• Management

Leadership and Leadership Development.  Wisdom.  Organisational Learning.  Organisational Development and Change.  Teamwork and Collaboration.  Dialogue.  Group Dynamics.  Management Education.  Organisational Ecosystems.

• Coordinator/Lecturer, MGMT7030 Management and Organisations (Sem 2)
• Coordinator/Lecturer, MGMT7061 Leading High Performance Teams ()

Leadership. Systems Thinking. Teamwork and Collaboration. Organisational Development and Change.

Recent Course Feedback (MGMT 7061 Leading High-Performance Teams SEM I 2008):

Participating in the course has changed the way I think about my responsibilities as a leader and facilitator. I now have a deeper appreciation for the dimensions of a team and feel better equipped to take on the role of facilitator. Whilst other courses have taken me into the realms of leadership and management, this course has taken me into the realm of facilitating which is a refreshing perspective. It is my role to understand the different styles, skills and perspectives of other team members, to establish a safe environment in which people feel free to communicate openly and honestly and to align perspectives to achieve commonly agreed goals. I have a renewed appreciation of the importance of collaborating to get the job done and to continually monitor the health of the team and intervene as required. I enjoyed the process of coming to this deeper appreciation and also feel I now have a toolkit I can use to grow as an individual and to improve teamwork in my sphere of influence.

Attending the course served to remind me that I have permission and furthermore am required to venture ‘outside the box’ as often as possible. Learning is challenging and often discomforting. Freedom from the constraints of being ‘inside the box’ opens your mind to explore possibilities.

The course also encouraged me to think about the consequences of my style of leadership. Were learning experiences like the insights I gained during the course to present me with a range of possibilities that were unachievable in a practical sense, exploring them would be of little use to either the organisation or to my team. My reflection on the course is therefore aimed at identifying insights I can apply in a practical way to improve my style of leadership and the way in which teams perform.

I believe that as the team leader I am able to influence and cultivate a team culture, and I now have a stronger sense for an ‘ideal state’ as well as the journey I need to take the team on to achieve that state. An environment that fosters continuous improvement, in which conflicts, mistakes and breakdowns are not hidden but discussed and lessons learnt, where communication is open and honest, where questioning is appreciative rather than confronting and where there is a safety net to support decision-making processes are all key aspects to aspire to when shaping a team culture. I therefore intend to invest more time in workshops that:

•       expose assumptions and obtain alignment within the team; and

•       make high performance sustainable over the longer term.

The above are extracted paragraphs (verbatim) from a student course reflection, April 2008.

Jay is on several Communities of Practice at ANU:  Research-led Education, Tutors@ANU, and SuperCOP, and is involved in the university-wide Teaching Forum.  Jay is also on the College of Business and Economics Teaching and Learning Group and is key in running tutor induction training in the College.  He has a continuing involvement in University staff inductions run semi-annually.

Doctoral Supervision and Thesis Topics

Kerry Baker - The Psychological contract in the Australian Public Sector.

Christopher Kim - Leadership for the 21st Century.

Ian Primrose - Leadership in times of radical change.

Colette Raison - Managing to Measure or Measuring to Manage:  Intellectual Capital in the Australian Public Service.

Honours Supervision

Michael Milkovits – Teams (Honours)

Recent Research Students Supervised

Caroline Wong:  PhD – 2008:  The Singaporean Film Industry in Transition.

Jing Qian:  Honours – 2008:  The Effect of Informal Mentoring on Protégé’s Job-Induced Stress.

Nick Dhall:  Honours – 2006:  The Planning and Implementation of Information Technology Systems in a Hospital:  A Case Study.

John Varvarigos:  Honours – 2005:  Keep it Going:  A Case Study of Self-Managed Teams in the Public Sector.

Member of Editorial Review Board, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education.

Promoting a Culture of Knowledge in the Public Sector, October, 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia.  Designed and conducted workshop on Communities of Practice.

2^nd Annual Public Sector Employee Performance Management Conference, November, 2008, Canberra, ACT, Australia.  Spoke on leadership development.

Collective Intelligence:  Nurturing and Capitalising on your Information Ecosystem, Sydney, Australia, September, 2009.  Led workshop on the wisdom ecosystem.

actKM Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, October, 2009.  Led workshop on the wisdom ecosystem.

Facilitator of Communities of Practice and Dialogue initiatives at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), headquarters office in Canberra, ACT.

Dynamics of Dialogue.

Transformational Learning Leadership.

Organisational Fitness.

The case-writing project:  collaborative case-writing as an instructional strategy. 

Hays, J. and R. Winter (2003). Business planning and performance management systems: a case study of alignment, system supports and cultural attributes. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Australian New Zealand Academy of Management.

Hays, J. and R. Winter. (2004). Systemic properties of performance management. Paper presented at the International Conference on Performance Management and Measurement, Edinburgh, Scotland, and published in Performance Measurement and Management: Public and Private (ISBN: 0 9533761), pp. 1077-1084.

Hays, J. (2004). A roadmap for change in the healthcare sector. Presented at the Inaugural Conference on Non-Profit Marketing, Canberra, Australia, and published in Nonprofit Marketing: Perspectives and Advances (ISBN: 0-646-43940-5).

Hays, J. (2004). Building High-performance Teams: A Practitioner’s Guide. Canberra: Argos.

Hays, J. (2004). Reflection, insight, and empathy: uncommon outcomes in management education. Paper presented at the 18th annual conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Dunedin, NZ, 8-11 December, 2004.

Hays, J. (2005). Dynamics of organisational wisdom. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Learning, Rhodes, Greece, 19-22 July, 2005.

Hays, J. (2006). Learning and change in the healthcare sector, in Campling, J., Poole, D., Wiesner, R., and J. Schermerhorn, Management: 2nd Asia-Pacific Edition. Milton: Wiley, pp.W-18 – W-25.

Hays, J. (2006). Learning and change in the healthcare sector: an integrative case. Paper presented at the 23rd International Conference on Case Method Research and Application and published in the proceedings Interactive Learning: The Next Generation (ISSN: 1931-7549), Brisbane, Australia, 2-6 July, 2006.

Hays, J. (2006). Servant as teacher: adaptation of Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership to the academic context. Paper presented at the 6th Global Conference of Business and Economics, Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), 15 – 17 October.

Hays. J. (2007). Dynamics of workplace empowerment and democratisation (Ch. 8), in Empowering Teams:  An Introduction. Bangalore: ICFAI, pp. 112-135.

Hays, J. (2007). Creating and sustaining self-directed teams, in Empowering Teams:  An Introduction. Bangalore: ICFAI, pp. 12-31.

Hays, J.  (2008).  High-Performance Teams and Communities of Practice.  International Journal of Business Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 105 - 116.

Hays, J.  (2008).  Teacher as servant:  applications of Greenleaf's servant leadership in higher education.  Journal of Global Business Issues, Vol. 2, Is. 1, pp. 113 - 134.

Hays, J.  (2008).  Dynamics of organisational wisdom.  The Business Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 2, Is. 4, pp. 77 - 122.

Hays, J.  (2008).  Threshold and transformation.  European Journal of Management, Vol. 8. No. 3, pp. 24 - 46.

Acknowledging his unique teaching style and dedication to student welfare and learning, Jay has been nominated continually for College and University teaching awards.

The following excerpts from student evaluations and testimonials provide a range of perspectives on Jay and his courses.

 1.  [Dr Hays] has had an enormous influence on the students in the class and has done more than present us with the facts and necessary information about teams and teamwork. He has opened our eyes and our minds (and, believe it or not, even our hearts) - something rare that is found in only the very best teachers. He has made us think about ourselves, our work and our lives. This is real guidance as its influence doesn't leave after the final assignment.

2.  From the experience of you as teacher and the class dynamic, I believe I have a restored courage to believe in myself as a ‘servant leader’  and to believe that I can make a difference - even if only one person at a time. I have a restored courage to follow the journey of leader as servant not only in my personal life but once again in the ‘marketplace of life’, including my workplace. Thank you, Jay. I have found your transparency is refreshing and restorative.

3.  [Within] several hours ….  The room had been transformed into an incredibly unique learning culture. The class had established some of the highest levels of trust, respect and honesty that I have ever experienced in study or work, and this from a group of virtual strangers. I left the intensive three day course exhausted, exhilarated and with a great optimism that I had started on an incredibly important personal journey.

4.  My immediate reaction to Dr Hays’ teaching style was a mix of trepidation, perplexity and doubt.

What was this guy thinking, was he simply disorganized, did he know what he was teaching, did he understand the expectations of the class?  He seemed to want to teach without structure, wanted the class to assist in developing the agenda, was prepared to allow the class to take control of their learning, and seemed genuinely interested in learning from the experiences of the class.

I still approach classes with trepidation, perplexity and doubt, but confident in the fact that I am respected as a teacher, a leader, a student, and a fellow traveler on a great learning journey directed by the subtle hand of Dr Hays.

5.  You really care for students.  You are sensitive to their needs.  You make them feel special, valued, and unique.  You take time for them, in class and out of hours.  You don’t treat us like a group; you treat us as individuals.  When people like me struggle in English, you allow us time to think, help us to make our point, and ensure you have understood correctly.  You never criticise us or make us feel stupid.  You always find something right or helpful about our comments, and add to them in such a way that everyone comes to a better understanding.

6.  [Dr Hays’] extraordinary regard was very clear in his obvious respect for the individual and what each had to say.  When he needed to, he took a moment to really consider the most appropriate and supportive response (very important, considering most of the students were middle-aged professionals, some with sensitive and possibly fragile egos). When he struggled with a response he was open about this, but he never once allowed his ego to get in the way as many academics do and [un?]consciously say something that leaves students feeling stupid, humiliated or embarrassed. 

The following is a verbatim Semester Reflective Overview (final course reflective learning journal) from a student in the SEM II 2007 Management and Organisation course (MGMT 7030).  In addition to describing the course and one student's learning in it, the submission highlights how journals may be written.

MGMT 7030: Management & Organisations

 

Reflective Learning Journal of Rajiv Ganesanandan (ID: 4435006)

 

Week 1 till Week 13 – A Reflective Summary

 

            As I turn to look back at my journey through this course, I ponder upon the ups and downs faced by the class and myself in the last thirteen weeks. It wasn’t too far back when I was part of a group of students that were in a conundrum during the first week of this course, where we precariously balanced the choice of staying on or dropping out. I am certainly glad I made the right choice of staying on. I sincerely believe that my fellow course mates who stayed on echo the same sentiments as I do. As the course advanced through the weeks, our class had blossomed from a bunch of clueless individuals who hadn’t the faintest idea of what this course had to offer, to a dynamic group that chartered their own progress and development through the course. I recall in the weeks after our mid-semester break, our progress with the Life Centre project seemed to have been hampered by a loss of focus; the ideas mooted out during our discussions seemed too repetitious of the prior weeks discussions. When all seemed lost, a few distinct individuals independently stepped up in order to drive our efforts back on track. They took initiative to organize post-class discussions, charted the future evolution of the work needed to be done on our Life Centre project, and motivated the others to keep faith with the goals of this project. Even though we couldn’t realise the Life Centre to our fullest expectations, we did achieve success in starting a beautiful concept rolling, and in that process we’ve succeeded in appreciating the hidden potential in each of our distinct selves.

 

            Looking at the academic side of our Management and Organisation class, I must admit that Dr. J’s approach was different from the cup of tea that I was used to. Shying away from the ubiquitous exams and textbook-based learning that is a norm in most academic institutions, Dr. J introduced a creative learning environment through group activities, class discussions, management handouts, and reflective journal writing, which provided the entire class with a breath of new, fresh learning experience. Descending from an engineering background where I’m used to doing everything by the book, his alternative approach has definitely changed the way I’ve perceived things. I used to be a person with a one-tracked mind, but being in a class with diverse individuals has made me appreciate the importance of considering the opinions and personal beliefs of others. Through the class discussions and group activities, my classmates have been great teachers in helping me refine my professional and personal development. From Tulga’s political and diplomatic views to Chom’s business-like approach, the lessons learnt from my fellow classmates is something one can’t find in academic books or from management & business schools. Another instrument of learning for me has been the reflective learning journal. I used to organize events and functions as part of my regular employment and also as a volunteer with various NGOs. However, I’ve never kept track of the work that I’ve done or the lessons that I’ve learnt from these accomplishments. The learning journal has been a perfect outlet for me to voice my sincere and honest feelings about the course. It has helped me to constructively reflect on my observations in class, to ponder upon my mistakes, and eventually to use my reflections as a guide to make myself a better individual.

 

            The Management and Organisation class has been more than just a postgraduate course; it has been a place where friendship bonds have been forged.  The relaxed and interactive learning environment has nurtured the students to form a close relationship with one another. This newfound understanding, coupled with the shared ideals of realising our community project, has allowed the class to work smoothly and efficiently together to achieve our goals for this course. Our healthy, cohesive relationship has brought about significant changes in most of the individuals in our class. From being a reserved and quiet bunch in the beginning of the semester, many of them now have mustered the courage to express themselves freely and honestly. Last Monday was a clear indication of the waves of change brought about by this course. Everyone spoke their heart out about the course and their course mates, and the influence it had on their personal growth.  Interestingly, our theme for the community project this semester was to create an ANU environment of one community and one culture, and little did we realise we had already been living that dream in our class. We didn’t see ourselves as Chinese, Indian, or Caucasian; nor did we see ourselves as Buddhists, Muslims, or Christians; we saw each other as Tulga, Huze, or Jan; to us, it didn’t matter what our backgrounds were or what our skin colour was; we were friends, and we had grown to respect each other for the individuals we are, and my hope is that ANU will be able to achieve the same success as we did with our proposed Life Centre.

 

            What have I learned so far?  I guess it’s the million-dollar question on everybody’s mind as we sit in front of our laptops typing this journal. Besides being subject to a wonderful learning experience and making new friends, I’ve seen that a conducive learning environment will bring out the best in every individual. Whether its volunteering to compile and analyze a survey report, or organizing an informal get-together for the entire class, the right milieu will bring out the leader in everyone. Whether the act of leadership is significant or not, the most important aspect is how that act affects and influences the individuals around us. To me, this course has definitely changed me for the better; it has made me a better leader as well as a better follower; it has made me a better student as well as a better teacher; but most importantly, it has definitely made me a better soul.

 

 

“ I hear and I forget.

  I see and I remember.

  I DO and I UNDERSTAND.”

 

 - Chinese Proverb

 

Consultation hours:

Mondays - 1 - 2:30

Tuesdays - 1 - 2:30

Please call or e-mail for consults outside of these times

O: 6125 5548;

jay.hays@anu.edu.au

In addition to experience developing and delivering a wide range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Organisational Behaviour, Organisational Development and Change, Leadership, Teamwork and Collaboration, and Higher Education, Dr Hays (Jay) has extensive industry and consulting experience, having led business, technology, and culture change projects in the public and private sectors, including planning and implementing integration efforts in mergers and acquisitions. Jay has assisted executive teams redesign their organisations to promote cultures of high-performance and continuous improvement. His ideas, values, and experience are embodied in the approach to organisational change he has crafted, subject of his forthcoming book CM+ -- Roadmap to Organisational Development and Change (Argos; in press). Change Culture, Jay’s next book, hones in on cultural aspects of change, where to find the leverage points, and how to intervene in the system with the most impact.

Jay’s approach to change is high-involvement and often team-based, ensuring capability-building, development of change readiness, and promoting essential levels of employee ownership and commitment to change. He is an advocate of management education that promotes the development of team skills and positive attitudes about the use and efficacy of teamwork and collaboration. To this end, Jay designed and taught in 2006 the first teams course at ANU. Leading High-Performance Teams. The course is loosely based around his recent book Building High-Performance Teams: A Practitioner’s Guide.

In client projects, Jay offers a blend of consultation, training, coaching, and modelling specifically tailored to the needs of the organisation, where it is and where it needs to be. His fluency in the areas of readiness assessment and performance management ensure clear direction, focussed, coordinated action, and reasoned evaluation in pursuit of performance improvements and organisational effectiveness.

Jay possesses international experience, having worked in the United States, Europe (Germany, Italy, and Spain), Australia and New Zealand, and Africa (Zambia). He has travelled widely, including trips to Africa, Nepal, and Tibet, where he spent time in Buddhist monasteries and explored Mount Everest. Jay understands diversity issues and works competently within a multi-cultural context. He has presented papers recently in Edinburgh, Scotland, Rhodes, Greece, and at Harvard University in the US. 

Combining his life-long interest in empowerment with his passion for teamwork and collaboration, Jay's current focus is on Communities of Practice and their role in organisational and civic change, including the part they play in helping individuals find meaning in their work and develop their leadership skills.