ASK MORE, TELL LESS Many of the skills of a great coach are equally effective for a great leader - emotional intelligence, able to provide feedback, capable of creating strong working relationships, comfortable challenging the thinking of another, willing to ‘speak the truth’ when it’s most important, and the list goes on. Of course the question is which coaching skills might a leader adopt to get the best results in these all-important human interactions. Click below to download this White Paper.

Only 39% of companies are prepared for a compliance audit. Are you?   Compliance training is a top priority, but it’s only half the battle. In the latest Insight Compliance Guide from Totara Learning, discover why the right learning technology can help ensure your organization is meeting industry regulations and requirements, and get useful tips on what to look for in your next learning platform. Click below to download this eBook.

Have you ever shared your thoughts with someone? On a grander scale, have you tried sharing your work or a potential masterpiece with like-minded people? Sharing your work simply means that it is where your mind is at. It is where your expertise can be found. The patterns of your insights showcase your expertise areas.   Of course you can imagine the satisfaction you get when you receive the approval of people you respect. But the approval of like-minded people is not the only thing. Rather, it's making your work bigger than yourself that matters.     In this fourth installment of my five-part blog series about The All-New TrainingMagNetwork.com Open Learning Environment, I'm going to talk about the importance of sharing your work. The Internet and a good portion of its supporting technology has been the result of open sharing of ideas. Inevitability of Sharing Insight Apart from the climate of openness, we can't expect to enjoy what many would consider to be the greatest invention of modern times. Buzzwords like "open source," "collaboration," and "crowdsourcing" are all synonymous to the sharing of ideas and the climate of openness that it entails.   Although the effort to share one's ideas is not something recent, modern development made it easier to collaborate. According to Josh Lerner and Jean Tirol in their book The Simple Economics Of Open Source, "While media attention to the phenomenon of open source software has been recent, the basic behaviors are much older in their origins. There has long been a tradition of sharing and cooperation in software development. But in recent years, both the scale and formalization of the activity have expanded dramatically with the widespread diffusion of the Internet."   On a more limited scale, programmers have been sharing source codes as early as the '60s and the '70s and this has been called "sneakernet" due primarily to the actual movement of files through people wearing sneakers. I'm sure you can imagine the inconvenience but you get the picture. There is no way ideas can be prevented from getting shared. The Power Behind Sharing Insight Matt Ridley shows that the great progresses experienced by human history have been the result of collaboration or the "meeting and mating" of ideas. I like the book Show Your Work by Jane Bozarth. It suggests a profound change of our outlook. When we share our work, we actually learn a lot better. I recall a story from a toxic waste company client about how they apply "Chalk Talk." After each training they ask participants to use chalk and blackboard (may be flipcharts, white boards and markers) to talk about what they have learned.   This is a powerful self-learning process that enables the learners to articulate what they know and correct themselves along the way. Let's call this the digital tracker.   At TMN we allow members to capture trends and patterns. They discover and learn and track what they are good at and they show it off in the "Trending Report."  How is Openness Beneficial to Organizational Performance   The advantages of collaboration to organizations are enormous. Bozarth opined, "Showing work offers increased efficiencies, the possibility of innovation and increased ability to improvise, and promises correction of longstanding deficits in organizational communication."   In another study, Martine R. Haas and Morten T. Hansen proposed that, "An organization's  capacity to share knowledge among its individuals and teams and apply that shared knowledge to performing important activities is increasingly seen as a vital source of competitive advantage in many industries."   While it's nice to think about the solo working genius, it's undeniable that we are at a time when certain problems are just too big for the individual to solve alone. We need the insights of other like-minded people whose expertise are in other areas.  Conclusion   The pattern of your insight is a clear predictor of where your expertise lies. While the solo genius presents an attractive picture, sharing these insights expands your horizons. It is only through openness that ideas take on a new life because they meet and mate with other ideas. Innovation becomes possible and inevitable when ideas are shared. Problem-solving is facilitated by not one person but through the contribution of others.

Instantaneous learning is achieved by focusing on a singular idea in a lesson re-enforced through a real-life circumstances showing possible consequences or outcomes. By Ray Jimenez, Ph.D.

The employment market is fragmented and diverse. Every sector of business requires instructional designers and developers. Many employers prefer Instructional Designers (IDs) with experience in their business sector. This means that subject/content experts with a talent for teaching often move into instructional design using their field-specific knowledge as the key to open the door to course design and development, but with little or no formal preparation for quality instructional design and development. This paper discusses the practice analysis process, including survey results that generated nine primary skill set domains for IDs.  

It’s a debate that’s raging throughout the digital content world, from content marketers to eLearning professionals: "What is the ideal online medium for conveying my message?" The contenders? A flurry of tactics, ranging from ebooks to white papers to webinars to blogs to infographics to social media. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Each has gained favor in segments of the marketing and eLearning worlds. Conscious of the weaknesses of these alternatives, content creators continue to seek new and more effective media for their messages. Ask them to describe an ideal medium, and you’ll hear something like this: It would be up-to-date, like a live webinar It would be multisensory, like a video It would be navigable, like a white paper or e-book It would be actionable and trackable, like a landing page It would be interactive, like a website It would be sharable, like a social update It would be deeply engaging, like a video game It would be searchable and discoverable, like a blog It would be simple to follow, like a slideshow

Successful sales organizations weather tough times with thoughtful initiatives, skilled salespeople, and healthy client relationships. Are We There Yet? If not, it sure feels like it. Housing is so bad that your mortgage is upside down. Credit is so tight that you can't borrow a garden hoe. The dollar is so weak that a pint in London sets you back a day's pay. So, is it a "technical recession"? Who cares, really, because for reasons of their own, customers and prospects are sitting on their checkbooks. And what's the impact on you of this excruciating state of suspended compensation?   Sales cycles longer than the River Nile. Client conversations that move smoothly from price, to price, and finally on to price. Formerly friendly clients who won't give you an Altoid. And, of course, the invasion of the tirekickers.   You say you've done everything obvious and nothing works? Maybe it's time to narrow your focus.

We struggle with problems that seem unbeatable. Will we ever be able to improve employee engagement, cut costs, grow profit, and improve quality? These organizational problems are really team problems, and team problems are primarily people problems.  

The terms trainer, presenter and facilitator are often used interchangeably, but actually mean different things, and each can play a different role in learning events.  Do you know their differences?  Download this eBook to compare trainers, presenters and facilitators, take a deep dive into the different roles facilitators play, and access a tool to assess your current effectiveness as a facilitator.

Running, launching, or revamping a training program is a lot of work. After deciding which topics to train on, who to train, how to deliver training, and dozens of other details, it's easy to forget to decide how to measure the success of your training program. Another reason training efforts aren't measured is because it's hard to understand what, when, and how to measure. When should I start looking at data? How soon is too soon to make adjustments? And what adjustments should we make? It can be overwhelming to look at your whole training program and make a determination if it's successful. Instead, breaking your program down into stages can help you set and measure goals every step of the way. This can also help you adjust your efforts incrementally, instead of doing a massive overhaul. In this infographic, you'll learn how to determine key performance indicators for each stage of your training program. You'll also learn: -How to break your training program into stages -What each stage should look like -How to deliver value at every stage

Growing a training program can be difficult whether you are just one person running it or there’s a team tackling employee training. It can also be stressful to take a step back and understand the strengths and weaknesses of your training program. Regardless of whether your program is brand new or already making changes at your organization, the potential it has for impact is high. With the right strategy, and a focus on continual improvement, you can reach the next training milestone and deliver even more value to your organization. In this infographic, you’ll learn: 5 phases of a training program KPIs for each level and strategies to reach each level How to prepare your program for success

In July 2021, Gamelearn conducted a survey of over 1,000 HR and L&D professionals. From their answers, we've extracted the top trends in the industry today. What's in this report: Key trends in corporate training, including digital training and self-driven development L&D consulting: the digital training portfolios your clients want and what authoring tools can help you achieve them Top takeaways from the survey you can start applying to your work now

The world we live and work in isn’t slowing down. Today's challenge for organizations: change how you do what you do at a faster rate than ever before. That means leaders must foster both organizational innovation, and the ability to change and act on the new ideas and opportunities. Innovation is one of the most important factors for an organization’s success and growth. Teams need to be able to implement and execute on new strategies and ideas, quickly and collaboratively. Download this free ebook to get actionable tips and practical advice on: How to identify in-house innovators Four key questions you need to ask What to do to accelerate your innovation journey Creating a company wide culture of innovation You’ll also get a bonus cheat sheet, with resources to kickstart your DIY innovation! How can your organization use human-centered design to get unstuck and take on any challenge? Download our ebook to find out.

Exceptional learning leaders are acutely aware of the importance of how learning and development is viewed, utilized, and measured in an organization. Often, they must act as a strategist, sales consultant, and publicity agent for the learning programs they create. Getting and keeping buy-in from the necessary stakeholders in an organization is crucial to sustainable L&D programs. Ensuring that learning programs are relevant to the company’s reality requires an ongoing dialog with the key stakeholders. This eBook examines recurring goals, concerns, and opportunities that often show up with typical roles in the organization. We also break down ways to communicate the value of L&D that may ring true for them. (This eBook is the third of a 3-part series that examines the early and middle and ongoing stages of using an LMS and the roles that stakeholders in learning can play in the process.) In this eBook, we look at commonly recurring roles in many organizations, their viewpoint on learning and development programs, and how to get stakeholder buy-in on learning. Topics include: Aligning programs to broader, organizational goals How to sell L&D plans to the C-suite Appealing to line managers Engaging employees in learning objectives

In 2021, workplaces are all about swift skill building at scale, with 80% of CEOs saying employees need new skills for today. However, digital learning for businesses is failing to keep up when employees need knowledge most — in the flow of work. The result is lost productivity: This eBook is for learning leaders leading the quest for a better, more purposeful learning experience that impacts the bottom line. Read the eBook and discover:  80% of knowledge is almost immediately lost due to lack of practice and retention One entire day a week is lost by employees looking for answers to questions 15 weeks of productivity are lost each year by subject matter experts (usually your best employees) helping people learn Employers need to power up knowledge in the flow of work. Get the eBook to find out the 5 ways to power up productivity with knowledge at work.

This eBook gives you an overview of what knowledge management is, why it’s a challenge for companies - especially in today’s hybrid-remote working environment - and how to start building an effective knowledge management system.    You’ll learn about the: Types of knowledge in an organization Cost to companies when information isn’t accessible and easy to find, and Benefits of using animated videos for knowledge management.

On top of all your other responsibilities, you might have big-picture to-do items on your list, like "prioritize leadership development" or "create a high-potentials program." It can be hard to know where to begin with broad initiatives like this, especially when you're working with a new generation of leaders and need a new approach. The first step in developing millennial leaders is to get a better understanding of this generation. Once you understand what they want and need at work, you can create development opportunities, programs, and initiatives that resonate with them and set them up for success. In this infographic, you'll learn how to unlock the potential of this generation and create a workforce of strong future leaders. You'll also learn: How to measure the success of your development efforts Key characteristics of millennial leaders Why mentor programs are a must-have for developing millennial leaders What elements should be included in a custom development plan

From intake to learning solution delivery and analysis, there are many aspects of the learning operations process you can improve to use your time better and deliver stronger training.   But where should you start? And what will the impact of your efforts be? An L&D (learning and development) audit can reveal the answers when done effectively. You’ll get the following in this toolkit from Cognota (formerly Synapse): A guide about the most impactful aspects of L&D to audit Best practices for making your audit a success An audit planner and progress tracker Templates for final reports, to share your findings

Every organization’s most important asset is people. As such, Learning and Development (L&D) professionals play a vital role as they develop and grow people through training and, thus, have an impact on business success. That means it is crucial for L&D professionals to continuously build and enhance their own skills. But what exactly are the needed skills and how are they changing? As a profession, there are few agreed-upon, universal standards outlining exactly what L&D professionals need to know and do to help employees change their behavior and improve their skills. It’s about more than just mastering core competencies. It’s about identifying certain traits that allow L&D professionals to meet today’s needs and move nimbly into the future. This white paper aims to identify the factors that separate the good from the great by exploring the traits and competencies that characterize the best-of-the-best L&D professionals and what skills will be needed in the future. The goal is twofold: To identify the traits and competencies of the highest echelon of L&D professionals To lay the groundwork for creating a master class curriculum that can propel L&D professionals from proficiency to mastery of their profession. What form that curriculum may take remains to be determined; this white paper is the first step in the process.

This template provides a starting point for developing an L&D strategy.  Customize it to meet the specific context, needs, and goals of your organization.

This white paper explores the strategies Training Top 10 Hall of Fame organizations use to engage their employees at all levels throughout the company, in good economies and bad. Case studies explore their approaches to onboarding, engaging middle managers, aligning engagement to business objectives, developing relevant learning modules, and building an improvementdriven culture.

Here are 5 myths that limit individual performers, managers and their teams. Click below to download the free infographic that reveals the truths and strategies that can dramatically expand your performance. Myth #1:  A manager's job is to run the operation. Myth #2:  Coaching is for Low Performers Myth #3:  It's not a part of our culture. Myth #4: Coaching is confrontational Myth #5:  The person has reached their potential  person has reached their pote

As the world navigates a sea change with this pandemic, so are the enterprise ILT programs. How to navigate this rapid pivot to virtual effectively? That’s top of the mind for every L&D manager. In this whitepaper we elaborate on: The principles of effective live virtual learning Why optimal learning delivery matters for business success How to choose the best-of-breed VILT technology

Self-Deception and the "Box" 1  Bud It was a brilliant summer morning shortly before nine, and I was hurrying to the most important meeting of my new job at Zagrum Company. As I walked across the tree-lined grounds, I recalled the day two months earlier when I had first entered the secluded campus-style headquarters to interview for a senior management position. I had been watching the company for more than a decade from my perch at one of its competitors and had tired of finishing second. After eight interviews and three weeks spent doubting myself and waiting for news, I was hired to lead one of Zagrum’s product lines. Now, four weeks later, I was about to be introduced to a senior management ritual peculiar to Zagrum: a daylong one-on-one meeting with the executive vice president, Bud Jefferson. Bud was the right-hand man to Zagrum’s president, Kate Stenarude. And due to a shift within the executive team, he was about to become my new boss. Click below to download this excerpt from Leadership and Self-Deception.