The Right Questions

We have discussed the need to use questions to get buy-in from the people we coach. There are questions and there are questions, however:

- Some go for depth in a helpful way and gain buy-in

- Others sound like a prosecuting attorney

When using questions, don't fall into the trap of sounding like an interrogator. Find ways to make your questions supportive. You’ll find it is a Win/Win method of coaching.

Leveraging Technology - Moodle

Moodle is a free software e-learning platform typically referred to as a Learning Management Systems (LMS). As of 2011, it had a worldwide base of over 57 million users. Wow!

The construct of Moodle contends that learners can contribute to the educational experience in many ways. Moodle's features reflect an enormous range of possibilities in its design aspects (e.g. forum, learning activities, wikis, quizzes, and much more). It embraces a broad range of learning philosophies, from constructivism to focused outcome-oriented methodologies.

As has been discussed previously in this blog, the days of doing all training in traditional classroom settings is past. Fulfilling your company's educational requirements through the use of powerful tech solutions such as Moodle is not the future, it is now!

More Thoughts on Time Management

Time Management is such an important topic for every business professional. Let’s look at it a bit further this week. "If I only had a bit more time", we all say. What we are really concerned about, however, is Productivity!

Five Things That Get in the Way of Being Productive

1.People Keep Stuff in Their Head

2.They Don’t Decide What They Need to Do About the Stuff They Know They Need to Do Something About

3.They Don’t Organize Action Reminders and Support Materials in Functional Categories

4.They Don’t Maintain and Review a Complete Inventory of Their Commitments

5.They Waste Energy and Burn Out, Allowing Their Busyness to be Driven by What is Latest and Loudest

Productivity - That's what it is all about...

Managing Your Commitments

Managing Your Commitments is a vital first step in time management:

1. First, if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear
2. Anything you consider unfinished must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind:
3. 
   –Outlook email inbox
   –Physical in-basket
   –Voice recorder

You should have as few “collection buckets” as are adequate (and as many as are necessary).

You should not try to "keep things in your head". I am sure you can remember several instances when that did not work). Free up your mind for the task at hand; don't clutter it with "I have to be sure to remember to...".

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.


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

The Keirsey Tests

The Keirsey Temperament and Character tests are interesting and resemble the Meyers-Briggs test. The following link takes you to a location on line (scored immediately.)

Participants will enjoy taking the tests and learning about themselves from the scores they receive. The scores can also be used by instructors at the beginning of courses to learn about students and better plan instructional strategies, emphases, and individualized responses.

http://www.keirsey.com/

Give it a try; it is interesting and rather fun...

Coaching Feedback

Another Essential Rule of Coaching in the workplace is:

Be Comfortable with Feedback

“Not so easy”, you say? Like so many things in our personal as well as professional lives, this can be a learned skill. Practice giving and receiving feedback. Consider the following:

• What if a coach is Uncomfortable giving or getting feedback?

• That Discomfort will probably be projected

• A Negative attitude is contagious

• But, so is a Positive one!

Feedback: Going out and coming in – One of the Essentials to success in the workplace.

TeacherTube Rocks!

Another great technology resource (that is Free!) is TeacherTube:

TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos. It is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

Among other things, with TeacherTube, community members can:

1.Upload, tag and share videos worldwide.

2.Browse hundreds of videos uploaded by community members.

3.Integrate TeacherTube videos on websites using video embeds or APIs.

4.Make videos public or private - users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with those they invite.

TeacherTube - Try it out!  http://www.teachertube.com/index.php

Measuring Outputs

The Measurement of Outputs in business is Critical to any organization. What is important, of course, is making sure what is being measured is Germane to the Success of the venture.

Two Ways of measuring outputs are to look at the Voice of the Process and the Voice of the Customer:

The Voice of the Process
Output measures that describe the Actual Outputs and capabilities of the process

The Voice of the Customer
Output measures that describe Customer’s needs, wants, and expectations

Both measurements are important to understand what is needed by the customer, and what the system is delivering to satisfy those needs.

Identifying Key Processes

Knowing which of your processes are truly key to the success of your organization takes a bit of analysis.

Four questions can be used for identifying Key Processes:

Ask yourself:

1. Which outputs are of the greatest importance to our customers?

2. Which processes produce these outputs?

3. Which processes are most visible to our customers?

4. Of the processes identified in response to Questions 2 and 3, which seem to have the greatest potential for improvement?

Once you have identified your Key Processes, you will be well on your way to serving your customers better, and growing your business!

Using Humor to Engage Your Audience

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I like to use Humor in my Presentations. I have always found it beneficial in Engaging the participants, and I am confident it helps to improve student learning.

The creative development of Humor in the virtual classroom deals with "How" to teach, not "What" to teach. The use of humor is a teaching tool that increases the amount of "What" that is actually learned by students. Using humor can have a Very Positive Effect on any classroom (or boardroom) experience.

Some teachers and other professionals fear they will not be taken seriously if their material elicits a laugh now and then. Don’t be Afraid! Try using some humor in your presentation, and see how much it is appreciated by your audience.

Getting Your Inbox to Empty

One of the requirement of effective Time Management is the realization that you cannot (and should try to) do everything at once. What you should do, however, is have Control over all of your "In" boxes, (physical and virtual):

Getting “In” to Empty doesn’t mean actually doing all the actions and projects you have collected It just means:

1.  Identifying each item

2.  Deciding what it is

3.  What it means

4.  What you are going to do with it

Once you have done that, you have control, and in effective time management, control is what it is all about.

Toot the Horn!

Perhaps the most important, and often underutilized, tool in truly effective coaching is Giving Praise.

• Great companies and coaches take the time to Recognize good work and good people

• They also encourage their people to Ask for recognition when it is not forthcoming

• It’s good for your people to “Toot Their Own Horn”!

How do you feel when you get praise for doing something well? You want to do More of It!

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.

Teacher Tube!

Another great technology resource to integrate into your company's educational efforts (and is Free!) is TeacherTube:

TeacherTube is an online community for sharing instructional videos. It is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

Among other things, with TeacherTube, community members can:

1. Upload, tag and share videos worldwide.
2. Browse hundreds of videos uploaded by community members.
3. Integrate TeacherTube videos on websites using video embeds or APIs.
4. Make videos public or private - users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with those they invite.

TeacherTube - Try it out! http://www.teachertube.com/index.php

The Problem May be Your System

The father of quality management, W. Edwards Deming, believed in the Use of Statistics in the management of quality control in the corporate world. The need for a working understanding of basic statistical principles is at the heart of Deming's teaching. "Statistical theory has changed practice in almost everything [in business].”

Composing music was one of his many talents, and when thinking of the difficult-to-sing national anthem, he created a clever Metaphor for the work process:

• Don’t blame the singers (workers) for not hitting the notes
• The song (system) is the problem
• Instead, rewrite the song (fix the system)

If you are having trouble meeting your company goals, don’t necessarily point a finger at the workers; the problem may well be your system.

ASQ: American Society for Quality
http://www.asq.org/about-asq/who-we-are/bio_deming.html