SMOLNet

Information Contact

Sofia Angidou
Quality & Learning Officer
BOND

SMOLNet is the Strategic Management of Organisational Learning Network. It brings together organisational learning practitioners from a cross-section of NGOs. For its members, SMOLNet is a place for exchange, debate, analysis, advice and co-operation. Members of SMOLNet are motivated by their individual commitment to, and engagement in, issues and areas related to organisational learning. Collectively, their aim is for the sector to become more effective by learning from its own and other's experiences.

Bubbles

The group has decided to form a series of 'bubble' groups to take forward a particular area of interest and then periodically report back to the rest of SMOLNet on findings and research. Each bubble will consist of members of SMOLNet and will be guided by a member of the central holding group.

Theme	Contact	Reporting to SMOLNet meeting
Culture & Learning	Debbie Heaney, WWF UK	Presented: 03/06/08, IPPF, London
Using Technology Creatively	Rutti Goldberg, IPPF	24 September, PLAN, Woking
Mainstreaming Org. Learning	Charles Whitehead	4 December, Place: tbc
Donor Engagement & Learning	Sofia Angidou, BOND	Presented : 11/12/07

Group News

The last SMOLNet meeting took place on 03 June 2008 where the Culture and Learning bubble presetned the progress of their work on that area. The bubble has worked with Richard Seel on his theory on 'Emergence in Organisation'.

The 'Culture and Learning' bubble Group had first presented last June and this time they came back to share their work and their learning over that time!

'We have been exploring the inter-relationship between organisational learning and organisational culture . On this journey, we found ourselves beginning to explore the nature of change within organisations. To help us with this, we used an article by Richard Seel to help us test out some of our own experiences within our own organisations. Richard Seel's article talked about a state of "self-organised criticality" which he stated that organisations need to reach in order for change to occur. This intrigued us - what would such a state look like/feel like within an organisation. So we invited Richard to meet with us and share some of his ideas and thinking. This resulted in a wonderful discussion about "emergence" and getting organisations "change ready". Richard states that "Emergence cannot be controlled, predicted, or managed. There are no 'levers' which can be pulled to give us a particular kind of emergent result.

But still two questions remain... can emergence be facilitated and can it be influenced?

For many of us working to strengthen and mainstream learning within our organisations, these are interesting questions to ask. In this session, Debbie Heaney will share some of the insights that she gained from the meeting with Richard Seel. We will then explore as a group the conditions of emergence that Richard sets out - how are they reflected in our organisations? And what are the implications for us as supporters and advocates of organisational learning?'

(for more information read the minutes from the meeting).

Holding Committee

A holding committee is a small group of volunteers from within the SMOLNet membership who provide co-ordination for the group. For more information on their role, please look at the Terms of Reference.

Members of the holding commitee are:

Debbie Heaney, WWF-UK
Eleanor Cozens, SightSavers
Astrid Foxen, Tearfund
Dulcey Bower, Plan- International

We are now looking for new members for the Holding Group. If you are interested in taking up that exciting role, please contact Debbie Heaney.

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Future Meetings

The next SMOLNet meeting will take place on Wednesday 24th of September 2008 at 12.30-5pm.
Venue: Plan, Woking

The ' Using Technology Creatively' bubble will be running an interactive and reflective workshop exploring what tools people/organizations are using, and which are/have been successful or not. The bubble group wants to explore why people are not engaging with some tools but are with others.

You will also get the opportunity to see the latest technology Plan is using as the bubble group will do a visual tour and a live demonstration of the Elluminate technology Plan uses.

Please do come at 12:30 for lunch, catching up and socialising!

If you would like to attend please email Sofia Angidou at BOND.

Papers and Reports

There are currently no papers or reports to download.