Parkin Space: The Definition of Training Needs Analysis
Everyone knows what a Training Needs Analysis is, right? Godfrey Parkin analyses the variety of meanings given to a TNA. I have yet to meet anyone in the learning business who will question the value of a Training Needs Analysis (TNA). Indeed, there are many who will insist that a TNA is carried out before […]
Feature: Team Building and Virtual Teams – a Contradiction in Terms?
Teleworking and the growth of global teams means that co-workers may not be in the same time zone let alone the same city, which has an obvious impact on building a sense of teamwork and trust. Peter Thomson, Director of Future Work Foundation at Henley Management College looks at how to build a successful team […]
Parkin Space: The Retirement Brain Drain
With an ageing population, Godfrey Parkin wonders why so many companies have no formal process for passing on the knowledge of their most experienced workers at retirement. In most Western countries, the baby boomer bubble is causing concern for those planning pension and social security services. It should also be worrying employers. A quarter of […]
Parkin Space: E-Earning in the USA
Ever wondered how much your equivalent earns on the other side of the Atlantic? Read on. This week the E-learning Guild released the results of its annual e-learning salary survey. Data was gathered in the first quarter of this year from people who work in the e-learning field. It’s amazing that they were able to […]
Review: Outdoor and Experiential Learning
Title: Outdoor and Experiential Learning – An holistic and creative approach to LearningAuthor: Andy Martin, Dan Franc, and Daniela ZounkováPublisher: GowerISBN: 0-566-08628-XPrice: £49.50Reviewer: Mike Taylor If you are involved with experiential learning, whether with youngsters or managers, then this book will certainly speak to you, but whether you would find it was good use of […]
Review: Implementing Virtual Teams
Title: Implementing Virtual TeamsAuthors: Abigail Edwards and John R. WilsonPublisher: Gower Publishing LimitedISBN: 0 566 08468 6Price: £53.95Reviewer: Kathryn KellyEmployer’s Organisation for local Government andrecruitmentBeware of first impressions: My first thoughts about a book on implementing virtual teams were that the medium was at odds with the subject matter. This was re-enforced by the computer-generated […]
TrainingZONE’s Top 50 Features of 2004
We’ve had published an amazing 200 features on TrainingZONE over 2004, many of them contributed by members of the site.This is a selection of our favourite 50 – broken into 10 themes but in no other particular order – chosen for being innovative, insightful, creating debate and sheer popularity!We hope you’ll agree with this line […]
The Strategic Leadership Model
Management consultant Bruce Nixon sets out a model for a leadership retreat designed to develop a team strategy for creative change. This provides a simple, practical process, which you can adapt, for a retreat for leaders to decide how the organisation needs to transform in order to thrive and survive. If you contract well with […]
Tactics To Make Your Team Event Legendary
Authors of Legendary Away Days Karen Cooley and Kirsty McEwan have put together a step-by-step guide for planning, organising and evaluating a team-building event. Building strong, responsive teams is one of the key factors in putting your organisation ahead of its competitors. Yet even when the commitment and the will to succeed exist, hidden pitfalls […]
Adapter or Innovator?
According to Dr Michael Kirton’s Inventory, we can all be divided into two groups – those who are more adaptive and those who are more innovative. Rob Sheffield looks at how you decide who’s who and shows how KAI can help in the workplace. Those of us working in learning and development are deluged with […]
Case Study: Global Teambuilding at Chiron Biopharmaceuticals
When Carl Pelzel took on the role of Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Operations at Chiron Biopharmaceuticals, he immediately realised that the US and European divisions could be working much more effectively together.The rapid evolution of the company from its start-up beginnings in the US 20 years ago, to become a global industry leader with […]
Managing Virtual Teams
Mike Willets, head of leadership development for MaST International explains how setting a few ground rules can help promote trust and lead to effective team working, even when team members have never even met. In order for any team to work effectively the team members must trust and believe in one another and the project. […]
Case Study: Team Building at Abels
Each member of moving firm Abels 100-strong workforce takes part in an off-site team-building course in a bid to promote greater awareness and co-operation across the company.On the most recent programme, 22 staff from the Suffolk-based company decamped to the Hilltop Activity Centre on the North Norfolk coast to take part in a two-day outdoor […]
Sporting heroes as business role models
John Macarfrae, director of training provider Maverick, believes the team training methods that create heroes on the sportsfield can translate into the field of work. If you are involved in training and development you will be well versed in the concepts of team-working and the need for a balance of people with the need to […]
Team learning – what’s the link with organisational success?
Why have teams become so important for organisational success? Research released by The Talent Foundation with the support the Campaign for Learning finds that organisations can unlock their creativity and effectiveness by promoting team learning.The report pulls together information from from existing literature and new interviews to establish the basic process behind team learning, examining […]
Team building – your views
Following our report on a recent Office Angels survey which found that employees struggle to see the point of many team building activities, TrainingZONE members had lots to say on the subject. Here, we’ve collected together your views – and they make for very interesting reading…If you’re a Training Manager, we’re particularly interested in hearing […]
Team building strikes fear into the heart of office staff
While employers may be keen, employees struggle to see the point of many team building activities, according to a recent survey. The Office Angels research questioned 1,500 office workers, and found over half of them regarded team development activities as ‘childish and embarrasing’. One in ten felt uncomfortable about the pressure of ‘bonding’ with colleagues, […]
Team development doesn’t have to be hard work
Lud Romano, managing director of Alive Communications, argues that team development doesn’t have to be hard work. It is inevitable that many people will have to operate within a team at some point in their working lives, and being a good ‘team player’ is crucial. It doesn’t mean however, that individual personalities are dissolved in […]
The manager and the team
Ruth Spellman, CEO of Investors in People, describes the managerial skills required to foster the essential relationship between manager and team. A simple definition of teamwork is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. Yet developing a team – a successful team – is a complex task that requires certain skills. […]
Manage the individual and you manage your business
Performance management is a key part of any business, yet is not often a priority for line managers. Barrie Friend, Partner at MaST International, outlines some of the ways HR can involve line managers in performance management, and explains how encouraging them to understand the financial and legal aspects of the process is vital to […]