sheridan@keystonedevelopment.co.uk
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Tag: development

Home Posts Tagged "development"

What we can learn about Management Development from Snowboarding

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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…

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Being “Better” in 2020

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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…

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You can’t Escape the Stages of Team Development!

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Last week I ran a strategy/team-building day for a newly merged department of around 30 people. Part of the day was about the goals of the department, the reporting lines and key deliverables. The other part of the day was about getting to know each other and how to work together as a team. We decided to keep it theory light, but (in reference to the fact that they were a NEW team) we did cover Tuckman – just to reassure them that it would get harder before it got easier, and that was normal and actually could be quite a good thing. To illustrate this, we went to an Escape Room. With 30 people we had 6 groups, so during the activity, my associate and I observed 3 groups each – approximately 15 minutes each. It was very illuminating! The group I was with first were a bit shell-shocked by the whole situation. They didn’t know what to do, everyone was reluctant to take control, no-one said much, it was all quite polite and although some people did start to fiddle with some of the props and puzzles, they did so alone. There was very little communication. As an…

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

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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…

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Why L&D needs to be more like HR

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I’ve done a lot of work over the last couple of years developing the performance management skills of managers. This is because HR don’t have time to handle every minor performance issue – and some managers in some organisations were dodging responsibility for managing their own teams. It is widely accepted that HR is there to advise managers (not manage for them), and of course to step in when a situation escalates or is complex/unusual and a more expert hand is required. Makes sense doesn’t it? So why is L&D still expected to do ALL the development? Shouldn’t we be stepping in exactly the same way as HR people do – when informal methods aren’t enough, or a development need requires specialist input? There’s a LOT of talk out there about reducing formal training, and in particular, courses. I understand where this is coming from, but when L&D are expected to develop people, from different roles, different departments, in different locations, and they get a set time to do it, no wonder formal training won’t go away. Not that I think it should. I’m a fan of the workshop and a formal development programme. But just like HR only stepping…

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