The Workforce Development team uses the following cutting-edge methodologies in its programs.

World Café

World Café is an innovative methodology for hosting and building on conversations and cross-fertilising organisational wisdom. The key to creating a successful conversation is to employ seven guiding principles in combination to foster courageous conversations and collective intelligence. The World Café process is particularly useful:

• when you want to generate input, share knowledge, stimulate innovative thinking, and explore action possibilities around real life issues and questions
• to engage people, whether they are meeting for the first time or are in established relationships, in authentic conversation
• to conduct in-depth exploration of key strategic challenges or opportunities
• to deepen relationships and mutual ownership of outcomes in an existing group
• to create meaningful interaction between a speaker and the audience
• to engage groups larger than 12.

Open Space Technology

Open Space Technology is a dynamic and interactive alternative to traditional meeting processes that enables participants to identify what's important to them. It taps into peoples' passions and gives them the opportunity to take responsibility. Open Space Technology is an excellent strategic tool to use when:

• there are no pre-determined outcomes
• the issues are complex
• there are a diversity of experiences and views
• you want to encourage participation with responsibility.

Participants will leave an Open Space workshop with a full print-out in booklet form of all proceedings, including step by step plans for action on each targeted area.

Dialogic interviews and prototyping

These two processes are derived from the work of Otto Scharmer (Theory U, 2007).

Dialogic interviews describe a process of deepening perception and understanding, derived from a variety of stakeholders, around any issue which is being explored.

Prototyping is a creative process of envisioning and crystallising future possibilities. It is an iterative process with strategic feedback which allows participants to observe and recreate their design prior to implementation.

Sandra Niblock
TAFE SA Mt Barker Campus
Phone: +61 8 8391 7321
Email: sandra.niblock@tafesa.edu.au