Policy Solutions has developed three Advanced Level Policy Skills Workshops to build on the skills, concepts and strategies learned in the Essential Policy Skills Workshop and other introductory policy courses.
The Advanced Policy Training Program is conducted as a 3-day program.
Who will benefit most from this Advanced Policy Program?
Public sector officers and managers who want to upgrade their skills and be a more effective policy player for their departments and who are involved in:
projects, programs and policy development
operationalising and implementing government decisions
working with stakeholders to achieve outcomes
strategic policy development
improving and reviewing programs and policies
Methodology
Facilitators will lead discussion, providing key concepts, outlining relevant issues and providing 'core' information for participants to discuss and analyse. The approach is interactive with role-plays, case studies and hypothetical scenarios being used. Guest speakers and panel discussions will focuss on real world case studies and practical problem solving.
Workshop 1 - UNDERSTANDING POLICY, POLICY ENVIRONMENT AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS
This initial day clarifies the different meanings of policy, key frameworks for analysing policy, the international, domestic and internal government drivers for policy and gives particular attention to practitioners' own policy environments so that they can appreciate the key factors affecting their own policy actions
Key issues for discussion in this workshop include:
The meaning of policy
Frameworks for policy development
Drivers for policy
Understanding your policy environment
Getting a handle on being an effective policy player
This workshop equips participants to:
know the different meanings of policy;
appreciate the key drivers of policy;
able to analyse the policy environment;
connect the nature of the policy environment to potential policy actions;
identify areas of potential influence.
Workshop 2 - POLICY PREDICTION AND ISSUE EMERGENCE AND PROCESSING
How issues emerge on the policy agenda, how problems can be defined and deciding how best to process issues so they make policy, process and organisational sense are the key areas considered during this day. Particular attention is given to the tools and techniques to do these important tasks and the different ways an issue can be perceived by stakeholders.
Key issues for discussion in this workshop includes:
How issues emerge on the agenda
Defining issues and problems in different ways
Processes for analysing policy problems
Appreciating the issue attention cycle
Establishing policy ownership
Assessing policy options
Considering 'good' policy and 'good' politics
Thinking about implementation
This workshop equips participants to:
appreciate how issues emerge;
develop skills in stakeholder analysis;
understand the different drivers of policy change;
connect issue definition with policy action;
be proactive in predicting potential issues and problems; and
thinking strategically about policy choices.
Workshop 3 - IMPLEMENTATION AND POLICY EVALUATION
Policy must be operationalised, and have real impacts - to work effectively. This day focusses on how to put policy ideas and solutions into practice. All policy is seeking to affect the future, to alter what the existing course of events were to affect. Proactive practitioners when developing new policy proposals must also consider the practicalities of implementing their preferred policy actions. Practitioners need to ensure that there are also clear indicators by which their policies can be project managed, evaluated, monitored and where necessary changed to meet new circumstances.
Key issues for discussion in this workshop include:
Importance of implementation and evaluation in policy development
Implementation strategies and tools
Evaluation: definitions, types and obstacles
Conducting evaluation: techniques and strategies
Evaluation measures and indicators
Evaluation and policy design
Consultation issues
This workshop equips participants to:
appreciate the interrelationship between policy choice, implementation and impact;
understand the meaning of evaluation;
use different types of evaluation;
develop clear frameworks for evaluation analysis; and
