The Grandfather - An Inspirational Story

The Grandfather

Author Unknown

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor." So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.

Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes observe, their ears listen, and their minds process the messages they absorb. If they see us patiently providing a happy home atmosphere for family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. The wise parent realises that every day the building blocks are being laid for the child's future. Let's be wise builders.

Business Interview with Andrew Wood - 3

The final part of the interview with Andrew Wood, the MD of Trainer Bubble...

If you had an unlimited budget, how would you change?

There is a lot going on in the serious gaming market, where customers will play business simulations in order to develop their skills. I see this being a real interesting area in the future and I think the demographic of learners coming through will demand this. I'd also like to market overseas in a more substantial way, as we get a lot of new business from this area and could expand here.

What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?

It was a shock to me how much of a money pit marketing can be. I don't remember who it was that said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I only wish I knew which half." They were right.

What has been your biggest challenge?

It has to be in the early days of the website, when I felt that my programmers did not have the same sense of urgency about my website as I did. It was frustrating to have to wait a few days for a couple of lines of text to be changed. Eventually I decided I'd have to learn how to programme and edit the website myself. I became self taught, which was a major uphill struggle to begin with. I can now design, edit and pretty much do all the basics. I also learnt a lot about search engine optimisation as I knew this was the cheapest form of advertising, it certainly beat paying for an seo company!

How has running your website differed from your expectations?

It's a lot more work than I thought it would be. I didn't realise how much time and effort I'd need to put into the website from inception to now. The idea of, 'If you build it they will come.' is not a sound one!

How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?

The site has been running for three years now and we are enjoying continual success. I don't see the need to stop as long as we can diversify into new areas and keep offering customers what they want.

Business Interview with Andrew Wood - 2

More from the interview with Andrew Wood, the MD of Trainer Bubble...

What is your eventual goal?

We hope to continue building on our offering and eventually expand into other areas. I am currently in talks with many different training related groups about offering something just that little bit different. I'm hopeful we'll have some serious gaming and e-learning products ready for 2009.

How does your investment of time balance against your success?

Because our materials are downloadable, most of the work is put in at the design and development stage and for the rest of the time we kick back and relax...I wish! We are continually working to improve things and spend a lot of time marketing and promoting the website. Of course the development time is continual and we are always striving to make each product better than the last. It is all really hard work, but we are very successful and it's definitely worth it.

If you had an unlimited budget, how would you change?

There is a lot going on in the serious gaming market, where customers will play business simulations in order to develop their skills. I see this being a real interesting area in the future and I think the demographic of learners coming through will demand this. I'd also like to market overseas in a more substantial way, as we get a lot of new business from this area and could expand here.

What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?

It was a shock to me how much of a money pit marketing can be. I don't remember who it was that said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I only wish I knew which half." They were right.

Business Interview with Andrew Wood

The Managing Director of Trainer Bubble, Andrew Wood was recently interviewed for an article in a local paper regarding his experiences with the Trainer Bubble website and his general thoughts on training. We thought it would be interesting for our customers to view the article and Andrew's views on the website and training, so we will display section of the article bit by bit over the coming weeks. Here's the first instalment...

Please give us a short summary of the website.

Trainer Bubble provides accredited training resources and course materials that trainers and leaders can download and use to run their own training sessions. When you purchase from our website, you receive a complete training pack of trainer’s notes and slides etc. ready to run your own training course. We also have a rapidly growing free section, where you will find training games, exercises, icebreakers and many other useful training tools.

What inspired you to launch the website?

We wanted to make training accessible to all and felt that a method of delivering training resources instantly to trainers and leaders was something that would really benefit our customers. We were also keen to develop a free collection of all the useful training games, icebreakers and tools that we have used in the past.

How did you come up with the name for Trainer Bubble?

The name came from a conversation/debate I had with a participant on one of my courses many years ago in which he said to me, "It's alright for you *bleeping* trainers, you all live in a bubble!' This statement always stuck with me and reminded me to remain objective and link learning to business needs. When I set up the business I decided to pay homage to the guy (whose name I sadly forget) and create a 'bubble' for trainers, hence, Trainer Bubble.

What makes Trainer Bubble different to other websites of the same type?

We were the first business of this specific nature to set up in the UK and since then we have been able to grow our offering beyond that of anyone else. We also have full accreditation for our training materials from ITOL, which really sets us apart. We are also proud that our free section is becoming one of the largest on the web.

Learning From Horse Trainers

Every now and then it pays to be reminded of basic principles and I got a reminder of this from an unexpected source a couple of days ago. I found myself reading an article giving tips in horse training techniques. The article caught my eye because some of the tips could equally apply to the way in which we train people.

I am not for one moment suggesting that horses and people are the same but that we can sometimes learn from the way in which other professionals work.

There were six main ideas that I liked because they reminded me of the importance of treating participants in the right way in the training room. I thought that I would share these with you whilst at the same time giving my take on how these techniques might also apply to people.

1. Warm the horse up both physically and mentally before starting.

Anyone used to training people will be aware of the importance of icebreakers and energisers. It seems that trying to go straight into a difficult training session without an initial warm up is not productive for humans or for horses.

2. Plan your training sessions carefully.

This is common sense whether training people or animals. It is also important to have a back-up plan in case your approach does not work on the day. We all have off days and we all learn in different ways, so we need a plan that caters for this.

3. Give simple cues.

Keeping cues and instructions simple makes perfect sense. We own a dog and I know from training him that confusing or difficult instructions do not work. The same applies to people. The simpler the instructions and information we supply the easier it is for them to learn.

4. Use positive and negative reinforcement during training

Feedback is important and it needs to be well balanced. If all of our feedback is negative we cannot be surprised if the people we are training lose heart. At the same time feedback that is 100% positive is no use unless justified.

5. Recognise when the horse is trying to make a correct response and give small rewards.

I’m not suggesting that we give a lump of sugar to people when they are doing well. But well placed words of encouragement can be their own reward (e.g. Well done. You’ve almost got it). Anyone who is used to training others will be well aware of this.

6. Know the lesson you are trying to teach and be persistent with that lesson.

This comes back to knowing the purpose of your training and making sure that everything you do is aimed at meeting that purpose. If both trainer and trainee are clear about lesson objectives and are persistent in meeting those objectives then success can almost be assured.

Of course, horses are not people. However, consistently applying these simple ideas must surely apply to training in just about any context.

This article was written by Karl Halliwell who is one of the course designers for Trainer Bubble training resources. Visit Trainer Bubble today to find out more about our Train the Trainer course materials.

Marketing Strategy

I recently came across this simple guide to marketing that sums things up for me...

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, "I'm fantastic in bed". That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, "He's fantastic in bed". That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed". That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed". That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed". That's Brand Recognition.

Complaints Are Good For Business

We may not like handling complaints, particularly if we have a customer screaming at us like a demented banshee. However, there is a certain satisfaction in being able to remain calm and professional and being able to turn around a bad situation.

Successful organisations encourage unhappy customers to complain and make sure that their people are trained to handle complaints well. This is because they know that complaints are good for their business.

There has been a lot of research into this subject and it all points to the fact that most unhappy customers do not bother to complain. This may seem to be a good thing as it leads to a quiet life. However, the problem is that these people simply take their business elsewhere. In fact, as many as 95% of complaining customers take this approach. This means that only about 1 in 20 bother to complain. Can we really afford to lose the other 19?

This would be a pity because most of the problems that make people unhappy can be resolved easily. Yet you are never given the chance to put the situation right. It is also a shame because good complaint handling leads to customer loyalty. Research suggests that most customers whose complaints are dealt with quickly and well become loyal customers returning again and again.

Complaints are also important because they may be the only way you can ever find out that there is a problem with your products and services and the general health of the business. Only by becoming aware of these problems it is then possible to put them right for the future and consequently to improve the business.

This all suggests that rather than discouraging people from complaining we should be publicising our complaints procedures. We also need to have a system for recording all complaints so that we can quickly spot any trends that need attention. It is also vital that we don’t neglect staff training. After all, we do need to make sure that the complaints we receive are handled well. We don’t want to make a bad situation even worse.

This article was written by Karl Halliwell who is one of the course designers for Trainer Bubble training resources. Visit Trainer Bubble today to find out more about our complaint handling course materials.

Time for Business to SWOT up?

This is a very worrying time for business. The banking crisis and the certainty of recession mean that there are very hard times ahead. Inevitably, some businesses will not survive. Even well run and stable businesses are likely to find it tough and will need to be flexible to thrive.

Business plans that were carefully crafted only a few months ago will need to be re-visited. In a world that is changing so quickly do those plans still hold good? The threats that business faces today are very different from those being faced only a few weeks ago. At the same time there will be new opportunities although they may be a lot harder to spot. The big question is whether your business is well placed to cope with the new threats and take advantage of new opportunities.

One approach that may serve business well is to conduct A SWOT analysis. Whilst this will not in itself provide the answers we need it is an important tool to help take proper stock of the situation. Only by recognising new threats and opportunities and how well placed we are to cope with both can we even begin to plan for the future. It may also help us to spot the actions that need to be taken in the short term.

Strengths

Now is the time to remind yourself of the strengths of your business and to consider which of these strengths will help you now. These will vary from business to business and it is worth considering some of the following areas:

• Skills, knowledge, motivation and loyalty of the workforce.
• Flexibility of the business. How well can it cope with change?
• Financial strength of the business
• The relationship with your business partners
• The reliability of your business partners
• Your spread of customers
• Your spread of products.
• Your control of expenses
• How well managed is the business?
• Your systems and efficiencies
• How good is your risk management and contingency planning?

Weaknesses

What are the known weaknesses in your businesses? Again it is worth considering all of the points listed under strengths. For example, relying heavily on just a few customers may be a real problem. Do your employees have the knowledge and skills to cope with the changes you may have to make? If not, there may be a training need to be addressed. Of course, now is not the time for expensive training solutions but are there some priority needs that could be addressed with low cost solutions?

Opportunities

In these gloomy times it may be hard to think of too many business opportunities but they do exist if we look hard enough. Let’s take the example of the supermarkets. With money amongst shoppers getting tighter they have recognised that there is more of a market for their own label bargain products and have adapted their businesses accordingly.

It’s also worth remembering that your competitors will be struggling too. Some may go out of business and this presents potential opportunities if you can ride out the storm.

What other potential opportunities can you think of? Don’t just look for the obvious. For example, employees who have been resistant to change in the past may have a different attitude now. With the job market likely to become more challenging the opportunity to acquire new skills associated with change may seem a lot more attractive.

Threats

Of course, there are many threats at the moment. Will the bank manager continue to support the business? Will your competitors try to undercut you in a cut throat battle for your business?

What about your business partners? Will they be struggling too? If, so what might the threat be to your business?

What other potential threats can you think of? Again, it is important to look beyond the obvious threats.

We are not suggesting that a SWOT analysis will solve everything. It is merely a tool to help us to fully understand our situation and is one of many approaches that can be adopted at all levels of an organisation to start planning your way through the next few months. It may also help you identify some quick solutions that might even make a difference straight away.

By Karl Halliwell a Trainer Bubble author.

Make the Most of Your Budget During the Credit Crunch

Value for money has never been more important...

You can't turn on the tv, read the paper or view the internet at the moment without being told how difficult times are financially right now. Our experience in dealing with large organisations tells us that even though companies might not be ready to throw in the towel just yet, there has been a noticeable downturn in the outputs of most L&D departments.

Many are doing nothing and learning and development has simply been placed on hold, while others are cutting budgets and streamlining or even cancelling any development plans. What you can be sure of is that development is just as important as ever and standing still is not the best way forward. That's why we believe that our low-cost, yet highly effective training resources have become more valueable than ever.

So, rather than let the wave of fear challenge your learning interventions,take control again by visiting Trainer Bubble.

Structuring a Difficult Message - Communication Skills

When news is communicated, it helps if there is a structure to the various elements of the news. If we structure the communication in a logical manner, we will ensure that people clearly receive the message and that there is less likelihood of misunderstanding or ‘Chinese whispers’. The order of giving the news is:

Context – What you are going to be talking about
The headline - The heading of the subject matter
The detail – The detail
The reason for the news – What’s caused it
The rationale – What led to the reason, the background behind it
The consequences – What this actually means to the individuals, what will happen
Alternative actions – What, if any, other actions can be taken

For example:

Context:

I want to talk to you about the office.

The headline:

The office is closing.

The detail:

The office is closing and merging with the office ten miles away.

The reason for the news:

It will save money by operating out of one office rather than two.

The rationale:

We’ve looked at how the loss of business is affecting us and there are a number of sites around the country where the operation can be combined.
This will save costs by reducing the number of sites we have to maintain.

The consequences:

You will need to consider any additional travelling time and distance. You will need to consider how this will affect your home life. You need to consider whether or not you want to stay with the company.

Alternative actions:

As well as staff being offered the opportunity of moving to the other office, which is being enlarged, there will be options to move to other offices if more convenient. There is also a voluntary redundancy option.

This article was adapted from the training materials for the 'Communicating Difficult Messages' workbook, which forms part of the training materials by Trainer Bubble. Visit our website to view this great resource www.trainerbubble.com

When Anger turns to Rage - The Difference

Phone Rage is on the increase in the world of business. So what's the difference between anger and rage?

“Anger is only a natural reaction; one of the mind's ways of reacting to things that it perceives to be wrong. While anger can sometimes lead people to do shocking things, it can also be an instinct to show people that something isn't right.”

Anger is a feeling that we all encounter from time to time, and frequently we experience it as a response to frustration, hurt, disappointment, and threats (real or imagined). It is often related to a perceived loss of control over factors affecting our integrity—our beliefs and how we feel about ourselves. In some cases, the anger has to do with the inability of others to meet our own unrealistic expectations.

The rational expression of anger in response to these concerns can offer several benefits. Most important is the mobilising of inner resources needed to overcome fear. When we feel angry, we have some confidence in responding to the danger or threat.

Fear leads to flight; anger sustains fight. While rational anger can be constructive in feeling competent to confront a threatening situation, we may react to the threat with more anger than is warranted. However, anger in itself is not necessarily a problem and can often be managed to resolution.

Rage is the accumulation of unexpressed anger and perceived disrespectful transactions that finally flow to the surface. When we become enraged, usually there is the belief that someone is deliberately attempting to incite us to become angry. Within this ego-bruised state, we are convinced that trying to be reasonable will prove to be ineffective, and therefore we will need to “even the score” or methodically disarm the offending party. It is when this rage surfaces that we become difficult to deal with.

“Sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.” ~ Author Unknown

It is important to make the differentiation between ‘rage’ and ‘anger’ as we might often encounter anger from a caller when they are dissatisfied, but when this anger becomes vehement, aggressive or even personally abusive we can consider it rage. Often, badly handled anger will turn to rage as the customer becomes more out of control.

This article is an excerpt from the Trainer Bubble training materials on 'Dealing with Phone Rage', which can be purchased from our website at www.trainerbubble.com

The Future of the English Language

A little bit of a spelling test for everyone today...

Call Centre Training - Listen to calls

We are often asked if we can provide recorded telephone calls for training purposes. Our customers like to listen in to telephone calls and then review them in the training session, which can be a fantastic way of reviewing customer perceptions and our own attitudes to calls.

We have always preferred not to provide such calls as we feel it is unfair to 'label' an organisation by one specific phone call to one individual. We encourage our customers to record their own calls if this is something they want to pursue.

It is actually very easy to record telephone calls and all you need is a standard recording device (tape recorder or even a microphone attached to your pc) and a speaker phone. You then make a basic call to a company requesting a brochure or enquiring about their service.

Of course, we always do what we can to help our customers and so we will soon be developing a set of 'fake' telephone calls, recorded by Trainer Bubble team members, which will be added to our free section at Trainer Bubble.

In the meantime, we have found a set of calls that were made to banks by thisismoney.co.uk the link is here. These should assist those customers that need help quickly.

We hope this helps.

Social Proof - Influence through people power

The following video has a humorous edge. However, I think it provides a really interesting insight into the workings of the human mind and how we are influenced by 'social proof' i.e. when others do something, I must do it too.

This concept is discussed in our training material, 'The Power of Influence' Visit us at Trainer Bubble to find out more...everybody else already has!

Customer Service - Low cost airlines

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

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.

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/

Everything is linked...

A fantastic movie that develops the interconnectedness of things...

Report Writing - Getting Started

For many people the hardest part in writing a report is getting started.

Have you ever struggled to find the right words?

Or do you start writing but find that you don’t get very far because you are unhappy with what you have written?

Do you then find yourself re-writing your opening?

It is all too easy to get bogged down and to make little or no progress. This is sometimes known as writer’s block.

Instead of aiming for perfection the key to writing a lengthy piece such as a report is to get on and write it. Don’t try to edit it as you go along. It is usually far better to write the whole piece and then to go back and edit it later. Try this approach:

• Work through the major points you intend to cover one at a time.
• Start writing and write everything you have planned to cover on each of these points.
• Avoid looking for better or more impressive words.
• Avoid stopping and evaluating your work while you are still writing. Do this only when you have finished.
• Keep going until you have finished your first draft.

If you have already produced a report outline as recommended you will find it is much easier to write the report itself.

Visit Trainer Bubble, where you will find our training course materials including trainers notes for Report Writing. www.trainerbubble.com

Training the key to profits!

The head of the company that owns PC World and Currys has said that poorly trained staff are a large factor in the current failings of these businesses and that improving service levels is going to present major difficulties for the future. "It will take some time. It will require years of training. It's an investment, but we think we can make a major difference over time," said John Browett, chief executive of DSGi.

As someone who runs a training organisation I have to say I'm surprised that this point even needs mentioning. Of course poorly trained staff will have a detrimetal affect on a business and I don't just mean sales training, customer care is just as much an important factor. As the internet has provided the customer with more choice than ever, it has become even more vital that staff are able to get the basics right and only training can achieve this.

In my opinion, well trained staff are the key to retail environments, where the ability to increase profits on products is being diminished by the ability to choose from such a variety of different sources. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it is possibly the only differing factor that high street retail chains can now offer over cheaper internet offerings.

Why it has taken a huge downturn in sales for anyone to realise this is beyond me. Anyone that goes shopping will notice that the staff lack knowledge, motivation and the ability to show interest in a customers needs and a positive respect for the company they are representing as well as its products.

I have to have a little respect for John Browett though, at least he realises the importance of training to his future profitability. The recent talk of concerns over recession and a dip in high street spending worries me. At a time when organisations should be investing in training, I can only see things going one way.

The head of any large organisation that is looking to reduce spending whilst improving the skill levels of their staff would do well to refer to our website www.trainerbubble.com, where they will find affordable training resources that get results.

How Our Body Responds to Stress

Once we are put under stress our body immediately begins to react and there are certain specific things you will be able to notice in your body. Over time, these stress elements can build up and often cause inherent health problems with our bodies. Once we are stressed, our body immediately begins to react.

Humans have innately developed a “fight or flight” response to stressful or threatening situations over the years. Several things happen under stress: On occasion, these responses can be good, but most of the time, it is merely an overreaction to a situation that causes this stress and it can eventually harm your physical health.

Resulting symptoms could be...

Blood flow to brain and muscles increase/Concentration heightens – Tension headache, migraines, anxiety, moods

Your heart rate increases – Chest pains, raised blood pressure

Breathing becomes more rapid – Clammy, sweaty feelings.

Digestion pauses to allow for more energy – Heartburn, indigestion, ulcers

Muscle tension increases – Aches, pains, muscle spasms

Other than the physical functions carried on by our body, stress can damage our bodies in other ways. When we are under stress, we often tend to abuse our body. This can include poor lifestyle choices such as eating fatty and greasy foods, drinking too much caffeine or alcohol, or even abusing prescription or illegal drugs. All these can have a secondary affect on the body caused by stress

.

This article is an excerpt from the workbook in the training material, 'Stress Management', which is available from our website at http://www.trainerbubble.com/

Just the ticket?

I'm not sure how or even whether you could use this in a training environment, but it really made me chuckle...

Perhaps there is something here about miscommunication or thinking you are in the right when you're not? Maybe it's just a fun icebreaker to start the day.

By the way, I should point out that the story is false...

Achieving Sales on the Telephone - Closing a Sale

Although you will close the sale at the end of the call it is important to realise that a close is not just about a commitment to purchase, but also commitment of interest. A good salesperson will display the intention to close throughout a call, so that it does not come as a surprise to the customer at the end.

Once you have reached a point where you have summarised the agreed customer needs, related the product advantages (benefits) to these needs you are ready to ask your closing question.

There are many different questions and methods that you can use to close a sale. However, there are three golden rules you should consider. These are…

• Present the close in the form of a question

• Once you’ve asked your question be silent and wait for an answer

• If you don’t ask, you will never know if they would have purchased

Remember, both you and the person you are talking to know that your role is about closing sales. You will not ruin a good relationship by trying to close. Be confident about closing, but do not let this over-run into high-pressure tactics or rudeness. Part of your responsibility is to leave the door open for future sales.

Examples of closing questions

The Direct Close

This requires a yes/no answer. ‘Would you like to go ahead and purchase then?’ You may get a ‘no’ response, if this is the case, ask the customer why, you may have more objections to overcome.


The Alternative Close

Give the customer a choice. ‘Would you like this product, or the other?’


The Secondary Close

Ask the customer a question, which by answering means they will purchase. ‘Would you like to purchase this? Where should I send it to?’

This article is an excerpt from the workbook of the Trainer Bubble training material, 'Achieving Sales on the Telephone'. You can purchase this training course by visiting our website at www.trainerbubble.com

Preparing to be Assertive

We often find that we have time to prepare for most situations where we have to be at our most assertive. This is very useful, but don’t fall into the trap of spending this time having negative feelings about the interaction. Instead, prepare yourself and ensure that you are clear about the approach you are going to take. Some tips are…

• Be prepared – clarify what you want to say and how you will say it
• Try to choose the place and time to meet and have a clear idea of what you want
• Challenge any negative thoughts you might have – instead of thinking ‘I’ll never be able to do it’, try ‘I’ll have a go at this and see how I get on’.
• Learn to think assertively – avoid words like should, ought, must. Replace these with could, want to, can.

It can also be useful to ‘script’ your side of the conversation in preparation for a difficult interaction. Of course you don’t have to physically write down the conversation and scripting can take place in your head. However, you may feel the process of writing it down will initially help to relax you. One simple process to follow is…

EXPLANATION - Briefly explain the situation as you see it – be as objective as you can

FEELINGS - Acknowledge your own feelings and take ownership – show empathy

NEEDS - Outline clearly what you want out of the situation – provide an opportunity for solution

CONSEQUENCES - Outline the consequences of the other person complying – or of not complying!

An example could be…

EXPLANATION – ‘I would like to talk over a problem with you. Recently you have been asking me for reports only a day before you need them. This has meant that I have had to work late into the night to get them completed.’

FEELINGS – ‘I am beginning to get tired and frustrated with this process, and although I can appreciate how important these reports are to you…’

NEEDS – ‘…If there is any way you could request the reports earlier.’

CONSEQUENCES – ‘I’d be really grateful.’

This is an excerpt from the workbook in the training material for 'Assertiveness in Action', which you can purchase from our website at www.trainerbubble.com

Emotional Intelligence - Methods of Improving Self-Management

Self-management is attained by being aware of your emotions and habitual responses and understanding them to the degree that you have some control over them. Over time you will increase your ability to pick up on the information being provided to you and further increase your ability to self-manage. The following suggestions might also help.


Choose your attitude

Remember, you always have the choice to act in any way you want to. You are not controlled by your emotions and if you take time out to consider what the rational way of acting is in any given situation, you will become more focused on the positive aspects of your interactions.

Anchor your positive feelings

Think of the periods when you were really in control. Harness those positive feelings and emotions and recall them in times when you feel less positive. This will help you to overcome bad feelings.

Challenge negative ‘self-talk’

Every time you hear your negative ‘inner voice’ telling you that you can’t achieve something or that you will fail, challenge it, ask yourself why you can’t achieve it or why you will fail.

Have a positive mental attitude

When you have a positive mental attitude, you look at how things can be done rather than why they can't be done. You believe that "where there's a will, there's a way." You look at possibilities and opportunities rather than obstacles and problems. This mindset is important for success in any endeavour.

Live life with an abundance mentality

People with an abundance mentality believe there are enough resources available to accomplish their goals. They also believe that their success doesn't mean failure for others. On the contrary, the more successful they are, the more others are affected in a positive way. They can be happy when friends and associates prosper. They can enter every business transaction with a "win/win" attitude.

This is an excerpt from the training manual of our training course material on 'Emotional Intelligence', which you can purchase from our website at www.trainerbubble.com

Customer Care - Some Facts

Effective customer care is critical to the success of any business. Without positive relationships with our customers no business can survive in today’s competitive marketplace. Just consider the amount of customers you have had up until now, imagine what things would be like if they all disappeared overnight!

Customer care has changed immensely over the years. Our customers have become less tolerant and more demanding. It is a huge challenge for us to meet these demands. However, the answers are within us all.

We all know that customers who are happy with the service we provide are more likely to purchase again and recommend us to others. You may even know that customers that are very impressed with our service rather than just satisfied are willing to pay higher prices for our products. What you may not know is…

• If we can retain 5 percent more of our customers we increase profit by 100%
• It costs 5 times more money to get new customers as it does to keep them
• The average customer that has a bad experience tells 9 other people
• The average customer that has a good experience tells 3 other people
  If a complaint is resolved 70% of customers will do more business.
• Resolve it quickly and this increases to 90%

Visit Trainer Bubble today and download our training resources on customer care to develop effective teams who focus on customers and their needs.

Accredited Training - Trainer Bubble & ITOL

You may have noticed that things have gone a little quiet on the blog front over the last few weeks. Well, rest assured, we have not been sitting on our hands. In fact, we've been working extremely hard to provide added value to our www.trainerbubble.com website.

We are now extremely pleased to announce that we have established accreditation for our training materials from the Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (ITOL). This not only ensures that our customers know they are getting value for money, but also demonstrates our own personal commitment to excellence in training design.

What does it mean for our customers?

We are still finalising the details of this exciting opportunity. However, having accredited training means that our customers can market the training as such to their participants, which of course will provide added credibility to the training they deliver. It is also an opportunity to highlight the courses credentials in any marketing literature they provide.

Another benefit is the fact that we will be developing certificates in partnership with ITOL. This means that by becoming a member of ITOL, customers can order certificates from Trainer Bubble and provide them to participants at the end of their accredited training session.

We will provide more details of this great opportunity soon. In the meantime, you can find out more about ITOL here.

More conflict! - The Five Methods of Managing Conflict

There are five typical methods that people resort to when managing conflict. These were identified by two leading academics, Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann and are defined as follows.

Avoiding – This approach is so called when people ignore the conflict or withdraw from it. It may well be the best course of action when the conflict is trivial or when the potential disruption outweighs intervention. As this approach rarely resolves anything, we can determine it as a lose-lose situation.

Accommodating – This approach is used in order to maintain harmonious relations, where you place another’s needs above your own. You accommodate when the issue is not all that important to you or you are ‘building markers’ for a later issue. As you allow the other party to get what they want, we can determine this as a lose-win situation.

Forcing – This approach is so called when you use your formal authority to resolve the dispute. The method may be used when you need a quick resolution and it works well when unpopular actions must be taken on important issues or when commitment by others is not critical. We can determine this as a win–lose situation.

Compromising – This approach requires each party to give up something of value and is common in dealing with interpersonal situations. It works best when there is parity in personal power, when it is desirable to achieve a temporary solution to a complex issue, or when time is critical. As both parties have to give up something in these scenarios when can determine it as a lose-lose situation.

Collaborating – This is a problem-solving approach to conflict. Each party/side re-evaluates their position on issues and work together to form a joint view or solution. It works well when time pressures are minimal and the issue is too important to compromise. As both parties get something out of this approach we can determine it as a win-win solution.

This is an excerpt from the workbook of the Trainer Bubble training materials, 'Conflict Handling'. Visit www.trainerbubble.com today to find out more.

Methods of Improving Motivation

Motivation is the ability to use your deepest emotions to move and guide you towards your goals. This ability enables you to take the initiative and persevere in the face of obstacles and setbacks. The following suggestions might also help.

Focus on what you want – If you’re finding it difficult to motivate yourself, perhaps you are not doing what you want to do. Consider what you enjoy and work towards that.

Also, if you focus on the negative aspect of what you don’t want and spend your time moving away from the bad, you may find that you do not feel happy with where you end up. The ‘away from’ motivator is useful to start with, but it is directionless and you should choose a ‘toward’ motivator at the earliest opportunity.

Set a date for your goal – This is crucial. Without a set date of achievement your goal is left hanging and becomes a vague notional wish. Set a date, and if you don’t quite make it, re-assess.

Make the goal compelling – If your goal is not attractive, then you are less likely to work towards in a positive way.

Set milestones – If the goal seems overwhelming, break it down into milestones. This will help you to achieve it by making it seem less daunting.

If it’s not a fun goal, focus on the end result – When your goal seems more of chore, but it simply has to be done, target the end result rather than the drudgery of the task. This way you can focus on the positive feeling of achieving the goal rather than the pain of the task itself.

This is a short excerpt from the Trainers Notes in the Trainer Bubble Training Material, 'Emotional Intelligence at Work'. Visit Trainer Bubble today to buy this great resource.

Why conflict can be difficult to resolve

The main reason that conflicts are so difficult to resolve is that they are predominantly influenced by emotions. When emotions like anger and resentment are felt it is often difficult for people to behave rationally. The likelihood of the person understanding the others point of view diminishes as their own strong emotions take over.

Emotions play a role in how people make sense of their relationships, concept of power, and social status. People constantly evaluate situations and events to work out if they are personally relevant. These understandings and appraisals are infused with various emotions and feelings. So, emotion not only serves a side effect of conflict, but also frames the way in which parties understand and define their dispute.

Secondly, within the context of relationships, emotions typically express people's agendas, desires, and goals. When people perceive that they have incompatible goals or that others are interfering with their desires and pursuits, this elicits emotions and leads to conflict.


Imagine an iceberg, a small percentage is above the iceberg and visible, while a large part is below the water line and obscured from view. The small part represents our behaviour; we can see and hear it.

Just below the surface is our emotions – we can neither see nor hear them, but we can often guess how we and others are feeling by observing the behaviours. For example; when someone is smiling, we can guess they are happy, when they frown we guess they are sad etc.

If we go deeper down the iceberg we get to a place that represents the things that are most important to us: our needs and interests. These are the things that drive our emotions and in turn cause us to act and react the way we do when in conflict.

When dealing with conflict it is tempting to overlook the emotional aspect and often we are told to treat things only from an objective point of view. This is dangerous and usually leads to failure. Our aim should be to identify that emotions play a part and look for methods of addressing the emotive issues. Only then can we overcome the substantive needs of those involved.

This article is an excerpt from the training materials for trainers called 'Conflict Handling', which are available from our website at Trainer Bubble. Visit us today and buy this fantastic resource.

Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight - Inspirational, Must see!

And now, when you're ready, take 18 minutes to watch this astonishing talk from Harvard-trained brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor. It drew a huge standing ovation in the first session of the conference and, by general consensus, counts as one of the most memorable TED talks of all time.

TED TALKS - Jill Bolte Taylor

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

Are you 'self' or 'other' centred?

What to do: Using the first finger of your dominant hand, trace out the capital letter ‘Q’ on your forehead.

Analysis: This fun test provides some insight into whether you are ‘self’ or ‘other’ centered. These two types of people have a very different way of seeing the world, and one type is no better or worse than the other.

There are two ways of completing this exercise. Some people draw the tail of the ‘Q’ on the right hand side of their forehead whilst others draw it on the left.

Self-centered people tend to draw the letter Q in a way in which it can be read by themselves. They tend to come across as being the 'same person' in different situations, and their behaviour is guided more by their own values than the needs of others. They pride themselves on being straight with people, and expect others to be honest with them. Because of this, they are not especially good at lying, but are better at detecting lies in others.

People who are other-centered tend to draw the letter Q in a way in which it can be seen by someone facing them. They tend to be concerned with how other people see them. They are happy being the center of attention, can easily adapt their behaviour to suit the situation in which they find themselves, and are skilled at influencing the way in which others see them. Because of this they are often good at lying, but not so good at detecting lies.

This test and others like it are available on Richard Wiseman's fantastic website 'Quirkology', which you can visit at http://www.quirkology.com

What Makes a Great Trainer?

I recently overheard a conversation between a trainer and one of their participants, who was asking how the trainer had got into the role. I was a little shocked when the participant said, “It just surprises me a little as you’re not particularly dynamic are you?” Putting aside that individual’s perception of the trainer, the comment begged the question, ‘What makes a great trainer?’

It is often said that training is a role that people ‘fall into’, it’s rare that a person sets out to become a trainer as a career choice (this author, it seems, being the exception that proves the rule!) When asked, a lot of trainers will say that they where one day thrust into the position, loved it, and have not looked back since. Others enter the role later in their career when they make the choice to become a consultant or are asked to deliver due to their experience. There are of course many other variables, but this seems to cover the main.

So if it’s knowledge of a subject that throws people into the job of trainer, is it knowledge that makes you good at training? The simple answer to this question has to be a resounding ‘no’. My Religious Studies teacher at school certainly had a lot of knowledge on the topic and it’s not just my failing the exams that tells me he wasn’t the best trainer in the world.

Of course, if you have no knowledge at all of a topic, then you really shouldn’t be training others. However, it’s possible to facilitate a training session on which you are not the subject matter expert. In fact, I’d argue that a ‘great’ trainer is one that can facilitate training on a topic where the participants are the experts.

Knowledge, for me, is not the answer.

Let’s go back to the participants comment I overheard; does a great trainer have to be dynamic? I guess first we should ask what ‘dynamic’ means. My trusty Oxford English Dictionary tells me that dynamic means active and energetic. Now, if a participant wants me to come racing into a room, waving a flag, whilst singing, ‘Oh Susanna!’, then I’m afraid I am not a great trainer. I have certainly seen trainers that would model the active and energetic principles and a lot of them were great trainers. However, I’ve also seen a lot of trainers that don’t encapsulate this style and they have often exceeded my expectations.

Maybe the participant was a little confused about the term dynamic and what they actually meant was enthusiastic and engaging. This I could put a little more belief in. I certainly think you have to be passionate about the subject you are training in and if you don’t engage and enthuse the learners, you will struggle to get your point across. This is training 101 and every trainer should aim to come across in this way. However, I don’t think that being engaging and enthusiastic will do it alone. There has to be a ‘point’ to the training in order for people to learn something, no matter how engaging you are.

Dynamism, in whatever form, for me, is not the answer.

I often receive feedback from training courses where participants say, ‘...it was fun’ or ‘I enjoyed myself’. So, does a great trainer have to make people laugh, be funny or encourage others to have fun? Again, I think this is something that is certainly important to training. People tend to learn more effectively when they have fun and enjoy the experience. However, laughing alone does not a good course make. I have attended many a session where I had great fun and enjoyed the experience, but due to the fact that the trainer did not relate the fun to any learning point, the value was lost. In fact, I’d argue that this is where a lot of trainers fail. They will get repeat business and heavy praise for their ‘event’, but the learner has been let down by the pure and simple fact that they have learnt nothing.

Fun, for me, is not the answer.

Often the best learning I have ever achieved is through the fact that I have been challenged in my thinking. I have been taken out of my comfort zone and truly made to work for the knowledge. This learning has been embedded into my core and helped me to grow and develop. So, is a great trainer someone that challenges his participants?

Whilst being challenged is valuable and important, it can become demoralising when this is the only form of teaching. We need to be encouraged and enjoy the experience because being tested constantly can become tedious and dull.

Challenging, for me, is not the answer.

I could go on. There are of course many elements to consider when we think about training and delivery and all of them play a part in some way. No one thing will make you a great trainer, although one thing may make you a bad trainer!

I think what we’ve learnt is that a great trainer is the sum of their parts. They need to be knowledgeable, engaging, funny, challenging and a host of other things. They also need to know when the right time to be each is. So whether you’re in this role by design or default, remember one thing...it’s not bloody easy!

Great words, great man

Effective Customer - A Few Simple Facts

Effective customer care is critical to the success of any business. Without positive relationships with our customers no business can survive in today’s competitive marketplace. Just consider the amount of customers you have had up until now, imagine what things would be like if they all disappeared overnight!

Customer care has changed immensely over the years. Our customers have become less tolerant and more demanding. It is a huge challenge for us to meet these demands. However, the answers are within us all.

We all know that customers who are happy with the service we provide are more likely to purchase again and recommend us to others. You may even know that customers that are very impressed with our service rather than just satisfied are willing to pay higher prices for our products. What you may not know is…

• If we can retain 5 percent more of our customers we increase profit by 100%

• It costs 5 times more money to get new customers as it does to keep them

• The average customer that has a bad experience tells 9 other people

• The average customer that has a good experience tells 3 other people

• If a complaint is resolved 70% of customers will do more business. Resolve it quickly and this increases to 90%

This short excerpt is taken from the Trainer Bubble training course material on Effective Customer Care. You can download this training resource at our website - Trainer Bubble

People Watchers - BBC2. Well worth a watch.

There is a new programme called 'People Watchers' on BBC2 during the day, which is hosted by Richard Wiseman amongst others. They set about testing psychological experiments on people and the results are really interesting.

One such experiment was carried out in a shopping arcade. The 'People Watcher' had set up a stall where you could win a moped by guessing how many ping pong balls were in a bowl.

They asked people to guess how many balls they thought were in the bowl. When the person made a guess. The tester went to enter their figure on a flipchart, but in doing so revealed lots of previously entered figures which were hugely over inflated. They made no reference to the other figures, but gave the person a last chance to alter their own answer. The person being asked would then alter their figure to be closer to the other figures.

What does this tell us? People tend to form opinions based on others. It's a herd mentality!

How can we use it? Set sales targets high, people will follow…I'm sure you can think of more!

If, like me, you are too busy in the day to catch this. Simply catch up with it on the BBC I-player.

Brain Training Games? Stick to the real thing…

Before you rush out to buy that new Nintendo DS in order to develop your brainpower and increase your thinking age, you might want to consider whether the brain training games live up to the hype.

A recent study has shown that there is no real proof that the brain training games made popular recently by Nintendo and Dr. Kawashima really have any effect at all and those of us who spend hours staring into a tiny screen, forcing our hands into an arthritic state from clamping the pointer too hard could be wasting our time altogether.

Cognitive neuro-scientist at the University of Birmingham, Dr. Jason Braithwaite said; “There is no conclusive evidence showing that the continued use of these devices is linked to any measurable and general improvements in cognition. While practice at any task should lead to some form of improvement for that specific task, it is not clear that this improvement reflects anything other than a basic learned process for that specific task.”

This leads me to consider how we might be able to improve our brain power and increase our intelligence. For me it’s simple, stick to the same old principles that have helped us over the centuries. Hard work and determination combined with a drive to learn and absorb knowledge at every given opportunity.

Books for a long time have been my staple for learning. I might not always agree with the author, but this only serves to increase my thought process and hopefully help me to see things from an alternative perspective. I often encourage myself to read something that challenges my own thinking and wipes away some of the cobwebs of my mind.

Then of course we have the process of learning from training events, schooling and universities. A lot will say they struggle to learn in these environments. However, it is my belief that when carried out correctly and in keeping with learning needs of all participants, this form of learning cannot be beaten.

The trouble with these methods of learning? Well, they’re not much fun are they (although I’d challenge that point and encourage you to attend a training event that I put together). Latest developments in E-Learning and the more recent ‘serious gaming’ (a combination of business simulations and computer generated learning events) show an encouraging step towards something ‘sexy’ in the training world. However, it is still too early to say whether these methods will eclipse the tried and trusted methods of development. Better I say to incorporate them into a holistic approach to learning and continue to stretch the boundaries of thinking around making learning fun.

You might by now be thinking that I have strayed somewhat from my initial topic of ‘brain training’, surely I can tell the difference between increasing skills and knowledge and training your brain? Well, I’m afraid I can’t. Training your brain is about challenging your thinking, keeping your mind active and learning new ideas.

I suspect the true reason people have welcomed these games with open arms is that they are seen as ‘easy’ a ‘quick fix’, a bit like belts that exercise your stomach while you sit and eat cake or essays that you can download from the internet and hand in to your teacher. The trouble with this approach is that it simply doesn’t work. If you want success, you have to put in the time and effort.

Of course all of this is subjective. I don’t think there’s any harm in these games at all and if it encourages people to learn, then more is the better. I’m sure that brain training games do provide a much needed element of ‘thinking time’ and combined with the other methods mentioned above must surely encourage your brain to memorise and at least challenge thought patterns to some extent and if not? Well, where there’s no harm there’s no worry.

Anyway, I’m off for a few challenging rounds of bowling on the Nintendo Wii…Well, you’ve got to get out every now and then haven’t you?

Andrew is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble, who provide business consultancy in areas such as leadership, coaching and effective business development. You can discover more about the wealth of services offered by Trainer Bubble's Consultancy here.

The Manager as Coach

In my role as consultant, I am often asked whether all good managers are effective coaches and if so, does this lead to the opposite being true.

To answer these questions with any great authority, it is important to define what is required of a manager when performing the role of coach. In order to do this, it is best to examine all management activity of which there are three key areas: Managing, Leading and Coaching.

These three activities are complimentary and are required to help a good manager achieve their business objectives, by enabling a team to perform at their best. You could refer to these skills as the legs of a stool on which a good manager sits.

When leading; the manager creates and shares a vision of the future with their team and ensures that their activities are consistent with bringing about that change.

When managing; they deliver results to the organisation by controlling the work of the team and agreeing and monitoring such things as budgets, timescales and quality levels.

When coaching; they support team members in their learning, to enable them to develop the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to successfully deliver their job responsibilities and goals.

It is important to note that these three elements overlap because some of the processes and skills that are used in one area are also used in another. There may be times when the manager needs to use coaching skills to help their team understand and take ownership of quality levels or times when management of budgets requires strong leadership and vision.

Problems arise when the manager is not clear about which approach is appropriate in a particular situation. For example, if a coaching approach is used when deadlines are tight or a crisis has arisen, precious time may be lost. If a management approach is used when a team member has made a mistake, the learning opportunity will be missed and the mistake may be repeated.

All this boils down to the simple fact that coaching is incredibly important to a manager’s role and to be truly effective, they should acquire this valuable skill. However, if they neglect the requirements of management and leadership, they will ultimately fail.

So, to answer the original questions; Are all good managers effective coaches? I suspect so. Does that make all effective coaches good managers? Not unless you can sit on a one legged stool!

This Article is adapted from our training course 'Coaching at Work', which is available from our website at Trainer Bubble.

We also provide business consultancy in areas such as leadership, coaching and effective business development. You can discover more about the wealth of services offered by Trainer Bubble at our website Trainer Bubble Services

Is Learning and Development Finally Coming Home?

Recent developments in America suggest that learning and development could be resurrected from the dark, dusty recesses of human resources into a bright new future.

Ever since 1994 and the merger between the Institute of Training and Development and the Institute of Personnel Management to form what in 2000 became the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, there has been no argument about which area was the dominant one. Factors concerning the development of employee skills seemingly became secondary to the rising importance of Human Resource Management.

I was recently provided a glaring example of this by an acquaintance in a senior learning and development role at one of the largest organisations in the UK. With a sad, but knowing look in his eye he presented me with the yearly objectives for the HR department. Not one of them related to employee development in any way. When you consider that the company employ over five hundred people in roles that are directly related to learning this is truly amazing, although hardly isolated.

Most HR Directors will argue that they’ve always had one eye on the learning needs of the workforce, but with all due respect to diversity laws, this is a two-eyed job. In the same way that sales is the only department of an organisation that generates revenue, learning and development is the only area where we can expect the process of developing our workforce to be the uppermost concern.

Learning and development is increasingly noted as the most important factor of HR. Driving up the skills of the workforce and ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to perform the role and, perhaps more importantly, the skills to progress throughout the business is becoming a no-brainer when compared to the often bureaucratic functions of HR, which serve to ensure the business is ‘ticking over’ and doesn’t get embroiled in any legal issues.

Another colleague of mine who owns a recruitment consultancy highlighted the importance of learning and development from the prospective employee’s point of view recently. Often before the subject of money is raised, the first concern of the individual is, ‘What development can I expect?’ and so it should be. In fact when discussing the value of development, there are two key viewpoints we should take into account.

The employee – understands more than ever the value of their own development. Often requires a business to fill the gaps in their education and provide hands on experience in a real environment. Realises that to succeed in the business world they must gather as many skills as possible.

The employer – understands the value of a continually skilled workforce. Knows that if the business is to succeed then it needs an educated and motivated team behind it. A team willing to challenge current thinking and hungry for success.

So, businesses that ignore the value of learning and development do so at their peril.

This isn’t a knew theory, but somehow we thought we could achieve it through an HR department that in all fairness cannot possibly be expected to manage the important role it has to play in overseeing the needs of the workforce and still rise to the vast challenge that development presents.

The good news is that in America there seems to be a turning tide. Many of the large organisations there are developing the role of Chief Learning Officer (CLO), whose role on the board of directors has been provided at the expense of the HR Director who may well have applied for the new position of Head of HR, which reports to, you guessed it, the CLO.

The CLO is skilled in all aspects of learning and development, with a key focus on; coaching, training, motivation and project management, which shows an obvious leaning towards the development of the workforce in order to drive the success of the business. In my mind this is the correct focus and ensures that the organisation is focused on continuous improvement rather than fighting fires.

Although the UK has yet to put in place many CLO’s (currently five in the FTSE 100), there is little doubt that we are likely to follow suit. After all, it was the US that brought HRM to us all those years ago!

Andrew Wood is the Managing Director of Trainer Bubble Ltd. who design and develop training resources and course materials for download from their website. Visit them at www.trainerbubble.com to access a wealth of resources including a large section of free material.

E-Mail Success - By Wolfgang Halliwell

I returned to work today after a 2 week Christmas vacation and opened my inbox with some trepidation. After a similar break last year I had returned form holiday with over 400 e-mails awaiting my attention. It took me a couple of days to deal with these so I vowed there and then that this would never happen again.

One of my New Years resolutions at the beginning of 2007 was to take control of my e-mail inbox. Today would prove one way or the other whether the action I took worked.

I opened my inbox and found only 32 items awaiting me. Thirty minutes later and my inbox was empty. Complete success!

So, what did I do to achieve this? The good news is that this is not rocket science and a few simple steps have achieved this result. The action I took in 2007 included:

1. Always remembering to set my out of office message when I was away for more than a day.


2. Unsubscribing to newsletters and update services unless I really needed them.


3. Agreeing a few ground rules with colleagues about when and when not to use e-mail.


4. Using the telephone a lot more to avoid those unproductive games of e-mail tennis.


5. Delegating or redirecting some of my e-mail to other people when appropriate.

None of this took very long to do but the results have been really spectacular for me. If you suffer from an overfull inbox you might find some of the techniques I have listed are of some help.

Of course, there is also a need to manage your e-mail once you have got it, but that is the topic for another posting.

This article relates to our training course material, 'Managing E-Mails', which you can find on our website by clicking here.

Why bother with training?