The Moment of Truth

Are you ready for the Moment of Truth?

The "Moment of Truth" occurs every time a customer makes Contact with an organization. You have the opportunity at that time to make a Positive, Neutral, or Negative impression in the mind of the customer.

You might ask yourself:

• "How does this affect the reputation of the company?"

• "Do I have a clear idea whether the customer's needs were met?"

• "Do I have a recordkeeping mechanism in place to track these Moments of Truth?"

The moment of truth happens all day; every day. Are you ready?

Adult Learning Theory

Since the 1970s, Adult Learning Theory has been based on Four Assumptions:

1. As they mature, adults tend to Prefer Self-Direction.

2. Adults' experiences are a rich resource for learning. Active participation in Planned Experiences—such as discussions or problem solving exercises can create a powerful learning experience.

3. Adult learners' Needs and Interests are the starting points and serve as guideposts for training activities.

4. Adults are Competency-Based Learners, meaning that they want to learn a skill or acquire knowledge that they can apply to their immediate circumstances.

By keeping in mind these four principles, an educator can Better Connect with his or her Adult Learners.


"The Ultimate Educator" by Edmunds, C., K. Lowe, M. Murray, and A. Seymour, 1999.

Does Life Experience Promote Learning?

I read the following quote on the web recently, and I am still trying to decide if I think it is true.

“The more life change events an adult encounters, the more likely he or she is to seek out learning opportunities. Just as stress increases as life-change events accumulate, the motivation to cope with change through engagement in a learning experience increases.”

Can it be true that the more we have experienced, the more we want to learn?  What do you think?  I am going to have to think about this for a while, and I would be very interested to see any real-life examples.

30 Things We Know...

Six-Step Coaching Plan

A suggested Six-Step Plan for Coaching includes the following. Try using these steps for every coaching session and track your improvement in your results:

1. Preparation: Set an objective

2. Open: Build rapport and state the purpose of meeting

3. Perceptions/Needs: Let the employee talk first and only then give perceptions

4. Identify and Remove Obstacles: This is where you get into mutual problem solving

5. Close/Acton Step: Agree to next steps and be sure to cheerlead!

6. Follow Up: Set a follow up date

Following these steps will add structure and consistency in your coaching sessions. And that, as Martha Stewart would say, “Is a Good Thing…”!

Leverage Technology for Learning

The days of doing all training in traditional classroom settings is past. Fulfilling your company's educational requirements by leveraging the multitude of tech solutions is not the future, it is now!

One of my favorite pieces of training software is Adobe Captivate.  The company has steadily improved their technology, and the latest version is truly state-of-the-art.

 

The Captivate software enables anyone to rapidly create powerful and engaging simulations, scenario-based training, and robust quizzes without programming knowledge.  With the most recent edition, you can also publish on all sorts of mobile devices.

As their website says, with the latest Captivate 5.5, "you can easily convert Adobe Captivate generated SWF to HTML5 and repurpose your countless hours of interactive trainings for your mobile devices that do not support Flash content."

It's true! With some experimentation and a little practice, you can create learning modules that can replace expensive, instructor-led training initiatives.

Leverage Technology; It is the Wave of the Present.