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Written by Andi Roberts
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Saturday, 18 December 2010 17:54 |
The following are 5 tips for leaders and managers studying
As an Associate Lecturer for the OU Business School, I see a range of leaders and managers studying on management courses whilst trying to fit in more than full time jobs and family lives. Here are my top tips for management study for all of those leaders and managers:
1) Carry all of your course materials with you electronically in as many devices as possible
I manage to carry around my course materials on my laptop, phone and ereader (Sony PRS-500). This means that when I am traveling by plane, train or simply waiting to connect I can dip in and refresh or start something new.
2) Create a routine
You may not be able to create a weekly study routine but when you do sit down to study create some "anchors" that get you in to the flow of study. Mine is to tell the family I am off to study, put on certain music, close down my mac, take a tea or coffee.
3) Study in chunks
You will know what works for you so break down your study periods in to reasonable chunks. For me a study period ia a chunk of 45 minutes, When marking assignments I kick off with a breaks after each assignment and then after a few I do 3 together then break.
4) Link Study goals to assignment goals
To assist me to study I move ahead to the next assignment to understand what is needed and then link all of my study to work and always keep top of mind what is required to support my assignment.
5) Create a consistent note taking process
Find a note taking method that suits you. I have played around over time with written notes, written mind maps, electronic mind maps using various programs and finally condensed power-point notes. Find out what works for you and stick to it. |
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Written by Andi Roberts
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Friday, 29 October 2010 15:58 |
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According to a new study by the International Coach Federation (ICF), the overwhelming majority of people who have experienced professional coaching are satisfied and would recommend coaching to others.
Their findings:
- 83 percent of respondents who had been involved in a coaching relationship were somewhat satisfied to very satisfied with their coaching experience.
- Advocacy of coaching among those respondents also ranked high, a mean score of 7.5 on a 10-point scale with 10 being "extremely likely" to recommend.
- Professional coaching is being used to help people around the world improve work performance, expand career opportunities and increase self-esteem.
- More than two-fifths (42.6 percent) of respondents who had experienced coaching chose "optimize individual and/or team performance" as their motivation for being coached, followed by "expand professional career opportunities" at 38.8 percent and "improve business management strategies" at 36.1 percent.
- Satisfaction levels can most likely be attributed to high returns on investment as well. In previous research the ICF found that coaching is generating a very good return on investment -- a median return of seven times the initial investment for businesses, and nearly 3.44 times for individuals who use coaching.
Source : http://www.coachfederation.org/works/
If you would like to see how coaching can help your business achieve its goals contact Andi Roberts to create a dialogue on how coaching works and how it can work for your business.
Andi Roberts is a Professional Certified Coach of the International Coach Federation |
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Written by Andi Roberts
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Friday, 29 October 2010 14:17 |
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I recently got asked to develop a session around what stops learning from a course being implemented. Here are some thoughts on what stops a course being effective and some ideas on how to deal with them.
The organisation
Barriers from the organisation
Planning - poor training needs analysis to kick of with
HR or business has a negative attitude towards training.
Purchaser provides poor briefing to training provider.
Inadequate follow up from HR on course design, delivery and support.
Evaluation at various levels not carried out by HR or sponsor.
Lack of line management support/commitment to the training course.
Purchaser not prepared to fund follow up or give time for supporting activities
Solutions : Before the course
Broaden the input into the Training Needs Analysis.
Establish clear objectives and learning outcomes for the course.
Pre course briefings to explain objectives to all stakeholders.
Pre course meetings with provider to understand organisation and its culture.
Help delegates to understand relevance of the course to their jobs.
Solutions : During the course
Provide cover for participants whilst they are away from their jobs.
Reinforce how content supprts the daily work.
Strategise about how to ensure learning takes place.
Solutions : After the course
Provide opportunity for follow up work and reviews.
Provide regular feedback, counselling and guidance.
The work place
Barriers from the work place
Culture does not encourage change.
Lack of management commitment to the course or learning.
Lack of support within the organisation in terms of giving people time and space to implement deas.
High work load time pressure on everyone .
Organisation changing structure too often.
Difficulties to implement changes for various reasons.
Isolation from team after course.
Lack of support network to embed learning.
Solutions : Before the course
Ensure all participants attend / receive a briefing.
If the course is a team development course ensure ALL team members attend.
Ensure commitment of all levels of management to the course.
Identify people who will provide on-going support and motivation to participants.
Help participants understand relevance to job.
Solutions : During the course
Help participants understand relevance to job.
Provide cover whilst the participants are away from work.
Solutions : After the course
Post course reviews with participants by line manager.
Provide opportunity for follow up work and reviews.
Provide regular feedback, counselling and guidance.
Give thanks and recognition of improvement.
The learner
Barriers from the learner
Learner misunderstanding the point of the course
Learner’s attitude, perceptions and fears of doing something different after the course.
Learner won’t take responsibility for own learning and changes.
Behavioural change is difficult
Solutions : Before the course
Pre-course briefings with participants to alleviate fears and explain objectives.
Ask participants who have attended to talk to future delegates.
Help participants understand relevance to job.
Solutions : During the course
Encouraging participants to be responsible for own learning.
Encourage participants to be positive about change.
Raise awareness of difficulties of changing one’s own behaviour.
Plan in the course how they will pass barriers to learning.
Solutions : After the course
Find a buddy to meet up with and regularly review application of learning.
Swap team roles back at work.
Take personal time to reflect and look at things differently.
Provide opportunity for follow up work and reviews.
Provide regular feedback, counselling and guidance.
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Written by Andi Roberts
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Friday, 29 October 2010 14:06 |
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21 eager participants are signed up to study the Open University Business School course on Marketing & Finance that I will be tutoring from Monday 1st November.
The course is a six month course that blends virtual with face to face sessions in the city of London.
Interested in knowing more about the course and the Certificate in Management?
Visit this website or download this document |
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Written by Andi Roberts
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Friday, 29 October 2010 13:56 |
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There are many reasons why new learning from training courses does not get implemented. They can be divided into three key areas of where the blockage occurs:
• With the learner
• With the manager of the learner
• With the organisation
For each of these there are many things that can be done to support the embedding of learning. Here are just a few:
Techniques for the learner
1. Keep a journal of your thoughts and ideas: By reflecting you are more likely to remember concepts and use them.
2. Review course material regularly: By rereading through the material occasionally you will remember key ideas and points from the course.
3. Research a topic: Pick different topics from the course and research them more by reading websites, books and internal online resources. Make a mind map of the
4. Set goals and review them: set yourself goals to implement ideas and the tools from the course and review their use periodically. Use Six hats and thinking tools to carry out the review.
5. Buddy up with another participant: take time to lunch or have a coffee break together to discuss issues and peer coach each other. Twice a month would be perfect.
Techniques for the Manager / Team Leader
1. Show and tell sessions: At team meetings get participants to do a show and tell session of 15 to 20 minutes around a topic from the course.
2. Create follow up meetings: Take time out to review the use of course materials in day to day work. Understand what is being used and the impact it is having.
3. Set special projects: Ask participants to focus and investigate a specific business issue and suggest some key actions to take. Then delegate to them the activities to make the changes happen.
4. Teach others: Ask participants to teach some of the core concepts and ideas to their team or other teams under you control. Create some free time so that they can do this well.
5. Reinforce the performance management process: Make the course and the learning from it a formal part of the performance and development cycle.
Techniques for the organisation
1. Create time to review: Budget time and a room to allow participants to get together to review the course content and how they are using the material to impact the day to day operations of the business.
2. Formalise learning review: Ensure that all participants have a formal course learning review meeting with their manager shortly after a course.
3. Don’t overload participants: Don’t pile on too much work just after participants finish a course as they need time to reflect and implement ideas.
4. Reinforce a learning culture: Think about different ways you can reinforce the need to learn and develop organisational competence in the business.
5. Search for success: Ask participants for success stories from the implementation of ideas from their courses. Post these publically and use in internal newsletters. |
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