How To Train a Growing Global & Remote Workforce

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The internet has revolutionized the way in which businesses across the globe can source new talent. Thanks to advances in business-based tools and platforms, remote work, or telecommuting, is easier for both companies and workers today. According to a recent study, 37 percent of employees questioned had worked remotely, a significant increase from just 30 […]

What makes great course joining instructions?

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What makes course joining instructions great? My thoughts are:  The basics: venue, course materials, refreshment information, contact details A breakdown of the course and its objectives  Discounts and offers for rebooking When they look professional and leave a lasting impression! My full list is here: https://www.accessplanit.com/blog/how-to-wow-delegates-with-joining-instructions What are your thoughts? What makes course joining instructions great?My […]

So you think you can’t draw?

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The first time I saw one of my Dad’s drawings was September last year. We were visiting my brother’s house and my niece was gently encouraging (i.e. pestering) him to draw on her blackboard. He drew a tree and a boat. At that moment I realised I had never seen my Dad draw before. It was quite […]

What do you call “a group of trainers”?!

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So, we have "a gaggle of geese", "a bevy of beauties" and "a murder of crows"… What collective noun can you come up with for "a group of trainers"?! Ade. www.develop-meant.com So, we have "a gaggle of geese", "a bevy of beauties" and "a murder of crows"…What collective noun can you come up with for "a group […]

Oh no! I hate role play!

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Every now and again, we include role play in some of our training sessions. More often than not, one or two learners will sigh and make it quite clear that they HATE HATE HATE role play! One of my colleagues calls it "skills practice". Nevertheless, however hard we try to "wrap it up" as something […]

Culture and storytelling – learning a key lesson

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Robin Hoyle is a writer, trainer and consultant. He is the author of Complete Training: from recruitment to retirement and Informal Learning in Organizations; how to create a continuous learning culture both published by Kogan Page. Robin will be chairing the World of Learning Conference at the NEC on 19th and 20th October, 2016. Sometimes two completely unrelated events spark a […]

Consequences of not effectively tracking your training

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At its best, corporate training is a great way to build skills, morale, and loyalty in your workforce and position your organization to achieve its strategic goals. At its worst, corporate training can be a minefield of wasted money and missed opportunity. Every organization has at least one war story about a training initiative that […]

The Learning Strategy Story: Larry’s New Job

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This is the second post in the series. Please read the introductory post here. The New Job Brian and Larry were at the Starbucks in London Stratford Westfield Shopping Center. "Congratulations Larry, well done for your new job" Larry smiled back at Brian, "Thanks to you. I never would have got it. You know I […]

Careers development at a young age

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When I was at school, it would have been amazing if a teacher had said: "Adrian, the reason I'm asking you to trot around the playground with a trundle wheel is because…" and: "Ade, the reason I'm asking you to do this with a Bunsen Burner is…" If "careers" had been embedded into Maths, English, French, Science, […]

When are taster sessions most effective?

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Which kinds of training do taster sessions work best for? My thoughts are: High-cost courses (£500+)  Courses that run over a long period of time (4 weeks or more)  The course covers very in-depth content which the delegate needs to learn more about This blog offers some top tips on holding effective taster sessions: https://www.accessplanit.com/blog/how-to-take-advantage-of-taster-sessions-to-promote-courses Which kinds of […]

How Mindfulness Enhances Productivity

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The benefits of mindfulness can span many areas of our lives. Those can include heightened awareness, improved efficiency, better task performance and higher productivity, alongside many other professional and personal benefits, such as inner peace and harmony. Too often mindfulness is confused with meditation. However, the two are not the same, although the latter leads […]

“The Smiling Assassin”

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You've had an amazing day's training. All your fears, doubts and apprehension around whether the session would go well are unfounded. Fifteen happy learners, fully engaged. They've loved the content, enjoyed the activities and even laughed at your jokes! Fifteen happy learners filling out evaluation forms – or so you thought! <Cue scary laughter> You […]

Do You Have a Virtual Support Team?

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TEAM – Together, Everyone Achieves More. I love this acronym as it very simply describes, in a nutshell, the value of a team. The trouble is, that trainers often don’t have the luxury of working as part of a team in the traditional sense – we might, for example, be the only trainer in an […]

2016 Training Trends: Personalization

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As the new year begins to unfold, take the time to look at the state of your training program. How effective has it been historically? Are current employees getting the most out of their training in respect to their career growth? It’s important that organizations evaluate their programs and jump on trends that their employees […]

Why Your Sales Training Will Fail

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Improving the performance of a sales team is a key objective for many businesses and, as a result, a huge amount of money is invested into sales coaching. In fact, according to figures published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, total global spending on this type of training has now exceeded the $1 trillion […]

Coaching – a partnership of trust

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Whether in the sporting arena or in the office it is all too easy to see the coaching relationship in terms of hierarchy; between someone who needs help and someone who can provide the answers. Whilst that level of relationship may work on certain superficial levels, the best coaches operate on an entirely different plane. […]

System Training – How to keep it interesting

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I am a system trainer for a company who designs and develops a billing system. It's my job to train customers on how to use the system, using a demo system and scenarios which can sometimes become a little boring . Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep this more engaging and stop delegates […]

Managing Creative Talent – Training Exercise Needed

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I am running some leadership development sessions for a marketing agency.  One of their problems is managing really creative people.  They have a high turnover of staff and often lose talented people to competitors, clients or other agencies.  Most of the executive team have good delivery or creative skills but not so good man management […]

How to overcome creative block

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We all have those days where we struggle to come up with any ideas whatsoever. But if you have a big presentation coming up, or need an exciting structure for a workshop, here are some ways to get your brain juices flowing. Let us know if you have any extra tips and tricks for getting […]

Self-employed spies

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I'd be interested to hear from those of you who run your own training business about how many emails and phone calls you get from – what you believe to be – fellow freelance trainers who are only interested in your prices? I received an email this week from a fella interrogating me about the […]