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TAACMQ505B- Lead a team to foster innovation

(information sourced from NTIS website http://www.ntis.gov.au/)

Description

This unit specifies the competency required to lead a workplace team in ways that foster innovative work practices. This unit is based on the generic guideline unit ICS5 Lead a team to foster innovation, and has been contextualised to reflect the TAA04 Training and Assessment Training Package context.

Employability Skills

This unit contains employability skills.

Application Of Unit

This unit addresses the skills that are needed by individuals who are leading work teams on individual projects or work in general.

It includes the skills and knowledge required to put a team together, from the perspective of innovation. This unit also involves structuring work to ensure innovative processes are being used, and to ensure that personnel have the information and skills to apply innovation at work skills (refer to the Range Statement for a definition of this term).

In the context of the vocational education and training environment, the team may be involved in designing a learning program, developing learning products, delivering training or providing other services to learners/clients. The team leader may use innovation skills to lead the team into new and creative ways of training, assessing, developing materials, undertaking projects or supporting clients.

The competency specified in this unit is typically required by lead trainers/facilitators, program/training coordinators and training managers, leaders and supervisors.

This unit could be undertaken in conjunction with BSBFLM512A Ensure team effectiveness, which focuses on team leadership.

Unit Sector

Coordination, Management and Quality

Performance criteria

Element			Performance criteria
1.	Provide a model of innovative practice		1.1 The value of innovation to team effectiveness is promoted and reinforced within the organisation through modelling and application 1.2 Research is undertaken to extend knowledge and produce examples of the use and benefits of innovative work practices 1.3 Examples of how innovation at work skills can be applied in a team context are based on innovation
2.	Organise teams to maximise innovation		2.1 The performance requirements for a specific work activity/project/function are analysed 2.2 Information is gathered about potential team members and identified strengths and weaknesses are acknowledged 2.3 Team members are selected to create the right mix of expertise, skills, knowledge to support an innovative approach to the work activity/project/ function 2.4 Team roles are assigned to ensure a match between work requirements and individual team members’ capacities
3.	Organise work to facilitate innovative practices		3.1 The purpose of the team and its responsibilities are communicated in ways that encourage and reinforce team-based innovation 3.2 Work is organised to enable the application of innovation at work skills, including time 3.3 Work is allocated to ensure the maximum use of individual and team skills/knowledge and transfer of skills/knowledge to others
4.	Provide guidance and monitor innovation at work practices		4.1 Appropriate guidance is provided to team members on the use of innovation at work skills 4.2 Team members are encouraged to work collaboratively on teamwork activities which use innovation at work skills 4.3 Team members are actively encouraged to reflect on team activities and to identify opportunities for improvement and innovation 4.4 Suggested improvements are positively received and acted upon, where appropriate
5.	Review the use of innovation at work skills in a team environment		5.1 The application of innovation at work skills is reviewed and outcomes are recorded and presented, as appropriate 5.2 Team members are debriefed and feedback from team members is sought to inform future planning 5.3 Innovations are communicated in appropriate ways 5.4 Barriers to using innovation at work skills are documented and recommendations for changes to organisational systems, policies and procedures are made where relevant and appropriate

Skills and Knowledge

Required skills:

Required skills and attributes include:

• a commitment to innovation
• numeracy skills to:
• calculate and plan team activities/projects/ functions
• language and communication skills to:
  • communicate and promote team-based innovation
  • use language flexibly to suit audience and purpose, to plan and influence others
  • establish a supportive environment to encourage risk taking
  • give and receive feedback
  • listening skills
• application and modelling of innovation at work skills in own work
• interpersonal skills
• communication and leadership skills
• motivational skills
• coaching skills
• counselling and consoling skills
• conflict resolution skills
• evaluation skills
• matching personnel competency to task requirements

Required knowledge:

Required knowledge includes:

• innovation at work skills
• leadership qualities
• techniques for evaluating team performance
• group dynamics in a team setting
• the qualities of an effective team member
• adult learning principles
• relevant policy, legislation, codes of practice and national standards including Commonwealth and state/territory legislation, for example:
  • duty of care as it relates to coordinating personnel and learning
  • the industrial relations system, industry/workplace relations, and industrial awards/enterprise agreements
  • anti-discrimination including equal opportunity, racial vilification and disability discrimination
  • vocational education and training
• occupational health and safety (OHS) relating to leading a team to foster innovation, including:
  • OHS obligations of the training and/or assessment organisation, the trainer/facilitator and learner
  • legislative requirements for information and consultation relevant to safety
  • elements of an OHS management system as it applies to a training and/or assessment organisation
  • nature of OHS risks that should be addressed by a training and/or assessment organisation

Range statement

Innovation at work skills are:		the skills required to develop new ideas or the new use of old ideas. The concept relates to the following six skills, represented in the unit TAAENV404A Develop innovative ideas at work: interpretation generation collaboration representation reflection evaluation
Information gathered about team members includes:		work preferences areas of expertise vocational skills past jobs interests working styles lifestyle preferences
Guidance may include:		coaching techniques mentoring techniques counselling skills training modelling communication including feedback
Teamwork activities may include:		developing and implementing new ideas for: products processes services systems tools individual and team work practices
Encouragement may include:		supportive communication allowing follow-through with ideas providing enough but not too much guidance and structure providing training and learning opportunities
Reviews may include:		feedback from team members or other personnel feedback from clients or work-based managers work related statistics and reports
Communicated innovations may be through:		dissemination of reports, electronically or in hard copy internal/external presentation articles in internal/external newsletters

Evidence guide

Overview of assessment		To demonstrate competency against this unit candidates must be able to provide evidence that they have the skills and knowledge to provide leadership to a group or work team in a way which encourages the individual and team application of innovation at work skills for a specific work activity/project/function.
Products that could be used as evidence include:		report on the review of an innovation process, outlining both positive and negative outcomes examples of innovative work practices implemented within work teams, including benefits to the individual, team and organisation report on rewarded and promoted innovative ideas that were implemented and used within the organisation reports of research on innovative work practices
Processes that could be used as evidence include:		how and why team members were selected to maximise innovative outcomes how and when team activity outcomes were discussed with team members how and when innovative ideas have been rewarded and encouraged
Resource implications for assessment include:		time constraints access to work team and real or simulated work activity/project/function access to other personnel
The collection of quality evidence requires that:		assessment must address the scope of this unit and reflect all components of the unit i.e. the Elements, Performance Criteria, Range Statement, Evidence Guide, Employability Skills a range of appropriate assessment methods/evidence gathering techniques is used to determine competency evidence must be gathered in the workplace wherever possible. Where no workplace is available, a simulated workplace must be provided the evidence collected must relate to a number of performances assessed at different points in time and in a learning and assessment pathway these must be separated by further learning and practice assessment meets the rules of evidence a judgement of competency should only be made when the assessor is confident that the required outcomes of the unit have been achieved and that consistent performance has been demonstrated
Specific evidence requirements must include:		selecting a team for a work activity/project/function that comprises of the right mix of expertise, knowledge and skills developing and leading innovative work practices within a team modelling the application of innovation at work skills organising work activities/projects/functions to support innovative practices and outcomes communicating feedback to individuals on effective innovation outcomes on completed work activity/ project/function
Integrated assessment means that:		this unit can be assessed alone or as part of an integrated assessment activity involving relevant units in the TAA04 Training and Assessment Training Package. Suggested units include but are not limited to: TAADEL502B Facilitate action learning projects TAADEL504B Lead and coordinate training services TAADES504B Develop and evaluate e-learning resources TAAASS501B Lead and coordinate assessment systems and services TAATAS503B Manage contracted work BSBFLM512A Ensure team effectiveness.

The whole competency standard refers to:

all parts of the competency standard, including dimensions of competency