human resource management can enable group and organizational effectiveness in the public sector. Research projects have explored the impact of organisational culture on joined-up working; how performance management can enable high performance; the factors that enable middle management capacity; and the factors that impede and enable structural change in the public sector. She has published articles on performance management in Review of Public Personnel Administration, the Australian Journal of Public Administration and the Journal of Organizational Change Management. She has also co-authored numerous practitioner reports and publications on performance management. For more information, please see https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/dr-fiona-buick.

Professor Michael O’Donnell

Michael O’Donnell is Professor of Human Resource Management at the University of New South Wales, Canberra. Michael has published widely on HR policies and practices in the Australian Public Service. Michael's research interests include human resource practices and employment relations in the public sector, executive remuneration in the private sector and international employment relations. Michael has acted as a chief investigator on large ARC funded projects exploring management strategy and employment relations in the Australian and United Kingdom public sectors and executive remuneration and corporate governance in Australian listed companies. Michael has published widely in management and employment relations journals including the Journal of Management Studies, the International Journal of Human Resource Management and the Journal of Industrial Relations. For more information please see: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-michael-edward-odonnell.

Dr Samantha Johnson

Samantha Johnson is a lecturer in public sector leadership and a member of the Public Service Research Group at UNSW, Canberra. She researches public sector capability development in management and leadership and public sector performance. The common theme of her work is building capability and performance in the public sector for today and for tomorrow’s public service. Research projects have included a project in middle management experiences in management and leadership capability development and managerial capability in the Royal Australian Navy. For more information please see: https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/our-people/dr-samantha-johnson

Course Information

This experiential masterclass will give participants an opportunity, in a safe space, to consider different types of conversations, learn about expectancy theory, gain some key lessons and undertake practical techniques designed to make “changing the conversation” a reality. 

Drawing on recent research and practical knowledge, this interactive masterclass will consider how diverse conversational forms create different outcomes. It will also consider how this learning can be used in conjunction with the principles of expectancy theory to affect individual behaviour, thereby creating different outcomes. Presenters will work with participants to consider how these lessons can be applied in their own organisations and managerial practice.

Courses will be held subject to sufficient registrations. UNSW Canberra reserves the right to cancel a course up to five working days prior to commencement of the course. If a course is cancelled, you will have the opportunity to transfer your registration or be issued a full refund. If registrant cancels within 10 days of course commencement, a 50% registration fee will apply. UNSW Canberra is a registered ACT provider under ESOS Act 2000-CRICOS provider Code 00098G.