Many people today are deeply engaged in the “network way of working”, driven by a conviction that working together will make a greater impact than going about any one project alone. Yet, while we are better than ever at getting groups of diverse partners together to work on an issue, there are very few places we can get the Network Leadership skills we need to be successful. This is beginning to change, with a number of organizations filling in the gaps and supporting learning networks, trainings, and peer-learning to build capacity for people to engage in network building. At Visible Network Labs we are committed to providing a diverse set of opportunities for every learner to build their capacity to engage in, coordinate, and lead networks. The VNL Learning Lab is pleased to present a number of Network Leadership Trainings in the coming months.
These include:
The focus of the VNL Learning Lab trainings is on skills to Build, Manage, and Evaluate effective networks. While these trainings will continue to focus on the most important aspects of Network Leadership, this Spring is an exciting time for the advisory group planning the training, as we begin to think about how innovation and alternative structures can move networks to the next level.
- Building Networks: While we continue to focus on important topics such as awareness of equity, inclusion, and diversity in network voice, participation, and decision-making, upcoming trainings will be integrating innovative thinking into network building with training and talks on Design Thinking in networks, with a focus on stakeholder involvement in ideating, experimentation, and adaptive processes in network building.
- Managing Networks: Our focus will continue to provide the tools and skills for facilitating, administrating, and governing networks, but our 2019 trainings are going to dig deep into alternatives for governing networks – looking at self-governing structures, empowerment models of leadership and governance, developing the business model for networks, and developing shared governance models. We are also introducing skill building on how to move forward with heart while selling our mission to convince others to invest their time, energy, and funding – and how we can feel good about it.
- Evaluating Networks: The availability of tools, models, and frameworks to tell our network stories and demonstrate their effectiveness is more exciting than ever. We will focus on sharing the opportunities inside our own Aspen platform for this work, while highlighting options that meet the different needs of networks. In 2019, we are focusing on all the myriad ways to tell our network stories with color, data, truth, and impact.
CLICK HERE for a complete list of Visual Network Labs’ 2019 offerings.