Demand-oriented method “Building a town” Discovering Competencies – Tools for Your Future

GIB Gesellschaft für Innovationsforschung und Beratung mbH 1

Demand-oriented method “Building a town”

Discovering Competencies – Tools for Your Future- Training Workshop Athens, 19-20 June 2012 -

Dr. Anja Lietzmann

GIB Gesellschaft für Innovationsforschung und Beratung mbH

Demand-oriented appraoches

• „Building a Town“ = example of an observed group exercise• Developed in Germany• Demand-oriented approach, market-need based• Systematic observation and assessment of individual competencies towards

required qualifications, knowledge and skills in a specific work context• Assesses ‚hard skills‘ connected to a specific job as well as personal and

social competencies


Concerns regarding labour market demands

Background of demand-oriented approaches

school performance physical characteristics behaviour

core competencies

teamwork communication skills conflict management etc.

• Can the applicant work with others on a task?

• Is the applicant open for compromises?

• Is the applicant able to integrate into a group?

Possible measurement method:

Assessment Center exercises


Objectives of „Building a town“

• Identify vocation-related potentials – thereby identifying personal and social competencies as well as motor and methodological skills

• Improve confidence and self esteem

• Reduce insecurity and fear connected to the Assessment Centre Method – fun aspect


Contents of observation

Activity competences

ability to learn and to plan work processes

motivation

initiate action / impetus

Social competences

interpersonal skills

teamwork

communication skills

conflict management

politeness

empathy

Personal competences

concentration

flexibility

patience

accuracy

diligence

perseverance

flexibility

independence

stress management

Psychomotor features

motor skills

reaction rate

physical properties

Methodological competences

language competences


General feature of „Building a Town“

• Task: to design a city consisting of buildings and infrastructure out of a set of

provided materials (cardboard, paper, cartons, cloth etc.) within a certain period

of time (3 hours)

• Working in observed groups of 4 to 6 young adults


Scenario of „Building a Town“

Imagine you are a team of urban planners and architects. Next year a small town is to be built near your town. You have been asked to plan a city and construct a model of it.

Keep in mind that a few thousand people will live and work in this town, that they will need various public facilities and want a variety of leisure time activity venues.

Objective:To optimise your team’s chance to win the commission to build the town, the town you

design must possess all the important and necessary facilities. The new town should be a nice place to live in and offer something for every age group.

After the completion of the model, your team will present the new town to the rest of the group.

Time: 3 hours (including short breaks)

Tips:- Take your time for planning and discussion.- Begin building your model as soon as possible.- All the material provided for the project may be used.- Also think about how your team will present the model of the town.

And now have fun building your town together!


Implementation of „Building a town“ - requirements

Time 3 hours

Staff one moderator, observer ratio 1:2

Material

•1.5 - 2 square meters of cardboard per group •coloured construction paper and cardboard cartons, cloth scraps. glue, scissors paint, thick markers•task requirements

Venue A large room with sufficient space for construction work

Content, methods, process, evaluation

•Discuss content and task objective.

•Form groups of 3 – 4 participants (e.g. by random selection).

•Construct a town with buildings and infrastructure from material provided.

•Participants are observed with regard to certain characteristics

•Present group results, evaluate personal skills and capacities in a questionnaire

•Strengths-and-weaknesses profile

•Feedback talk


Implementation of „Building a town“ – Processes

1. Introduction

- Presentation of exercise, objectives, and schedule

- Explanation of the assessement process

- Answering questions

2. Realisation

- Formation of groups of 3–4 participants

- Participants work in small groups

- Observation: by at least 2 assessors, documented in a detailed form

- Fill in observation sheets

- Change teams at half time

3. Presentation of the group results / the „cities“

4. Group evaluation

5. Feedback

- Self-evaluation of the participant

- Accompanied by external evaluation: observers’ conference to summarize observation results

- Individual feedback talks with participants

- Certification entailing a summary of results


Role of the moderator

1. Preparations

- Introduces contents and objectives of the exercise to participants

- Explains purpose of the exercise (no competition but demonstration of personal skills) and contents of observation

- Explains a) implementation conditions and b) evaluation procedure

2. Implementation

- Sets up working groups

- Explains the task: Task understood? Purpose clear?

- Assigns observers, ensures clarity about what skills and traits will be observed

3. Support during the process

- Deals with occurring problems (missing material, framework conditions)

- Ensures role of the observers (stay in background, remain neutral etc.)

4. Involved in final assessment and feedback to participant


Evaluation

• 3 steps:

• Each participant undergoes a self-evaluation

• External assessment by the observers in the assessor meeting

• General satisfaction with the task and perception of the observation situation

• Evaluation of the group work

• Work process: planning, decision making, use of material

• Personal contribution to the overall result

• Discrepancies between results of self-evaluation and external observation

• Face-to-face feedback talk for each participant which presents results of

assessment

• Documentation of the assessment findings in the observation form

• Highlights strength and weaknesses of the participant

• Interpret the results in terms of significance and meaning with regard to specific job or training

objectives


Feedback

• Multiple ways of feedback:

• Participants provide feedback to each other (peer evaluation)

• The whole group provides feedback on the entire process

• Participants receive a thorough review during the feeback talk


Documentation - Evaluation form (social competences)

(there are equivalent forms for all types of competences)


Documentation - Evaluation form (overall evaluation)

Vocation-related potentials analysis - Overall evaluation of all traits (presented are the combined mean values of the observers)

Participant: Date:

Professional field:

Observer 1: Observer 2:

+ 0 – Notes

Work habit traits

Work planning

Ability to learn

Diligence

Concentration

Social skills

Sociability

Team work ability

Communication skills

Conflict resolution

Personal traits

Punctuality

Independence

Motivation

Flexibility

Perseverance

Stress resistance


Feedback Talk – Example

1. General acceptance, enjoyment or dissatisfaction with the taskDid you like the exercise “building a town” in general? If not, what exactly did you dislike? Reasons?

2. Review of the observed situation How was it for you to be observed? Could you ignore the observer?

3. Communication and cooperation in the group How did you find the composition of your group? Do you think your group worked well together?

4. Planning phaseDo you think your group took enough time to plan the town?

5. Decision making

6. Utilisation of material/tools

7. Shifting between individual and group work

8. Personal contribution to the overall result

9. Discrepancies between self evaluation and external observation

10. Possible significance of the talk for career decision making


Challenges of the approach

• Combine playful character of the exercise with its seriousness concerning the evaluation

• From the beginning of the assessment process, trustful relationship between particpant and observers/assessors needs to be established

• Creating a trustful atmosphere in the group to faciliate creativity and to minimize fears of competition

• Considerations of potential language problems

• Intercultural competences, target group oriented language, patience and empathy (own migration background is an advantage)


Advantages and disadvantages of the approach

• Standardized procedures and forms lead to „objective“ results

• Individual interaction between the participants and the observers in a detailed feedback interview

• „Fun“ exercise

• Praxis oriented

• Can be successfully applied to young adults with migration background if adapted to their needs (language issues etc.)

• Methods of AC are perceived by the participants as selection process per se

• Mistrust towards purpose and use of the results

• Excersise is difficult to communicate due to potential barriers of language

• Gender or culture-dominated role behaviour can cause different results

Advantages Critical points

Documents

Demand-oriented method “Building a town” Discovering Competencies – Tools for Your Future