Managing Around

30. Agile Leadership in Social Work Organisations

Jul 29, 2021

The role of social work and human service organisations should not be underestimated. They fill a gap in society that cannot be fulfilled by governments and people in their individual capacities. These organisations face many challenges and issues as they provide essential services and professional support to people in need. For this very episode, the focus is put again on the type of leadership provided in social work organisations because it then impacts the level of success experienced by t

29. Podcasts - The Secret Weapon in Education

Jun 22, 2021

Podcasting is a fabulous means of sharing files in audio format through the internet. For example, an audio file retrieved from the internet in MP3 is known as a podcast. In an instant, a podcast has been retrieved from the internet, and the user can listen to it via a mobile phone, an iPod, a personal digital assistant, or any other media player, portable or not. In this episode, we will talk about this technology and its application to education. In doing that, I will make you familiar with

28. Digitisation in Social Work and Education Organisations

May 24, 2021

Digital products have become an integral part of everyday life. We use our smartphones not solely to call other people but to plan, organised and cope with our digital life. Nowadays, in some professions, it is possible to work from home and have more flexibility because of digital technology. Smart home products transformed how we live. Also, organisations are still in a process of converting, using and applying the information in a digital format. In today's episode, we will focus

27. Social Work Management in the Uncertain

Apr 30, 2021

Many people would agree that we live in uncertain times. This has become once more apparent during the COVID-19 crisis. In all areas of our life, people experience shifts and changes of an unprecedented scale such as the fear to become incapable of working, to lose your current job position or status in family and society. Also, companies have become more often victims of cyber-attacks that suddenly shut down infrastructure and demand money in return for the release of stolen data.

26. The Perfect Harmony between Ears – Podcasts in Higher Education

Apr 14, 2021

Education is timeless. Podcasts are new, exciting, and increasingly popular ways of learning. Do educational podcasts exist? Yes, they do! In higher education, podcasts help to create new spaces and communities that help to facilitate asynchronous learning and to increase student retention. But, why aren’t they more widely used? In this episode, we’ll be looking at how this specific medium of communication can be used more effectively by students and teachers alike. Meanwhile, we in

25. Hybridity and Multirationality in Social Work Organisations

Mar 30, 2021

In most welfare states, social enterprises are to a large extent dependent on the service providers which finance social service in a kind of monopoly market. It is inherent to such organisations to be permanently and simultaneously confronted with different ‘rationalities’ of their stakeholders. As hybrid organisations, they have to mediate between the logics of governmental, market-based, and societal structures. But what do hybridity and multirationality mean? In this episode, we

24. The 5 C's of Leading Organisational Change in Social Work Organisations

Mar 10, 2021

Since the 1990s, change management has received considerable attention as the new paradigm for the management of organisational transformations as well as behavioural and motivational changes within both for-profit and non-profit organisations. A lot has been discussed about it in sciences and professional practice. As a result, change management has only recently been included in many bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes in social work and pedagogics, either as additional courses or as a

23. Open Educational Resources - The Future of Knowledge Discovery

Feb 15, 2021

The internet has been disrupting the education sector since its advent and continues to do so. From The Open University to Massive Online Open Courses (known affectionately as MOOCs) and now Open Educational Resources, the world wide web has been empowering teachers and students alike for many years. In the midst of a global pandemic, the teaching profession has had to adapt, shifting near-seamlessly to “Remote Teaching” and/or “Hybrid Teaching”. Educators had to and still have to learn the le

22. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership - Part II

Feb 1, 2021

In these turbulent times, there is a need for a different kind of leadership. - In the last episode, I introduced you to the Adaptive Leadership Model. This specific leadership style asks leaders to frequently take a step back from the stage and to reflect on the complexity of the adaptive challenges ahead. Leaders need to assess and distinguish between the technical and adaptive nature of a problem. To become an adaptive leader, you need to familiarise yourself with a sophisticated set of man

21. The Practice of Adaptive Leadership - Part I

Jan 18, 2021

In my latest introductory management course, I talked with my students about the Adaptive Leadership Model. While drawing conclusions from a case study "Redskins No More" by Peter Northouse, we ended up in a discussion of a different kind of leadership. In these turbulent times, so was the thesis, there is no need for strong leaders that could solve virtually every problem. In the face of the many challenges ahead, leadership should not be understood as a function or position but as an activit

20. Solidarity - The Future of a Great Idea - Part II

Jan 8, 2021

This is part two of our series on the discussion of the book "Solidarity - The Future of a Great Idea", written by the well-known German Sociologist Heinz Bude who currently teaches as a Professor of Macrosociology at the University of Kassel. In the last episode, we've thoroughly talked about the free-rider problem and solidarity as the great social bond in a society which provides a sense of community. And in today's episode, we will conclude our discussion with a journey through the functio

19. Solidarity: The Future of a Great Idea - Part I

Dec 23, 2020

In the preparation to my Social Policy lecture in our study program Social Pedagogy and Management which dealt with the fundamentals and principles of the welfare state, I read with great interest the book titled "Solidarity - The Future of a Great Idea" and written by the German Sociologist Heinz Bude, who currently teaches as a Professor of Macrosociology at the University of Kassel. And in doing that, I remembered a song from my favourite band Tocotronics, which I am going to start within t

18. Book Review "SoTL in Action"

Dec 9, 2020

In one of the last episode, we already talked about the Scholarship of teaching and learning which is also known under the acronym SoTL. This not a new species that has been discovered but a long tradition in higher education. SoTL is the widely-used acronym for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, a research approach that is to say a systematic inquiry into student learning which helps to advance the practice of teaching in higher education. This is the topic, we will continue today. And by

17. Leadership in Social Service Institutions - Part II

Nov 27, 2020

I am teaching management basics in full-time and in-service courses within a programme for social pedagogy. I am often asked by my students: "Why is it so important to study management and leadership as a social worker?" Actually, it is a very challenging question and an answer is not that easy to give. Nevertheless, I am happy to share some thoughts with you. This is a two part introduction to the importance of leadership in social service institutions. In the last epis

16. Leadership in Social Service Institutions - Part I

Nov 11, 2020

I am teaching management basics in full-time and in-service courses within a programme for social pedagogy. I am often asked by my students: "Why is it so important to learn about organisational management and leadership?" Actually, it is a very challenging question and an answer is not that easy to give. Nevertheless, I am happy to share some thoughts with you. In todays episode, we will first explore what leadership is and what approaches have been discussed in classical management literatur