Programme Handbook - Legal Aid Practitioners Group

Programme Handbook

www.communityjusticefund.org.uk

Management & Leadership Programme Handbook (December 2020) 2

Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3

The Structure of the Programme .......................................................................................... 4

Information Exchanges ..................................................................................................... 4

Learning Exchanges .......................................................................................................... 4

Online Resources .............................................................................................................. 4

Cohorts ............................................................................................................................. 5

Leadership Cohorts ........................................................................................................... 5

Tutor Groups..................................................................................................................... 5

Programme Administration .............................................................................................. 6

Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 7

Attendance ........................................................................................................................... 7

The Other Tutors .................................................................................................................. 8

Fiona Bawdon ................................................................................................................... 8

Phanuel Mutumburi .......................................................................................................... 8

Caroline Copeman ............................................................................................................ 8

Tammy Tawadros ............................................................................................................. 8

Programme Dates ................................................................................................................ 9

Session 1: Creating your Strategy ..................................................................................... 9

Session 2: Drafting your Plan ............................................................................................ 9

Session 3: Introduction to Communications...................................................................... 9

The First Learning Exchanges ........................................................................................... 9

The Leadership Module ...................................................................................................... 10

Preparing for the Leadership Module ..............................................................................11

The Next Sessions ...............................................................................................................11

Session 4: Equality & Inclusion .........................................................................................11

Learning Exchange 2: Communications ...........................................................................11

Session 5: Understanding Resource .................................................................................11

Session 6: Budgeting and Financial Planning ...................................................................11

And finally… ....................................................................................................................... 12


Introduction Congratulations on being awarded a place on the Management & Leadership Programme, funded through the Community Justice Fund. There are 92 participants on the programme which means that you will get to share this experience with 91 other leaders and managers from right across the legal advice sector. This is an incredible opportunity to share knowledge and experience and to take time to think about your own development as a leader and manager. This is an exciting programme stretching across 11 months and covering topics including: We hope that you were able to join us online for the launch event on 6th November but if not, you can watch the video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFdft7tvPYw We are looking forward to welcoming you all onto the programme and this handbook is aimed at helping you understand how the programme will run and when the sessions will be.

Creating your Vision and Strategy

Drafting your Business Plan / Strategic Plan

Introduction to Communications

Exploring Leadership

Equality & Diversity

Understanding Resource

Budgeting and Financial Planning

Variance Analysis and Managing Cash-flow

Fundraising

Recruitment, Induction and Probation

Training and Supervision

Monitoring and managing performance (and dashboards)

Giving Effective Feedback

Managing Risk & Business Continuity

Regulation, Policies and Compliance

Good Governance

Building Communications Skills

Legal Aid Contract Management

GDPR and Data Management

Grievances, disciplinary and whistleblowing

Putting comms skills into practice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFdft7tvPYw


The Structure of the Programme The programme has three key elements. These are:

1. Information Exchanges 2. Learning Exchanges 3. Online Resources

Let’s explain what each of those are.

Information Exchanges These are large group sessions of 40-50 participants which form the backbone of the programme. These are taught sessions where our tutors will provide you with information and will also offer you the opportunity, through group exercises and discussions, to develop your own ideas and to share your own experiences. Each Information Exchange will run twice (normally on a Thursday afternoon and then on the following Tuesday morning) and will be videoed and made available online. The dates of these sessions are set out later in this Handbook and you will be able to book your place on each Information Exchange using Eventbrite. You will be sent a link to our Eventbrite page by email. There is a maximum number of participants per Information Exchange so if you need a specific day / time then please book your place early. It would be appreciated if you can be flexible over dates / times then please give others with less flexibility (because for instance of childcare or working arrangements) the opportunity to book their places first.

Learning Exchanges Learning exchanges are smaller group sessions with 11-12 participants which give you an opportunity for action learning. Action Learning is a process that involves a small group working on real problems, taking action, and reflecting on what you have learned. It will help you develop creative, flexible and successful strategies to real issues in your organisation. The content of these sessions will, within the broad themes of the course, be chosen by the participants and the sessions will be facilitated by the tutors. These Learning Exchanges allow you an opportunity to work together as a group to untangle your management and leadership challenges and to share knowledge and experience (whilst still being able to call on the additional expertise of the tutors). Each “cohort” (see below) will have at least 6 learning exchanges across the programme.

Online Resources


Throughout the programme we will be putting resources online for you to access. We are just finalising the structure of our online learning platform, but it will contain:

Videos

Course notes

PowerPoint slides

Podcasts

Articles

Downloadable resources

Helpful links

Cohorts Although there are at least 92 participants in the programme (and maybe up to 96), you will be allocated to a smaller cohort of around 11-12 participants. You will stay with this cohort throughout the programme and we hope that you work together to maximise your learning and make the most of the opportunities for sharing. You will have each other’s contact details and, of course, you will come together for the Learning Exchanges. Although we are arranging 6 Learning Exchanges per cohort you may wish to arrange more between yourselves. You will be notified of your cohort by email.

Leadership Cohorts In February and March the programme is being handed over to the Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE), from the Business School (formerly Cass) at City, University of London. Caroline and Tammy from CCE will be running a leadership programme and for this part you will instead be allocated to slightly larger cohorts of 20. We will ensure, as far as possible, that you remain with members of your normal cohorts.

Tutor Groups In addition to being allocated to a cohort you will also be allocated a tutor. The course Tutors are Matt Howgate and Vicky Ling, and you will have access to your tutor by email (and phone) throughout the programme to discuss the programme content and its applicability within your organisation. The tutors will do their best to help you get the most out of this programme.

Vicky Ling has spent her career in the advice and legal sector and has worked with a wide range of solicitors’ firms and not for profit legal practices. She is a Chartered Quality Professional and provides expert consultancy support in relation to practice management and service delivery issues and has written extensively on these topics.


You can contact Vicky at: [email protected] You can contact Matt at: [email protected]

Programme Administration The Management & Leadership Programme is provided by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group. Most of the communication about the programme will come from LAPG and your contact there is LAPG’s Head of Learning and Development, Lucinda Acland. You can contact Lucinda at: [email protected]

Matt Howgate FCMI is a non-practising solicitor and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He is an award winning strategic, operational and compliance consultant. He has run law firms and advice agencies and is an adviser to the CJF Project Management Group. He works closely with LAPG, the Law Society, LCN and other umbrella bodies.

mailto:[email protected]




Assessment The programme has no formal examination or assessment process, but it is important that we ensure that this CJF (and Lottery) funded programme has maximum impact. For that reason, we are asking all participant organisations to assess their participant’s management and leadership contribution both at the outset of the programme and at the end of the programme. You have already received the link to the pre-programme questionnaire. We will be asking the same questions at the end of the programme. In addition, we will ask every participant to pick one specific business related task that they can undertake during the programme. We won’t be prescriptive; but it must be something which allows you to develop your skills and which ultimately has value to your organisation. These tasks might include, as examples:

Reviewing and updating policies and procedures

Reviewing your organisation’s approach to risk management and business continuity

Creating or updating your organisation’s communications strategy

Reviewing and improving quality management processes

Improving your organisations’ financial management procedures and tools Ultimately it is for you and your employer to discuss what task is appropriate and to agree what should be done (though obviously we may nudge you a little if your proposal seems insufficiently impactful or developmental). You will need to agree the task with your Tutor by no later than the end of February 2021. Although there are no exams in the programme, we will be putting occasional questions and quizzes online to help with your learning - but they are not formally assessed.

Attendance This programme has been funded by the Community Justice Fund and each of your organisations have received additional grant funding to cover the time you are spending on the programme. We therefore expect you to engage with and attend at the sessions. We recognise that occasionally work and other commitments will mean sessions are missed (which is why we are making resources available online) but we expect this to be the exception rather than the norm. We will monitor engagement and attendance and your tutor will raise any concerns with you. Obviously if you are having difficulties attending any particular session (or sessions) then please speak to your Tutor and they will do what they can to help you achieve the same learning.


The tutors wish you to be aware that each Information Exchange is scheduled to last for 2 hours but depending on the content they may run a little under or a little over time so please try to give yourself space in your diary for the occasional 15-20 minute overrun (but also be assured that some of the sessions will take less than 2 hours too).

The Other Tutors We are extremely lucky to have a number of additional tutors teaching elements of the programme:

Fiona Bawdon Fiona is a London-based journalist and campaigner, mainly focusing on social justice issues. She is comms consultant to We Belong – Young Migrants Standing Up; head of comms at The Legal Education Foundation; director of Impact – Law for Social Justice; and organiser of LAPG’s Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards.

Phanuel Mutumburi Phanuel is the Business and Operations Director at the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality. He is a tireless campaigner for equality and justice and an experiences trainer, working with local authorities; prisons; and community groups to help them think about how they encourage diversity. Phanuel is also a past participant on a previous version of this programme.

Caroline Copeman Caroline is a Principal Consultant and Senior Visiting Fellow at Centre for Charity Effectiveness, from the Business School (formerly Cass) at City, University of London. She has a particular interest in strategy, organisation development and leadership. Caroline is also the Centre's head of practice for Leadership and Management Development.

Tammy Tawadros Tammy is an Associate and Visiting Lecturer at Centre for Charity Effectiveness and has designed and delivered numerous leadership development programmes, complex change assignments and professional development workshops. Tammy is a highly successful coach and organisation development consultant working across many organisations and multiple sectors combining deep expertise in organizational consulting with a breadth of experience that comes from the ‘cross-pollination’ of ideas to develop best practice.


Programme Dates The programme starts with the first two Information Exchanges in December 2020. These will focus on strategic planning. The dates of the sessions are as follows:

Session 1: Creating your Strategy

3rd December: 2pm

9th December: 2pm

Session 2: Drafting your Plan

10th December: 2pm

15th December: 10am As discussed above, you can book onto these and all Information Exchanges through Eventbrite and you will be sent the link. The sessions then stop for Christmas and re-start in January 2021 as follows:

Session 3: Introduction to Communications

21st January: 2pm

26th January: 10am

The First Learning Exchanges The first set of Learning Exchanges also take place in January 2021. The date and time of your learning exchange will be set and we cannot offer much flexibility. You will see which date you have been allocated to when you are notified of your cohort. The first Learning Exchanges will be broadly on strategy and strategic planning. The dates of the first Learning Exchanges are:

7th January

10am: Cohort A

2pm: Cohort B

12th January

10am: Cohort C

2pm: Cohort D 14th January


10am: Cohort E

2pm: Cohort F 19th January

10am: Cohort G

2pm: Cohort H

The Leadership Module At this point we hand over to Caroline and Tammy from the Centre for Charity Effectiveness and you will be allocated to your slightly larger “leadership cohorts”. The dates for the leadership training are:

Cohort Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

1

2 February @ 9.30

9 February @ 9.30

17 February @ 9.30

2

2 February @ noon

9 February @ noon

17 February @ noon

3

10 February @ 9.30

18 February @ 9.30

24 February @ 9.30

4

18 February @ noon

24 February @ noon

2 March @ noon

5

25 February @ 9.30

2 March @ 9.30

10 March @ 9.30

6

25 February @ noon

3 March @ noon

10 March @ noon


Preparing for the Leadership Module As explained at the Launch Event, Caroline and Tammy would like you to keep a journal. They have provided separate guidance on journaling and on the leadership module but if you have any questions then please contact your Tutor.

The Next Sessions The management sessions of the MLP start again in late March 2021 as follows:

Session 4: Equality & Inclusion

25th March: 2pm (followed by a break for Easter)

13th April: 10am

Learning Exchange 2: Communications

13th April: Cohort A

15th April : Cohort B

20th April: Cohort C

22nd April: Cohort D

4th May: Cohort E

6th May: Cohort F

11th May: Cohort G

13th May: Cohort H

Session 5: Understanding Resource

15th April: 2pm

20th April: 10am

Session 6: Budgeting and Financial Planning

22nd April: 2pm

4th May: 10am The dates of sessions and Learning Exchanges from May 2021 onwards will be published in January 2020 and will be available on Eventbrite. We hope you enjoy the course – do not hesitate to contact one of us if you have any queries.


And finally… The aim of this programme is to support existing managers and leaders to develop their knowledge and skills and help new and future managers and leaders develop theirs. The content of the programme has been developed over many years and has been informed by our work with advice agencies and law firms. However, if there is a topic or issue that isn’t covered or that you want more information on then discuss it with your Tutor. If we can we’ll develop some resources (and even a session) on that topic but the very least we’ll do is help you find some helpful resources elsewhere. This programme evolves every time we deliver it and will continue to do so.

Programme Handbook - Legal Aid Practitioners Group

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