Author-tag: Edited by Gabriele Bammer

What policy makers want from research

Edited by Gabriele Bammer.

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What do policy makers find useful or problematic about research and the way in which it is delivered? How would they like to see research presented to them?

In 2003 R. John Gregrich, then Chief of the Treatment Branch, Office of Demand Reduction, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, Washington, DC, USA, laid out a number of suggestions for researchers about more effectively interacting with policy makers. The description here has been generalised beyond alcohol and other drugs policy.

Seven tips for the general presentation of research findings

1. Research is often inaccessible to policy makers.
Research findings can be both hard to find and hard to understand; in particular the language and format of peer-reviewed publications demand more effort than is warranted from policy makers.

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How individual members can contribute to effective team functioning

Edited by Gabriele Bammer.

For team dynamics to work effectively, what is the range of contributions that needs to be covered by different team members? How can diversity in skills relevant to team functioning be effectively recognised and harnessed? Here the focus is not on the actual task the team is trying to accomplish, but rather the dynamics of working together and the different contributions or roles required for effective team functioning.

A number of proprietary products (i.e., products owned by companies that need to be purchased to be used) have been developed to help teams assess the strengths and weaknesses of individual team members in contributing to effective team performance. The focus in this Editor’s Addition is to use one such product, CliftonStrengths®, to highlight one set of understandings about what key team dynamics are. Information available on the CliftonStrengths® website is used in abbreviated form and without the summary terms used to encapsulate each team and personal attribute.

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The role of frames and framing in communication and change

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

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What are frames and framing? What roles do they play in making change happen? What are some essential principles of framing? Can framing be used to manipulate people?

This editor’s addition draws on the 2014 updated edition of George Lakoff’s classic work “Don’t think of an elephant.” Lakoff provided these ideas in the US context of the contest between progressive and conservative ideas, and here they are adapted to be more general, including highlighting issues relevant to dealing with complex problems.

What are frames?

There is no simple definition of frames, with key elements including that they are embedded in neural circuits, that they are linked to morals or values, and that they are evoked by language. Lakoff highlights that:

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The collaboration planning framework

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

What is the collaboration planning framework? What kinds of collaborations is it suitable for? What does it involve?

The collaboration planning framework, described by Hall and colleagues (2019), aims to help research teams identify, discuss and make decisions about ten key influences that the team science literature has shown to affect teamwork. The aim is to “lay the groundwork for success by supporting effective team functioning, identifying needed changes, and preventing or mitigating what are often predictable challenges” (p. 588). A written collaboration plan is used to capture the decisions made.

While the collaboration planning framework is most useful for large, complex teams, it can benefit any team.

The ten key elements of the framework are:
1. Rationale for team approach and team composition
2. Collaboration readiness

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Change planning: Dreamer, realist, critic

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

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How can change be planned for in an effective way that creatively develops new ideas, plans the practicalities of their implementation and assesses risks?

The process described here is also referred to as Walt Disney circle, Disney creative strategy, and Disney brainstorming method, and is adapted from Nauheimer (1997).

Planning change involves four phases. The first three phases, in turn, are to 1) create new ideas, 2) plan the practicalities of their implementation and 3) assess the risks. Phase 4 is an iterative phase that reviews further input needed in each of the first three phases.

The process is conceived as involving three roles: dreamer, realist and critic. The idea of separating the process into these three roles is to ensure that each is fully considered without interference from the others. For instance the aim is to allow the creative ideas to be fully developed, without being stymied by criticism. One person or a group could take all three roles in turn or different people could take different roles. What is important is that all three roles are fully brought into play.

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Five questions for considering political context

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

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How can researchers rapidly assess the political and institutional environment in which they are trying to exert influence? Why does understanding context matter?

Developing a rich, detailed understanding of the political environment in which a problem needs to be addressed can be a never-ending research project, not only because of the depth of scholarship that can be brought to bear, but also because political environments are often unstable and rapidly-changing. Few research projects have the luxury of large budgets and long time horizons in which to fully comprehend the environments that they seek to influence. Instead, practical rapid assessment tools can be valuable and improve the effectiveness of research input and actions.

One such tool for rapidly assessing political context was published in 2014 as part of the Rapid Outcome Mapping Approach: A Guide to Policy Engagement and Influence by John Young and colleagues and a modified version is reproduced here.

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Competencies for systems thinking practitioners. Part 2: Skills and behaviours

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

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What skills and behaviours are required by those seeking to provide expert systemic analysis, advice and facilitation to support decision-makers in understanding and addressing complex problems?

This is the second of two blog posts presenting the systems thinking competencies provided by the UK Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (no date) and completes an overview of what decision makers should be able to expect from systems thinking practitioners, along with the knowledge, skills and behaviour competencies such systems thinking practitioners should have. The first blog post provided overall expectations of what systems thinking practitioners should be able to do and knowledge competencies.

Skills competencies

Skills in 11 areas are required for a systems thinking practitioner.

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Competencies for systems thinking practitioners. Part 1: Overall expectations and knowledge

Edited by Gabriele Bammer

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What knowledge, skills and behaviours are required by those seeking to provide expert systemic analysis, advice and facilitation to support decision-makers in understanding and addressing complex problems, ie., problems that have no single ‘owner’ or cause, and no simple solution? What should decision makers be able to expect from the systems thinking practitioners they engage with?

The UK Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (no date) provides competencies in knowledge, skills and behaviours and these are reproduced here (knowledge competencies), and in a companion blog post (skills and behaviour competencies). This list of competencies provides a very useful way of getting an overview of systems thinking and the skills required.

What should systems thinking practitioners be able to do?

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