SwissSkills mission future Team – Your induction

Following this guide step by step is the most efficient way to familiarise yourself with mission future Team. All links in bold and underscored will take you directly to the respective webpage or document.
We recommend the following procedure: Read each section below, then click on the Tab of the Teachers Portal and implement what you just read. Come back to the guide and go on with the next section.

1. Get Started

1. Go to the tab Create a new project. In general: 1 project = 1 class. Exceptions are possible, e.g. the Test Project for this induction.
2. Click on + to increase the number of participants to 5.
3. Enter a name for your project, e.g. Test XYZ (in general, please use a fantasy name for your class).
4. Click on Create project and then on to the tab Manage your projects, either on the navigation bar or on the window that opens after the project creation.

2. Fill out the visual questionnaire: Visual Implicit Profiler (VIP)

1. Click on Edit to open your project.
2. Go to a. and click on Download List of Access Codes in Excel format and open the file:

• Select a code and write your name in the corresponding «Name» (01) column.
• Copy the corresponding access code (02). It will allow you access to the visual questionnaire.
• Click on the URL to the VIP (03) and fill out the questionnaire as instructed.
• Please use a PC or tablet (no mobile phone)!
• Once you filled out the questionnaire, come back to this document before continuing.

3. Study the result generated by the VIP: your personal strengths profile

1. As a participant, you have received an e-mail with links to your personal strengths profile and to the two worksheets My soft skills and SwissSkills Champions. Your learners will receive the same once they filled out the VIP. We will come back to the worksheets later.
2. As a teacher, you have access to all the profiles generated within your project on the Teachers Portal. As described in section 2.2 above click again on Download List of Access Codes. You will find your own Pseudonym (4) on the list. By clicking on it, you are able to open your strenghts profile. Whenever an access code has been used, the Pseudonym (linked to the corresponding profile) will be shown here.

3. To distribute the links and the access codes to your class, we suggest that you upload the list of the class members on the Excel list and distribute the list to the class. If you are concerned about class members knowing each other's access codes for reasons of confidentiality, please only assign the appropriate line of the Excel list to one class member at a time. The allocation of codes to class members is internal to the class. Only the pseudonyms chosen by the students will appear externally on the website. Only you and the respective learner will know, which pseudonym the learner has chosen.
4. Before looking at your profile, please watch the VIP tutorial video (see also Downloads section). This explains the foundations of the VIP as well as its potentials and limitations.
5. Once you watched the video, read carefully your personal profile and in parallel fill out the worksheet My soft skills (which you have also received by e-mail or can find in the downloads section). Please follow the instructions on the profile and the worksheet. The same procedure will apply to your learners. Once you have filled out your worksheet, please come back to this Induction.

4. Create your personal web profile and discover the SwissSkills Champions

1. Back to your project on the teachers portal, either go to the Excel file «List of access codes» and click on the URL class website (5) or click on the same link under c.

2. On the top right of your class website click on the button «Learners login». Insert your access code (as used for the VIP) and follow the instructions. By validating the choice of your 3 preferred strengths and 3 preferred professional roles, you will create your own web profile. There you will find SwissSkills Champions that prefer some of the same strengths and professional roles as you. Click on at least one of the SwissSkills Champions profiles and find out more about the Champion (do not forget to look at the videos).

3. Open and read the worksheet SwissSkills Champions (which you have also received by e-mail or can find in the downloads section). Select a video that you would like to recommend, but do not yet include it on the class webpage (see 6. below).

5. Go through the PowerPoint presentation «Introduction to the Project»

We have prepared two presentations for you, one to assist you in introducing the project to your class and one to assist you in explaining the strengths and soft skills approach of mission future. To allow you adapting them to your liking, they are in an open PowerPoint format. The presentations are self-explanatory. Whenever a further explanation is needed for a slide, you will find it in the Speaker notes below the slide.
For your ease of use, we have also compiled all Speaker notes in a Word document that you can also find in the Downloads section.

PowerPoint: «Introduction to the Project»

1. The presentation Introduction to the Project will assist you in introducing the project to your class. It includes slides on the background, the goals and the processes of mission future Team, which you may adapt to your specific needs. Please go through this presentation next. Then come back to this page.

6. Explore the class webpage

Via the Learners login (see 4.2 above), each learner can enter his or her access code, choose an icon and select the preferred strengths and professional roles. All learners will then find their icon and pseudonym on the class homepage from where they can reach their personal webpage.

1. The word cloud of strengths and the collage of images of the whole class's favourite professional roles help to highlight the similarities and differences between the learners and give a good overview of a class' preferences and ease of perception and decision-making.

2. The Inspiration section allows the learners to recommend a video of a CHAMPION who has particularly inspired or impressed them. Go to your own class website (see 4.1 above) and recommend one video to see how easy this is. Discovering some of the Champions by using this worksheet, is one of the homework tasks that you may assign to your learners.
3. The section My SwissSkills shows a number of links where you and your learners can find more information on SwissSkills and on the best way to register for a competition.

7. Go through the PowerPoint presentation «The success of We is a decision!»

In the following presentation, we first explain the foundations of mission future Team. We then address the preferred strengths and professional roles of your class. Next, we show the importance of strengths and their application in successful teamwork, using the SwissSkills National Team as a reference and role model. The final slides show what should happen next and how the teams should deal with their workshops on the interactive development platform.

PowerPoint: The success of We is a decision!

1. Go through the presentation The success of We is a decision! and then come back to this induction. You may also look at the Speaker's notes The success of We is a decision! by downloading them here or in the Downloads section.

8. The interactive team development platform

The dynamic, interactive team development platform helps learners to develop a better understanding of their soft skills in the context of a project or group work. Any form of group work where the learners can utilise soft skills for the success of the team is suitable. The platform is preferably used by the group together in presence, i.e. face-to-face. However, it is also available remotely, i.e. online. Accordingly, there are two options available to you.

Option 1: The first video in the presentation The success of We is a decision! (section 7 above) shows how the workshop is conducted in presence, face-to-face. The group members need a mobile phone and internet access for this kind of workshop. If the group is larger, a tablet or PC is recommended for the moderator of the group, possibly even with a connection for a larger screen.

Option 2: The second video in this presentation shows how the workshop is conducted remotely, online. The group members will need a tablet or PC and internet access.

The contents of the workshop: The following video informs you as a teacher about the contents of the workshop. We describe all the tasks in it that are set for the groups. At the end of the video, the last task of the workshop is explained in more detail. Below the following video you will find a copy of the corresponding task.

9. Adapt mission future Team to the needs of your class

You are free with regards to the implementation of mission future Team in your class. You can

• split the work to be done in class and at home as you wish.
• adapt the presentations and tasks (e.g. number and mix of SwissSkills Champions to be looked at; debriefing process) as you see fit; modify, delete or add slides.
• adapt the self-recognition process to the level of the class and the time available. For example, you can ask your class to focus mainly on the imagery of strengths and professional roles. See also section 10. Bonus feature: Download VIP profiles.
• use the interactive team platform as often as you wish. The more often apprentices need to select their soft skills for a particular task and agree on a common approach as a team, the more effective mission future Team will be.

10. Bonus features

Under «Manage the Code Name project d. Bonus feature: Download VIP Profiles» you will find different options to download the strengths profiles of your class. This feature is mainly of interest if you wish to use all the profiles or parts of them (i.e. the strengths and professional roles) in a print version.

Under «Manage the Code Name project e. Bonus feature: Student > Teacher profile converter» you may insert your own VIP access code and obtain a Teacher Profile.
While the profile is the same as your participant profile, you will find more information and explanations on the strengths profile in the sections marked with the i symbol.

11. Next steps: Booking & managing the Mission Team workshops

Please go back to the main menu of the Teachers Portal and in the section User Guides click on the link Booking & managing the Mission Team workshops.