Why is ‘inclusive leadership in the digital age’ necessary? Many leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small and medium-sized organisations (SMOs) and startups are faced with a dilemma. They are wondering: how can I lead my organisation when I’m not even at all sure myself what direction the digital journey is heading in? How can we successfully shape the future together? INCLUDE picks up on two central current developments: firstly, the trend towards flatter hierarchies and shared responsibility and, secondly, the digitalisation of all business sectors. Both aspects form the starting point for a new, practically relevant and innovative leadership approach in the age of digital transformation. Objectives and target groups: The objective of the project is to support SMEs, SMOs and startups in the daily challenges of digital change by providing them with an up-to-date, inclusive leadership approach. To achieve this, teaching and learning materials have been developed within the project for leaders and for individuals who would like to or who ought to accept more responsibility. On the one hand, these materials allow leaders to master ‘inclusive leadership in the digital age’ one step at a time alongside their work. On the other hand, training providers and voluntary trainers in vocational education can make use of the materials and model curriculum to offer training to the target group. The 4 INCLUDE products are: 1) A ‘process model’ to give a better understanding of ‘inclusive leadership in the digital age’. Amongst other things, users will be aware that the introduction of new inclusive leadership approaches necessitates fundamental changes in their organisation’s usual business operations. 2) A ‘curriculum’ based on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), with which both internal company training courses and open training courses can be designed for the target group. 3) An INCLUDE handbook, which employs ‘ready-to-use’ methods and instruments primarily to enable the personal and practically oriented further training of leaders and employees in SMEs, SMOs and startups at their workplace. 4) An ‘email course’ for sensitisation and as a low-threshold way of entering the project’s topic. INCLUDE offers learners the opportunity to establish and develop their own skills in an area of activity that is highly relevant for the job market. Who is involved in the project? In order to achieve the project objectives, the project consortium covers a wide range of content and guarantees a strong emphasis on the interests of future users. To this end, a training provider, an institute of higher education, a professional association for small and medium-sized businesses, two chambers and two NGOs are all working together on the project. Within the project, numerous lecturers, leaders, consultants, trainers, project managers etc. from the participating project partners are contributing to the success of the project. The project will reach at least 178 people directly: 18 leaders and employees of the project partners are participating in a transnational learning activity, 40 members of the target group are testing the project’s products in 5 national workshops, and 120 people are taking part in a total of 5 multiplier events in the 5 project countries. The participants have been recruited from the following structures: - Members of the chambers, professional associations and NGOs, - Trainers, students and learners from the training providers in the consortium (in particular institutes of higher education and vocational education), - Further individuals or network partners of partner organisations. How does INCLUDE work? A classic approach has been used for developing the products: (1) creating a common knowledge base, (2) designing and developing / programming the project products, (3) testing and revising, (4) publishing the project products and (5) disseminating the results. The transfer to further areas is already being prepared in the course of the project. PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments) was utilised as the project management method. Who will benefit from the project? The project results will be disseminated to around 25,000 leaders and employees of European SMEs, SMOs, startups and vocational education and training (VET) providers. Up to 5,000 representatives from the target group are expected to actively use the INCLUDE products. What are the expected medium- and long-term impacts? INCLUDE trains individuals who are capable of arriving at inclusive and up-to-date solutions in the intersection between ‘leadership’ and ‘digital transformation’. Their companies and organisations will, as a whole, become more competitive, will be able to create new workplaces in the medium to long term, and will strengthen the European Economic Area.
The aim of the project is to support SMEs, SMOs as well as start-ups and VET providers in meeting the daily challenges of digital transformation with a contemporary, inclusive leadership approach. INCLUDE provides learning and teaching materials for leaders and people who want to take on more responsibility. With these materials managers can learn "inclusive leadership in the digital age" step-by-step while on the job, and apply it directly in their everyday work (work-based learning). INCLUDE also supplies further education providers and freelance trainers in vocational education and training with materials for further education courses, including a sample curriculum. Four freely accessible online products have been developed. INCLUDE is a practical and innovative leadership approach that takes into account the challenges of the digital age and provides leaders and employees who want to take on more responsibility with a step-by-step guide that supports them in their development towards (more) inclusive leadership. The INCLUDE products offer a holistic framework that paves the way for inclusive leadership.
Many leaders in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small and medium-sized organisations (SMOs), start-ups and vocational training providers face a dilemma. They ask themselves: How can I lead my organisation when I myself am not at all sure where the digital journey is going? How can we successfully shape the future of our organisation together? The INCLUDE project helps to address two central developments of our time: the trend towards flatter hierarchies and shared responsibility and the digitalisation of all economic sectors. Both aspects show the need to develop a new practical and innovative leadership approach in the age of digitalisation. To ensure the future viability of organisations, changes in management behaviour are indispensable. The biggest hurdle is to sensitise the team of leaders to the necessary changes in leadership behaviour. We firmly believe that the INCLUDE products developed in the project are valuable tools for preparing and implementing this change process.