sheridan@keystonedevelopment.co.uk
LinkedIn

Tag: business

Home Posts Tagged "business"

Business as Usual in a MOST Unusual World

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

I’m not going to be pretend that the situation we find ourselves in is a massive opportunity. I know it’s important to focus on the positive, and I do, but let’s not pretend that the current situation bought on by the covid-19 pandemic isn’t pretty dire, because it is. And so many people are doing so many good things – selflessly volunteering to serve communities and support the NHS. So I felt pretty bad that I wasn’t closing my business, leaving my kids to fend for themselves (they are in high school) and getting out there too. I COULD have furloughed myself – the vast majority of my work has temporarily disappeared. Large corporates have (quite rightly) suspended all non-essential training. BUT the thing about working for myself for 14 years means that I’ve been through tough times before. And those tough times taught me to adapt. The last time corporate work was thin of the ground, I started the Training Designer’s Club. The time before that I created some online courses about how to design training. The time before THAT I created ready-written Power Hour training materials to sell to other trainers. So although my earnings may be very…

Read More

What we can learn about Management Development from Snowboarding

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week I attempted to learn to snowboard. If there had been learning objectives for the week, I’m sure I would have met them: I can now side slide, do a J turn, traverse across a hill, zig zag down it, make left and right turns and link turns together. But I can’t snowboard! It was very useful learning something completely new – as it reminded me that learning is HARD, and so many things have to come together to achieve success. Our instructors would explain, then demonstrate the next skill. Then they would guide us through it, step by step. So far, so good. Then, after a few (quite literally) hand-holding practices, we tried on our own… and generally failed. This is to expected, so they were very clear that we had to PRACTICE between sessions. This also makes total sense. I practised and didn’t improve – for two reasons: 1) I still needed actual physical support, and 2) although my head knew what to do, my body kind of did its own thing. Plus, there were many many small movements that had to be done in the right order, at the right time and in the right way…

Read More

Is it ever OK to do Sheep-dip Training?

Uncategorized, , , ,

I think yes. Sometimes. In very specific cases. I can almost hear the sound of dozens of people disconnecting from me!! I think it IS appropriate when the training supports a fundamental business change and is part of wider process change and internal communication. Everyone has to learn about the new way of doing things all together. If the training is given to some and not others, or over a long period of time, the change is less likely to happen. There’s a lot to be said for peer pressure. I should know, I’ve just pretty much done Dry January, without ever having made it my intention! My husband decided to do it, and as he wasn’t drinking I barely did either. Three glasses of wine over the whole month is a significant reduction. I was clearly influenced by his behaviour, and this happens at work too. The need to fit in should never be under-estimated. When we see those around us behaving in certain way, we are more likely to behave similarly. That’s why it can be hard to make changes after training if you are the only person who completed it. Your environment is still encouraging the established…

Read More

Being “Better” in 2020

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

Here we are, the start of another new year. Many people are making resolutions – joining the gym, doing Dry January, setting ambitious business goals. I have not. That’s NOT to say that I don’t need to make improvements. I definitely need to lose weight (I’m currently a stone heavier than I’d like) and cutting down on the booze can only be a good thing. But you won’t find me reaching for the slimfast, joining Slimming World, hitting the gym 5 days a week, or cutting out the booze entirely. Because if I do that, I’m setting myself up to fail. It’s too BIG a change and it’s actually a bigger change than I need to make, so why make life hard for myself? I DO eat healthily most of the time (just need to watch those portion sizes and evening snacks). I DO exercises regularly – 3 Zumba classes a week most weeks. I DO generally have 4 alcohol free days a week In short, I get it mostly right most of the time. However, I need to be more consistent. I need to me more aware and notice more quickly if I’m straying from good habits. I need…

Read More

What’s the Difference between Ronnie Wood and Mark Ronson?

Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

A strange question perhaps for a blog on a training design website. And to be honest, now I’ve asked the question, I realise that there are probably many differences. Furthermore, the one I’m going to refer to may not even be accurate – it’s based on my feeling after watching both men appear on Later with Jools Holland. Clearly, both are accomplished musicians, and for both music is front and centre in their life. It struck me that the main difference is that Ronnie Wood wants to PLAY great music, whilst Mark Ronson wants to MAKE good music. And there’s a subtle but significant difference. Ronnie Wood clearly wants to play the best music he can. He wants to entertain a crowd and play – anything, anytime with anyone. He seemed lost without a guitar in his hand and didn’t know what to do with himself when others were providing the music. Mark Ronson is more about putting together the best possible sound – whether or not he’s directly involved. Naturally he can play music and will if he will add value, but if there’s a better musician, or a different sound is needed, he will step back. In the…

Read More

Managers Need Inducting Too!

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

It’s funny how in the last week I’ve had three conversations with three very different businesses about how the lack of a manager’s induction causes problems down the line: Inconsistent approaches to people management, having to go back to basics with experienced managers and the HR team getting way too involved way too often as small people problems haven’t been handled properly from the start. We know that a general induction is important for those joining the organisation, but people being recruited into management positions need a separate (additional) induction. New managers need to understand what’s expected of them, what support is available to them, and how to do things properly.  People with managerial experience being recruited into a new organisation need an induction on top of the generic corporate one to help them to understand the managerial processes within their new environment. You would hope that they have been recruited because they have the necessary skills and experience, but the way they are expected to manage and report is probably quite different to their previous organisation. They need to know which forms to use when, where to find them, who to contact if… etc. They also need to know…

Read More

Why People aren’t Accessing Training on your LMS

Uncategorized, , ,

I’ve had a thought floating around in my head for a year or more, and it came to the fore again when I read a LinkedIn post by a connection of mine posing the question “How do we get people to use our LMS?” On-line learning has it’s place of course. There are lots of benefits including ‘just-in-time’ learning which I think we all agree is a good thing. But there are many reasons why people don’t use it. Here are just a few… It’s difficult to use – especially for those NOT based in Head Office, or those that don’t have a desk job, so they don’t. It’s not well publicised – people won’t use it if they don’t know what it is or what it has. It’s impersonal – one-way ‘training’ doesn’t answer all the specific questions we have; it doesn’t re-assure is or motivate us; it doesn’t make us feel special in the way that face-to-face training or coaching does. It’s not engaging – click, click, click…it can be too easy to pay lip-service to the training and not actually take anything in. It’s not being driven – people need support to get into a habit, and…

Read More

Creativity in Learning Design

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Last week, I attended the Manchester L&D ‘Unconference’ – an opportunity for L&D professionals to meet, agree their own agenda and have the conversations they want to have about all things L&D. The first session I joined was all around the question “How can we be more creative in training design?”. It was quite insightful, and here are the summary thoughts that I came away with. Firstly, what do we mean by creative, and why do we feel the need to be creative? We quickly agreed that creative doesn’t mean ‘wacky’. Creativity can be quite serious! Creative training is defined in relation to the topic and the audience. Yes, sometimes creative training may involve crossing streams and building rope bridges: It may involve Lego, singing, or lots of coloured pens; It may simply involve a live demo, detailed case study or expert interview. Creativity in training is simply about providing an alternative way in to the learning – a different way of exploring it from the norm. It’s about providing multiple touch points and appealing to different learning preferences. It’s about getting people off autopilot and grabbing their attention, taking them out of their comfort zone, but only by a…

Read More

Is the future of L&D simply being curious and connected?

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

“That’s what I do: I drink and I know things”. One my favourite quotes from my favourite character in Game of Thrones – Tyrion Lannister, played by the brilliant Peter Dinklage. Yesterday, as I took a short but very bracing walk, it occurred to me that my quote would be very similar: “I think and I know people”. After 12 years of running my own business, I’ve got the two off to a fine art. But I always feel under pressure to increase my skill set and prove my ability through qualifications. I don’t have a Level 7 coaching qualification – should I get one (even though I don’t want to be a coach)? I don’t have digital design skills – Should I invest in a course and expensive software if I’m going to stay in business? I’m not an apprenticeship or ILM provider – perhaps I ought to get accredited (even though I’m very rarely asked to provide this)? This feeling of inadequacy was heightened on Friday when I was talking to a freelance trainer just 3 months into her journey. She believed that she needed to have a raft of qualifications in order to be taken seriously, somehow…

Read More

Boring or Delicious?

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

At this time of year, I tend to withdraw from Facebook. I thought about never returning, but I have a couple of work-related groups on there, so probably will, despite getting little interaction from my ‘friends’. I withdraw because it makes me feel inadequate. It highlights exactly what I DON’T have in my life: No nights out with friends No work’s parties – in fact, no parties full stop! No exciting family evenings out (combination of unwilling teenagers and hubby’s punishing work schedule) No date nights (lack of baby-sitters and hubby’s punishing work schedule) No extended family get-togethers Not just at Christmas – at any time. And whilst I wish I DID have these things in my life, I also realise that these things are just the ‘extras’ in life: the icing on the cake. These aren’t the things that bring happiness (apart from very briefly). They enhance a happy life of course, but they aren’t enough on their own. What really matters is: Being healthy – thankfully I am. Party due to the fact that I Zumba regularly, almost always get my 10,000 steps a day, and cook balanced meals from scratch most days. Of course, this eats into…

Read More