Community Focus - Mindshop Excellence program

What is Mindshop Excellence?

The Mindshop Excellence Program is a five-day, work based experience, aimed at (15 – 16 year old) Year 10 students.

Mindshop Facilitators and community/industry trained Facilitators donate their time and expertise to train groups of 4-6 students in basic Mindshop business improvement tools and processes including team work, strategic thinking, goal setting, mind mapping, brainstorming, flow charting, cause and effect analysis, public speaking, motivation and self-esteem. Students each receive a manual and information CD on the first day of the program.

Host Organisations provide an issue for the students to solve and a suitable work place environment.

The highlight of the week is the Presentation, which the students give to the management of the Host Organisation on the Friday afternoon. The Mindshop group presents and discusses their solutions to the problem. In many cases the Host Organisation has adopted these recommendations.

The Excellence Program focuses on 4 key objectives.

LIFE BUILDING SKILLS
Problem Solving Skills that can be continuously used through out your life.

TEAM BUILDING SKILLS
Teams develop by combining the strengths of each team member. This involves having respect for each other and understanding individual needs.

SELF CONFIDENCE
Maximum confidence comes from building self-esteem and maximising the feeling of winning. The Excellence Program is designed to achieve both these aims.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Through active participation you will develop confidence and build self-esteem. You can always do better, but be aware of how you can improve.

Mindshop Excellence was started in 1993 with students from Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, Victoria, participating in the pilot program held at the host company, Brivis Australia. From that one program and its five students, the following year saw some 77 students participating from a range of Victorian schools. In 1994 our first mini program was run at Yarra Valley Anglican School with a class of Year 3 students. This day was, according to Chris, one of the most challenging he conducted. With students wanting to fly – Chris really needed to teach his visioning techniques. It worked, and for a few short minutes those students were flying. While the specific problem solving techniques (5 whys, etc) may not be remembered in detail by those eight year olds, the Value to Others concept will be.

The Mindshop Excellence Program spread interstate in 1994 with the first program run in the ACT. Since then the program has been embraced in the United Kingdom with courses commencing in 2000, for unemployed youths in conjunction with the Prince's Trust. There are huge needs within the UK to assist the Government bodies to formulate new components to their curriculum and we are working on strategic alliances to facilitate our voice and thoughts to be heard and understood. We have a drive also towards Citizenship and teaching about tolerance, what better way to assist us drive this than to open children's minds to the overall benefits of Value To Others?

To date, the Mindshop Excellence program has been delivered to over 2,400 students. Individual versions of the Mindshop Excellence Programs have been conducted for groups of Indigenous students, students with special needs, tertiary graduates, primary school age students and older school leavers.

Who can participate in a Mindshop Excellence Program?

The Students that participate in a Mindshop Excellence Program are normally aged 14 or 15 years but the program is suitable for any group of young people wanting to understand how the work environment operates. This resource area provides you with videos of the key Mindshop tools and processes together with templates and sample reports and presentations.

The Mindshop Excellence Program is of great benefit to the host organisation, often solving issues that have been a problem to the Company. The Students bring fresh eyes and when combined with the Mindshop tools and the support of the Mindshop Facilitator outstanding results are achieved. Whether you are improving the performance of a manufacturing process, developing a customer survey or producing a marketing plan it is an exciting and rewarding process for everyone involved.

The Mindshop tools can be applied to both personal and business issues and can benefit the Student in every element of their life. The Mindshop Excellence Online Resource Centre provides ongoing support to graduates of the Mindshop Excellence Program.

Who Runs the Program within the Schools?

Most Mindshop Excellence Programs are facilitated by an Accredited Mindshop Facilitator (AMSF). These accredited Facilitators can train additional facilitators to run programs. Mindshop has trained Managers from host organisations, government and members of service clubs to be able to facilitate the Mindshop Excellence program.

The personal benefits to Facilitators include satisfaction in assisting Students to have a better understanding of their industry and host organisation. Often the Facilitator conducts programs with Schools and organisations that they have an association with. Facilitators are required to have Police checks completed to ensure they are suitable to conduct a program with young people.

Students can be a rewarding and challenging group, the Facilitator learns more about the Mindshop tools and processes by teaching Students. By participating in a Mindshop Excellence Program the self worth of the Facilitator is increased.