2015 Conference:Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand Inc

Conference theme: Building Business Acumen

Learning is a journey, not a destination …

Kay Strang

Administration Manager, Canterbury District Health Board31 July 2015

What do I do …

our patients get the right care and treatment, at the right time, in the right place

take the noise away from clinicians - so they can focus on caring for the patient

and I work with administrators (and their managers) to ensure they have the skills to do their job.

Improve and standardise admin processes so:

What we want to be …

Be acknowledged as a

world-class administrative service…within the next 3 to 5 years

CDHB priorities – 5 + 1

Building business acumen

It’s not enough to be working in the business, we need to have a better sense

of what the business is about as well

1. Recap of business acumen2. Where professional development fits in

Business acumen

It’s what you know about the business … and how you act upon (implement)

what you know

What is business acumen?

• Learning the business of the business– understanding how a business operates– how a business makes its money (or if non-profit –

how it gets its funding)– your role in that process.

Quiz

What do you know this week, that you didn’t last week about:

1. your organisation?

2. your customers?

3. one of the top leaders in your field or profession?

4. trends that may affect your organisation’s business?

e.g. economic, social, cultural

5. learned a new skill to help you be more effective in your role?

Why do we need business acumen?

How do you get it?

Five-ways to develop your business acumen

1. Read

Useful resources

• http://www.aapnz.org.nz• http://executivesecretary.com/• http://allthingsadmin.com/• http://www.practicallyperfectpa.com/• http://officedynamics.com/• http://alibrown.com/• http://www.toastmasters.org.nz/• https://www.ted.com/playlists/171/

the_most_popular_talks_of_all

Five-ways to develop your business acumen

2. Join professional associations

Five-ways to develop your business acumen

3. Get involved in a project or committee

Five-ways to develop your business acumen

4. Develop your personal advisory board

http://www.vibeshifting.com/1518-how-to-create-a-personal-advisory-board/

Five-ways to develop your business acumen

5. Enrol in continuing education courses

CDHB: Learning and development calendar

Learning is a journey, not a destination …

A planned approach to learning

1. Identify your learning needs

Learning needs are usually identified with your manager or professional lead:•when setting your performance objectives•when you need to perform new tasks that require new skills and knowledge, and•when you need to perform more effectively in your role.

A planned approach to learning

   

2. Prepare a Development Plan

Once you have identified what learning you're going to docomplete a Development Plan with your manager or professional lead. See handouts: Development Plan and tips on Writing Smart Objectives

  

A planned approach to learning

3. Select a learning option

There are many ways to develop your skills and knowledge e.g.•on the job learning•coaching http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/development/performance/resources/readings/grow-coaching-questions.pdf•formal learning etc.

You may have your own ideas on how to learn what you need to know.

 

How we learn …

A planned approach to learning

4. Complete a learning agreement

A planned approach to learning

5. Enrol in a course

A planned approach to learning

6. Evaluate your learning experience

A planned approach to learning

7. Review your development plan and learning agreement

Key takeaways

1. Business acumen … is a learned skill

2. Take a planned approach

3. Enjoy the journey!!!