So whats been on my agenda

Well here are some of the useful posts and blogs I've been reading;

 The three attributes of champions

■ Focus on the goal
■ Continuously strive to improve and challenge how they do  things
■ Work with others

Read more

The Future of Education: How the Khan Academy is changing the way we learn

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15 Things Successful People Do

Set goals, Don’t rely on luck, Track progress, Act, Connect the dots, Display realistic optimism, Continued improvement, Commit, Be alert, Persevere, Communicate with confidence, Display humility, Be flexible, Make connections

Read more

10 Things Really Amazing Bosses Do

So are there 'good' bosses or are they 'amazing'?

Read more

26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I'd Known at 20

A fantastic reminder for us all.

Read more

eLN

Really enjoying the Effective Learning website. Plenty of hints and tips, topics, discussion that can help us all.

Have a look at the eLNinsights    http://insights.elearningnetwork.org/ 

E-learning Award Winner webinars

E-learning Award Winner webinar

I'm going to try one of these as I've had  some good feedback on previous events. Interesting to know what others have done Its free so give it a go.

http://www.elearningage.co.uk/webinarprogramme.aspx

Training structure is just a good story

When designing a training course its sometimes difficult to know where to start or how to make sense of all the information you believe you need to get across. Well if you think of it as one of those great stories you've read then you have got the inspiration to follow in the authors footsteps.

So where do you think the authorr started, with a character, a setting, the beginning, some magic moment? Lets be frank, a good book has a great ending and that's probably where they started. This is our 'outcome'. If the story doesn't know where its going then the author starts to wonder as they progress whats the point, there seems no purpose in whats happening. You need to keep your ending in mind as you progress through your story to keep all the events relevant.

Like all good stories it should start with a bang, something to capture the iimagination of the participant. Characters, places, events are all clearly described. Each objective of our training courses could easily be chapters of the book. Nicely chunked, not too long, each has a defining point and something that is memorable. Above all its relevant to the story and not wandering off the point.

As you start to look at your structure you will see the course coming together, all moving towards the outcome that you had understood at the beginning. You'll be able to see if there are holes in your story as the ending just won't make sense. You'll see if some chapters start to become too long and really need chunking down. Above all else your story should flow from one chapter to another.

A good training course will demonstrate all these elements. I know we state the outcome at the beginning but it should start by explaining (signposting) how the story will progress (chapters). In our training courses how the story will progress should be clearly visible for the participants as well so they know where they are. Each chapter or objective should be written so it can be evaluated or checked. Otherwise how do you know the participant is following your story. It isn't good enough just to read it to them, how will you know they understood, where they listening and even if they just repeat back what you have said what have they learnt?

So remember that good book you read. I bet you bought it because the story looked interesting, it had you hooked from the beginning, it flowed seamlessly as it went along, each chapter was memorable and followed the last and the end made you smile and say what a great story.

Whats in a training course for the trainee

Here's a presentation designed for the trainee and what they can expect from our training courses. Hopefully this will also aid the trainers among us to make sure we are meeting the trainees needs as its them who are coming to learn.


http://prezi.com/fcgltdugh7jw/whats-in-a-training-course-for-you/

Twitter for all

I've recently been part of a trial using Twitter to showcase to the world the different jobs that happen in my workplace. Over a two week period myself and approx 15 other members of staff tweeted actual elements of their job as it happened. Looking to highlight learning issues as we went or just post up best practice was a goal I had set myself and was keen to see if that also happened amongst the group.

Everyone who took part felt really engaged in the activity, especially as most where home workers who only ever meet their colleagues once or twice a month. For those in the trial who did different jobs to the majority it was a good insight in to what really happened on an hour to hour, day to day basis. Communication was great, members of the trial even started to post stories of what happened out of work and the group bonded much better than ever anticipated.

But what of any learning on the job, sharing of best practice? Well it was only a two week trial but there wasn't much to report. May be staff got caught up in the new technology, the opportunity to be able to communicate in 'real time' or just in the purpose of the trial to communicate their job.

So am I disappointed? Not at all. Having an engaged team in times when workloads are higher, targets are shorter and overall we all feel under that extra amount of pressure can't be all bad. Social media is new to all of us. The ability to blog, tweet, post or upload our thoughts and experiences are now in the very palms of our hands 24/7 and anytime anywhere. Setting guidelines in the work environment is worth giving some thought with social media so it makes it easier to filter the information you really need.

So engagement or learning tool? Its both and I'm sure over the next few years as more people embrace these tools for these purposes then we'll see a different aspect to our communication and learning needs in the workplace.

So what's the need

In our current times when staff numbers seem low yet the workload gets larger how should we go about analysing what the customer wants. Right now i have an in-tray full of requirements, training needs, communication pieces, strategy docs etc. So what's my first step?

Well first of all do i understand them and do my customers know what I already know. Thus here is my first step;



1, what does my customer want?

I need to get in there and start asking questions and listen very carefully. Listening is a skill which is hard to practice, but its important at this stage to make sure YOU understand the requirement. Always best to make sure you take minutes of these conversations so you can reference back as well. This will aid any piece of work in the future and make sure you stay on track.

2, what doesn't the customer want?

Never presume at this point that items not mentioned are out of scope but try and get a clear picture of what the end result looks like and this will eliminate some of what may be the initial requirements. Always be checking back with the customer on progress. As issues arise then its good to know if you need to plough on or descope some of the work.

3, so who is the audience?

Knowing who you are delivering to will help with timescales, methods, media and costings. A picture should now be starting to emerge.

4, funds

Some pieces of our jobs don't cost anything do they, or may be they do? Time is probably our big cost at the moment with more and more work to get through. So be clear with this one - how long is it going to take to get the job done? Yes its an indirect cost but one which easily has an impact on those tasks which bring in the money. On the flip side make sure there is money in the budget to make your tasks happen.

Ok, so now you have gone through this simple process you can hopefully prioritise that work you have in the in-tray. Some of the tasks won't seem as scary as first thought and you'll know a lot more of what to do as well.