Mentoring Is Critical in Making Your Participant a Successful Organiser

Mentoring Is Critical in Making Your Participant a Successful Organiser

WORKBOOKS

CONNECTING CLASSROOM & ORGANISING
Organising Works Last Updated: 05.12.2014 Page 1 of 18pages /

To the Mentors:

THANKYOU for dedicating your experience and time towards mentoring your union’s participant.

Mentoring is critical in making your participant a successful organiser.

These Workbooks link the learning from the classroom to the practicalities of what’s happening in workplaces, and the goals that unions within our movement are achieving for workers.

Using these Workbooks, your participant will create a story about the development of their targeted workplace/s.

EachWorkbook relates to an OW Course (up to Course 8) and builds upon the previous course, creating a proper platform for your participant to practice their organising skills so that they can monitor their chosen target. .

As the mentor, your job is to help them practice, use and explore the techniques and tools learnt in the classroom.

Discuss with them any fears and anxieties, encourage them and offer assistance so that they are successful in organising.

Instructions for Participants:

  1. At the end of each scheduled course meet with your mentor and go through the De-briefing Questions of the relevant Workbook.
    These questions are designed to help you reflect on anddocument the organising techniques and the use of organising tools you have learnt.
  1. Sign and date the Workbook and obtain your Mentor’s signature also.
  1. Take a copy to submit to your ACTU Educator at the next Course

NB: For an electronic copy, go to our website

Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 1 Induction
Themes / Aims: To create a shared understanding by both mentors and participants of the goals and requirements of the OW Program. We explore expectations of participants, mentors & educators and discuss the support participants will need in order to complete the requirements of the Certificate IV U&IR. On day 2 participants reflect on how to maximise their time in the formal learning environment of the training room and the informal learning environment – their union.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Prepare a 3 minute story about your union (see Handout from Induction)
  • By Course 2 participants should have been allocated their Target Worksite and provided with all necessary details that are already known.
  • Mentors should ensure their participant has had a discussion outlining the union’s expectations of the participant throughout Organising Works. This discussion may or may not involve the Mentor. If it has not involved the Mentor, the Mentor should ensure they too understand clearly what the expectations are.
  • By Course 2 the participants, with their mentor’s assistance, should know where to find union resources and have timetabled study time to complete projects.

Debriefing Questions:
1: What was your biggest learning from the induction course?
2: Having considered many of the challenges for you during Organising Works, which ones are you most concerned about?
3: During this course you discussed the 4 stages of learning. Run through what they were with your mentor. Discuss your past experiences of learning, and how that might impact your reactions to balancing work and study with OW. Outline the support you think you will need from your Mentor in order to successfully complete OW.
4: What support do you think your Mentor might provide you in preparing your story for Course 2?
Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 2: History and Values
Themes / Aims: To create understanding and pride in Unionism and the Australian Union Movement including its shared history, struggles and values. We explore in depth some of the union movement’s core values and implications of these values on the work of an organiser. We consider challenges and opportunities facing organisers in the future and the role union organisers play in realising a vision of society, the Australian community that lives in accordance with its values. We introduce participants to broad strategies and challenges of organising in order to build Union power & capacity and expose them to OW graduates who have also tackled the enormously challenging role of union organiser.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project: History & Values
  • Mentors need to assist participants with finding necessary resources to complete their project – task 1 requires access to union rules & policy documents; task 3 requires downloading & searching the internet.

Debriefing Questions:
1. Which values are foremost in your mind when you are organising? What concrete actions demonstrate this?
2. Share with your mentor a conversation that went really well and made you feel you had shifted the other person’s views or attitude of the union movement. (They didn’t necessarily have to have joined or committed to do anything)
3. What difference does it make to you as an organiser to be aware of the Australian Labour Movement’s history?
4. What was the most important time management skill you learnt? Identify three things you are going to work on in terms of your time management skills?
5. What advice from previous Organising Works graduates did you consider the most useful? How will this influence how you approach Organising or Organising Works?
Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 3: Organising Foundations
Themes / Aims: To explore more fully what organising is, what it means to be organised and how we organise for power. We explore the organiser’s role in organised and un-organised workplaces and in the context of their union and the labour movement more generally. We investigate organising theory as a tool to be skilfully applied and we begin with the most vital skill needed to organise successfully – the organising conversation. In learning how to navigate the organising conversation, participants discover how to build rapport, use questions and listen to identify issues and potential activists and how to agitate workers towards change. We equip Organisers with skills to handle worker objections to joining the union and to tell stories of hope that inspire and motivate workers to be part of the change agenda
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project: Organising Foundations – all 4 tasks are either a simulation or a real Organising Conversation. Mentors will observe 2 tasks. The Organising Conversation is one of the primary skills that we expect participants to leave OW with. The more practice they get the better. This is a difficult project to be deemed competent in.
  • Begin arrangements for organising conversation with member at target worksite (Project task 3)

Debriefing Questions:
1. How will you use the organising conversation to begin shifting workers in your target worksite?
2. Talk with your mentor about the ideas about the role of the organisers from course 3 that have influenced you thinking the most and how that will impact the way in which you do your work.
3. What opportunities exist at your target worksite for the members to take a greater role in organising for their own power? What could you do in the next two weeks to make that happen? Mentors should share their experiences of what works or doesn’t work.
4. Together practice the Organising Conversation. Make a note of the steps in the conversation that are causing you the most difficulty. Remember, your mentor is there to support and help you reach a solution.
Note to Mentors: We have broken the 1 to 1 agenda into 6 different parts (all the same just spelt out in a longer fashion) and called it the Organising Conversation:
  1. Intro
  2. Building Rapport
  3. Finding Motivators for Change (finding issues)
  4. Educate about Union
  5. Gain Commitment to Action
  6. Wrap Up
Don’t forget that you might need to also use:
  1. Handling Objections
  2. Inoculation

Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 4: Planning
Themes / Aims: To begin the process of exploring indepth the different elements of Organising: Analysis & planning; Finding the motivators for change (issues); Finding your leaders and getting organised; Education of members and activists; Mobilising your members for action and Evaluating your organising campaign. Participants learn key skills around research, analysis and planning in structuring a successful organising drive. We build skills and knowledge of strategic planning for organisers at the level of organiser and as applied to a target worksite. Participants learn how to evaluate their plan for success or failure and how to ensure lessons from experiences are captured and built upon in the next organising plan. Finally, participants again review the essential skills required to successfully hold an organising conversation.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Remember RAP Dr – Research, Analysis, Planning, Do & Review
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project Planning Tasks 1,2 3. Developing a planning document is essential for organisers – planning is a widespread gap in the union movement. Mentors should encourage their participant to complete their research and planning on their own (this will develop skills they will later need when they have less assistance) but the analysis should be done together as this will assist their understanding of your union’s culture.
  • Project: Organising Foundations Task 2. Mentors need to observe their participant in a role-played conversation. It is important that participants practice the organising conversation as many times as possible in its entirety – this gives them the skills to use it in a flexible way at other times when every step may not be necessary or right for the context

Debriefing Questions:
1. In considering what an organised workplace looks like, what are the challenges for you at your target worksite in getting it organised?
2. How could researching your target worksite assist you in your organising efforts? Identify some questions you have that if answered would help you better target your organising efforts?
3. What steps can you take to fit research and planning into your workload? What are the barriers to you taking these steps?
4. Think about the fish quote“If you give me a fish, you have fed me for a day. If you teach me to fish, then you have fed me until the river is contaminated or the shoreline seized for development. But if you teach me how to organize, then whatever the challenge I can join together with my peers and we will fashion our own solution.” Ricardo Levins Morales, labor artist What role should your leaders play in the RAP Dr Process??
Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 5: Workplace Leaders
Themes / Aims: To further explore the element of the organising process – finding leaders and developing them. We analyse differences between the role of organiser and the role of workplace leader. We analyse differences between different titles unions use for workplace leaders and what each means. Research from David Peetz on delegates is introduced & explored with reference to the relationship between delegates, organisers & the role of follow-up. We extend organisers skills in using the organising conversation to mobilise potential leaders into positions of leadership within the workplace. Participants are equipped with tools to develop leaders from new delegate through to experienced leadership using both formal &informal learning experiences to plan out development for their workplace leaders.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Remember the concepts around working with leaders based on David Peetz research. (Mentors NB: we have re-titled the Tasking Agenda as the ‘Learning Agenda’; the six steps remain the same).
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project Workplace Leaders Tasks 1 – 8. (This project can be difficult for organisers who have not previously been developed themselves around how to mentor delegates in their role. It is likely that some support will need to be provided by mentors in how to develop their identified leader).
  • Begin the implementation of your organising plan from Project Planning

Debriefing Questions:
1. Consider the work David Peetz has done on Workplace Leaders (show your mentor the power point). Explain the three points on the Peetz spectrum to your mentor and the differences between them. What opportunities exist for your leaders to have involvement and influence in decision making in your Union?
2. A commonly used strategy is to have at least 1 person as “the contact person” at each workplace and then credential that person as the delegate. Explain how this course has impacted your opinion of this process and what strategy you will employ in the future?
3. Identify three leaders with your mentor that you will develop over the next 12 months and the process you will undertake to engage them in a development process.
4. Explain to your mentor what we mean by ‘unpacking a task”. Using the Learning Agenda, role play walking thru and talking thru ‘unpacking a task’ with your mentor.
Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 6: Workplace Structures and Action
Themes / Aims: To explore more fully how networks and committees are essential for organisation and how they are best used to organise workers. We analyse how shared understandings and processes are created through well-functioning structures that build workers power. We explore action, the purpose of action in an organising campaign, the difference between strategy and tactics and the role of escalation in a successful campaign. In considering how organisers can mobilize members to action, we look at a range of tactics used by both unions and employers to increase their chances of success. We explore how to mitigate against employer tactics and maximize our tactics in order to win.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project Workplace Leaders Tasks 9 – 11
  • Project Workplace Structures and Action

Debriefing Questions:
1. How much input do members have in determining what action tactics will be used in a campaign?
2. Explain to your trainee what types of actions members have taken in the past:
Did the action solve the problem? Did it strengthen the union by recruiting more members?
If it didn’t, why not? What was learnt from that?
3. Did the action facilitate personal growth of members and delegates (have an effect on their skills, knowledge, ability and behaviour)
4. Where does your union get the resources it needs to carry out actions? Does it draw heavily on members, money or both?
Signature:
Mentor Signature:
Date:
Participant Name:
Workbook for Course 7: Communication for Organisers
Themes / Aims: To equip organisers with skills to effectively communicate with groups of members. We explore a range of communication techniques available to organisers and how best to use them. Organisers learn frameworks to assist in more effective communication with members. These frameworks are applied to the most commonly used pieces of communication any organiser needs to be capable of producing: speeches, flyers, surveys and letters. We apply learning about communication to an induction scenario. Many unions seek to ensure that new members are recruited via inductions & we look at different models of induction, after which participants present their own.
What needs to be done between now and the next course?
  • Workbook – dated and signed by both mentor & participant; copied for submission at next course
  • Project Communication

Debriefing Questions:
1. There are two types of surveys – 1) Qualitative (Open questions) and 2) Quantitative (Closed questions)
Open Question surveys are helpful when you need to understand people’s opinions or ideas because you don’t really know as yet. Qualitative answers do allow members to express their opinions. Quantitative (Closed questions) are usually easy to collate because you can simply count the answers. And the answer selected the most is the winner!! There are several different types of questions that you can use when constructing quantitative surveys. They are: Scale questions, Multiple Choice, Rank Order or Simple Yes/No.
Discuss with your mentor the pros and cons in using each type of survey and the reasons why you might lean towards using one particular type of survey taking into consideration your targeted workplace/s.
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