Colorful post-its. Wacky visuals. Funky rooms. What technique of innovation is better known than brainstorming? What word solicits more eyerolls in the real world? Brainstorms are frequently unproductive. There are two main reasons why, and they’re related: ● People evaluate others’ ideas ("Neat, so how much would that cost?"). ● People evaluate their own ideas before they’ve even shared them. They censor out the most unusual ones for fear of being judged as silly or dumb. Analysis and evaluation are critical skills. We’re rewarded for quickly evaluating situations, diagnosing errors, and finding practical solutions in nearly every aspect of our lives. Rightly so. |Brainstorming is harder than it looks because it requires us to temporarily suspend these instincts. The purpose of a brainstorm is to come up with as many different options as possible to delight our users. The greater the number and variety of options, the higher the odds of a valuable idea. A properly run group brainstorm is your most useful tool to generate game changing ideas. It requires skill and preparation to be effective. Here’s what we think are the most impactful steps you can take to make your next brainstorm as productive as it can be.

We are in the midst of massive workforce disruption. The need for resilience at organization, team, and individual levels has never been greater. This report reveals why HR leaders are turning to coaching to help people thrive during change. Download the report to get BetterUp’s research on 5 data-proven ways coaching builds employee resilience, and how resilient people and teams drive business results.

Richardson, a global sales training company, had a problem: their eLearning modules, which were once considered state-of-the-art, had grown outdated. They needed to improve their sales training program fast to address their biggest challenges: Effectively engaging their learners with a new approach Delivering a unique, scalable training solution Administering a seamless go-to-market rollout of an overhauled training program How did Richardson quickly overcome these challenges and deliver a game-changing training solution? By using a modern, configurable online learning platform. In this case study you'll learn how to: Deliver a consistent, intuitive, and clean learner experience at a global scale Leverage blended learning and robust analytics to create a more impactful training program Transform existing training and education experiences for learners, resulting in new levels of efficiency, engagement, and success

With so many ideas and initiatives to invest in, you're probably asking why you should devote your dollars to training. The way we work has changed, and employees are facing new challenges. They've had to adapt, adjust, and learn new skills, and it's important to provide them with the tools they need to succeed. But the truth is these challenges didn't start with a pandemic, and they won't end with it either. Your employees are always having to adjust, adapt, and learn new skills as they start a new project, use a new software, or encounter difficult situations with teammates. Training can certainly be helpful in times of crisis, change, and uncertainty, but training can also help you overcome everyday business challenges, get a competitive edge, reduce turnover, upskill your workforce, and so much more. In this ebook, you'll learn why investing in employee training is a smart move, and you'll get all the facts, figures, and stats you need to convince leadership to invest in employee training. You'll also learn: -Why you should invest in training -What ROI you can expect from training -How to maximize training effectiveness with online learning

The world as we know it is changing, and the approaches companies use to support their team's learning and development initiatives have had to change drastically in order to keep pace, and will likely continue to do so as new societal norms and health and safety precautions become integrated into standard business operation protocols and practices. In today’s professional landscape, the safety, convenience, and wellbeing of your learners must be top priority in order to ensure your team is confident, well-equipped, and can drive organizational success - regardless of whether they are working from home or in an office. eThink has created this Remote Work eBook to help organizations create engaging and sustainable remote workplace eLearning programs that can support learner needs and workplace practices as they continue to evolve. In this guide, we’ll discuss the growing trends in the workplace, strategies and solutions to revolutionize digital L&D, and how to ensure your organization is prepared to effectively support the success of your teams for years to come.

COVID-19 has obviously impacted the world of work in deep, disruptive ways. Your organization’s approach to what work is and how it gets done is likely to continue to evolve. Some industries are more prepared than others for this transformation, but HR and L&D pros in every industry are poised to become advocates for lasting and meaningful change, drawing on lessons about work during COVID-19. In this eBook, we dig into the impact of the pandemic on the workplace and how smart HR pros and learning leaders are preparing for the "new normal" post COVID-19.

Few realize it, but most people interact with Synaptics "human interface" technologies every day. The company’s touch- and voice-enabling technologies are a key part of today’s smartphones, tablets, notebooks, automobiles, wearables, smart homes, and other applications. Synaptics helps users get the most out of their devices through an extensive portfolio of human-interface solutions that enable elegant, intuitive user experiences. The PC, smartphone, tablet and automotive-electronics markets that Synaptics serves are all constantly evolving and highly competitive. New or upgraded products are released at an incredibly fast pace, both by a wide range of competitors and by Synaptics itself. To support and improve upon its market-leading technologies, Synaptics relies on its employees to fully understand both the company’s own suite of products as well as those they compete with. This expertise enables Synaptics employees to think beyond obvious solutions, adapt and apply answers from other functions or processes, and iterate on new ideas. And when that expertise can be shared, it serves as the foundation for the culture of innovation upon which Synaptics’ products are built.

Many organizations understand the importance of transitioning their instructor-led training (ILT) to digital learning but are confused about how to create an effective and engaging online learning experience that drives results. Without incorporating modern learning methods such as gamification, social collaboration, and microlearning, you run the risk of a bad learning experience which results in high dropout rates, poor learner engagement, and ROI left on the table. In this e-book, we share the 3 core pillars of an effective learning program you need to have in place to ensure your training program is set up for success.  You will learn: What the 3 key pillars of an effective learning program are How to develop strategies for incorporating these pillars into your own programs How to create more engaging, effective programs that support long-term success for your learners and your business

Compliance is not just something extra we have to do to manage risk and follow the law. It touches on almost every aspect about how we work. Getting compliance right should never be an end goal; it should always be something wedo on the way to the larger organizational/business and culture strategy. Download this white paper to learn more about how compliance can be part of a culture strategy. 

In the current climate, we’re having to respond quickly to the challenge of operating in a fully virtual, at-distance, world of learning. This insight addresses the challenge of how to take a blended learning journey—a sustained learning experience that blends a mix of media, events and channels, over time—and cater for when face-to-face engagement is no longer an option. L&D teams around the world are having to adapt, and to adapt quickly. Global organizations are adjusting rapidly due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, and there’s an increased urgency to support change and deliver effective transformation while working and learning at distance. The impact of this transformation is likely to leave a lasting legacy beyond the immediate crisis. If organizations can embrace and deliver effective virtual learning at this time, the benefits (reducing unnecessary travel, for a start) will surely shape the future landscape of ‘business as usual’. And while it may be relatively straight-forward to simply replace a single faceto-face component with a virtual or digital equivalent, we know that a sustained learning journey over time is the only way to engage learners and drive behavior change. This insight looks at the steps you’ll need to explore to take your virtual learning to the next level.

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

Adopting remote-work opportunities is paying off for companies around the world, delivering positive changes to critical business metrics, such as reduced expenses,1 increased productivity and engagement,2 and decreased turnover and attrition.3 It’s also becoming increasingly popular among employees — 43% of people already work remotely to varying degrees,4 and 99% would like to have remote work be an option at least some of the time for the rest of their careers.5 But for all the benefits remote work can bring, it isn’t without hurdles. These challenges — barriers to effective communication, ongoing learning, and a thriving company culture — can run rampant if not proactively addressed.

Measuring the impact of learning and readiness initiatives on revenue is the billion dollar question. In today’s uncertain environment, the answer is even more important. Rapidly changing markets, disrupted supply chains, and increasingly knowledgeable customers mean that companies must upskill employees to compete. But the ability to optimize learning—and maximize productivity—takes deep insight into how employees think, learn, and perform, insight which many companies lack. Today, there’s a new breed of platform that combines learning, communication, and collaboration tools with analytics for a holistic view of learning and development’s impact on results. Workforce readiness technology allows organizations to move beyond assessments and scores to understand how to target activities that move the needle.

Edmunds believes in the philosophy of making their sellers more effective versus enabling them to sell better. They achieved staggering results utilizing Rehearsal’s video-based practice and coaching platform. Not only does Edmunds have greater confidence that training is being delivered accurately and consistently, but those that practiced with Rehearsal doubled the revenue of those who did not. 

There is a large contingent of instructional designers out there who are forced by their organizations’ lines of business to take orders and "design" eLearning courses. Stakeholders ask these well-intentioned instructional designers to become order-takers and apply learning objectives, knowledge checks and assessments to their PowerPoints and import them into a Storyline or Captivate published SCORM file. Once it is loaded into the organization’s LMS it resides there in a deep blue abyss forever. Did I mention that these projects have a completion deadline of 2-3 weeks? Does this sound like you? It’s not your fault. Let me say it again, it’s not your fault! After all, you have a backlog of projects and only so many hours in a day to argue the merits of learner-centric and performance-focused eLearning They were frustrated with bad eLearning that fails to live up to its promise of improving performance and creating measurable results. So they decided to come up with a set of 22 principles that reflect effective performance-focused eLearning that instructional designers should know and use. I’m a signatory and agree with every principle in the manifesto. However, it falls short of being a useful tool that instructional designers can use to evaluate their design throughout the project life cycle and make changes for the better. There are other tools out there that evaluate the quality of instructional design based on performance-focused and learner-centric standards. Take the Quality Matters Rubric for instance. This tool is very advanced, has quality assurance standards, certification for designers, and even membership opportunities. However, it focuses primarily on academia not industry, it is very rigorous, and it can take almost as much time to evaluate your course than building the actual course. Therefore, I decided to come up with an evaluation tool for my team and I would like to share it with you. The evaluation tool is called the 7 Better Learning Principles Assessment (of course if someone comes up with a better name, I’m all ears).

In the modern era, learners have access to knowledge like never before. But as learning professionals, we need to ensure they’re developing the skills and knowledge they need to perform their jobs at a high level. That leaves a critical question: how can we design programs that help learners achieve true mastery? Newer, more robust approaches, including continuous delivery of learning, richer content, and skill-based certifications, are delivering the outcomes that enterprises are looking for. This report discusses the need to shift from legacy learning approaches to a modern outcome and skill-based approach that we call mastery-based learning.  In this analyst report you will learn: The key trends driving the shift to mastery-based learning The best technologies to enable a mastery-based approach to training Best practices for deploying mastery-based learning programs

As a program manager, so much of your time is spent creating and facilitating plans to develop other people, so your own development often falls by the wayside. After all, who is going to train the training program manager? But prioritizing your own development can actually help you create a better and more effective training program. For example, developing your data management skills can help you find and share meaningful statistics with leadership to improve buy-in, or brushing up on your communication skills can help you have more productive needs analysis conversations. In this ebook, you'll learn to develop skills and competencies that can help you create a strategic and successful training program. You'll also learn: Characteristics of top training programs How to develop and analyze training goals and metrics A framework for conducting a needs analysis

PowerPoint MVP Nolan Haims provides for TMN members the fantastic list of stock imagery and icon resources used at Nolan Haims Creative.

The learning ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and the changing technologies and growing resources available to help individuals learn is likely a bit overwhelming for your Learning and Development team. With the only guarantee being that change is inevitable, how do you build a training solution that will meet your organization’s needs 6, 12, or 24 months down the road? Discover how open-source technology can help you create a flexible and future-proof training program for your organization.  In this White Paper, you'll learn: The evolving role and capabilities of the Learning Management System (LMS) within the larger learning ecosystem The leading open-source learning platforms and how to determine which is the right fit for your needs How to maximize the interoperability of open-source to extend and future-proof your learning program

COVID-19 forced many organizations to transition to remote work in just a few days. But now that many employees have been working remotely for weeks, employers are beginning to realize the benefits of remote work, and many organizations will continue working remotely at least part of the time. Even though your teams might not be in the office, you still need to train your workforce on compliance topics like appropriate behavior or how to stay safe online. And because employees are encountering new challenges, you might also want to consider offering training on other topics, like productivity, effective remote leadership, software, and communication. The good news is that you can do all of this with online employee training. Now more than ever, it's important to make tools and resources readily available for your employees, no matter where they are. In this infographic, you'll learn how you can deliver a consistent and seamless training experience to your dispersed and virtual workforce. You'll also learn: Tips for sourcing content When to create your own content How to maximize training effectiveness The most impactful delivery methods

We’ve been socialized to believe learning ends when we finish school or university or an e-course. But we’re wrong. With the half-life of skills at 5 years, everyone needs to be constantly upskilling to keep up with the pace of technology—they need continuous learning. And while many organizations are aware of the learning sciences needed to propel their programs forward, they are unsure how to turn these great ideas into digital learning that drives results. This eBook explores why learners need continuous learning to achieve mastery--and what you can do about it to grow revenue and improve learning outcomes. Download this free eBook to learn: Why professional learners need continuous learning to reach mastery Four models to build and scale your business with continuous learning How to choose the right model for your learning program

According to the 2018 Gallup Report, 67% of workers are experiencing some sort of work disengagement.  Gallup looked deeper into managers’ impact on employee engagement and found:   77% of employees believe their manager needs to improve the meaningfulness of the feedback they currently provide 74% of employees believe their manager needs to more directly relate feedback to their job performance 79% of employees believe their manager needs to improve how they manage their employee’s performance to motivate them to excel in their position BUT all is not lost; This gap represents an opportunity.  To discover more about the opportunity, click to download this paper.  

Employee training and development is not an "event" it's a process. Training in the 21st century needs to be ongoing, agile, and one that is personalized to individual needs.  And with the growing remote workforce, evolving and advancing technologies, where do you begin? Traditional employee development methods are being replaced by: micro-learning simulations gamification AI and more Download this complimentary guide, The Definitive Guide to Upskilling, to learn about the 4 essential strategies for building and refining an upskilling program with personalized content and hands-on training that aligns with your company.

Companies around the globe have canceled sales meetings and training sessions and are enacting work from home policies to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Yet sales enablement professionals must get new hires up to speed and keep teams on track in a world where face-to-face meetings are impossible. Traditional training and sales enablement approaches won’t solve this challenge. But building a virtual training program when you’ve relied on in-person sessions can feel like an overwhelming task. Fortunately, there are proven tactics that organizations can employ to train across geographies and time zones. Use this guide to learn how the right strategy and technology can help you manage high-performing virtual teams.