Tuesday 26 August 2008

Customer Service - Low cost airlines

This clip about low cost airlines is brilliant. Is there much difference to your own experience?

Monday 18 August 2008

10 Green Tips for the Eco-Trainer

Most people accept these days that we have a responsibility towards our environment. Many businesses are also taking their responsibility to the environment very seriously and many more are waking up to the need to do this.

Quite apart from anything else a demonstration of corporate social responsibility is good for public relations. There is also the fact that a ‘greener’ approach can save costs.

As trainers, we have a part to play in minimising our effect on the environment. This is partly through the message we give out during the training we deliver but also through our own behaviour.

Over the last year the training team I work for have been taking a number of steps to reduce our environmental footprint. Perhaps this has only had a minimal effect on the environment but if everyone was to think in the same way then the overall impact could be significant.

However, one effect that has been very clear for us to see is a reduction in our expenses. For example, our stationery bill seems to have halved and we are also sure that we are doing our bit to contain our energy costs. We also feel pretty good about ourselves.

Here are our top ten tips for reducing our environmental impact. They are not in any particular order but all contribute a little to a greener approach. We are sure you have plenty of tips of your own. Why not share them with us?

1. Instead of giving all participants paper copies of course hand outs deliver them by e-mail or publish them on your intranet.
2. Where paper hand outs, workbooks or instructions are absolutely necessary print them on both sides of the paper. Also, consider printing two pages on a single page.
3. Instead of handing out individual paper instructions for syndicate exercises display the instructions on a flip chart or PowerPoint slide. Alternatively, laminate the instructions and use them on future courses.
4. Recycle paper when you have finished with it.
5. Where it is not necessary to keep work for any time why not use a whiteboard instead of using flipchart paper? If you have to use flipchart paper why not use both sides of the paper?
6. Don’t forget turn off the lights and any electrical equipment when you have finished in the training room. Don’t leave electrical equipment on stand-by.
7. Buy green and/or recycled products when obtaining materials for training.
8. Review the paperwork you produce for your courses. Do you need it all or can this be reduced.
9. Deliver course joining instructions by e-mail instead of sending paper copies.
10. Arrange for course participants to complete course happy sheets instead of a paper version.


This article was written by Wolfgang Halliwell who is a learning designer for the Trainer Bubble team. Visit www.trainerbubble.com to purchase his work.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Communicating Difficult Messages - What People Want

Suppose you have a difficult subject to get over to your team; e.g. you are a manager and you need to cut hours and that means some job roles will go, this will also increase the workload on the remaining members of the team. You anticipate some resistance to this but you know it is the right thing to do as some of the work is light and there is not enough work to go around.

What people want is to feel that they have been heard and understood. What they don’t want is to sense that you are indifferent or even hostile to their feelings.


Suppose you encounter strong resistance from a member of the team during the communication. What you don’t want to do is resist your “opponent” by arguing. This will only help to add scale to the point of view, but by acknowledging from the start that the concerns are valid and showing empathy for the situation you should help to engage them and help them to recognise that their concerns are not being ignored or discounted.

So, much of communicating tough topics is about unwanted change.

There are 5 things that people want when unwanted tough topics are communicated:

  • They want to talk about their fears - Let them have their say. People need to express their concerns, they need to react and articulate their feelings. Your role, as leader, is to listen and respect their views even if you think their comments are illogical and unfair.
  • They want you to acknowledge that their concerns are valid - Never dismiss the feelings of others. Their feelings are very personal to them and by dismissing them an immediate barrier will be formed which it is very difficult to break down.
  • They want a role in deciding the aftermath - Allow people to work out for themselves how to adapt to the situation and allow them to have input where possible.
  • They want to hold on to the familiar - Keep as much of the familiar as possible. People will naturally want to hang on to what they know.
  • They want a good reason for their sacrifice - Explain the decisions be they yours or the business. It helps if they can see something good from the decision so emphasise the benefits as much as possible.

This article is adapted from the trainers notes of the Trainer Bubble training material, 'Communicating Difficult Messages', which is available from http://www.trainerbubble.com/