In our industry we're unique I read an interesting post yesterday entitled "We're Unique". the full title of the piece was "We’re Unique” (Sure You Are)" and the intro that led me to read this was interesting, however when I went to the blog I was disapointed that the actual article was no much longer than the initial introduction.In itself the article stated the obvious but did not give any hints tips or ideas on how to change the situation.There was me expecting to read some … [Read more...] about But we are different
One Page Business Plan – how to write
One Page Business Plan This article on simple one page business planning has been on the agenda for some time but never quite made it to the keyboard. Often when I run business advice sessions one of the biggest barriers to many people starting a business – or at least a barrier in their head is the business plan. They go on course, read business start-up websites and they all say you must start with a plan – well they are right – but not the sort of plan that many of the business books … [Read more...] about One Page Business Plan – how to write
Education – keeping up with the Joneses
Continous education or die... While working one the development of my site, I have recently been working with a rather skilled computer programmer/ coder from Vietnam. During our skype conversations he mentioned that he was going to night school. Then I remembered that one of the providers we used in Dubai specialised in "night school" classes - their main income. This got me thinking - why in the UK is there such a small percentage of people paying for themselves to go to night … [Read more...] about Education – keeping up with the Joneses
Training Materials For Trainers
Training Materials for Trainers Do people need "off the shelf" ready to use training materials?With the (re) launch of the store on TrainingZone recently, and the background work we have been doing preparing ready-to-use training materials, this trend got me thinking. Do we need such resources? Is there a market for this material? If so why is there a market?HistoryIn the past many trainers attended train the trainer courses which built up a level of skills and awareness, and in … [Read more...] about Training Materials For Trainers
Adwords trainer & Adwords training
Do you need an Adwords trainer? Today I received a discount code for advertising on LinkedIn, for some reason I then went to do a search and saw a link "we are #1 on google search for Adwords trainer - try it and find out". This showed About 290,000 results. This got me thinking. Why I even started this I don't know but it was a useful 30 minute exploration.Early in 2004/5 when I first started this site I did try using adwords to raise traffic to the then new website. Like many consulting … [Read more...] about Adwords trainer & Adwords training
SMART Goal Setting Worksheet
A Worksheet to help write SMART Goals Worksheet for writing SMART goalsWriting SMARTer goals:Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-based, Exciting, Recorded... is easy... or is it?There are many ways of using SMART, indeed if you have seen our page https://rapidbi.com/smarter/ you will know the history and the many variants.Uses of SMART Goals or ObjectivesRemember the SMART approach is a TEST to be carried out after writing the goals to test its validity and … [Read more...] about SMART Goal Setting Worksheet
How & why to start a business or technical blog
Starting a Business or Technical Blog There is a lot of advice on the internet on "how to start a business blog", less on "why to start a business blog" and even fewer on how and why.This article was prompted by a tweet I saw asking for advice when he has been "tasked with finding out about blogs with the aim of setting up a technical one". Many freelance or small business owners may that also considered setting one up as others in their industry have them. So why blog for business? Why … [Read more...] about How & why to start a business or technical blog
How to Select a Training Provider
How to choose and buy training from an external provider Training is increasingly being seen as an optional spend. With more and more being managed and delivers in house, how do we make sure that any investment in training will add value to both individuals participating and the organisation as a whole.We do not need to undertake “level 4” evaluation to know this, but we do need to ensure that training is the tool of appropriate use – not the first tool of choice.With that in mind here … [Read more...] about How to Select a Training Provider
Different Types of Coaching
Types of Coaching Coaching has evolved into several very different directions and has become an absolute priority in each and every sphere of life for many people. Coaching has thus been categorized into specific varieties and there are definite coaches who handle their particular fields. There are various kinds of coaching which has come into the limelight in the recent years and the most important varieties of coaching include Business Coaching, Life Coaching, Sports Coaching and Executive … [Read more...] about Different Types of Coaching
The Top 50 Leadership Blogs Of 2010
Evan Carmichaels - The Top 50 Leadership Blogs Of 2010 Evan Carmichael does some great work looks at social media and who contributes what. This is a copy of one of his entries, see more at his site.We may not all be natural born leaders, but the power to become one is within each of us. And in order for us to take our companies from being just good to great, we need to learn how to unleash that power. The 50 bloggers below are here to help you do just that. They are the best in their … [Read more...] about The Top 50 Leadership Blogs Of 2010
History of Coaching – A True Insight into Coaching
Coaching is everywhere, in this piece we explore the history of coaching through academia, sport, business and beyond. It [Coaching] is the hot topic of management, leadership and people development. This article explores the history of coaching through the ages.There are as many forms of coaching methodologies are there are coaches, so is there a “right” way? Or is the term “coaching” a generic word for one-to-one guidance, help or support? A True Insight into Coaching The origination of … [Read more...] about History of Coaching – A True Insight into Coaching
Clean Sheet Review Tool
What is a Clean Sheet Review? With an increasing need for organizations to review their effectiveness and costing, more and more managers and organizational development practitioners have to undertake “Clean Sheet Reviews”.What is a “Clean Sheet Review” and how do you do one?It is in essence a process of collective (or organizational) forgetting or wiping the slate clean and starting with a blank sheet of paper. Starting again from scratch.Within the context of Business Process … [Read more...] about Clean Sheet Review Tool
The Dangers of Social Networking – Duplicity
Social Networking Destroyed My Life Some months ago we published a humorous piece on "The Dangers of Social Networking in 2010". This was generally well received, and has been linked to by several other authors exploring the problems of using Twitter, FaceBook and other Social networking tools as part of business or education. There are some real dangers and some real opportunities in the business and learning contexts.Recently I have been reading more and more about teachers being … [Read more...] about The Dangers of Social Networking – Duplicity
Tools of Change Management
Introduction to change, change models and tools of change management For any organizational development (OD) intervention to be effective, change needs to be lead or at the very least managed from a people perspective.Many organizations focus on the project management aspects of change. While this is an important factor - it is not the critical factor. People are.Having said that, it is about balancing the development or change of both at the same time - see our business growth model. … [Read more...] about Tools of Change Management
Partnership and Leadership Development – Solving the Dilemma
Developing Leadership and Partnerships The world (culture and context) in which we operate is changing. no longer is there an acceptable level of differential performance between the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Value for money is expected at every level.Managers and providers of social and community care services have much on their minds, not least of which is the immediate demand to somehow deliver ‘more for less’. A challenge with a longer history is the productive use of … [Read more...] about Partnership and Leadership Development – Solving the Dilemma
Remote Working & Effective Leadership
Remote working and effective leadership Today in London is the third day of underground railway (tube) strikes, and more and more people can and do work from home, thanks to broadband internet and powerful IT solutions. Indeed I am writing this from a café in Wandworth Common as we speak!With more and more people able to remote work, and indeed many firms changing to a remote working culture it is strange that 1980s management practices are reducing employee productivity and … [Read more...] about Remote Working & Effective Leadership
Organizational Diagnostics and Strategy Maps
The world of organizational development is s strange one. ask 10 practitioners in the field what it is and you will get 11 different answers!For those of us involved in the cloak and dagger world of Organizational Development we use a wide range of organizational diagnostic tools however when it comes to planning and monitoring progress we often do things a little freestyle. While this may feel creative and valuable it may well be one of the contributing factors to change programmes not … [Read more...] about Organizational Diagnostics and Strategy Maps
The Secret to Bringing Great Teamwork Home
What Makes World Class Teamwork? Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton share their findings to The Secret to Bringing Great Teamwork Home.Over the past two years we have been studying teamwork in the workplace, and we commissioned a 350,000-person study from the Best Companies Group that identified the characteristics of the most productive, profitable teams. What did we find? Teams that produced superior results had much higher levels of camaraderie, communication and recognition.I think … [Read more...] about The Secret to Bringing Great Teamwork Home
What is the ratio of development to delivery time?
Recently on some of the forums I follow there has been a debate on how long it takes to develop a training courses. Or what is the number of development hours per delivery hour.Before the debate is even started we need to understand that design for a one off one day event will be very different from a one day event which will be run several or 100s of times, and this will be different again depending on who will lead these events. If the event is to be "led" via e-learning or some other … [Read more...] about What is the ratio of development to delivery time?
When is leadership not leadership? – cultural issues
This past week I have been in the UAE facilitating a 5 day leadership and strategic change program for international participants (none from the UAE). The brief was to share international best practice around all areas of leadership and change. For the majority they found the teaching and learning of great value, however there were some that acted as delegates. Not listening or interacting above the absolute minimum. They appeared to think that they were perfect leaders already and could learn … [Read more...] about When is leadership not leadership? – cultural issues
