Learning and Development Archives - Page 34 of 36

Embrace The Joy of Learning

The other day I briefly became involved in a discussion on Twitter about the need for people within Human Resources (HR) and Learning and Development (L&D) to engage in Continuous Professional Development (CPD.) That’s something I fully support because all of us need to keep abreast of developments within our own fields of expertise. However, there’s another reason I firmly believe that we should be engaged in CPD and that’s because we can have an impact on those we work with throughout our organisations.

I am passionate about what I tend to refer to as the sheer “joy of learning” and that it is something which can become infectious. By showing a real commitment, engagement with and joy at learning new things we can encourage others to engage with their own learning and development. If we act as role models for continuous professional development or learning then others can be influenced by us and the organisation as a whole will continue to grow.

I know that when it comes to ongoing learning and development in the workplace, the prospect of keeping your skills relevant on a continual basis may seem daunting. However, learning new things and increasing our marketable skills doesn’t have to be an laborious task it really can be a pleasure endeavour. The attitude which we adopt about the process can have a large impact upon our experience and that of those we work with. Continuing education can be an opportunity to discover the joy of learning with the right outlook. Let’s take a look at how rewarding it can truly be.

Not Just a Means To An End

You may feel that you must constantly hone your skills through continuing professional development, in order to remain competitive in the workplace. Or, perhaps your professional body or your company requires you to complete a minimum number of CPD hours each year. Either way, when you think of this as another hoop that you must jump through, it is likely to diminish your experience and even the amount of benefit that you receive from the development.

In contrast, whether taken voluntarily or mandated by your profession or organisation, continuing development can enrich your professional life. You will have access to the latest information, trends and techniques in your chosen field – allowing you to stay on the cutting edge. This will not only give you an advantage over your peers, but it can help you to become more efficient and effective as well. In addition, with new methods and ideas to try, it can provide you with more outlets to be creative and proactive about your daily tasks. All of these can work to bring you more joy in your professional duties, as you enjoy your career more.
Enjoy the Process

Yet, while the end result can be increased productivity, marketability and knowledge, part of the joy of learning comes from the process itself. Many people rarely get the opportunity to take time out just to learn in their adult life, and continuing development in the workplace provides you with the perfect chance.

You will be able to investigate areas of interest to you, or delve deeper into topics regarding your work that you’ve always been curious about. Learning new tips and skills also helps to keep your mind working well, and your cognitive abilities sharp. That’s why I would encourage you to approach your continuing professional development as a fun challenge, rather than just a necessary task.

The Benefits

Not only can ongoing learning and professional development provide you with new information and greater marketability – it can increase your earning power as well. This can work in several ways, the first being the greater mastery of your occupation. You’ll have more expertise to offer your employer, which can often translate into a bigger role or the opportunity to move on to a bigger role.

In addition, by keeping your work varied and your interest piqued, you’ll likely derive more pleasure from your job as well. How can this affect your earning capability? People who enjoy their work tend to do a better job, and invest more of themselves into their projects. Simply put, the more you enjoy your work and the more you learn about it, the greater your chances of advancement are.

Finally, by constantly improving and expanding your skills, you’ll have an advantage in the job market as well. You may find yourself being contacted by recruiters, or if you were to suddenly need another job, you should have less trouble finding a new position.

In summary, I firmly believe that ongoing learning and professional development in the workplace can be both a pleasurable and a beneficial experience. Rather than a duty that you must perform, it can be something that you should enjoy. It can not only enhance your understanding of your occupation, and provide you with valuable techniques and strategies for success, but it can inspire those you work with to embrace their own opportunities for learning and development. For all of these reasons, approaching your continuing professional development with a positive attitide is an opportunity to enrich your professional life and to embrace the the joy of learning.

Prezi – Making Better Presentations

In my earlier article Carry on Learning I mentioned how learning a new piece of software such as Prezi was a great way to keep busy and to add valuable skills to your CV. There are lots of other benefits so let’s take a look at them and also how to get started making better presentations that your audience will love.

Benefits of Using Prezi – Why Use Prezi?

One of the best uses of Prezi is in education and the general learning environment. In fact, this tool is fast becoming the new presentation must-have for teachers and trainers. Recent studies have shown that a student’s attention span lasts less than 15 minutes. So when a more visually stimulating presentation tool such as Prezi is used, then we may be able to ensure that their learning is better facilitated.

Aside from its’ benefits in the learning environment, Prezi can also prove its’ worth amongst professionals in basically all fields and industries. Presentations created through Prezi promote more interaction among the audience by stimulating their visual senses.

So why use Prezi? Here are the Top Benefits of Using Prezi.

1. Prezi has a Free Option

As you know, Powerpoint is not free. Also, other similar applications that you use for free (e.g., Google Drive and OpenOffice) lack many features. But if you switch to Prezi, not only will you enjoy it without paying anything, but you will also have enough features to create stunning presentations.

2. It’s Cloud-Based

Here’s the problem with your Powerpoint slides. You’ll need an external drive or device to store them in. If you lose, forget, or accidentally damage this device, you’ll need to start from scratch. Sure, you can send a copy of your files to your email account, but think of the extra effort and time it takes.

If you use Prezi, on the other hand, you’ll say goodbye to flash drives for good. Best of all, you’ll be able to access your presentations anywhere in the world. You can even download them so you can view them offline.

3. You can create presentations that have more visual impact

Perhaps the best feature of Prezi is its zooming function. In Powerpoint, your visuals auto-adjust only to the size of your screen. With Prezi, one click is all it takes to make your images, texts, and videos larger.

4. With Prezi, you’re not confined to texts and images alone

You can embed videos from Youtube, upload PDF files, and import images from the web. These are tasks you can’t do using other applications.

5. You can enjoy simultaneous editing

If you’re working with a group, you don’t have to meet at a specific spot. As long as all of you are online, you can add sub-topics and other content to create a more dynamic presentation. In short, Prezi creates a more flexible working environment.

6. Your audience can better learn from your presentation

Unlike Powerpoint slides that break up topics into disorganized parts, Prezi allows you to create topics that are well-structured. In effect, your audience can easily see the connection between your topics and sub-topics.

How to Create Your First Prezi

Creating your first Prezi presentation is as easy as 1-2-3. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

Step 1. Go to Prezi.com and click on the blue “Get Started” button to create a free account. After filling out the necessary fields, you should be directed to your dashboard.
Step 2. Click on “New Prezi.” A new tab opens. You should see templates. Click on one.
Step 3. Start adding texts and pictures. Note that you can also insert videos. Learn to customize them to create a beautiful presentation.
Step 4. Every now and then, click on the “Present” button to see how your presentation looks like. Step 5. When done, save your work. You can also share it on Facebook or download as PDF.

In Conclusion

Prezi has many advantages over Powerpoint. You audience can easily see the interconnectedness of your topics, and your presentations help retain attention and facilitate better learning. The perfect tool for Learning and Development professionals, teachers and trainers of all sorts as well as anyone who wants to start making better presentations.

Carry On Learning

Don’t worry Carry on Learning isn’t the next in the “Carry On” series of films which many in the UK will be familiar with. It’s rather a suggestion that if, like me (at the time of writing), you are searching for a new job then now is the perfect time to also look at gaining some new skills. I know that when I talk to other people who have been made redundant and are looking for a new role one of the comments I hear a lot is around how tedious they find constant scouring for a new job.

So rather than let that tedium get you down why not think about some things that you have always wanted to learn and set to it. So many effective and affordable online courses are available and some of them include a form of certification which you can then add to your CV. As an example I have enrolled on a couple of Coaching and Mentoring courses which will enable me to refresh my knowledge of current ideas and techniques which I know will be invaluable when I return to full time employment.

Or why not learn to use a piece of software that you have kept meaning to take a look at? I want to suggest one that I think you will find invaluable and which can also let you showcase your skills on many different levels. That piece of software is Prezi! If you haven’t yet come across Prezi then I think you are going to be impressed.

If you work in Learning and Development or have attended a training course then you will no doubt be familiar with PowerPoint. Indeed it has become the default presentation tool for many presenters in many organisations. Powerpoint is a great tool, however it has become boring and I am sure that you have heard the phrase “Death by PowerPoint” to describe the experience of sitting through slide after slide of a presentation. However, there is still a place for sharing information through slides, and that’s why I think you might want to take some time to learn how to use Prezi.

It is a web-based tool that has both free and paid for options. It provides much more flexibility, and it veers away from the usual slide-by-slide, linear way of presenting information. Prezi gives you the opportunity to create more dynamic presentations which will better capture your audience’s interest and attention.

A short while ago I suggested that you should learn something to add to your CV and that also enables you to showcase your newly learnt skills. That was what I had in mind when I decided that as part of my commitment to Carry on Learning I would learn how to use Prezi. Having read that people were creating Prezumes (Resumes or as we call them in the UK CVs) using Prezi I decided that was the route I would take in terms of applying my learning.

Having created it I shared it with a number of recruitment agencies and asked for their feedback. They acknowledged that as a standalone CV submission it could struggle in the context of the standard recruitment practices – which is a whole other discussion(!) their feedback was:

“super innovative & would make for a memorable candidate!” from Oasis HR and “a really eye catching method!” from Ashley Kate HR.

I will share some of the other benefits of using Prezi in another post and how to go about creating your first Prezi but for now here’s what I created: Paul Duxbury Learning and Development Professional CV. If you are not familiar with Prezi simply click on “Start Prezi” and then use the arrows at the bottom of the presentation screen to navigate through it. As I said at the outset now is a great opportunity to Carry On Learning!

Learning Isn’t Just For Learning At Work Week

As I write it’s Learning at Work Week here in the UK and that set me thinking about how much learning takes place without there needing to be a formal structure to it.

I can think of so many instances where I have learnt something which I have then been able to apply in my own work. As an example I well recall being in a meeting where the discussion was getting quite heated and noticing how the person chairing the meeting dealt with it to diffuse the situation and leave all parties happy. That was real learning at work which I was able to observe, reflect on, implement when I encountered a similar situation and then evaluate the learning that had occurred.

Now, I am not suggesting that for Learning at Work Week you go in search of heated discussions in meetings! However, I want to look at some ways in which you and I can learn without having to participate in a formal “learning” event.

Start With a Personal Learning Journal or Portfolio.

Learning at Work is not a simple A to B journey from a single goal to a single outcome, it is a process of continuous discovery and a Personal Learning Portfolio or Learning Journal helps you to keep track of and reflect on what you have learnt and discovered as you progress. You might be thinking that it seem a little time consuming to record your findings and thoughts but I have consistently found that being able to revisit the notes I have made over the years has sparked new learning and new avenues to investigate so it is something I highly recommend to you.

Engage With Your Colleagues

Talking to colleagues about what they are doing, what they have learnt or discovered, how they have tackled issues and so offers a wealth of opportunities to learn from them. People love to talk about their successes and as you establish a rapport with people they will be more open to talking about the failures that led to their successes. Engage with your colleagues at work and talk about how they overcame problems, what approaches they took to particular issues and challenges and how they managed to deal with them. Look around you now, if you are reading this at work, and just consider for a moment the amazing opportunities for personal learning that are available from the collective experience and knowledge of your colleagues!

Chat with them about their experiences, so that you can learn from past problems, develop potential solutions and work towards improving your performance – both as an individual and ultimately as a department or organisation.

Informal Group/Social Interactions

Following on from this idea of learning at work by talking with colleagues, there are many ways to use social, informal learning to interact with others in the workplace. If there are a group of you who would like to learn about the role of an individual within the organisation or perhaps discover how someone deals with their challenges then why not invite them to a lunchtime or after work session with a whiteboard in the staffroom? It can be a great way to share ideas and to learn new things. The results achieved are not just about personal, individual gains; the group effort can also improve interpersonal skills and even help with communication between departments.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Obviously you are keeping up to date with what is happening within your own workplace and staying on top of the goals of the organisation and the challenges it faces. However think about expanding your horizons,to keep up to date with news and events in your industry as a whole.

This can be done in many ways: social media is a great tool for engaging with other in the industry which I talked about in my post Social Media for Learning. But in summary, online discussion groups with others in similar roles offer an informal forum for discussion, news outlets are a constant source of up-to-date information and blogs can offer insights on potential trends and forecasts with alternative viewpoints. Gather as much information as possible and don’t be put off by the source – speculation on a niche blog from a real professional in your industry can be a great way of learning new things and stretching your mind.

I wrote about taking up the opportunities which many organisations offer to learn new things outside of work. If that is something that appeals to you and you want or need to learn aboout project management, public speaking, leadership and much more do take a look at A World of Learning Opportunities.

Enjoy Learning at Work week if you are in the UK! Take the opportunity to start the incredible journey available to you and remember Learning isn’t just for Learning at Work Week – it’s for ever!

Learning and Development Working in Business Partnership

Are you a Learning and Development Manager who struggles to get people released for training courses? Or an L&D professional who really wishes that your organisation would try the brilliant new approach to learning that you encountered at a recent conference that you believe would make such a difference? Ever wondered why you struggle to get your voice heard within your organisation?

In a hard hitting post (Why L&D Can’t Ignore Alignment Anymore) Jonathan Kettleborough talked about the need for Learning and Development Professionals to ensure that their departments, their activity and their focus is aligned with the strategy of the businesses we work within.

Jonathan quotes a report by Capita which states that “The vast majority (82%) of leaders lack confidence that their firm’s L&D strategy and delivery are aligned to the company’s operational strategy. Half (50%) believe that their L&D function is stuck in a ‘business as usual ’mindset.” Or to put that another way only 18% of business leaders have confidence that their firm’s L&D strategy is aligned with the company’s operational strategy.

That is frightening! However hard L&D professionals might be working the perception in the vast majority of organisations is that we are not working with the operational teams to support their strategy. No doubt some L&D Professionals will counter that all too often it is hard to get our voices heard and that when we present innovative new approaches to L&D we are frequently ignored. I wonder whether some perceive themselves to be being ignored because they have failed to remember that it is the responsibility of the communicator to ensure the communication is relevant and understood? Do we find ourselves too wrapped up in the latest “fads” or learning theories? Too engaged by the glitter of the shiny new thing (approach to learning) that we forget that we have a need to be enabling the business to achieve their strategic and operational aims?

Learning and Development is fascinating because it gives us the opportunity to enable others and to achieve great things. But I wonder if, in the glimmer of the new and exciting, we sometimes forget the here and now, the urgent business need, the requirement to generate income to sustain the organisation? That is not to say that we cannot encourage an organisation to take new approaches to things or encourage our organisations to spend time and effort on new developments. It is essential, as Jonathan reminds us, that we ensure that what we are doing is aligned with the needs of the organisation and delivers a meaningful difference which enables the business to achieve.

Much has been heard over the past 15 years about HR Business Partnership (HRBP) and the focus has always seemed to be on our colleagues who work in the other branch of HR which dealt with all the personnel type issues. We have not tended to hear much reference to the need for Learning and Development to work in business partnership. Some might well argue that is because they have consistently sought to work in business partnership with the organisations they work within. However the evidence quoted above, where we saw that 82% of business leaders don’t feel that their organisation’s L&D strategy is aligned with their operational strategy, would seem to suggest that we haven’t got things right – yet!

We have a great opportunity to make a genuine difference if we are prepared to learn to look at things differently. Working in business partnership does require a different set of skills but as learning and development professionals we are of course open to learning – aren’t we?

When I think about the work I have done over recent years it has all been about aligning my activity with the needs of the organisation. At times that has enabled me to introduce new ways of doing things because I have been able to demonstrate the benefits it brings in terms of reduced costs, improved results or a more committed group of staff. If I think about what that has required of me then I think I would summarise it as following and would venture to suggest that the following encapsulate what is required of a Learning and Development Professional working in business partnership:

Being prepared to learn new things;
Understanding the business and business operations/functions;
Understanding the business environment we operate in
Being able to talk the language of business and the business I am operating in;
An ability to build trusting relationships with internal and critically with the organisation’s clients and talk their language;
Believing in my own ability, the value of what I offer the business and the difference it can make to the business;
Being confident in my knowledge of the business and being able to express my views;
Being focused on the delivery of results which meet the needs of the business.

Working in business partnership means adding value to the business by aligning what we are doing as Learning and Development Professionals with the needs of the business – not as we might perceive them but as the business clearly sees them. It also means speaking out at times, even if it might be unpopular, when we believe that a different approach is needed. But that must always be with sound knowledge and business focused reasoning.

Jonathan reminded us that 82% of business leaders don’t believe that their learning and development strategy is aligned with their operational strategy. It’s time to change that perception!