Fun.Food.Focus in action!

The industry or business area of our clients is no barrier to be involved with Fun.Food.Focus.  Since our last edition we have provided our services to both the media, oil and gas, telecommunications, and other diverse businesses.

Rural Press Limited

Rural Press Limited, publishers of over 160 newspapers and magazines, undertook a teambuilding and Thai cooking class with us in the later half of last year.  The brief was for a team building session -  out of -  but not too far from the city, where the team could undertake a revision of some team building  principles, and then 'demonstrate' their team development skills over the 'hands on' cooking class.

The 'learning component' for this client consisted of a presentation on various elements of what constitutes a team, expectations on being a member of a team and related, and then Helen conducted an 'open forum' where people could discuss some of the team-related issues they were confronting, but also share and discuss ideas and thoughts about 'doing some things differently'. 

Then, as is the normal practice with these events, the Rural Press teams began their food preparation of delicious Thai food.  With our highly experienced chefs in charge, a great Thai buffet gradually developed including delicacies with such interesting names as Galloping Horses; the favourite Phad Thai and a Quick Duck Curry.  If you go to the photo gallery on our webpage www.funfoodfocus.com.au), you will be able to see some of the teams in action.

Santos Limited

We are always delighted when some of our valued clients, bring another of their teams for a 'hands on cooking' experience.  So it was with great pleasure that we hosted an event for another Santos team.  Recognising that each team wants to do something unique to them, we customise all of our 'learning component' options.  This involves meeting with the client before the event to find out what they would like to achieve, and then setting about with them to craft activities that are about dealing with 'real' organisational programs, or issues. 

For this event, the 'learning component' consisted of holding a mini Knowledge Cafe to work through some specific questions chosen and developed by the Team Leader (refer also to the K-Cafe section here)  It is also worth while noting that after each event, we like to organise a follow-up visit after a period of time, to check on what change has occurred once a group has returned to their work environment, and also to check on progress. 

After their busy morning of 'exchanging knowledge', the Santos teams chose a Middle Eastern menu as their focus.  Lamb Tagine, Couscous and Moroccan Spiced Chicken formed part of this appetizing buffet.  And of course a dessert is always included. In this case it was Orange Almond Cake.   One of the things that always amazes me with these events is how groups of people, (often many with little cooking experience), can come together and produce appealing, colourful and healthy food, in a short period of time.  I guess it is all part of the old saying - 'all hands on deck'.

Further Fun.Food.Focus learning case studies are available on our website.

Let us provide healthy 'hands on' cooking experience for YOUR TEAM!

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New Fun.Food.Focus products

entree packages

Our entree packages are perfect if you're looking for something at late notice or if your team is just short on time.

With the growing emphasis on healthy lifestyles, work-life balance and related, our Corporate Wellness Programs are another option to assist in allaying absenteeism through stress; fewer sick days, reduced work cover claims, improved physical fitness, and other work-related issues.

Of course, more details about these products are available on our webpage under.Fun.Food.Focus...extras -  www.funfoodfocus.com.au We'll be happy to discuss your organisation's wellness or other needs and provide you with a range of suitable, exciting and fun options to suit your workplace.  Contact us via our enquiry form or email or telephone for further details, ideas and a detailed quote.

We TAILOR your event ...to suit YOUR requirements ...

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Overseas Highlights

A Knowledge Cafe ....

During October I was very busy travelling to Manilla, Paris and Tokyo - a mixture of both work and pleasure. As you can imagine with a month 'on the road' there are many highlights - but I want to mention just a few of them:

Running a Knowledge Cafe for Coffey International in the Philippines.

Attending a Petits-Four cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris

It has been a life-time desire to attend at cooking course at Le Cordon Bleu.  So on a Saturday in October, there I was with apron on, along with people from America (who flew in just for the course), Paris, and England working with the Chef Jean-Jacque Tranchant and his English translator, to make a whole range of very decadent Petits-Four.  Our repertoire included Cremeux Au Chocolat and Cafe; Creme Brulee Vanille Aux Griottes (Vanilla Creme Brulee with Sour Cherries); Macaroons, Financier Pistache (biscuits) and Sable Breton (Brittany Shortbread).  As the photograph shows - we had a great time, with the best part of course being the eating afterwards. Great fun and some great international friendships.

Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee - 45th Japan-Australia Joint Business Conference

As the then inaugural Chair of the Japan Australia Business Council (SA Inc), it was a great pleasure to be invited to attend this conference at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. 

The purpose of the Conference which is held yearly (Australia one year; Japan the next), is to promote the business exchange between the two countries.  This was a special meeting as 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Agreement on Commerce between Japan and the Commonwealth of Australia. In an address by the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the Prime Minister referred to the importance of the Committee's role in promoting Japan-Australia economic relations.

The Conference was attended by approximately 400 delegates representing key businesses in both countries such as from the Australian side - Woodside Energy: Meat and Lifestock Australia; Australian Aluminium Council; Monash University and Challenger Financial Services. And on the Japanese side - Nippon Steel Corporation; The Kansai Electric Power Co; JETRO, Toyota Motors; and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (Panasonic). 

Topics covered over the 2 days of the conference included discussion on energy; financial services; economic influences; energy and food security; cleaner fossil energy & aluminium; steel; the automotive sector; building and engineering,  and education.  It was a privilege to be able to attend such an important conference, and to listen to the latest information available on these topics from these key speakers.

IF any readers are interested, I have a copy of the Conference Papers. Please email info@thepaigegroup.com.au

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Knowledge Report

ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS (AKN) 

AKN in The Philippines

Helen was invited by Coffey International Development to develop and facilitate a KM activity for one of Coffey's Local Government  Development Projects in Manilla.  After considerable negotiation with Coffey personnel as to their needs, AKN was able to offer the running of a Knowledge Cafe to enable then to actively 'harvest' the knowledge of over 60 people involved with a project that had been running for some time. 

With the goals of the Knowledge Cafe being to 'share some observances as well as harvesting ideas and insights of key people influential in the process', the activity also involved university students as scribes, and a 'write up' by a Professor from the University of the Philippines. Both activities are critical for future understanding and application.

AKN in Sydney

After arriving back in South Australia on the morning of the 25th October, I was shortly again flying out to Sydney to Co-facilitate a Knowledge Cafe with David Gurteen, founder of Gureen Knowlege, London - http://www.gurteen.com.(Helen is David's Regional Director of  the Gurteen Knowledge Community in Australia).
Refer - http://www.frysystems.com.au/gurteenforum

This cafe was hosted by AMP and was held on the 25th Floor of their building overlooking Sydney Harbour.  With about 70 people from a range of organisations including Reuters Australia, Blake Dawson Waldron, Railcorp, Macquarie University, Oracle Corporation, ASIC and many others attending, we addressed the theme of 'What will be the Impact of Social Tools Within Organisations?'

As the question of the use of social tools in organisations is 'hotting up' it was, as you can imagine, a lively discussion.

It was great to see David again, and to work with him in this way.  We spent the next day in very useful discussion about other projects and related Knowledge Management work.

KM Presentations

Helen was pleased to be invited to do 2 presentations on Knowledge Management for -  the Australian Legal Practice Association (South Australian Branch) ALPA on the topic of 'Learning to Share - Helping Lawyers Come to Grips with KM';

and also at the Australian TAFE Marketing Association National Conference on the topic of 'Shaping the Future: Knowledge Sharing and Creative Insights'

The ALPA presentation was to legal practice managers and some lawyers from local legal firms with a focus on introducing them to the idea of sharing knowledge within organisations and the many opportunities for doing this in legal firms.  Comments received included:

'the best feature of the presentation was the interaction between participants'

'the message being reinforced with regard to what you really already know.  Gives you an incentive to take up active pursuit of this again'.

'the speaker was extremely knowledgeable and was cognizant of the challenges surrounding the introduction of KM in law firms ie knowledge sharing etc.'

The TAFE National Conference workshop was for people involved in marketing communication, business development and public relations within TAFE and the wider vocational education and training sector.  The major focus of this presentation was on introducing some of the audience to knowledge management concepts, but also looking at connections and partnerships between TAFE, business and industries on a local and global scale.

Staff Retention Strategies

Refer to www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22693054-5014050,00.html for the article I wrote on Staff Retention Strategies for The Advertiser,  Adelaide Now - Career One pages.  A further article on Knowledge Cafes will be published shortly, with other articles being provided on topical subjects from time-to-time, under the Executive Call segment.

AKN Consulting

AKN has also been involved with providing consulting services involved with research and analysis for Woods and Bagot from Melbourne, and a range of business consulting services for luxury Adelaide jeweller, Raw Pearls, but more on this in our next edition.

If you would like further information on how AKN can help your organisation solve some of those difficult organisational dilemmas such as change management; developing a positive corporate culture; and related using our expert assistance from our range of Associates, or Knowledge Cafe process - contact us on info@thepaigegroup.com.au OR refer to our webpage www.thepaigegroup.com.au

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Making Life Easier with TimeMaker

Don't Forget... one of the easiest ways to improve your business 'bottom line' is to undertake a special 1 hour 'one-on-one' TimeMaker session - business and organisational appraisal.

During this 'walk around your organisation', Helen will provide you with business and time management advice for you, your organisation and your staff.  

A variety of clients have found this to be a very effective and beneficial way to receive ideas, business tips and to be a 'thought-provoker', as we see you 'in' and operating 'in' your business, and the advice can be immediate!!

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Article Review

The following is some thoughts from the international Financial Times newspaper, October 3, 2007, page 4 - gleaned whilst I was away, on a current favourite topic - SOCIAL NETWORKING.

It is from an article by Mary Branscombe in the entitled 'Social Skills That Confer a Business Advantage'.  Branscombe, refers to some research by Marc Smith, senior research sociologist at Microsoft Research who suggests that:

'To get the most value out of social networking within a company, there must be ways of measuring how employees are using the tools and rewards for beneficial interaction'.

Smith suggests that 'leveraging a business's social networks creates 'architectures of cooperation'.  Importantly, Smith suggests that 'the biggest asset of any enterprise is what your people know and they keep going home with it'.

Some of the other issues raised in the article were:

• socially oriented systems such as wikis (collaborative documents that anybody can edit) can overcome a reluctance to 'give up' knowledge by identifying who is contributing information and help
• if this occurs - this should be measured to ascertain what this might mean to the partners, customers and company and be rewarded like any other contribution
• that enterprises can spend a lot of time 'incentivising' the wrong behaviour as they don't identify themselves as a group
• social networks are often the real structure of a company, and
• that there is more than one kind of valuable behaviour in a social network.
• Smith has identified  the following -
  • The 'guru' - or knowledge fountain
  • The' reply magnet' (the person who identifies some information important to the enterprise), and
  • 'Vandal hunters' - who undo damage to content - so there is a content creator and a content massager

Although tools to analyse social networks are still being developed - Smith's team works on three:

• Netscan (to analyse contributions in other discussion and authoring systems)
• C#ung (and short for C#universal network/graph system) which displays information from Excel spreadsheets as tree maps, and
• A future version of Snarf - a Microsoft Outlook add-on that prioritises mail from regular correspondents - and which could use C#ung to show where in an organisation's hierarchy and e-mail comes from, and to ascertain who is asking for information

While a lot of conversation is about Facebook and its ilk, interfering with productivity, Smith believes that there efficiency gains as 'knowing how to know people is the number one skill in business; networking is a commercially valuable skill'.

I would be interested in any comments on this overview on info@thepaigegroup.com.au.

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