The Walker Company KnowledgeWORKS

Build your board's "knowledge capital" with our flexible and affordable governance education program options.

Consistent, coordinated and focused governance education is becoming increasingly important due to the growing complexity of the health care field and the increasing scrutiny of governance by lawmakers, regulators, the media, consumers and others.

The Walker Company’s KnowledgeWORKS™ is a combination of in-person educational programs and programs available on CD. Our CD programs offer a high-technology alternative to conventional education methods, minimizing costs and maximizing governance knowledge-building opportunities.

KnowledgeWORKS™ is a governance education solution with two options: in-person and electronic-based educational programs. Our live on-site programs include the use of OptionWORKS™, our powerful yet easy-to-use handheld opinion “polling” technology. Topics include education about "Boardroom Basics," fundamental topics boards must be aware of; "Governance Insights," current and emerging issues and trends that impact hospital success; and "Leadership Perspectives," a unique look at various leadership factors that affect board and hospital performance. We also develop and present unique interactive governance learning games. For more information about our interactive learning games, click here.

Programs available electronically include professional, graphics-rich Adobe Flash presentations and other supporting materials. Our programs are designed to enhance trustees’ knowledge and capacity to provide the focused and effective governing leadership required in today’s dynamic, rapidly-evolving health care environment. The programs are typically 15-20 minutes in length, and are ideal for education sessions at board meetings. To view programs currently available for download, click here.

For more information about our onsite presentations, please contact Larry Walker via email, or call 503.534.9461.

It’s a fact-people learn better and retain more when they’re engaged and involved as active participants in the presentation process. Interactive programs that involve audiences in learning are a welcome alternative to more typical “present and listen” style programs. When educational programs are fun, entertaining, thought-provoking and memorable, they create learning that lasts.

The Walker Company has presented programs to thousands of hospital trustees, medical staff leaders and executives. We have developed unique Governance InterACTIVE™ programs designed to engage and stimulate audiences in ways that typical educational programs cannot. By including the audience as active “players” in the programs, participants are more attentive, they listen more carefully, and they retain more of what they learn.

Our Governance InterACTIVE™ programs use OptionWORKS™, enabling meeting participants to provide anonymous and instantaneous feedback on specific topics or issues, and see the immediate results of their viewpoints and those of their colleagues. OptionWORKS™ combines a custom PowerPoint® application with wireless handheld response cards to improve group participation, communication, energy, and focus. OptionWORKS™ stimulates increased discussion, communication and understanding of issues, and helps achieve the client’s desired meeting outcomes efficiently and memorably. Our OptionWORKS™ technology:

This page includes brief descriptions of our Governance InterACTIVE™ program offerings, including:

Should a client have other ideas for ways to utilize our OptionWORKS™ technology, including interactive panel discussions or other interact

Purpose: The purpose of the mock board of trustees meeting is to demonstrate the importance of proper board behavior, relationships, learning, organization and decision making. The mock board meeting allows audience members to peer into a “live” board meeting, and interactively participate in identifying ways to improve the board’s performance. The session is designed to reveal problematic behaviors and processes that can disrupt the strategic direction and leadership focus of governance.

How it Works: The program is a “mock” meeting of the board of trustees of a fictional hospital. During the mock board meeting, which consists of four or five “acts”, the trustees of the fictional hospital (actual trustees, physicians and/or CEOs of local hospitals who volunteer to be part of the mock board meeting) grapple with various issues and challenges, commit “governance malpractice” and suffer from a variety of “governance diseases”. After each act audience members identify governance errors that have occurred during the act and answer several questions about their hospital's governance using OptionWORKS™; following each discussion the program moderator highlights some of the corrective measures the board could take to avoid the errors identified by the audience. At the end of the program attendees receive a list of every governance error committed by the mock board, with actions to avoid the errors.

Purpose: The purpose of the Governance Challenge™ is to inform participants about current health care trends and governance issues using a Jeopardy®-style "game show" approach. Like all Governance

InterACTIVE™ games, the Governance Challenge™ engages the audience in a lively, energetic way.

How it Works: The Governance Challenge™ engages the audience in answering 20 multiple-choice questions in five categories. The "game board" displays five question categories in labeled columns, with four individual point value boxes appearing below each category. Point totals range from 100 points in the top box (the easiest question) to 400 points in the bottom box (the most difficult question).

Audience participants “call out” categories and point values. The question and answer choices for that point value are revealed, and audience members then have approximately five seconds to select their answer using their OptionWORKS™ handheld response card. After answers have been recorded, a graph displays the percentage of audience members who selected each answer choice, and the correct answer is highlighted, creating an opportunity for discussion and/or follow-up questions.

Audience participants are provided with a Governance Challenge Scorecard. Participants use their scorecard to keep track of their individual scores for each question. At the conclusion of the program, audience members enter their total Governance Challenge™ score using their keypads. The group’s collective “governance IQ” is then calculated, which enables each participant to compare his or her score with that of the entire group.

Value-Added Opportunities: Having a captive audience and the ability to secure instant feedback from audience participants provides program sponsors with a unique “real time” research opportunity. For example, a client may choose to have The Walker Company close the program by asking several questions focused in areas that provide valuable insights into trustee viewpoints in a variety of areas. The Walker Company provides the results of all audience voting to the program sponsors.

Our Trustee Foundations™ programs are available for purchase and immediate download from our secure Web site, www.trusteeplace.net. All programs are download as a .zip file, which includes an Adobe Flash file with embedded audio, a printable PowerPoint® handout of the slides, a BoardBrief on the topic, and a Discussion Guide.

To order programs, go to www.trusteeplace.net and click on "Governance Programs" in the menu bar at the top of the Web site. Programs currently available are listed at the top of the page with links to view more information, including a program description, the program length and the cost. To purchase programs, click on the "add to cart" button next to the program description. You may place several programs to your cart before checking out. When you check out, you will be asked to provide credit card information. The section of our Web site that collects your personal and payment information is hosted by a secure server that uses industry-leading technology to ensure your personal information is safe.

After you complete your order you will receive instructions to download to your computer the .zip file(s) of the program(s) you ordered.

Putting Trustee Foundations™ Programs to Work

Our programs are designed to enhance trustees’ knowledge and capacity to provide the focused and effective governing leadership required in today’s dynamic, rapidly-evolving health care environment.

Trustee Foundations™ programs are $169 each, are typically 15-20 minutes in length, and may be presented to the entire board at a board meeting or retreat, or watched individually by trustees in their home or office. In addition, they may be used for individual trustees who have little or no knowledge of the topic, such as new and/or very inexperienced trustees. We encourage you to watch the concise, to-the-point programs together during board meetings or at a retreat, and hold a brief discussion following the presentation to explore the implications on your organization, and ideas for next steps.

Programs may be purchased and scheduled based on your organizational needs. For example, prior to a strategic plan update or a CEO evaluation, the board may benefit from an educational session on these topics.

To order programs online for immediate download, go to www.trusteeplace.net.

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