Paul Duxbury

I Wish eLearning Providers Would Stop……

In my current role I am looking at various eLearning options which means that me and others from relevant departments are also sampling a lot of eLearning courses! I do wish that some of the eLearning Provider would “get real” when it comes to supporting organisations through a purchasing decision.

Yes, my approach means that I am paying the publically advertised price for the courses before potentially approaching the providers to discuss pricing structures for bulk purchases. However, I think it’s an important to get a real sense of how the courses are delivered for a member of the public. I have found in the past that when a provider knows that you are interested in their product and they give you access to the materials and systems that support them you get an almost seamless experience. Well in most cases that is!

The following are the basic criteria I use or ask others to use when reviewing an eLearning course:

Accessibility – how accessible are the learning materials? How many hoops do you have to just through to actually get to the learning materials? I am also looking at how the learners can find the information they need or want quickly and easily.
Organisation – how well organised is the material? Does the course make good use of sections to break the materials down into pieces of learning that you can complete in short period of time. Also I look at whether the content follow a logical progression and doesn’t jump from one subject to another? Part of that also involves looking at how you can easily get to the information or material you need.
Language – is the level of the language used appropriate to the intended audience?
Layout/Aesthetics – is the material presented in a way which would engage the intended audience?
Relevant Content – is the material that is presented likely to meet the learning needs of the intended audience?
Completeness – is the material complete of itself or does it need additional inputs?

That’s the start point for my decision making. However, I then need to look at how the use of the programmes/courses align with our L&D Strategy; how they will be received by the intended audience and then quite possibly put together a Business Case for approval by a Board or Finance Committee.

So, eLearning Providers please do stop the whole “I can offer you a special bulk purchase but only for the next few days” approach. It’s tacky, it switches me off and it doesn’t work! I am making a strategic decision, I am looking at options and I need a consultative approach which might involve various departments (IT, Operations etc) and being pushed into a quick decision because you have a sales target to achieve means I probably will not help you achieve that target.

Using Twitter for Networking

Several years back, networking required a great deal of work. People had to attend events and memorise other people’s numbers. It had to involve a degree of proximity. Luckily, times have changed and networking has become easier than ever before. Millions of people have embraced social media platforms like Twitter.

It has a simple, streamlined approach that facilitates fast, informal conversations. Its real-time communication capabilities make it a great platform for you to expand your network. As you will soon come to learn, there are many easy ways to use Twitter for networking.

1. Finding The Right People To Follow

The starting point for great networking is finding the right people. There are many tools that you can use to do this. Twitter Search lets you use search operators to search for specific keywords and people. You can therefore use it to search for influencers in your market or people talking about your field of expertise. In the “Who to Follow” tab, Twitter offers a directory of people that you might be interested in following. The suggested accounts are based on who you follow already. Some of the people you find and follow will return the favor and follow you too. Therefore, the more users you follow, the more users you will attract as followers.

2. Show Your Followers Your Personal Brand

Once you have searched for and connected with the right people in your niche by following them, you will have to ensure that your profile markets your personal brand. Details in your profile such as your bio and avatar determine what people think of you. A killer bio can get you more targeted followers. Your bio space has a 160-character limit meaning you will have to make the most out of every word you use. You should get your priorities sorted and start by including the most important information that you would like to get across to your targeted followers.

For example, if you are a graphic designer, start by providing this information other than writing about your addiction to football and golf. You may therefore have to exclude some hobbies. You should also include relevant keywords to enable people to find you during searches. For your avatar, you should use a recent photo of your face. For an organization with an account managed by many people, the logo should be used as the avatar.

3. Tweet Consistently With Your Followers In Mind

Your followers need to hear from you on a regular basis throughout the day and week. You therefore need to maintain an online presence by tweeting consistently. You should however take their interests into consideration. Ask yourself whether your tweeting is too much to the extent that you are filling up their feed with irrelevant tweets. In such a case, they will most likely ignore or block you.

The content you tweet should show others your interests. You can share current issues on your field of expertise, share advice, ask questions, solicit for opinions or post links to interesting articles related to your niche. In that way, you’ll have people reach out to you with comments or ideas of their own. This gives you an opportunity to add value by demonstrating your knowledge of your field as you also gain knowledge from the other users. This adds value and helps you attract even more followers.

All of your tweets will have an impact on your network. Think about how your tweets will be perceived by others. Make sure they don’t come off as being too sales-oriented or pushy. There is no harm in tweeting about what you are doing once in a while. Just make it fun and interesting, and don’t overdo it to the point that a visitor to your profile sees no relation between the information on your bio and the content in majority of your tweets.

4. Show Interest In Other People’s Tweets

You cannot successfully use Twitter for networking without showing interest in other people’s tweets. You need to respond to other peoples’ comments and questions. This can be done by typing @ along with their Twitter handle orby clicking the arrow button. Give a feedback or comment on others’ tweets. If the tweets contain a link to an article, give your opinion or whether you agree or disagree with the article and the reason for your decision.

A great way to show interest is by retweeting. Retweeting someone shows that you are paying attention to what they are saying and find them to be interesting. It is a way of showing interest in networking with someone without being too pushy. If you add some personal comments to the retweet, they’ll find out a bit about your personality before beginning more one-on-one networking.

5. Create A List of Influencers – Your Personal Learning Network

With Twitter, you can create lists of people you think are worth paying special attention to. This feature enables you to quickly read tweets from a certain list. Other people can also follow your list if they have an interest in the same subject. The list can be an important source of information. Create a public list of influencers in your industry and let each one of them know that they have been added to your list. As you come across people to add to your list, inform them that you have added them to show your recognition.

6. Share Your Network

As you continue to meet people on Twitter, you’ll come across people who have a lot in common. You should take the initiative and introduce such people. This will strengthen your network. The people you share contacts with will most likely do the same with you.

Does it start and end on Twitter?

After you successfully use Twitter for networking, you can go the extra mile. Spend time networking beyond Twitter. You can exchange phone numbers and talk over the phone or even chat on Skype.

Twitter is a great networking tool. Unfortunately, few people utilize it for this purpose. Make Twitter one of the important tools in your overall business networking plan and reap the benefit of establishing unlimited and valuable connections.

Sector Experience Required! Are You Stifling Innovation?

Do you always need someone who has trodden the same path and climbed the exact same route if you are looking to be innovative, forward thinking and scale new heights as an organisation?

One of the things that I have noticed as I have been looking for a new role as a Learning & Development Manager is that many companies are insisting that you have experience in their specific sector. From my previous experience that has often been a requirement within what is termed the professional services sector (Legal, Accountancy etc) but it seems to have spread to many others as well.

I have seen a number of roles of late where the job specification has sounded really interesting and a good match against my skills, knowledge and abilities. Then tagged on the end of the specification is that phrase “Experience of XYZ sector essential.”

Do you take the risk and spend time applying for the role or do you accept that they have put in place an easy filter to exclude you from the pool of available people? It’s a difficult call because there are recruiters who will recognise that there are people from outside the specified sector who could bring a wealth of experience and new ideas to the role. The sort of people who could introduce innovative approaches to the organisation’s challenges gained from other sectors. But my perception is that all too often it is simply going to be a waste of time because you will be screened out because, as good as you are, you don’t have experience of the specific sector.

But let’s step back and think about what these organisations are saying about themselves when they specify that you must have experience of XYZ Sector. They are the same organisations which will often describe themselves as innovative, forward thinking and focused on developing talent. BUT only as long as you come from the sector that they are in!

So in fact what they are saying is that they aren’t really innovative and they don’t want the best talent available. They don’t want people to come in with new ideas, new ways of doing things, new approaches to the challenges that they face, what they want to do is play it safe. They want to bring someone in who has experience of doing what they do as an organisation but for another company. Yes there are benefits to playing it safe because the new person will take less time to become familiar with their organisation’s customers, clients etc. But is playing it safe really what it’s about when you are competing in an ever more challenging economy?

I have often encountered this disposition towards playing it safe when recruiting in fields like marketing and sales. But in Learning and Development? The profession that in so many ways is about innovating, creating change, approaching challenges in new ways and coming up with different ways of doing things does playing it safe really deliver?

I am sure it will come as no surprise for you to read that Learning & Development is about “learning” and “development.” Key to our roles as L&D Professionals is continually learning and using that learning to create change in different situations. It’s about being innovative, it’s about developing talent and maximising the talent that is available and if organisations are limiting themselves by insisting that you only know about a certain sector then there’s a lot of talent they are missing out on.

In my last role I had the opportunity to manage the delivery of learning solutions for a variety of situations from the delivery of the Census 2011 Helpline with 750 Advisors to regulated training in the debt advice environment. When I applied for a role recently that stipulated that candidates must have financial services sector experience the recruiting manager saw that I had the skill set if not the sector experience. They invited me for interview and we had a really good discussion based on my experience and how I could apply it and bring new ideas and approaches. So there are organisations which appreciate that skills are transferable across sectors but I think more could open their thinking and live up to their claims of being innovative, forward thinking and focused on talent. I will let you know if I get the role!

How To Improve Collaboration In Your Teams

In the world of work today, where more and more specialists are a part of the organisation, leaders who can effectively bring these diverse groups together to get things done are definitely at an advantage. Collaboration is the key and getting team members to work together in cooperation with each other is increasingly essential for success especially as more organisations move to a matrix approach in their management and leadership practices.

Getting a group of diverse people to work towards a common goal can be extremely rewarding to a team leader. It can also be unnerving and frustrating as well. Knowing how to collaborate effectively and to get others to collaborate to achieve can make a significant difference.

So let’s take a look at 6 tips which help you improve collaboration among your team members whether they are direct reports or are working for you from different parts of the organisation on a significant project.

Clearly define the goals and the expected outcome of the project the team is working on. Each member’s responsibilities should be explicitly identified. It may seem obvious to you but you want it to be obvious to the team member as well. They shouldn’t be wondering what to do next or who is doing what. Delegate key responsibilities to your team; those that make an impact on the project outcome.
If you have the opportunity then choose your team by carefully thinking about the people you want to work on this project. Assigning tasks to the right people is necessary to having an effective collaboration. When choosing members, consider each member’s skills, personality, their experience and their schedules.
Are there members of your team who are afraid to voice their opinions or to argue? These members won’t be adding to any helpful and stimulating ideas and need to be encouraged to speak up. Just because they are quiet doesn’t mean they don’t have good ideas. Always include every team member in discussions.
Recognize and celebrate good collaborative behavior. Mention the great work the team is doing in the company newsletter, on a podcast or annual report.
Provide your collaboration team with the right and necessary tools. Do they need specific software or task management tools? These types of tools can be especially important if you team works from different locations.
Once your collaboration is going, continue to mix things up. If the people on your team are collaborating more with people they know, like and trust it might be time to mix up your teams. For example invite the production guys to your design meeting. Better yet send everyone out for drinks or other social building time. This forces all your teams to come in contact and connect with the others.

I am sure that you can think of circumstances where improving collaboration among your team members is sometimes necessary. Team members need to know their role in a project and to be encouraged to collaborate with other members they don’t know in order to build trust to work together cohesively.

Customer Service and Leadership

What’s the relationship between Customer Service and Leadership? I firmly believe that as a Leader at any level of an organisation you have responsibility for setting the standards of customer service that your part of an organisation will deliver. As a role model for your team, whether it’s internal or external customers the way you deal with your customers will set the standard that your team will deliver against.

Customer satisfaction should be the number one priority of any business. It can make a huge difference to the bottom line. As a leader you have a responsibility for training your team members to ensure that they are always striving to increase your customers’ satisfaction and building a good relationship with the customers.

15 Ways to Increase Customer Satisfaction:

So how exactly do you ensure that they are always striving to improve the levels of customer service that your clients are receiving? The following suggestions of benchmarks that you and your team can measure and monitor yourselves against might help you to achieve your goal.

Listen to what they have to say. Some will just need to rant, even if they are in the wrong. Don’t take it personally and always respond in a professional manner. Others may have a valid point and need to know someone is actually listening to them.
Don’t refer the person to someone else. No one likes to get the run around and be shoved off onto someone else. Get the answers the client needs as quickly as possible.
Keep your promises. Only agree to what you can actually deliver. Telling the client you can deliver more than you can not only stresses you but you lose the customer’s trust.
On the other hand, under-promise and over-deliver whenever possible.
Be courteous. Thank your customer for their business. Let them talk without interrupting.
Develop personal relationships with your clients. Treat each one as if he’s your most important client, even if he is your cheapest.
Anticipate their needs. Go the extra step and be ahead of them.
Apologize if you are wrong or make a mistake. Everyone makes them.
Respond quickly to communications. One working day turnaround time should be top priority for all customer inquiries.
Be honest. If a requested deadline can’t be met let your client know before you take their order.
Keep in touch with the customer. Follow-up with a postcard, an email or a simple thank you phone call.
Ask for feedback from your customers. They will give you information to help you improve your customer service and your business reputation.
Listen to what your unsatisfied customers have to say. Act on their advice if it is the right thing to do.
Smile. Be happy and courteous. Never answer the phone, a text or email when you’re angry. Before you pick up the phone or keyboard, paste a smile on your face and in your voice.
Throw away your scripts. People want to hear from real people who treat them like individuals. Each situation is different so you shouldn’t have a prewritten script that won’t fit everyone.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important parts of any business. Learning how to deal with your customers the right way will increase your customer satisfaction, build a community that trusts you and lead to a bigger bottom line. The standards you set and agree with your team as their leader in terms of customer service could also form the basis of your relationship with your team couldn’t they? Customer Service and Leadership go hand in hand. What do you need to do to make you and your team more effective?