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ADVANCED POLICY SKILLS

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Venue: The Marque Hotel Brisbane, 103 George Street, Brisbane

Time: All workshops are conducted from 9am - 4:30pm

3-Day Workshop
Facilitated by: Dr Scott Prasser    

Aims

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.

Workshop 1 Workshop 2 Workshop 3

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
  • forecast potential policy outcomes.