The Role of Personal Development Advisers Andy Wilson UK Staff Development Adviser

Welcome and introductions Please introduce yourselves to any neighbours you don’t know Dr Andy Wilson UK Staff Development Advisor to the BUE Director of Capability Enhancement at Loughborough University in the UK.

Purpose To help you to work effectively as Personal Development Advisors with your BUE colleagues.

Processes Mixture of inputs, plenary discussion, and small group work Please ask questions or offer comments at any stage.

Advice and guidance See… Development Adviser: Roles & Responsibilities – Guidelines Talk to each other and to Kevin Liaise with Staff Development Coordinator and Departmental Learning & Teaching Coordinator to plan development activities I’m happy to respond to queries… Draw on your own experience.

Your own experience In small groups, please think about your own experience of joining the BUE What things helped you with the transition? What things do you know now, that you would have liked to have known then?

If you had had a PDA… …to help you adapt to the BUE? What would you have wanted from them? How would you have wanted them to behave? What would you not have wanted?

Fundamentals You will be working with new members of staff Yours is an important and powerful role Cf Loughborough’s Probationary Advisors Your role is to support their development Transition, integration, Personal Development Plan (PDP) and peer observation of teaching Development can take many forms Formal responsibility for their meeting the requirements of probation Responsibility to prepare them for P&D Review.

Balancing act Supporting and encouraging Recognising the realities

Contents What you have to do Minimum requirements Personal Development Plan Managing the meetings.

What you have to do Formal Meet five times Ensure minimum requirements are met Answer their questions Help them write their Personal Development Plan Peer observe their teaching. Informal Make them feel welcome Ask how they’re doing Discuss the workshops Answer the questions they don’t ask Help prepare them for Performance and Development Review.

Minimum requirements First three months ~ for all See 3.3 in the Guidelines Staff Development Coordinator and Departmental Learning & Teaching Coordinator will help a lot You can provide reinforcement and reflection PDP and peer observation of teaching* First twelve months ~ some variation by group See 4.2 in the Guidelines PDP and peer observation of teaching* *Peer observation scheme being developed.

Formal meetings ~ with all Week 2 ~ 1 hour Explanations of purpose and roles Start on PDP First three months ~ 1 hour Ensure PDP has been completed Deepen understanding and address concerns First twelve months ~ 3 x 1 hour Review and update PDP Deepen understanding and address concerns.

Personal Development Plan Suggested format available A faculty/departmental decision Must include: Member of staff’s strengths Member of staff’s development needs Development activities to be undertaken Activities should not be limited to the programme This will be the focus of much of your discussion They may not know what – in the BUE context – their strengths and development needs are.

Managing the meetings Remember your “If you had had a PDA…” responses Make sure they are clear about why you’re there There’s a lot to manage These headings and questions may help Style – am I maintaining a good rapport? Situation – do I understand their situation? Structure – do I have a clear structure?

The 3 Ss We’ll look at these in turn As we do, please think about potential difficulties that might arise We will then work out ways of dealing with these.

This is how you conduct yourself You are there to help them And you have a responsibility to the BUE So you may have to remind them of the requirements It’s the balancing act again “I agree, and of course at the BUE we…” Any potential difficulties with Style? Style

Situation To be able to help them you need to understand where they are So questions to clarify this will be helpful Remember that they will need to be reassured before they tell you anything uncomfortable “So how are you finding our approach to teaching?” Any potential difficulties with Situation?

Structure This is about how you organise your way through the discussion Some topics will need to be addressed, others can wait Taking notes will help (explain to them why you’re doing this) Some of the structure will come from them, some from you “You said earlier that __________ puzzled you, let’s talk about that.” Any potential difficulties with Structure?

Outcomes and ownership Don’t take over the discussion and just tell them what to do You want them to take ownership of the outcomes Then they’ll be more committed.

Listening and looking Listening is key Listen to what is… …said …meant …not said And look for non-verbal signals.

Some question types Clear Confused OpenClosed Thought Recall

10 key tips 1. Have a clear purpose 2. Stay calm throughout 3. Empathise…...but don’t collude 4. Be clear 5. Be supportive 6. Reflect and summarise 7. Allow silence and feelings 8. Help your colleague confront reality 9. Encourage independence 10. Work towards SMART* outcomes. * Specific ~ Measurable ~ Attainable ~ Relevant ~ Time-limited

GROW - stages and style plus StagesStyle Remember contracting & scoping GoalsGGrowth RealityRRapport OptionsOOwnership WillW

Dealing with difficulties

Personal resolutions What are you going to remember to do in relation to your PDA discussions? Please be ready to share one of these.