training&learningvolume 2 • issue 6

a capital eventmore about ITOL’s second convention for trainers in London

digital worldwhy trainers must adapt to the new generation of learners

breaking the iceanother hot way to warm up your next training session

golden hello - or goodbye

Mr Chips?

Kogan PageNew from

“Facilitation Made Easy ispacked with good advice . . .its particular strength is that itnot only discusses what to do, butalso explains why.”—British Journal of Education Technology

• New chapter on facilitatingvirtual meetings

• Highly practical in focus,including ‘On the day’ checklists

• Includes sections on usingfacilitation with groups fromvarious cultures & backgrounds

£18.99 • Paperback • 0 7494 4351 0 September 2005

New

Editio

n

To order and to view the full Kogan Page booklist visit us online at: www.kogan-page.co.ukOr telephone Litlehampton Book Services on +44 (0)1903 828503Fax: +44 (0)20 7837 6348 Email: mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk

When ordering, quote: TL J0705

Facilitation Made Easy mag ad 13/7/05 17:17 Page 1

&

is published by Hargill House Ltdin association with the Institute of Training and Occupational Learning. Distribution of 12 issues per year is by direct mail to named training practitioners and others involved in the profession.

PublisherHargill House Ltd403 The Cotton Exchange, Old Hall Street,Liverpool L3 9LQ.Telephone 0151 242 0272Facsimile 0151 236 3929E-mail info@trainingandlearning.co.uk

EditorJulian Desser

Design & ProductionOriel StudiosOrrell Mount,Bootle, Liverpool L20 6NSTelephone 0151 922 2785E-mail orielstudios@btconnect.com

Print by Pindar Plc,

481 Walton Summit Centre,

Preston PR5 8AR

Telephone 01772 620999

© Hargill House Ltd. All rights reserved.Articles published in this magazine may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, the Publishers cannot be held responsible for errors inadvertently made or consequences arising from them. The views of contributors to Training & Learning are not necessarily those of the Publishers.

training&learning

contents

03

training&learning

volume 2 • issue 6

04 we say/they say our opinion on a current training

topic . . . and a few words of wisdom

05 news from itol the adventure continues . . .

preparations are well under way for the ITOL Capital Convention in London this September

06 global report our monthly round-up of the top

training related stories from around the world

08-09 special feature are you a Digital Immigrant or

a Digital Native? Ian Heywood explains what lies behind these concepts

10-11 performance management assessing impact and retention . . .

how training and development interventions are integrated into the process

12 training tips David Gibson considers other

practical uses for those ubiquitous name badges

13 marketing skills segmentation is the secret . . .

how to emulate the success of the big brands when marketing your consultancy

14-15 eLearning Renée Raper looks at the use of

technology to support mentoring programmes

17-19 cover feature a class act . . . how the government

has created more teachers now than at any time since the early Eighties

20-21 coaching & mentoring David Clutterbuck offers some

words of wisdom and practical tips for dealing with work-life issues

22-23 coaching & mentoring Byron Kalies identifies the three

key questions when setting goals for executive coaching

24 coaching & mentoring Wizzard’s coaching thoughts . . .

continuing our collection of short articles by coaching consultant Will Izzard

26-27 training factfile what are competencies . . . what are

skills? Graham O’Connell provides his definitions

28-29 reviewing activity Roger Greenaway describes

some of the experiences which have sustained his commitment to combining adventure and reviewing

30 influential thinkers this month’s thinker is Alan

Mumford whose main work is on improving performance, especially through effective learning processes

31 powerpointer continuing our series of hot hints

and top tips for users of PowerPoint, probably the world’s most popular presentation program

31 icebreakers recipe for success . . . another

useful exercise for warming-up your training seminar or workshop

33 backbite evaluate evaluation . . . George

Edwards takes another sideways look at the training profession

FRONT COVER: Picture of Martin Clunes in Goodbye Mr Chips courtesy of SMG TV Productions

&

not done, yet

we sayIt will be comforting to most people to

learn that there are now more teachers

in English schools than at any time

since 1981 (see cover feature elsewhere in

this issue).

For many years there has been a

desperate need to attract more graduates

into the profession, especially in core

subjects such as maths and the sciences,

both of which have suffered severe

shortages causing limited resources to be

stretched, at best.

Now, we are told by the Department for

Education and Skills (DfES), the situation

has been reversed, mainly thanks to a range

of “golden hello” cash incentives aimed at

tempting more young people into choose

teaching as their career.

This is all very well and good, and at

one level, the success of the government’s

initiative is to be welcomed. However,

as is so often the case in matters of this

nature, the plaudits need to be tempered

with some degree of caution.

For one thing, in releasing the teacher

employment figures, the DfES also report

that the number of support staff is up by

25,500 since January 2004 and by over

130,000 since January 1997. Critics

argue that support staff provide teaching

“on the cheap”.

We also have some concerns that whilst

there are now plenty of teachers working

in schools in England and Wales, sight

should not be lost on the need to keep

improving the quality of education that

they deliver, too.

Just how far the government has become

obsessed with the statistics by using

whatever means at its disposal to draw as

many graduates into teaching as possible

into the profession remains to be seen.

Put another way, is this another case

of “never mind the quality, look at the

numbers?” Let’s hope not.

training&learning04

they say Training is a profession which seems to thrive on pithy comments and wise

sayings. Here’s a selection of quotations you can use in your everyday

training sessions – or just take comfort from yourself if you wish!

Everyone can learn, the only variable is the time needed

Benjamin Bloom

If you want to know the

taste of a pear, you must

change the pear by eating

it yourself…If you want to

know the theory and methods

of revolution, you must

take part in revolution. All

genuine knowledge originates

in direct experience.

Mao Zedong

The things we know best are the things we haven’t been taught.

Luc Vauvenargues

Learning without thought is labour lost. Thought without learning is intelleual death.

Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

Mark Van Doren

The most important part of teaching? To teach what is to know.

Simon Weil

So far as the learner is concerned, training is an input, learning is an output.

Peter Honey

Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.

Thomas Carlyle

‘‘‘‘

‘‘

‘‘

‘‘ ‘‘ ‘‘ ‘‘

‘‘‘‘

‘‘‘‘

‘‘

‘‘

‘‘‘‘

&training&learning 05

Following the huge success of

the very first ITOL National

Convention – The Adventure

Begins – which took place in Edinburgh

earlier this year, the institute is hosting

its next event in London on Tuesday,

September 19.

The ITOL Capital Convention for

Trainers 2006 is being held at the

prestigious Glaziers Hall, a truly unique

venue situated on the South Bank with

stunning views over the City and River

Thames.

With double the capacity available in

Edinburgh, the London event promises to

be even bigger and better. It also features

a small exhibition which will offer added

value for delegates.

“In hindsight, the first convention

proved to be much more popular than

we had anticipated and because numbers

were necessarily restricted there were

many disappointed people who could

not be accommodated,” said ITOL

Director Harry Bundred. “This is why

we have chosen a bigger venue for the

London event.

“In addition to being able to experience

high quality activities and top speakers,

visitors can meet and interact with

other trainers who have similar values

and objectives with opportunities to

collaborate for work.”

He said that the event will feature

a “solid spine” of keynote speakers

prominent in the training world plus a

choice of two seminar streams being run

concurrently with contrasting profiles.

One has a practical emphasis including

workshop sessions by Video Arts, the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA)

and internationally renowned cartoonist

Paul Solomons.

The other seminar stream is geared

towards thought-provoking issues led

by speakers who will challenge current

The Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (ITOL) has announced that its second Convention for

Trainers will be held in London this autumn.

conventions and stimulate ideas for

alternative ways of training.

Places for the ITOL Capital Convention

are already booking up fast and delegates

are being urged to register as soon as

possible. This can be done online at www.

itol.org

newsfromitol

the adventure continues

a date with history

Situated on the South Bank alongside London Bridge and boasting magnificent

views across the River Thames, Glaziers Hall is a venue steeped in history.

The original Glaziers Hall was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and

was not relocated for 300 years. The building that is now Glaziers Hall was erected

in 1808 as a single story warehouse on Hibernia Wharf. A further two office storeys

were added in the 1850s.

A long lease of the premises was obtained and the Hall began in 1975 by The

Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass which was first recorded in

the 1328 list of Guilds and achieved its Grant of Arms in 1558.

In 1977 the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers also became

shareholders in Glaziers Hall. They were later joined in 1981 by the Worshipful

Company of Launderers.

Adjoining the Hall are the infamous “Nancy Steps”. This was where poor Nancy

met her unfortunate demise at the hands of cruel Bill Sykes in the novel Oliver Twist

by Charles Dickens.

& training&learning06

trainingtips

Within this timeframe, they will learn about managing food and labor costs, inventory control, menu planning, procurement, training, and hiring. At the completion of the program, those who have excelled will be given the opportunity to join Unidine as a full-time executive chef manager.

IRELAND – Hundreds of small credit unions face hefty training bills that could make them unviable after the country’s two big banks lobbied the Financial Regulator to force credit union staff to obtain formal qualifications to handle loan applications.

Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland have told the regulator that new rules that will require customer-facing bank staff to pass exams should be extended to cover people employed in more than 500 credit unions.

The regulator finalised plans earlier this year to ban bank staff from providing financial advice to customers unless they had obtained qualifications that ensure they have the skills necessary to do so.

The plans specifically excluded credit union staff if their credit union agreed to confine its activity to personal lending and deposit-taking and stayed away from more complex business such as mortgages.

But in a strongly worded letter the banks told the regulator that it made no sense for credit union staff to be allowed to sell loans without going through the same procedures as those in banks.

AUSTRALIA – Thousands of students of failed IT training college Computer Power which operated in 13 sites across Australia and New Zealand have been left high and dry by the group’s collapse. No certification is available to those studying

Every month, Training & Learning brings you the latest training news

stories from around the world . . .

for vendor qualifications and there is no chance of their being placed at alternative institutions.

The Australian Students Tuition Assurance Scheme has offered alternative places for those studying government-accredited courses, but the scheme does not cover courses for companies such as Microsoft and Cisco.

“Students who were doing accredited courses are eligible, courses accredited under the National Training Framework,” Australian Council for Private Education and Training chief executive Tim Smith said.

“We have struck a number of problems, because a number of students were doing courses for vendor certificates that weren’t accredited. We can’t help those students.”

BAHRAIN – Bahrain’s pioneering role in creating a new generation of leaders has been praised by a British human resources development expert.

George Telfer, one of the founders of the UK-based The Leadership Trust, said Bahrain has taken the right decision in investing in its people. He welcomed a decision by the Young Arab Leaders Organisation (YALO), which has a chapter in Bahrain, to send a group of 25 young people for leadership training in the UK and France this summer.

“You cannot learn leadership in classrooms,” said Mr Telfer. “The Leadership Trust gives opportunity to young people from around the world to experience leadership in challenging environment.”

He congratulated YALO Bahrain chapter chairman and Economic Development Board (EDB) chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa for launching two major training initiatives for young people.

global report

JOHANNESBURG – The Information Systems, Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (ISETT SETA) has come under fire for improperly auditing about R37 million in training grants over the 2004/5 financial year.

A former board member said invoices for grants for projects under the National Skills Fund (NSF) would typically be approved by ISETT SETA, but were not recorded correctly.

While this came to light in an auditor-general’s report, which highlighted the inconsistencies, there also appeared to be no monitoring procedures in place to ensure monetary grants were channelled to legitimate training initiatives.

In his report, auditor-general Shauket Fakie pointed to a “lack of controls to facilitate a system of valid, complete and accurate record-keeping in respect of NSF project expenditure and learnership allowances.”

BOSTON, USA – Leading hospitality industry management services provider Unidine has announced the launch of a new culinary training program which it describes as “a comprehensive internship and externship for students and recent graduates.”

The firm has partnered with three prestigious culinary schools including Boston’s Newbury College, Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire, an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu, the esteemed Parisian institution, and New York’s Culinary Institute of America.

The program consists of 12 weeks of training in which students are paired with a Unidine executive chef and learn first-hand how to manage a large-scale food service operation at one of the firm’s 70-plus accounts.

global report

&

learners: the ne(x)t generation

Are you a Digital Immigrant or a Digital Native? Perhaps you don’t know. Ian Heywood explains what lies

behind these concepts – and why it’s vitally important for all trainers to understand them.

training&learning08

specialfeature

the traditional gatekeepers of knowledge

would find their position, authority and role

challenged. No longer would the educator

or trainer be in a position to govern the

flow of information and knowledge to the

student.

The long-established tradition of

the ‘teacher’ rationing and distributing

knowledge through a calendar of classes

or lectures would be doomed to become a

relic of an ancient civilisation.

Both authors argued that the trainer

would need to undergo a transformation

from the older, wise expert in whom

knowledge resides, to the mentor who can

help the student make use of and apply the

knowledge they can access from almost

anywhere at anytime.

Over the last decade most trainers have

comfortably adapted to this new role of

facilitator and mentor. Liberated from

the drudgery of providing underpinning

or background knowledge, they have been

able to concentrate on developing and

exploring its application, encouraging

trainees to learn from each other and

reflecting on how this new knowledge can

be applied.

But, one thing that many trainers (born

before 1980) continue to be oblivious to

is the impact that the process by which

knowledge is transferred has had on the

learner.

Think of the increasing use of short sharp

- staccato like - news updates between TV

programmes or, multimedia web sites,

where the actual ‘message’ contained

within the site can only be gleaned by a

considerable amount of detective work.

There is one important dynamic

that, as training professionals, we

ignore at our peril: the changing

characteristics of many of today’s

learners.

Learners born in the Eighties and

Nineties have grown up with a whole set of

different stimuli to those born previously .

. . 24 hour TV, MTV, multimedia, internet,

email, texting and computer games

technology have all radically changed the

way in which information is accessed and

knowledge shared.

Don Tapscott, author of Growing Up

Digital, tells us that these individuals

are much smarter than their parents were

at the same age, don’t like the idea of

having a boss and thrive on autonomy.

Confident, with a clear sense of purpose

and well informed, the Net Generation (N-

Geners) demand more from their training

experience.

The problem is that the majority of

trainers come from a different age. Baby

Boomers (people born between 1946 and

1964) or Generation X (born between1961

and 1981) as Marc Prensky puts it, are

Digital Immigrants, born in a time before

computers, IT and digital media were

pervasive.

As Immigrants they have had to adapt to

a changed world which is fast-paced and

information-rich; a world in which instant

access to information and knowledge is

only a mouse click away.

N-Geners, on the other hand, are

Digital Natives. They were born and

brought up in a fast-paced, media-rich

environment. They have learned, adapted

and become adept at using technology to

meet their needs. As Alan Kay points out:

“Technology is only technology if it was

invented after you were born”.

To fully appreciate the implications of

the evolution of Digital Natives on the way

we train, we need to go back to the early

Nineties and the origins of the emerging

debate on the impact technology would

have on the way we learn.

In the late Nineties there where two

great books published - Joy Stick Nation

by JC Herz, which looked at the impact

that digital media, in particular games,

would have on society and behaviour, and

School’s Out by Lewis Perelman, which

looked at how the internet would radically

change the way school education in the

US was delivered.

The authors of both these books told

similar stories. In a media-rich society

&

learners: the ne(x)t generation

training&learning

specialfeature

learning.

I would argue that we need to take our

steer from the consumer, communications

and entertainment worlds where

branding, interactivity, immediacy and

personalisation are all key ingredients in

products and services designed to meet

the needs of Digital Natives.

BrandingDigital Natives favour ‘recognised’

products over home grown solutions.

Therefore, in a learning context they are

more likely to favour a branded learning

solution, so long as that brand has value

with their peer group.

An example of this would be the

CISCO or Microsoft Networking training

programmes which have now found their

way into many company and college IT

training portfolios.

InteractivityThe demand for interactivity in product

design, Prensky would argue, has been

driven by the computer games industry.

In this arena there is a continuing drive to

create new ways in which the player can

interact with the game.

Sony’s EyeToy product, which uses

video capture technology to put the player

into the game, is an excellent example. In

a training context this means that the more

the individual can learn by doing the better.

This is why action learning programmes

are the favoured people development

choice of ‘young companies’, where the

average age of the staff is below 35.

ImmediacyA culture of instant messaging, music

downloads and movies on demand,

has created an increasingly impatient

generation. Digital Natives are unlikely to

want to hang around for the next training

course if there is an option to access the

learning when they want it, rather than

when it is convenient for the company to

deliver. This is perhaps why this generation

is better suited to e-learning.

PersonalisationDigital Natives like to be able to

personalise products. If you need proof,

look no further than your nearest Starbucks

where you can have your chosen drink

any way you like. In a training context

this means that Digital Natives value the

opportunity to personalise the learning

experience to meet their needs. This is why

the classroom-style ‘sheep dip’ approach,

where all learners are treated in the same

way, often fails to engage.

The challenge for us, as trainers, is to be

aware of what happens when (as is most

often the case) Digital Immigrants develop

training for Digital Natives. All the best

practice in world isn’t going to work if the

Digital Natives do not learn that way.

Equally, if you are a Digital Immigrant

on the receiving end of training developed

by Digital Natives you might well find

yourself out of your comfort zone.

Next month: Ian looks at why all

trainers could benefit from exploring

the world of computer games.

Dr Ian Heywood is Director of Skill and

Learning at Scottish Enterprise Grampian

and Visiting Professor of E-Leaning at The

University of Abertay, Dundee. He can be

contacted at ian.heywood@scotent.co.uk

09

There is a growing portfolio of evidence

which suggests that all of this is having an

impact on the way Digital Natives think

and behave.

So, what makes today’s learners

different? Is it attention span, boredom

threshold, and impatience? Or is it a desire

to explore and embrace failure as key part

of the learning experience? I would argue

that it is all these and more.

Patricia Greenfield showed that

individuals enhanced their skills through

playing computer games in areas such as

• interpreting visual images and

representations of 3D space

• mental problem solving – at speed

• rule discovery – inductive

discovery

• understanding and appreciating

scientific simulation

• their ability to deal with divided

attention tasks

It would appear that there is growing

acceptance that technology changes the

way we think, behave and interact and

that the impact is greatest on those whose

childhood is spent embracing a new

technology.

The challenge for us, as trainers, is to

work out what this means for the learning

process, beyond the shift from trainers as

transmitter of knowledge to facilitators of

referencesGreenfield M. P. (1984) Mind and Media: The Effects of Television, Video Games, and Computers, Harvard University Press, Boston.

Herz J.C. (1997) Joystick Nation: How Videogames Gobbled Our Money, Won Our Hearts and Rewired Our Minds, Abacus Books, London

Kay A. cited by in Tapscott D (1998) The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in The Age of Networked Intelligence, McGraw-Hill, 1998.

Perelman L.J. (1992) School’s Out: A Radical New Formula for the Revitalization of America’s Educational System, Avon Books, New York

Prensky M. (2001) Digital Game-based Learning, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Tapscott D. (1998) Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, McGraw-Hill, New York.

&

assessing impact and

Performance management is a

process of improvement, not

a single event. Training and

development is a component of the

performance management process, and

all interventions must be linked to the

development plan.

The plan should be based on current

shortfalls in knowledge, skills, or

behaviours that are needed to meet the

agreed performance levels. It should also

include development to meet future needs

where they can be identified.

Going beyond the training room

Training is only effective if, as a result

of that training, something changes in the

workplace that has a positive impact on

performance.

To achieve this change, the training

intervention should be a combination

of learning events that together assist

the participant to implement the things

they are learning, directly into their

workplace. We need to make sure that the

learning (training or development) has the

following components:

• The participant must have the whole

learning process explained to them

• The learning topic must firstly be

explained as an overall concept

• The topic is then broken down into

smaller learning events that are

easier to digest

• For each of these smaller steps:

• The participant is shown the

step

In the fifth in our series of articles about performance management Alan Rands looks at the actual training

and development interventions, and how they are integrated into the process.

training&learning10

• There is discussion about why

this step is necessary

• The participant gets to do that

step in a safe environment

• The trainer gives feedback on

how the participant completed

that step

• The participant gets to practice

that step, feedback continues

• There is discussion about how

the step fits in with all other

steps

• The participant moves on to the

next step when the current step

is mastered

• The participants completes all

steps linked together so they

experience the whole topic

• There is feedback on the whole

process

• The participant is encouraged

to practice the whole process

and gets immediate feedback on

their progress

This is the point where many training and

development programs end, because this

is usually the point when the participant

leaves the training program room.

For the learning to be most effective,

the process must include these additional

steps:

• The participant’s manager/

supervisor/team leader must review

with the participant what they

learned in the training room

• The participant should be required

to apply the learning as soon as

possible in the workplace

• There must be timely feedback to

the participant in the workplace to

ensure that any small deviations can

be corrected before they become

bad habits

• The workplace feedback should

always be constructive, participants

must be able to try the new methods

without fear; it is part of learning

• Where possible, participants should

be able to discuss the learning with

other members of staff

• There should be feedback to the

trainers on ease of implementation

in the workplace: the loop must be

closed

When is a happy sheet not the answer?

Having been involved with training

and development for over 20 years, I have

long held the view that the happy sheet

(end of training room activity scoring) is

warm and fuzzy (or a cold blast of air)

for the trainer.

My view is that I would rather have all

participants put negative comments on a

happy sheet and for workplace behaviour

to change, than to have rave reviews on the

happy sheet and hear that nothing changes

at the workplace.

Happy sheets can only measure:

• Satisfaction with the facilities

(aircon, meals, chairs, light etc)

• The trainer’s perceived ability to

communicate

• The learning process suitability

for the audience (did they find the

retentionperformancemanagement

&

methods, pace etc to their liking),

and

• The perceived quality of the content

of the training

It can never be a measure of success

because success is workplace behaviour

change, and this cannot be addressed at

this stage.

The biggest problem with many training

interventions is that too much emphasis is

placed on these happy sheets as a measure

of the program success. More than this, it

seems that most trainers see this moment

as the end of their responsibility.

How to ensure application in the workplace

There are four things that will contribute

significantly to applying the learning in

the workplace, these are:

1. Make sure the things being learned

are things that are required in the

workplace

2. Measure the application of the

learning in the workplace

3. Make sure the manager is engaged

in the process

4. Ensure continuing engagement of

the trainer after the formal training

room events have finished

In the next article, we will examine the

measurement process in detail. For now

we will examine the manager and follow-

up by the trainer.

The manager’s role

I have personally witnessed situations

where people have returned to the

workplace after being on a very

motivational training program, only to have

their manager tell them: “Okay, you’ve

had your two days off, now back to the

real world!” Those training programs are

instantly cast into the “waste of time and

money” basket.

The managers role, and key

responsibility, is to develop their people.

If the training is not relevant to the

11training&learning

workplace, then the people should not

be doing the training. If the training

is relevant to the workplace, then the

manager must be reinforcing the learning

and its application in the workplace.

The manager should be the coach, they

should only use formal trainers for their

expertise in communicating complex

issues, cost effectiveness, and the need to

take people away from the workplace to

be able to experiment with new ideas and

processes.

I recommend the following process for a

manager when a staff member is engaging

in a formal training or development

event:

• The manager should meet with the

staff member BEFORE they go to

the training event and agree why the

training is necessary, and what the

participant is expected to get from

the training

• The manager should again meet with

the staff member IMMEDIATELY

AFTER they come back from the

training, review what they learned

(specific knowledge, skills, or ways

of changing behaviour), and how

they will apply those things to the

workplace

• The manager should take an

interest in how the staff member is

progressing, and have that person

demonstrate the application of

the learning in the workplace;

this should be at regular intervals

initially, tapering down as

competence is demonstrated

• The manager should feedback to the

trainer any inconsistencies they see

in what the person has learned, and

what is effective in the workplace

What kind of follow up is vital?

There are several forms of follow up

that are required to optimise the training

or development in terms of performance

improvement. The first of these is the

manager’s involvement outlined above.

Apart from this, it is important that the

following practices be followed:

• The trainer should engage with

the staff member within a month

after the formal training and again

three to four months after the

training. This ensures that there

is both an opportunity for the

trainer and trainee to discuss the

application of the course content

in the workplace, and also to show

that there is commitment from the

training and development staff. It

also builds accountability for the

trainer and assists them with their

own improvement process.

• There should be a formal assessment

of change in workplace behaviour

or practices approx three to four

months after the training. More

about this in the next article.

• Further training may be scheduled as

“refresher” or “next steps” and this

can be part of an overall development

plan, or as needed based on how the

individual is applying the content in

the workplace.

• The staff member must have an

opportunity to ask questions,

discuss the training with others,

and to use the services of a coach or

mentor for finer points of detail.

Learning is an integral part of the

performance improvement cycle. In

our next article we will explore the

measurement of both performance, and

the training and development inputs into

that improvement process.

Article by Alan Rands, CEO of

HRworkbench. HRworkbench have

developed an online software system

which combined with the right

training and consultancy input is set,

to revolutionise how performance is

managed in the future.

If you are interested in finding out more

please call 01189 880275 or visit their

website at www.hrworkbench.com

retentionperformancemanagement

& training&learning12

trainingtips

• As learners uncover the meaning

of content related vocabulary, ask

them to add the words to their name

card. This shows a progression

throughout the day. You can also ask

them to share the vocabulary words

they have written on their name

cards with a partner at different

parts of the workshop, adding any

new word that they were taught by

their partner.

• Hand out a different vocabulary

word and its definition to each

learner. Ask them to add the word

to their name card. Ask them to

prepare to teach this to another

learner - without just reading the

definition. Ask learners to form

pairs and teach each other their

word. Exchange words and add

the new word to their name card.

During the day, repeat the exercise

with learners teaching the most

recent piece of vocabulary they

were taught. When you get to the

content that uses all the vocabulary,

learners are already familiar with

it and you can concentrate on the

process or application and not the

vocabulary.

ObjectivesAt the beginning of the workshop, ask

learners to spend five minutes and write

down three things they want from the

workshop. They can then share these

with other learners and keep them in focus

throughout the workshop. At lunchtime,

ask learners to review these and put a

percentage complete next to each one (this

shows the progress they are making). To

start the next part of the workshop, you

can ask learners what they still need to

Every issue of Training & Learning contains top tips for trainers. This month, David Gibson considers other

practical uses for those ubiquitous name badges.

Name badges take many forms

from pin-on badges to name

tents. We’ve found that plastic

card holders made to slide name cards into

and hung around your learners’ neck to be

the best format.

Why? Because they don’t put holes in

learners’ clothing. We use large cards so

people can write on them and when they

move around (away from their group)

their name card goes with them - unlike

name tents that remain on the desk.

All the following ideas work regardless

of the name badge type you use.

Action Planning

• At each major break in the workshop

- lunch and end of day - ask learners

to write three to five actions that

they will take as a result of what

they have just uncovered onto the

back of their name cards.

• Allow up to five minutes for this to

happen.

• Ask learners to form pairs and share

how and where they will implement

their action points.

For a one-day workshop you could do

this more frequently, ie at each break.

At the end of the workshop, have

learners transfer these actions into their

workbook and put their name card into

an envelope and address the envelope to

themselves. Collect these and send them

to learners 2-3 weeks post workshop as a

reminder of what actions they said they

were going to implement.

Vocabulary

There many ways of utilising name

cards for vocabulary, here are two:

achieve their objectives - and ensure they

get them.

Timings/LogisticsPre-print workshop start, end, breaks,

lunchtime etc along with toilet directions

on the back of the name card. This means

you don’t have to go through these at the

beginning of their workshop. Instead, you

can concentrate your efforts on creating an

effective opening.

What’s next?Let’s say the workshop is an introductory

level workshop, you could put the outline

of the follow-on workshop including the

list of great discoveries on the back. This

will help whet your learners appetite about

where they go from here.

Other learnersIf you are working with learners

from different parts of the business or

different organisations, why not put

their names and department/organisation

on the back so they know who they are

working with.

We often add an extra line for each

learner and title it ‘email address’ but

leave it blank (with so much spam

around, people don’t like advertising

their email address). If they want to keep

contact with a particular learner, they can

add that learners’ email address to their

name card.

David Gibson (Eureka!) is an

international consultant and training

facilitator with more than 24 years’ training

experience working with household names

such names as Coca Cola, Ricoh, Merrill

Lynch, Standard Life. Visit www.eureka-

tp.com or phone 0207-734-3020.

more than just badges

&training&learning 13

A far better solution is sharpening up

our customer focus and concentrating

on areas that offer opportunity – in other

words segmenting the market. It is far

better to be big fish in a clearly defined

market segment.

In the Sixties as many FMCG markets

matured, companies maintained growth

by segmenting markets into groups of

consumers with common needs and

buying motives. They then lured these

customers by developing products that

appealed particularly strongly to these

segments.

And as business to business markets

also begin to mature, segmentation is

becoming an issue in this sector too.

Customers don’t simply choose on price

– they want a communications system, a

stationery cupboard or secretarial service

that not only meets their needs, but meets

them perfectly.

Market segments once identified, may

actually demand something different

from the produces/supplier. In other

words the marketing mix, in terms of

either the product or service, the pricing,

the distribution etc. can conceivably be

different from segment to segment.

It is important not to confuse intelligent

market segmentation with data collection.

Data from loyalty schemes for example

will tell us what people buy, but not

why they buy it. And proclaiming that

‘other people liked this so you will like

it too,’ will thrill neither new nor existing

customers.

Rather than trying to calculate what

the customer wants, a more sensible

Paul Gostick of The Chartered Institute of Marketing explains that

successful marketing depends on understanding that customers buy

what they like - not what people like them like.

The customer is king is a mantra

that has become the most clichéd

of all business clichés. In a

booming market with little competition

these customers are easy to come by – the

first restaurant on the high street simply

opens its doors and in flood the punters.

We don’t have to worry too much about

their individual tastes and needs, demand

is outstripping supply. But what happens

when the market matures? What happens

when our high street bistro is joined by a

pizza place, a wine bar and a branch of

McDonalds?

Competition gives customers choice.

Given choice customers go for the

best perceived value. Marketing in

a competitive environment is about

creating a sustainable differentiated

value proposition for the target customer

segment.

Faced with a static market, companies

can choose between a number of options.

They can diversify into a new market that

is still growing, like Tesco and Asda, who

added clothing and home ware items to

their food ranges. But this means going

through a number of learning curves,

and ultimately can lead to an unwieldy,

fragmented, unfocussed business.

A second option is the old stand-by

of slashing prices. This is the tactic that

requires the least thought, and competing

by offering an experience that is low in

price and low in service is a tempting

alternative. But in very few sectors are the

cheapest players the market leaders, and

aggressive pricing is rarely a successful

long term course of action.

approach is to look at the context in

which consumers might find themselves.

Each of our customers can be

potentially many different people

– parent, business person, Abba fan or

keen skier. In each of these roles, they

will behave differently, and by tapping

in to these behaviours, we can craft a

product that is perfectly tailored to our

customer’s needs.

British Airways noticed that its

business passengers used its flights to

travel on holiday, but it did not know how

to provide the different service that was

demanded on these occasions.

Contrary to popular myth, easyJet did

not compete with British Airways on price

– it focussed on the context. It understood

that there was a whole group of travellers

who wanted a cheap and cheerful travel

option, and were prepared to go without

the extras that came with flying the flag.

BA tried to fight back with the launch

of GO, but easyJet had already won the

hearts and minds of the no-frills passenger.

Today BA plays to its strengths, focussing

on in extensive global network, luxury

and comfort and providing a service for

those who need to arrive at city centre

airports on a recognised schedule.

There is a lesson here for businesses

of all shapes and sizes: get the offering

right, segment your market, and target

those segments and customers will fall

over themselves to do business with you.

Paul Gostick is chairman of The

Chartered Institute of Marketing (www.

cim.co.uk)

segmentation isthe secret

marketingskills

&

Before we look at ementoring,

we first need to define what

mentoring itself is. Mentoring

is a relationship with an overall

developmental purpose. This relationship

is between two people: a more

“experienced” or “skilled” mentor who

facilitates or oversees the development

of a “mentee.” Mentoring is increasingly

being used to as part of the training and

development mix to support learners in

the workplace.

A useful definition is:

“Mentors are guides. They lead

us along the journey of our lives. We

trust them because they have been

there before.”

Laurent Daloz

A mentor is not only usually more

experienced but often more senior, and

provides support, encouragement and

guidance to the mentee as they move

through key stages in their lives. Through

this formalised friendship, the mentor

also develops their own personal and

professional skills.

Other definitions:

“A mentor is that person who

achieves a one-to-one developmental

relationship with a learner; and

one whom the learner identifies as

having enabled personal growth to

take place.”

Bennetts, 1994

meaningful ementoring

In previous articles, Renée Raper looked at issues about the skills and knowledge required to be an etutor. This

month she turns her attention to the use of technology to support mentoring.

training&learning14

eLearning

“A mentor is a guide; an advisor,

someone on the trainee’s side;

loyal, interested, trusted and most

importantly, experienced in areas

that the trainee may not be.”

The Research Centre for

Television & Interactivity

For organisations with a diverse

workforce, the opportunity for staff

to have access to high-quality face-

to-face mentoring would be time

consuming, and often not cost effective.

A new approach is the introduction of

ementoring, harnessing the benefits of

new technologies to support personal

contact.

Organisations now use virtual teams

and communicate through email and the

internet, so this has helped develop the

growth of ementoring or ‘telementoring’

when mentoring takes place primarily

or exclusively through electronic

communication.

Another definition:

“ementoring is a relationship

in which a trusted and more

experienced person provides

support and guidance to another

person through a period of

development and transition, mainly

but not exclusively, by means of

electronic and non-face-to-face

contact”.

Henley Management College

Organisation-wide mentoring schemes

From talking to lots of organisations,

it seems that everyone wants to try and

“do ementoring” although many don’t

know where to begin or what are the

potentials and pitfalls. An organisation-

wide ementoring scheme could:

• support the introduction of

performance and development

reviews - the appraisal system

• support the introduction of change

management initiatives

• support particular development

programmes, such as management

development programmes

• benefit new recruits, helping them

become quickly, and painlessly(!),

integrated into the values and

systems of the organisation

• help to overcome staffing

difficulties

In the offshore oil and gas sector in the

North Sea there is a particular demographic

problem – many of the technicians are

approaching retirement age and will be

leaving and taking with them all their

accumulated experience.

There are few coming up to take their

place, so there is a recruitment drive to

get new blood – but these recruits will

have little experience. The industry sector

is therefore looking into introducing an

ementoring scheme that will pair the older

retired technicians with the new recruits.

The retired technicians will be able

to put something back into the industry

sector, provide support from wherever

they happen to be and get paid!

&

Many organisations think that

ementoring is easy to do – it just takes just

a few minutes per week, and that the key

requirement is a fancy web site. However,

meaningful ementoring, that will produce

results for all participants, takes real time,

and real commitment, just as face-to-face

mentoring. It’s not just about clicking

around a web site and dashing off a short

email once a week.

An organisation should think about

developing an ementoring scheme if it is

seen as an essential tool to bring about

change and help the organisation meet its

goals, as with all training and development

activities.

If an organisation sees the need to

bring together people for face-to-face

mentoring, then it should be exploring the

use if technology to support ementoring .

Also, ementoring can allow for the

involvement of mentors who might not be

able to participate in a traditional, face-to-

face scheme because of their geographic

location, transportation issues, their work

schedule, a home obligation or a disability.

Qualities of ementors in an organisation-wide mentoring scheme

In broad terms ementors in an

organisation-wide programme must have:

• significant company experience, an

understanding of the organisational

culture and politics and access to a

network of resources

• personal credibility and

professionalism and an ability to act

as a role model

• strong people skills and an ability to

communicate effectively in a face

to face and online environment

• an interest in career development

and collaborative learning, and

commitment to the mentoring

programme

• access to technology and a

willingness and ability to use the

internet

• As with face-to-face mentoring,

usually the ementor is more senior

meaningful ementoring

15training&learning

eLearning

in the organisation than the mentee

– although they should not be the

mentee’s line manager.

• However, increasingly there are

schemes that use peer mentoring as

a support mechanism, especially in

learning situations and formal staff

development programmes.

Training for ementoringementor competencies depend upon the

particular objectives of the scheme and the

nature of mentoring (e.g. personal versus

career development). But for a basic

course for new ementors the topics to be

covered could include:

• what is ementoring?

• the ementoring relationship

• eMentoring roles and competencies

• preparing for ementoring

• ementoring conversations

• evaluating ementoring

• establishing an ementoring

programme

Using the technologyThere are several ways that the

technology can be used for ementoring

– so you need to check the infrastructure

you have in place. Will your scheme be

Web or email based and if it will be a

stand-alone scheme or are you adding

this to an existing traditional face-to-face

scheme?

• Web-based model. The mentors

and mentees go to the internet

and access the web page of the

ementoring scheme. You can join up

with an existing e,entoring scheme

or you can plan to develop your

own Web site, although this may

require some funding and, certainly,

will require technical expertise.

• Email-based model. The mentors

and mentees use a unique email

address to communicate with

each other. You will need to have

technology in place that provides

a safe and secure environment for

email exchanges, archives all email

messages and the ability to track

email communications between the

mentoring pairs.

• Adding ementoring to a

traditional face-to-face scheme.

You will need to determine if the

new ementoring component will be

a Web or email based.

• Stand-Alone Model. The mentoring

pairs only communicate online either

through email or a web site.

Security of your ementoring scheme

If you are launching an ementoring

scheme you need to have safeguards in

place to protect your mentoring pairs, ie

• you will need to be able to track the

email activity between mentors and

mentees

• you should archive all the messages

being exchanged so you can use

them for evaluation and have the

ability to review them on an as

needed basis

• if you are partnering with an

existing web-based scheme you

should make sure that they have in

place all the security and tracking

features to allow you to manage your

organisation’s scheme effectively.

ConclusionOnce again technology, if used

correctly, can add immense value to an

organisation’s training and development

activities. It is up to us as professional

trainers to ensure we have the up-to-date

knowledge and experience to be able to

introduce and support these added value

activities.

For more information see:

www.mentoring.org/program_staff/

ementoring/starting_an_ementoring_

program.php?pid=all

www.nwrel.org/mentoring/panel2.html

Renée Raper MSc, Chartered FCIPD, FITOL

Director of Learning, Lighthouse

renee@lighthousethinking.com

www.lighthousethinking.com

&training&learning 17

Maths and science graduates will also

receive £5,000 when they complete their

induction at their new school. There are

also payments of £2,500 for graduates in

other shortage subjects.

Overall, the number of teacher trainees

has just risen for the fifth year running.

According to the Graduate Teacher

Training Registry, applications for maths

are up 30 per cent and for science 12 per

cent from last year, with all secondary

applications up by eight per cent.

And the pay isn’t bad these days, too.

Since 1997, starting salaries for newly

qualified teachers have risen from just

£14,280 to £19,023 outside London and

from £16,341 to £23,001 in inner London.

For experienced teachers, pay is up from

£21,318 to at least £28,000, and, in some

cases, to more than £32,000 (£38,000 in

inner London).

To become a fully qualified teacher in

state-maintained schools in England and

Wales, recruits have to gain Qualified

Teacher Status (QTS) first. Almost always,

this means completing a programme of

initial teacher training ( ITT).

Combining theoretical learning with at

least 18 weeks spent practising teaching

on placements in schools, ITT helps to

develop the skills needed to become an

effective teacher and achieve qualified

teacher status.

ITT providers range from large

universities with more than 1,000 trainees

to groups of schools that provide school-

centred ITT ( SCITT) for around ten to 20

trainees.

There are four main ways into

As the government trumpets the fact that there are now more teachers than at any time during the past

quarter of a century, Julian Desser looks at how new recruits are taking up the career – and the sort of training

they undertake.

Teaching is sometimes seen as a

calling rather than a vocation.

Large class sizes, difficulties with

discipline in some areas, long working

hours (often derided as a myth) and, up

until recent years at any rate, poor pay

conditions have combined to make it

an unpopular career choice for many

graduates.

But all that appears to be changing,

according to the Department for Education

and Skills (DfES). A press release posted

on its web site last month (May) proudly

proclaimed that there are now more

teachers in England than at any time since

1981.

The number of full-time equivalent

teachers is now 427,800 – some 28,600

more than in 1997. Vacancies are down as

well, with the number of empty teaching

posts halving since 2001. At the same

time, the number of overseas-trained

teachers and instructors has fallen.

So how has this remarkable turn-round

been achieved? Basically, through bribes.

In the mid to late Nineties, alarmed by

the growing shortage of teachers, the

government introduced a cash incentive

scheme for those entering the profession.

Dubbed “golden hellos”, they were

aimed at combating a 60 per cent shortfall

in the number of trainee secondary school

maths teachers and a 40 per cent shortfall

in trainee secondary science teachers.

From September this year, graduates

in shortage subjects (maths, science,

English, modern foreign languages, music,

technology and ICT) will receive a higher

training bursary of £9,000.

teaching:

• Undergraduate options (training

to be a teacher while completing a

BEd or BA, BSc degree with QTS

courses)

• Postgraduate options (train to

be a teacher in one or two years

through a Postgraduate Certificate

of Education, School-Centred

Initial Teacher Training, Teach First

Programme)

• Employment-based options (train

and qualify as a teacher while

working in a school through the

Graduate Teacher Programme,

Registered Teacher Programme,

Overseas Training Teacher

Programme)

• QTS assessment-only option (those

with substantial teaching experience

but do not hold QTS in the UK can

quality through a QTS Assessment)

Most trainee teachers (except for those

on employment-based or assessment

only routes) divide their time between

a university or other higher education

institutions and a school, where they will

undertake supervised teaching practice.

Trainee teachers must spend at least the

following amounts of time being trained

in schools:

• 24 weeks for all secondary and

Key Stage 2/3 postgraduate

programmes

• 18 weeks for all primary

postgraduate programmes

• 32 weeks for all four-year

undergraduate programmes

• 24 weeks for all two and three-year

who wants to be a teacher?

k

coverfeature

&

undergraduate programmes

• All trainees complete their teaching

practice in at least two schools.

Postgraduate trainees are expected to

have a good understanding of the subject

they are training to teach before they start

their initial teacher training programme.

Some pre-training courses are also

available if they need to improve their

knowledge and understanding.

Teacher training focuses on a number of

themes, linked to the QTS standards:

• knowing and understanding the

relevant National Curriculum

programmes of study for chosen

subjects

training&learning18

• planning and preparing lessons and

setting learning objectives

• managing classes, promoting

good behaviour and managing

disruptions

• using information and

communication technology

effectively

• understanding opportunities for

pupils to learn in out-of-school

contexts such as theatres or field

work

• the professional values expected

of teachers, in their attitudes and

behaviour towards pupils and

colleagues

In progressing through their careers,

teachers benefit from numerous

opportunities for continuing professional

development. Some of these, such

as development planning, in-service

education and training days and in-school

coaching and mentoring, are experienced

by all teachers.

But the full extent of the CPD activities

more often depend on individual

development needs and preferences, as

well as on how these change over time.

For instance, teachers can take

responsibility for a ‘whole-school’

project, allowing them to enhance their

skills and experience while making a

contribution to the school’s development

priorities.

This could mean anything from

exploring new ways of raising

achievement in a particular subject

or from a particular age group, to

investigating how best to use technology

in the classroom, to establishing closer

links with the community or to taking

responsibility for the school’s website.

It is also possible for teachers to

pursue further study at post-graduate

level through courses such as Master of

Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc) and

Master of Education (MEd).

Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs) are

those who have reached standards of

excellence in their profession. They work

as classroom teachers for 80 per cent of

their time but also work to raise standards

of teaching and learning more generally -

for example, by spending a day a week on

projects spanning a number of schools or

working to enhance the skills of teachers

in their own and other schools.

There are also several schemes that are

targeted at leaders in education. The Fast

Track teaching programme, for instance,

is a scheme designed for talented

teachers with the ability and ambition

to make rapid progress into their careers

and achieve leadership positions sooner

rather than later.

Middle leaders in primary and

k

case study: Ben Atkinson

Ben Atkinson, 28, is Head of Design and Technology at Barr Beacon School in

Aldridge at the eastern tip of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. The school has

approximately 1,500 pupils, with a substantial sixth form offering GCE Advanced level

and GNVQ foundation and intermediate courses.

When he left school Ben chose not to take traditional A-levels, but to follow an art

and design foundation course, which led him onto a BA Honours course in 3D design

at university. On graduating he decided to take a one-year post-graduate certificate in

education enabling him to teach design and technology.

He says: “My first post was in a boys’ grammar school where I was fortunate to be

able to teach part of the A’ level design and technology course. It was an excellent start

and taught me to develop very high standards and expectations, but it was also very

challenging in terms of stretching my own knowledge and skill.

“Often I needed to read around the subject in preparation for my examination groups

and this led me to consider my own professional development needs. I decided to begin

a two-year MA in Technology Education and on reflection I am pleased that I did this

early in my career.

“It was during my third year of teaching that I successfully applied for my first

promotion as a Key Stage 3 co-ordinator, once again challenging my teaching skills and

developing my expertise.

“During this time I was writing my dissertation focusing on the management of

curriculum change. Studying management techniques in a new situation gave me the

opportunity to take initiatives and apply newly acquired skills.

“With five years of teaching experience behind me I felt ready to take on further

responsibility as a Head of Department. Managing a team of teachers has been the

most challenging aspect of my career to date.”

coverfeature

&

Perhaps no other work of fiction has more poignantly

portrayed the teaching profession than Goodbye Mr

Chips. It was originally a classic novel by James

Hilton which was immortalised in the 1939 tear-jerking

movie starring Robert Donat as Latin teacher Mr Chipping,

a role later played by Martin Clunes in an acclaimed feature

film from SMG TV Productions.

Set in a middle-ranking public school, Brookfield, in the

late 1800s and spanning several decades, it tells the story of

a life dedicated to education – and the challenges teachers

were starting to face as the profession was “modernised” at

the turn of the century.

When 28-year-old Chipping (Chips) arrives at Brookfield

he doesn’t get off to a good start with the pupils who are

rowdy and ill-disciplined in his lesson. However, he soon

wins them over with his sharply humorous manner and

genuine gift for teaching.

He is a passionate teacher who will not tolerate bullying

or prejudice and is particularly supportive of those pupils

on scholarships. He knows each boy by name and is

respected by them. Yet he is frustrated not to be promoted

to housemaster.

When a new head teacher arrives with extensive plans

for modernising Brookfield - including increased fees, the

disbanding of scholarships, a modernised curriculum and the

founding of an officers corps - Chips becomes unsettled.

However, with the outbreak of war and being too old for

service, the governors invite him to become headmaster, a

position he accepts and later has the heartbreaking duty of

telling his pupils of the deaths of their fathers, family and

former pupils.

Eventually the war ends and Chips, now 83 and in his bed

with the doctor and chairman of the governors standing by,

he smiles when he hears them talking about his life and the

fact that he never had children.

He says: “But I do have children, hundreds of them – all

boys”. With visions of them passing before him and at his

side his young wife Kathie, who died soon after they were

married more than 50 years earlier, Mr Chips gently dies.

a lesson from Mr. Chips

secondary schools (established subject or

special educational needs coordinators)

can take advantage of the ‘Leaders from

the Middle’ programme, which provides

professional development in the form

of face-to-face and online training and

works towards developing school, team

19training&learning

and individual priorities.

Last year, the then Minister for Schools

Jacqui Smith, said: “Bursaries and golden

hellos have helped to ensure that there are

now more teachers in our schools than at

any time since 1981 and teacher vacancies

have fallen progressively since 2001.

“Teaching our next generation is an

immensely important job and that is

why it is essential that we continue to

recruit our most gifted graduates and

trainees into the profession, particularly

in shortage subjects such as maths and

science.”

coverfeature

&

a balancing actThe process of both coaching and mentoring sometimes involves straying into personal areas of the learning

partner’s life. David Clutterbuck offers some words of wisdom and practical tips for dealing with work-life

issues that can arise in these situations.

training&learning20

coaching&mentoring

For many coaches and mentors, one

of the scariest scenarios is to be

dragged out of the comfort zone

of issues that are strictly work or career

related and into those “softer” issues that

concern personal life outside of work.

By contrast, a small and dangerous

minority will actually relish the thought

of vicarious expeditions into the learning

partner’s private life – a formal kind of

voyeurism, in which they can try a little

amateur psychology as they go.

But how should the coach or mentor

approach non-work issues? Where should

the boundaries lie? How can you make

sure you maintain an appropriate balance

between pretending the personal life issues

don’t exist or don’t matter and intruding

unwisely?

What tools and approaches are there

to help the coach or mentor assist the

learner in managing the work-life balance

process? These are all practical questions,

which an effective practitioner will have

addressed and reflected upon. Let’s take

them one by one:

How should the coach or mentor

approach non-work issues?

The idea that work and non-work are

two discrete parts of a person’s existence

is widespread and nonsense. These two

aspects of life constantly intrude upon

each other.

The parent losing attention at work

because he or she is worried about a

dependent, or the state of their marriage,

or the employee not listening to a spouse

over a meal, because his or her attention is

temporarily focused on a problem at work

– these are the commonplaces of daily

existence.

The intrusion of work into family life

is rampant. More than four out of five

managers are regularly telephoned about

work issues out of working hours, for

example. Even at most of the top 100

employers, employees say that they

frequently return home too tired to enjoy

their home life.

The key to managing the conflict implied

in work-life balance is to recognise the

issue as one of complexity management.

And the keys to managing this complexity

lie in handful of critical skills:

• Knowing what you want and value

out of life

• Understanding and quantifying the

conflicting demands on your time,

mental energy and physical energy

• Setting boundaries on each aspect

of your life

• Having the self discipline to resist

challenges to those boundaries

Implicit in managing the complexity is

taking the reflective time to consider these

issues, to develop wider and more creative

options, and to plan what you are going to

do less of or stop doing.

Here is where the coach or mentor can

have a significant impact, helping with the

rigour of the learner’s thinking and with

opening up new options and alternatives.

The same principles apply equally

well to the issue of work-work balance.

Knowledge workers, in particular, are

&21training&learning

coaching&mentoring

faced with a complex set of choices about

how they spend their time at work. It’s

very easy to put a lot of effort into tasks

that don’t really matter.

Considering the way someone uses their

time and other resources across the board

typically produces much better solutions

than dealing with work and non-work

issues separately. Some useful questions a

coach or mentor can put include:

• What can you do to ensure you

approach these work issues with a

fresh and relaxed mind?

• How much and where do you feel

you are in/out of control of your

time and energy? Who is in control

of them?

• What do you want to achieve in

each key aspect of your work and

non-work lives and why?

• How did the conflicts come about?

What did you not do that encouraged

them?

Where should the boundaries lie?

How can you make sure you maintain an

appropriate balance between pretending

the personal life issues don’t exist or don’t

matter and intruding unwisely?

There’s no simple answer to this.

Really experienced coaches and mentors

know instinctively when the conversation

is extending into areas in which either

they are not competent or where it would

be inappropriate for them to venture.

Examples might include:

• Where the learner has a problem

that requires psychotherapy or some

other clinical intervention

• Where a significant shift in helping

role is required (and therefore,

where it would only be appropriate

to continue having redefined the

role)

• Where the stimulus for deeper

exploration comes more from the

coach or mentor’s curiosity than

from any specific need on the part

of the client

What tools and approaches are there

to help the coach or mentor assist the

learner in managing the work-life

balance process?

Firstly, it’s important for any coach

or mentor, whether they perform the

role occasionally as part of another job

role, or professionally, to ensure they

have a source of practical advice and

an opportunity to talk over and reflect

upon issues of work-life conflict they

encounter in their client relationships.

It also helps to reflect on one’s own

work-life and work-work conflicts,

to deepen both understanding and

empathy.

Secondly, there are a number of

useful models and tools to help people

clarify their issues relating to work-life

balance. One of the most useful is the

notion of lifestreams – six core facets

of working and non-working life, each

of which needs to be managed, if people

are to fulfil their ambitions.

The coach or mentor can help the

learner recognise the need to address

each of the lifestreams and develop

plans for how they will progress in

each.

Other useful tools help the learner:

• Work out his or her key priorities

in both work and non-work

• Decide how much effort to put

into each priority and what to

stop doing

• Manage the guilt that so often

accompanies tough decisions

• Negotiate changes of priority

and behaviour with other people,

who are stakeholders and/

or influencers relating to the

learner’s circumstances

• Develop the skills to maintain

control over their work-life

balance, once it is established.

• In practice, most of these tools

are part of the general portfolio

that every coach or mentor should

have. The main difference is that

the topic of discussion has moved

beyond “pure” work issues to the

integration of work and non-work

issues.

What next?

Gaining the confidence and

competence to explore the interaction

between work and non-work

environments can be one of the most

powerful transitions a coach or mentor

may make.

Mentoring already opens horizons

from the typical focus within the working

environment on improvement within the

existing job role to the broader issues

of career self-management. It’s only a

small step to exploring developmental

behaviours in other lifestreams.

Professor David Clutterbuck is one of

Europe’s most prolific and well-known

management writers and thinkers.

He has written more than 40 books

including, The Situational Mentor,

Coaching at Work and Everyone needs

a mentor (the classic book on the

subject).

He is co-founder of the European

Mentoring and Coaching Council, where

he chairs the Research Committee, and

visiting professor at Sheffield Hallam

University. Contact: info@clutterbuck

associates.co.uk

&

The first meeting, after the

exploratory one agreeing the

contract, should focus on the

executive’s aspirations. This will focus on

three basic questions:

Where are you now?

Where do you want to be?

How will you get there?

This could be attacked in a number of

ways but the basic coaching process will

revolve around these three questions. The

approach of the coach will rely to a great

extent on the learning style and personality

preference of the executive.

This is where the personality profiling

coaching skills: setting goals

In the third in his series of articles on the topic of executive coaching, Byron Kalies identifies three key

questions – and explains how they underpin the process when defining the client’s objectives.

training&learning22

coaching&mentoring

you may have set up before hand will help.

If the executive is more creative or intuitive

(in personality type parlance) they will

be more willing to buy into the approach

mentioned in the first article in this series

(the use of analogies or metaphors to help

crystallise the process).

Here the image of the lighthouse as

the end point and the boat will work

extremely well. They can identify where

they are in terms of the skills, knowledge

and attitudes they have and the challenges

they face.

If the executive has a more practical or

pragmatic preference they may not feel

drawn to this approach and would prefer

working with real, tangible data and less

abstract concepts.

Whichever approach you choose it

is important that the executive collects

as much evidence about their current

strengths and weaknesses. This can be

carried out in a variety of ways. These

are basically self assessments and other

assessments.

The executive should carry out some

self-assessment using a variety of

approaches. For example TMS, MBTI, or

similar personality typing tools will give

an insight into their particular preferences

or manner of working.

As a coach it is useful to have a range

of tools and techniques available as each

coaching situation will produce a different

challenge and a different range of skills

and attitudes.

For instance, if the executive wants to

work on improving their communication

and presentation skills it would make sense

if the assessment tool used is based around

this particular aspect of their personality

profile.

Whichever element, or elements, they

are keen to develop will inevitably involve

some feedback from their peers, staff,

customers and managers. This would

indicate that a 360 degree feedback tool

would be necessary.

360 degree feedback has been defined as

“a process involving collecting perceptions

about a person’s behaviour and the impact

of that behaviour from the person’s boss or

bosses, direct reports, colleagues, fellow

members of project teams, internal and

external customers, and suppliers.”

Other names for 360 degree feedback

are multi-rater feedback, multi-source

feedback, full-circle appraisal, and group

performance review. Which just about

sums it up perfectly. This process may

well trigger some initial resistance in

the executive, especially if they haven’t

encountered it before.

There are anxieties around the people

supplying the feedback, the use it will be

put to, confidentiality aspects, etc. It is a

very vulnerable situation the executive is

being put into and you need to be aware of

this vulnerability.

To help allay these fears you

must convince the executive that the

information, and the entire process you

use, to gather and analyse it will be totally

confidentially.

It is also vital that you allow the

executive to have as much control over

the process as they can; they will agree

the questions with you, they will choose

&

coaching skills: setting goals

23training&learning

coaching&mentoring

However, if you have the time, and

hopefully some administration support it

would be well worth your while devising

your own form. This will be based on an

amalgam of other forms and should be

adapted to the individual, the organisation

and the coaching situation.

The questions will be related the

specific aspect you are working with. It

is usual that there is some standard scale

for the answers, i.e. from 0 to 5 where 0

= ‘not at all’ to 5 = ‘perfect’, or similar

scale. When asking these questions it can

be a useful strategy to have two scales

– one for competence and the other for

importance.

For instance, if you are looking at

effective relationships and one section

looks at communication, a set of questions

could be:

“How effective is X at cascading

information? “

“How important is it to you that X

cascades information?”

This is particularly relevant when

dealing with staff/management issues.

It can also be extremely useful in the

feedback session to challenge assumptions

about what is important and what isn’t.

The 360 feedback process should be

carried out and analysed by you prior

to a meeting and the results sent, or

ideally given, to the executive a day or

so beforehand to allow them to prepare.

The scorings will, of course, be made

totally anonymous and the average ratings

calculated.

The interview with the executive

relaying the 360 degree information is

important. The preparation must be as

perfect as possible. There must be no way

the executive can identify individuals.

They may ask about individual scores,

infer and look to you for confirmation

or denial, but you cannot divulge this

confidential information.

The emphasise must always be on

looking at the scores and looking for

what can be learnt and improved on.

This involves a fair degree of active

listening. It is a useful technique to focus

on a few areas for development and a

few areas where there appears to be little

development needed. It is vital a sense

of balance is maintained throughout the

feedback process.

Once the executive has a sound

understanding of where they are the next

stage is generally a good deal easier;

where they would like to be. The executive

usually has a good understanding of where

they would like to be, in vague terms. As

a coach it is your task to help turn this

nebulous concept into a reality.

Questions that will help should

encourage the executive to focus on

specific areas to improve within specific

time frames. A very general thrust of a

discussion would go:

So where do you see yourself in 1/ 2/ 5

years time?

What skills do you need to achieve

that?

How can you acquire those skills?

This should help the executive gain an

understanding of building a career plan.

You can develop this conversation looking

at how the skills will be acquired then

focus on some practical issues ;who will

help, how will they acquire these skills, in

what time frame, what barriers could there

be, how will they know when they have

been successful, etc.

This process will form the basis of the

executive coaching timetable. Each session

after this will look at aspects relating to

the information brought out here.

Having a vision can be incredibly

motivating for people. Especially for

an executive who has found themselves

trapped in the day to day routine and

forgotten where they are going.

Next month: Softer Skills (Part 1)

– trust and building relationships

Byron Kalies is a writer with 12 years’

international experience as a management

consultant. He can be contacted through

his web site at www.byronkalies.co.uk or

emailed at byron@byronkalies.co.uk

the people for feedback themselves, and

only you and them will have access to the

results.

The question selected will be entirely

relevant to the coaching. The executives

will help select the questions with you and

will work through these questions as they

self assess themselves.

In terms of the people they choose to

ask for feedback, they are again in control.

The executive will choose who they trust

to give them the best feedback. It has been

a myth that people involved in this process

invariably choose friends, or people they

feel will be ‘easier’ on this.

This rarely proves to be the case.

Perversely, executives tend to over

compensate and fail to choose these

people. As a coach it’s an interesting

starting point for a discussion if there are

obvious gaps in the people they choose to

rate them.

If it is because they are choosing the

more ‘difficult’ raters encourage them

to select others for a more balanced

approach. If, on the other hand they are

avoiding the more ‘difficult’ raters then

encourage them to select others for a more

balanced approach.

If they have particular relationship

problems with people they choose not to

ask for feedback this is an area that could

usefully be explored at a later stage.

It is important to continually emphasise

that this process is a means to an end

rather than an end in itself. It is a tool that

will allow the executive to get a snapshot

of where they currently are.

As a thought on evaluation, when

the whole coaching process nears its

conclusion it may be worth considering

repeating the 360 degree process to

determine what progress has been made or

if there are further areas for development.

Carrying out 360 degree feedback can

be quite time consuming, demanding yet

ultimately incredibly rewarding in terms of

helping the executive. There are a number

of ‘off the shelf’ versions available that

can cost a great deal of money.

& training&learning24

solving problems of the past. Dad lived

his life to the intensity he wanted – that

is good. For the rest of us, we still have

choice, my friends.

I have emerged from this experience

with uplifting thoughts of the future and

how I can take a part of Dad with me.

Thank you all for letting me share this

with you. I understand it is not an easy

subject, but avoiding something because it

is difficult is a quick fix and not really of

any help.

On Fear

WHAT is fear? If we think about primal

instincts, I suppose it is some thing that

causes basic physiological sensations such

as anxiety and panic, perhaps making us

freeze, either physically or mentally.

Or is it more to do with uncertainty…of

not knowing how something will turn out?

On that basis perhaps it is more to do with

things not being totally in our control and

that situations are unknown.

There is something core to the second

interpretation and that is an association

with the future, i.e. that we are fearful

because we do not know how things will

turn out in the future and that the future is

not under our control.

But as it is the future, we cannot know

what the outcome will be, so surely it

therefore isn’t something to be feared, is

it? As many philosophers say, the only

time we have is right now.

A friend of mine came across a great

new definition of fear for you; one that

puts it in our control – fear is a Future

Continuing our series of short articles taking a different view on

training topics or everyday life by coaching consultant Will Izzard.

My Dad passed away not long

ago. One moment he was

there and the next, he wasn’t

– he quite literally dropped dead. He was

not in the best of health but it was very

sudden nonetheless.

This is not a platform for personal grief

and I certainly do not have the monopoly on

personal loss. What follows is the lesson I

have taken away from this experience that

I wish to share with you. If it is not for

you, then please stop reading now.

When this news was delivered to me, I

was in the middle of nowhere. Literally.

There was no car I could hide away in and

no choice but to walk about an hour to a

car park. That walk was painfully difficult

but it turned out to be a gift in terms of

learning the lesson.

As I walked, a friend and coach I was

with spoke of a symbol that came to his

mind – “5/50”. This symbolised the

uncertainty that we do not know if we

have 5 minutes left or 50 years…or a few

seconds as it turned out for my dad. It is

a message about the intensity with which

we live our lives.

Now intensity does not mean kayaking

over waterfalls or jumping out of

aeroplanes, or any other cliché you can

think of that illustrates “living”. It is

merely used to question whether we are

living our lives to the fullness, richness,

contentedness and quality that we want

to…and taking responsibility ourselves if

it is not what we want.

Problems (also regrets, what-ifs, what-

should’s etc) are signposts to the past; we

cannot change the present or the future by

Event Appearing Real. Just think about

that – something in the future (that hasn’t

happened yet) that is manifesting itself as

real in our minds.

Fear is connected with doubt and I

recently read a coaching tip from Paul

Lemberg that suggests there are two types

of doubt – the technical kind and the

fearful kind.

Technical doubt is worth listening to – it

means to double-check our plans: are we

sure this is going to work, what-if we did

this instead etc. Fear doubt is that same

reaction to the unknown that can cause us

to freeze and do nothing.

It comes along when we are into

uncharted waters. But if we weren’t in

uncharted waters, then we’d be doing

something that wasn’t unknown - and

then we’d hardly be pushing the envelope

back either.

Will Izzard is a coach and principal

consultant in project and programme

management. He currently provides

advice and support to several government

agencies and is part of a team of coaches

running The Ascent Experience, a

transformational coaching weekend that

runs in Snowdonia, North Wales.

He can be contacted on 07917 701

316 or by email to willizzard@mac.com

or for further information visit www.

cmcpartnership.com or www.ascent-

experience.com

wizzard thoughtscoaching&mentoring

Fast

Easy

Effective

The hottest new training products this

summer coming to any screen near you.

Interactive DVD

Blended Learning

Online Learning

CD-Rom Learning

Classroom Training Resources

360° Assessment Tool

Call 0845 456 0465 or email

balanceteam@balancelearning.co.uk for a no risk trial.

www.balancelearning.co.uk/interactive_dvd Ask a

bout

our

spec

ial B

lend

ed Le

arnin

g

licen

ce fo

r CoV

Es an

d Ed

ucat

ional

esta

blish

ments.

Call

us n

ow!

0845

4560

465

Balance Learning UK (Head Office)

Suite 1, Prospect House, Bath Road Trading Estate,

Lightpill, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 3QF

Telephone: +44 (0) 845 456 0465 | Fax: +44 (0) 1453 769 606

The Interactive Learning Company

&

Of the 17 definitions I have come

across for competency I would

group them into two main

types: organisational competencies and

individual competencies.

Organisational competencies were

popularised by Hamel and Prahalad in the

nineties and refer to things like fostering

innovation and enhancing corporate

reputation. Individual competencies,

where there are greater differences of

opinion, also group into two sorts.

Firstly there are those writers that

describe competence as a combination of

knowledge, skill, motivation, attributes

and values; all the foundations for effective

performance.

This goes back the work of the

psychologist and founding father David

McClelland in the seventies. He was

concerned about the growth of aptitude

tests that seemed to be too far removed

from organisational reality and so he

introduced to the world the modern,

western concept of competency.

Be warned: go to some other countries

and you will find they may have yet a

different interpretation. Competency can

mean legal competency – that you are

legally capable of doing something.

Secondly there are those who think

competencies should be even more

outcome orientated and should specify

standards of performance. In practice

there are infinite shades of grey.

If you look at those National

Standards used as the basis of vocational

qualifications, for example, you will

see descriptions of outcomes - shown

what are competencies?

Graham O’Connell provides his definitions of the concepts and says: “I hope I have the competence to

answer these questions - and can do so skilfully.”

training&learning26

trainingfactfile

as behaviours, actions and tasks – as

well as criteria relating to underpinning

knowledge.

This would be a good point for me to

introduce comptences. Now before those of

you who bought that wonderful book ‘Eats,

Shoots and Leaves’ get out your grammar

repair kits, the spelling is correct.

Competences are usually technical in

nature and describe the components of a task,

job or job family, often resulting in rather

long and complex lists. For those of you

keen to get your definitions right, especially

those undertaking academic study, I would

recommend www.competencyandei.com

Many organisations now have

competency frameworks built up from

mapping different jobs and roles.

Common competency areas include

communications, team working,

customer service, business awareness,

problem solving, results orientation and

leadership.

These competencies, often supported

by examples of effective and ineffective

behaviours, are then used as the basis of

recruitment (selecting people on the basis

of what they know and can do rather than

just on qualifications and experience),

performance management (measuring,

rewarding and appraising people

objectively against their capability and

contribution) and, of course, training.

Understanding why and how you might

want to use competencies has to be better

use of one’s brain power than deliberating

on nuances on meaning.

The dominant logic of using

competencies is persuasive. And in a

simple and well-ordered world all would

what are skills?

&27training&learning

trainingfactfile

Maybe these skills frameworks are

just competency frameworks in drag and

maybe they are subject to being hit below

the waterline too.

My personal view is that all too often

we get hung up on terminology and

technicalities and don’t pay enough

attention to getting best value out of

implementing the resultant processes.

In more than one organisation I have

seen a tick box attitude, both from

senior management who say ‘we’ve

done our framework, now lets move on’

to operational staff who see competency

assessment and skills checklists as

bureaucratic distractions.

The frameworks and the systems that

surround them often look deceptively

good on paper but getting them to earn

their keep is another matter entirely.

Bringing order to the chaotic world we

call work is either a vital mission or a lost

cause depending on your point of view.

In the US there has been more emphasis

on excellence whereas in the UK we

seem to have become bogged down in

technicalities, sometimes not being able

to see the wood for the trees.

Alternatively we can become very

adept at apparent compliance - with

organisations pretending frameworks are

important and individuals pretending to

work to them.

The balancing act of success is a

particularly fine one. It seems to involve

giving clear, meaningful behavioural

standards to help raise novices and

strugglers to a minimum level of ability

and performance.

It involves some form of gradation linked

to roles and hierarchy (what makes for a

good senior manager is different to that

for a junior manager) as well as different

levels of performance (from novice, to

competent, to excellent, to expert).

Up at those higher levels it is harder

to be prescriptive. The determinants

of success often involve high levels of

tacit knowledge, intellectual ability,

natural flair and making best use of our

unique experiences and personal, even

idiosyncratic, talents.

Assessing people at the lower levels

is as much about developing them as it

is about rating them. With a well crafted

framework this should be straightforward

and reasonably objective, if a little time-

consuming.

When it comes to assessing senior

people or experts, this usually involves

a higher degree of self assessment and

discretionary judgement (except where

qualifications are involved).

Done well, this can and should be

challenging in some areas as well as

affirming in others. Most senior people

still have development needs but

broaching them may need delicacy as

well as courage. Making all this work is

as much down to the manager, or assessor,

and the culture as it is to the framework

itself. Good people can make an imperfect

system work.

Putting aside for the moment the

philosophical and practical issues of

frameworks, there is no doubt that

certain competencies and skills are very

desirable and beneficial attributes from

both the individual and the organisation

perspective.

If the learning and development

function can find ways to isolate the

really critical ones, capture the essence

of what makes for really excellent

results and work out how to broadcast

and grow it, they will be cultivating

better performing people and stronger

organisational performance.

This is not just about running courses

that conveniently map on to published

competencies; it is a modern form of

alchemy. One might even say: a real skill.

Graham O’Connell Chartered FCIPD

FITOL FInstCPD ACIM is Head of

Organisational Learning and Standards

at the National School of Government

(formerly CMPS). He can be contacted

at graham.oconnell@nationalschool.

gsi.gov.uk

be fine. Unfortunately real-life often

throws a spanner in the works. Identifying

and agreeing a meaningful list of

competencies can be tricky enough.

But then try to coalesce them in to a

manageable number of easy to understand

statements that are flexible enough to

cope with individual role variations and

future organisational changes. If you are

not careful you end up with bland and

ambiguous statements with all the value

knocked out of them.

Even if you scramble over these hurdles

there is no guarantee that managers will

properly use the resultant competencies to

lever improved performance. Once again

the battleship of best practice gets sunk on

the rocks of reality!

To the lay person there is barely a

hair’s breadth between competencies and

skills. There is much to commend such an

innocent view. We professionals, however,

seem determined to split hairs at every

turn.

Skill, some say, requires innate talent

or expertise built up through practice,

experience or training. It implies a degree

of mastery or elegance in the behaviour.

Whilst the word competence conjures

up a sense of mediocrity, the mere absence

of incompetence, skill has connotations of

artistry and excellence. The force behind

the competency movement is mechanistic,

deterministic, reductionist thinking.

The concept of skill is more qualitative,

humanistic and, often, idiosyncratic.

It is not that skills are more grandiose.

There are basic skills too – such as

numeracy and literacy – that form the

building blocks of our ability to function

whether in an organisation or in society.

Skills, whether basic or otherwise, are

learnable and, frequently, trainable.

And that is perhaps why many

organisations seek to articulate the degrees

of excellence they expect from staff in the

form of skills frameworks (for an example,

take a look at http://psg.civilservice.gov.

uk; an ambitious skills framework with

more than a nod to competencies).

what are skills?

&

Reviewing is an essential feature

of experience-based learning, but

some outdoor educators are still

not convinced of its value. Even those who

are convinced of its value, often find that

reviewing is the most vulnerable feature

of a programme.

Why is it that some adventure educators

are more committed to reviewing than

others? What is it that makes outdoor

enthusiasts enthusiastic about reviewing?

Conversion to reviewing is unlikely to

result simply from being introduced to a

toolkit of reviewing techniques. Becoming

‘converted’ to reviewing might require

a major attitude shift which involves

taking a substantial step towards a more

facilitative style of working.

Adventure educators already appreciate

the value of experience as a means of

precipitating attitude change, and it is

through experiencing ‘good’ reviewing

at first hand that they are perhaps most

likely to come to appreciate the value of

reviewing - and want to do it.

I myself became convinced of the value

of reviewing by experiencing it as a course

participant. Once ‘converted’, I was keen

to try out and develop reviewing methods

which added value to experiences in the

outdoors.

I was especially interested in developing

reviewing methods which kept the sense of

adventure alive during reviews, and which

sustained high levels of involvement

throughout the review process.

I felt this was consistent with my

growing belief that both ‘adventure’ and

‘reviewing’ were part of a continuing

doing reviewingIt is nearly 20 years since Roger Greenaway became convinced of the value of reviewing. This article describes

some of the experiences which have sustained his commitment to combining adventure and reviewing –

especially in work with young people.

training&learning28

reviewingactivity

process of curiosity and exploration.

Rather than seeing ‘adventure’ as exciting,

and ‘reviewing’ as dull, I soon discovered

that the whole process could be a highly

involving learning experience.

The consequences of not reviewing

Other outdoor educators have been

‘converted’ to reviewing through

experiencing the consequences of not

reviewing (whether as a group leader or as

a group member).

For example: A teacher taking part in

an outdoor personal development course

was encouraged to take on responsibility

for navigation on a mountain walk, but she

made a route-finding mistake.

As a result of this error no more offers

of responsibility came her way throughout

the rest of the course, and she felt less

inclined to volunteer or take risks from

that point on. None of this was reviewed

because it was not part of the course

culture to do so.

A course which was designed to build

confidence and encourage people to take

risks was having the exact opposite effect.

The leader was unaware of the negative

impact of this incident on the woman

involved.

Without a review, the leader was

unable to learn much about the negative

consequences of this event. Without a

review, the woman had little chance to gain

anything positive from the experience. The

only positive outcome was the woman’s

determination to review experiences when

she herself took others into the hills.

Power and responsibility Any leader who does not review could

be providing similarly counter-productive

experiences. Adventure education is a

powerful medium in which to work.

With power comes responsibility: it is

precisely because the medium of adventure

can be so powerful that adventure educators

have a responsibility to find out what kind

of impact the experiences are having. And

as educators, it makes sense to assist and

assess the learning experiences which are

aroused by adventure.

Through reviewing leaders demonstrate

that they

• care about what participants

experience

• value what participants have to say,

&

doing reviewing

29training&learning

reviewingactivity

young people.

The reluctant reviewer may think that

sitting around talking (especially if it

is indoors) is not particularly different,

adventurous or stimulating. The reluctant

reviewer is likely to favour maximising

the time spent doing adventurous things

outdoors - believing that the more

adventurous the programme, the more

impact it is likely to have.

The enthusiastic reviewer is likely to

hold much the same beliefs, but is more

likely to be in touch with what is going

on, and will be better placed to adjust and

adapt the programme to suit the needs and

interests of the learners.

Action-packed programmes Having an action-packed programme is

probably the first mistake if the purpose is

to provide adventure education rather than

simply to provide adventure.

According to John Dewey, “Experience

plus Reflection equals Education”. It

follows from this that experience without

reflection does not equal education.

Equally, reflection without experience

would not equal education.

The challenge is to get the balance and

relationship right between experience

and reflection - if education is to be the

outcome.

Reviewing sequences Starting with a programme of activities

and then fitting reviewing around the

activities is not a promising start for

designing a programme of adventure

education.

Why not start with a programme of

reviewing and fit the activities around the

review programme?

Just as there are natural sequences of

activities (say, from ice-breakers through

to independent expeditions), so there are

natural sequences for reviewing.

One such sequence is described by

Nadler and Luckner in their ‘processing

curriculum’ which they describe as

… “the thread that binds and weaves

together diverse adventure activities with

participants’ emotional experiences.”

This sequence starts with trust

building and awareness raising, moves to

responsibility and experimentation and

ends with transfer of learning. Adventures

turned out to have been reinforcing a

negative self-image.

Through reviewing, the leader was able

to find out what was happening, respond

appropriately and bring about more

positive and worthwhile outcomes.

Learning from experience It often happens that a reviewing

technique will add value to the adventurous

experience for those taking part, while also

providing information to the leader which

helps him or her to evaluate the impact of

the experience.

Reviewing allows the leader to evaluate

the success of a programme in progress

while it is still possible to make changes,

but the main function of reviewing is to

enable participants to learn from their

experiences.

Improving young people’s ability to

learn from experience is arguably the most

sustainable and dynamic outcome which

adventure education can provide.

To conclude, a good review helps to

transform a powerful experience into an

empowering learning process in which

personal and social development is more

in evidence. Reviewing can both enhance

and demonstrate the educational potential

of adventure.

Dr Roger Greenaway is the author of

numerous articles and books about the

designing and reviewing of experienced-

based programmes. He runs workshops

and seminars based on his experiences

as a development trainer and training

consultant, conducts specialist research

and publishes an authoratitive web site at

reviewing.co.uk, two free monthly e-zines

and e-mail help through AskRoger. He

can be contacted on 01786 450968 or by

e-mail to roger@reviewing.co.uk

and are

• interested in the progress of

each individual’s learning and

development

Crossing thresholds

In adventure education, we frequently

invite participants to cross ‘thresholds’.

We might try to inspire them with stories

about how other ‘adventurers’ have

crossed thresholds and have benefited

from doing so.

We might try to persuade them that if

they can overcome a fear in a physical

challenge, they might be better able

to overcome other challenges in life.

Adventure is all about crossing thresholds.

But ‘reviewing’ is a threshold which some

adventure leaders are still reluctant to

cross.

Some reluctant reviewers may be only

a step away from crossing this threshold

and becoming enthusiastic reviewers. It is

likely that both believe first and foremost

in the importance of the quality of the

experience.

Both are likely to see themselves as

educators who wish to provide rich and

meaningful experiences to complement (or

compensate for) other kinds of educational

experience. It is likely that both value

doing and experiencing as the most vital

elements in the kind of education which

they provide.

Different experiences For many young people the outdoor

environment and outdoor activities

are different. It is mainly because the

experience of the outdoors is so different

for many young people that it has such

impact.

Providers of outdoor experiences

frequently go to great lengths to make

things as different as possible - plenty of

fresh air, staying away from ‘civilisation’,

walking in the dark, camping in strange

places, etc. Even working in groups is a

new and different experience for many

& training&learning30

Professor Alan Mumford’s wide

experience in industry and

commerce includes six years

as Executive Resources Adviser to the

Chloride group during which time he

began collaborating with Peter Honey.

He has been Professor of Management

Development at the International

Management Centre in Buckingham since

its inception. In 1983 he was appointed

Professor of Management Development

at the International Management

Centres Association and is now Visiting

Professor.

He has published many articles on

management development as well as

several books including the editing

of The Handbook Of Management

Development.

Mumford is famous for two important

contributions. He developed the concept

of Learning Styles in collaboration

with Peter Honey (see Training &

Learning Volume 2 Issue 3) and he has

written extensively about management

development.

For many years he championed the cause

of work-based learning and development

and has been critical of the training

organisations and business schools which

have pumped out generalised knowledge

and skills which all too often fail to get

translated into action.

Rather, he emphasises the need to focus

on effectiveness in managerial behaviour

when attempting to design learning

processes which will lead to development

of the individual.

Mumford believes strongly in the

power of objectives both in achieving

performance and development. Indeed, he

believes that real learning will only take

place when it can be directly applied:

“work to help a manager be

more effective depends more on

recognising and dealing with the

specifics of his or her job than

on helping him or her through

generalisations about what

managers need to know.”

Mumford is an advocate of self-directed

learning. Individuals should be urged to

take responsibility for identifying their

own learning needs in relation both to

their immediate work needs and their

future needs and aspirations. His advice,

in summary, is:

• Review how far their learning

opportunities are inhibited or

encouraged by their own learning

style, or by their manager, or by the

organisation in which they work

• Assess how much the organisation

relies on structured learning

experience such as courses

• Review their core learning skills of

observation, reflection, analysis and

evaluation and consider how to use

them more effectively.

• Review the work and other

experiences in which they are

involved for learning opportunities

• Look for potential helpers in the

self-development process

• Draw up learning objectives and a

plan of action

• Every day answer the question

“What did you learn today?”

He is a strong believer in the use of

action learning and mentoring. His

knowledge about learning styles pervades

all his work – different learning styles

require different approaches.

He has also conducted a lot of research

into the factors and which make for career

success and has produced a very substantial

body of work in his chosen field.

Key publications include:

What Did You Learn Today?

Personnel Management, August

1981. London: IPM

Development Top Managers.

Aldershot: Gower.

Handbook Of Management (Ed),

1986;1995. Aldershot: Gower.

Management Development:

Strategies For Action, 1989;1997.

London: IPM/IPD.

How Managers Can Develop

Manager. Aldershot: Tower.

Action Learning At Work (Ed), 1997.

Aldershot: Gower.

With thanks to Steve Truelove BSc,

FCIPD, FITOL, for granting permission

for publication of this extract from his

book Influential Thinkers On Training

– An Introduction For The Intelligent

Practitioner published by the Institute of

Training & Occupational Learning. 2003

(ISBN 0-9539790-2-4). A5 paperback.

Price £9.99 (free to ITOL members on

second membership renewal).

defining stylesWho are the theorists that have most influenced the training profession during the past fifty or so years? This

month we look at Alan Mumford whose main work is on improving performance, especially through effective

learning processes.

influentialthinkers

&training&learning 31

powerpointers

Description Participants introduce themselves to each other while

they determine for which ‘Dish of the Day’ they are an

ingredient.

Purpose An ice breaker that can also be used as a method of

team selection.

Materials A recipe book to prepare ingredient cards or list.

Duration About 10 minutes, depending on number of

participants.

Procedure 1. From the recipe book select three or more dishes

whose total ingredient list equals the number of

participants. Avoid using a common ingredient.

2. Write each ingredient on a card or list.

3. Give a card to each participant or tell them their

ingredient individually.

4. Ask the participants to find the other ingredients

with which they should be combined to make a

‘Dish of the Day’. Tell them the names of the

‘Dishes of the Day’ they are expected to be able

to create.

5. As they meet, participants should shake hands

and tell each other their name as well as their

ingredient.

6. When a set of ingredients has come together the

group must agree which ‘Dish of the Day’ they

constitute.

Review Discuss the process the participants employed to

determine the dishes.

Variations 1. Do not give the names of the dishes, but be

prepared for some unusual suggested dishes.

2. Make a meal of it comprising a Starter, Main

Course, Dessert, and so on depending on the

number of the teams.

Reproduced from Another 75 Ways To Liven Up Your Training by

Martin Orridge. Published by Gower ISBN 0 566 08152 0 Price

£45. Readers of Training & Learning can buy this book at the

special price of £35 via Bookpoint distribution (phone 01235

827730 or e-mail gower@bookpoint.co.uk) Please quote ITOL/

SW05 when ordering.

recipe for successicebreakers

Continuing our series of hot hints and top tips for users of PowerPoint,

probably the world’s most popular presentation program.

We are sometimes asked

whether it is possible to use

an Audio-CD soundtrack

in presentations. The answer is yes, but

you’ll need PowerPoint 97 (or higher) and

there is a bit of a trick to it.

Put your Audio-CD in your CD-ROM

drive. For most computers running

Windows 95, this automatically starts the

Windows 95 CD player and you hear your

music.

It is very important to CLOSE the CD

Player application before you try inserting

the sound in PowerPoint. If you have the

CD Player application running, it won’t

work properly, so just remember to close

that puppy down!

Meanwhile, back in PowerPoint:

from the Insert menu, select “Movies

and Sounds...” an then “Play CD Audio

Track...” This brings up the Play Options

dialog. Set things as you like, and then

click OK.

You should now see a little sound icon

on your presentation. If you go to slide

show, you can now click on this icon,

and it will play the sound. If you want the

sound to play automatically:

1) Click on the sound icon (the one

you just inserted) to select it.

2) From the Slide Show menu, select

“Custom Animation...” This brings

up the Custom Animation dialog,

which has several tabs. On the

“Play Settings” tab, click “Play

Using Animation Order”; also click

“hide while not playing” to hide the

icon (if you want to, most people

do). You can now choose to have

the sound play just on one slide, or

across multiple slides by playing

with these settings.

3) From the “Timing” tab, click

“Automatically”. Otherwise, you

have to click to get the sound to

play. You can use the arrow buttons

to the right of the animation order

box to control the order in which

objects “play” on the slide.

For example, you might want your title

to fly in first, then have the music play, and

then have bullets fly in. To do this, you’d

want to make sure your sound clip was

second in the play list.

some sound advice

Teambuilding games - Articles - Exercises - Books - Videos - Toolkits -Icebreakers - Trainers’ Talk forum - Quotations - Discounts - Stories - and more.

It all fits into place with

Trainers’ Libraryand the all new

Trainers’ Market

www.trainerslibrary.comwww.trainersmarket.com

&

Some time ago a posting appeared

on a daily email list I subscribe to

which went something like this:

“Help! Can anyone suggest how

I can get the line managers in my

company to release their staff for

more than a half-day training

session on assertiveness?”

Your backbiter promptly sent in a three

word response, but doesn’t know to this

day whether it was a spoof or a genuine

request. Alas, it seemed all too probably

genuine, as the list has a large proportion of

contributors who make similar requests:

“Can anyone give me for free

the advantage of all their years

of accumulated knowledge and

experience on how to set up and

run a small training business, and

some free materials would be nice

too, as I have no idea how to deliver

this contract I have, however

improbably, just managed to win

and incidentally, could you share

your mailing lists with me?”

Anyway, the current growl of

dissatisfaction by your correspondent

was awoken by one of those contributors

recently, who was complaining that their

clients didn’t seem very interested in the

evaluation of their training ad asking the

list how could these awful customers

could be persuaded that evaluation good

for them.

We trainers really are a damn odd lot,

training&learning 33

backbite

aren’t we? In the real world one researches

and pilots a product or service, then when

there is some idea of the likely market for

it, a decision on whether to go ahead with

the development and the launch is made.

In the real world businesses do not try and

flog products and services that they have

been told time and again that the customers

don’t want. They don’t say, “Here is my

product, I know you keep saying you don’t

want it, but I really think you should buy it,

(and if you don’t I’ll whine to all my mates

about how stupid you are)”.

Many trainers (I must be mellowing,

that originally just read “Trainers”) fail

to see the other side of the coin. Heaven

knows, I’ve been in a few trainers’ gripe

sessions myself.

You know the ones, sitting round the

lounge, coffee in hand, old copy of some

glossy magazine from a professional

institute open to display the page with

their letter, when someone says, apropos

of a recent telephone conversation, “….

and do you know, they ONLY wanted me

to cut it down to a TWO AND A HALF

DAY programme!” (Gasps all round.

“They DIDN’T!” “I hope you TOLD

them!”, “Oh, HONestly!” etc., from the

audience).

As a younger independent training

freelancer, I was once similarly naïve.

Settling down with my partner to plan

our business offering, we decided that a

Training Needs Analysis was essential.

So we added to the first printing of the

leaflet “Pachyderm Training will always

carry out a Training Needs Analysis

before quoting a full programme price”.

Our regular backbiter George Edwards takes another sideways

look – and swipe – at the training profession.

Guess what? Not a single customer.

Later we amended that to something

along the lines of: “Ideally, we would like

to carry out a training needs analysis.”

We never did carry out a paid-for training

needs analysis. And we certainly never got

asked to evaluate.

We always seem to be saying “we know

best, trust me, I’m a trainer!” But we don’t.

We know what we like to do best. We know

the economics of it. But we don’t seem to

understand that the customer knows best

what they actually want.

That might not always be what is “best

for them”. It might not even be what they

“ought”, in an absolute sense, to buy. But

it is what they want. And we shouldn’t

whinge that they don’t want something

that would be “better for them”.

I bumped into a newly launched

consultant the other week. He seems to be

making a fine business and good rewards.

His main product is now what he has been

repeatedly asked to provide – a range of

“talks” for small businesses, delivered

with humour and experience, to such

workplace groups as an employer can

muster.

As he said, “If that’s what they want,

that’s what I sell them”. And no, he doesn’t

evaluate.

George Edwards has spent 30 years

working in Education, Management

and Leadership development (including

trainer training and new learning

methodologies) across a wide range of

sectors and in several countries (see www.

thegeorgeedwards.com)

evaluate evaluation

Teambuilding games - Articles - Exercises - Books - Videos - Toolkits -Icebreakers - Trainers’ Talk forum - Quotations - Discounts - Stories - and more.

It all fits into place with

Trainers’ Libraryand the all new

Trainers’ Market

www.trainerslibrary.comwww.trainersmarket.com

���������������

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �����������

����� �������������� ��� �� ��������� ���������������� ������������ ����� �������������� ����� ���� ����������� ������������� ������� ��������� ��� ��� ������������������������������������������������������������ ��� �� ������� ��� ������� ����������� ������������� ������ �������������� ����� �������� ��� ������������������� ���� ������ �������������������

����������������������������

������������������������������������

������������������������������������������������

��������������������������������������������������

�������������������������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

��� �������� ����� ���� �������� ��� ��������� �������� ��������� ������ ����� ��� ���� ���� ������������������� ����������� �������� ������������������������� �������� ����� ��� ������ �������������� ���� ������� ������������ �������������������������������������������

������������������������������������������� ���� ����������� �������� ��� ������������������������

�������������������������������������������������������

����������������������������������������������������������������������

������������������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������������������� ���������

�� �����

�� �������������������������

�� ��������������������

�� �����������������������������

To advertise on these

pages contact the

advertising team on

0151 242 0272

training&learning

The Institute of Training & Occupational

Learning is now the Professional body

of first choice for all those specialising

in Training, Development & Occupational

Learning.

ITOL’s Membership encompasses Training Instructors,

Consultants, Professor’s & Lecturers, NVQ Assessors,

Training Directors, Training Managers, Training Designers

and many others from every sector of Industry, Commerce, Local

& National Government, NHS Trusts, Not for profit Organisations

& the Armed Forces.

We truly are the Natural Home for everyone involved

in the world of Learning.

Why are so many joining the Institute?

• Post Nominal Letters

• Training & Learning Magazine

• British Journal of Occupational Learning

• Extensive Resource Library

• The UK Glossary of Training Terms

• Substantial Discount on Books

• Members Exclusive Webspace

• Entry on Trainers Database

ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE FREE BENEFITS TO ALLMEMBERS OF EVERY GRADE

Check out our website and get connected today

THE UK’S FASTEST GROWING NETWORK FOR TRAINERS

SHAPING THE FUTURE

www.itol.org