As a Leader, your job is to grow the leaders of the future.  How much of your day is doing versus leading?  Many of us have to balance both, but leadership is less measurable and is often neglected.  Do any of these benching mindsets sound familiar?​This is an emergency, it will be easier to do it myself than explain it to someone else.No one else is as effective as I am, so I really can't delegate. The customers prefer that I be involved.  I am shocked at how many of our large and small customers have no succession plan.  Mission Critical business knowledge is at risk. Aggressive hiring has created a revolving door of employees.   Someone is trying to hire your staff right now, or you have the wrong people.  The old adage "people leave bosses" is still true.  Your annual engagement survey is not sufficient - by the time you see the results, the people will have left. Establish a process for growing talent.  There are only three main actions of growing talent:FINDENGAGEGROWWhen you are looking for a new employee, FIND is the process of picking the best candidate for the specific job.  If you are still hiring great people and not looking at how they'll do in the job, you're backwards.  If you do not use Job Benchmarks to hire, your bias is creating churn. ENGAGE is another word for onboarding.  There is a critical window (some say 1 day) within which an employee decides whether or not they like their job.  Poor leaders are too busy to drop everything to enable new employees.  Instead, the new person is spending days on boring compliance training or unstructured meetings with people who are too busy to meet with you. Or the new employee is thrown into the deep end with no help and no hope.  The expense of this behavior is staggering to a business. Instead, leverage the Job Benchmark to create a unique onboarding plan for new employees, provide a mentor and get them to work.Finally, learning can't just occur at the hiring point, although that seems to be the new norm.  To get promoted and move up in the company, if that's your goal, requires learning new strengths and competencies.  The Career Plan drives a Succession Plan (GROW).  Who are the leaders ready to replace you so you can move up?  The process repeats for every job move: FIND (the job or employee), ENGAGE, GROW.  NOTE: More details on this approach in the August Learning Flash, and in our book to be published in 2017 Talent GPS.  If you are interested in being a volunteer editor of this book written by Brittney Helt, Michelle Baker and me email us, info@russellmartin.com.

We are proud to finally press the publish button on this post and announce to the world that the Android version of TalentLMS is, as of this minute, ready. The TalentLMS for Android and for iOS have both been carefully designed and meticulously crafted to be the perfect companion for mobile and offline learning, microlearning and micro-certifications. Instead of trying to cram everything the web (and mobile web) version of TalentLMS does into it, we optimized TalentLMS mobile for learning on the small (screen) and on the go, while still allowing you to deliver rich multimedia courses complete with a intuitive, mobile-optimized, experience. And now, before we go into introducing the app and its features, let me just say one thing… From expertise to app You’d think developing a strong Cloud based LMS platform would have prepared us for this, but mobile development, and specifically, fully native mobile development, is a whole new ball game. Especially when you factor in all the differences between the two major mobile platforms, all the different screen sizes and devices that you have to support on Android, and all the peculiarities of the iOS development platform. When it comes to mobile, we are an equal opportunity development shop: we like both Android and iOS, and our team members use both platforms. So when we shipped TalentLMS for iOS ahead of Android, it wasn’t because we didn’t care about the latter platform: it’s just hard work to test and code around all the different form factors and feature sets available in the Android world. But I digress. What’s important is that we’re now ready, we finally have a great mobile app out for both major platforms, and we have the foundation and experience to build even greater and more ambitious things in subsequent releases. And why go mobile when the computer is mighty fine? Because you want to have a great learning experience on the go, obviously! TalentLMS for Android lets your learners access their content from everywhere, even when offline, in a secure, fast, mobile (and battery) friendly platform. Your learners get to study while they commute or travel (on and off the grid), leveraging all the capabilities of their native mobile platform, and escaping the limitations of mobile browsers. Features? Yes, please! A few of the features the TalentLMS Android app boasts are: •  Offline Learning & Synchronization Mobile learners are as often online as they are offline (on a flight, on the metro, in areas with poor coverage, in developing countries with sky-high data plan prices, etc.). TalentLMS allows you to download any course you want, and study while disconnected. And when you are back online, it will synchronize your progress to the TalentLMS Cloud. • Mobile-first UX The TalentLMS Android app offers a fresh way to get through courses tailored to the needs of modern corporate training. We minimized the interface distractions that get in the way of learning, allowing the user to easily navigate between different content. • Mobile and Offline compatibility check Each lesson unit created in TalentLMS is now labeled as mobile and/or offline compatible. This way, instructors can see at a glance which content and features work on mobile devices, and easily optimize their courses. In the opposite case, the platform will inform you that a given unit is not mobile-compatible. • Assessments The TalentLMS mobile app supports "Assessments" (even in offline mode), and gives you access to all major question types and most of the assessment customization characteristics (e.g. number of retries, allowed time, or question shuffling). • Unit completion and course rules All unit completion methods available in the web version of TalentLMS are supported on the mobile version too. This holds true for content traversal and course completion rules as well. • Branches If you use Branches in your TalentLMS web portal, then you’ll be happy to know that the Android app is fully compatible with those too, letting your learners log in to any custom domain and Branch that you have set up. • Full profile access We have tried to keep the mobile app functionality focused on learning and content delivery. However, the mobile app also lets you access your full TalentLMS web account details (via the Profile page). Handy for light administrative work, like getting new courses or seeing extended reports. And there’s a whole lot more — which you can easily discover for yourself by using the app. We’ve designed TalentLMS for Android so that you don’t need to have a rocket science degree or go through some hefty manual to take advantage of its features. But you probably knew that from using its web version, which is renowned for its intuitiveness and ease of use. We also took extra care and did extensive testing to ensure that the app works perfectly in the huge range of devices that Android runs on. The future Even before TalentLMS Android app 1.0 hit Google Play, we had already started designing and planning features for the next versions. First to arrive will be the ability to save and display uploaded videos and documents (such as MS Office and PDF) offline. Furthermore, we plan to implement a large chunk of the Instructor- and Administrator-related functionality, starting with reporting. And this is just the beginning, or as we experts call it, version one. With mobile devices getting beefier by the minute, both Android and iOS are great platforms for us to build an even richer, and more expressive, eLearning experience. We strongly believe in mobile and mobile learning, and we want TalentLMS to become a leader in the eLearning platforms in both web and mobile. Last, but not least, a big thank you to our beta testers. We have been really excited by your participation in the testing process, and your bug reports and feedback have been a great help in allowing us to deliver the best product that we could. In fact, all TalentLMS users are welcome to share their suggestions and wish-lists for future versions. As per standard practice, all great ideas, most requested features, and workflow enhancements, will be prioritized for upcoming versions. And this ends the announcement of version 1.0 of the TalentLMS Android app. It is officially released. The post We’re live: Introducing the TalentLMS Android App appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Leadership is a much-discussed topic in all professions. However, especially in the technology realm, few people can lead with wisdom and effectiveness. And when it comes to software development you need both of these qualities, and a few more, if you are to produce something your customers love to use. In this series of posts, we look at the talented people behind TalentLMS. This time, we’re talking to Emmanouil Kounalakis, our Lead Mobile Developer - and a fairly recent addition to our team. Please, introduce yourself, and tells us a little bit about your background, and how you got involved with programming. My name is Emmanouil Kounalakis, but my friends call me Mano. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. I’ve chosen computer science, and specifically programming, because I find the ever-changing world of technology fascinating. My greatest strength is my attitude — it gives me confidence to complete my task, no matter how hard it might be. Like answering this interview question for example. How and when did you start working for Epignosis? I was working in Northern Ireland until a few months ago, and while I was there a recruiter approached me about some new exciting job spot at a company called Epignosis, which I found enticing because I really love eLearning and I always wanted to be involved with that technology. So, I did a little digging to find more out about the company and its products and services, liked what I saw, and jumped at the chance to become the newest member of the team. Your title is that of the "Lead Mobile Developer" for TalentLMS. What does the role entail? In my book, a leader has to be someone with great technical knowledge and an excellent work ethic. Leaders champion best practices for their team, and are not afraid to get their hands dirty to ensure the best results. The ability to listen, write and communicate effectively is also a job requirement. My responsibilities, in particular, are designing and implementing major architectural improvements to the TalentLMS app, starting from advising on the feasibility and implementation of agile stories, and going all the way to ensuring that any code written is clean and efficient and comes with comprehensive test coverage. As a tech leader I’m sort of a guardian of the codebase - one of a small group that reviews and assesses each and every commit. I’m also responsible for mentoring other team members (and especially junior developers). What does the native TalentLMS mobile app offer over accessing the regular, responsive TalentLMS portal from your smartphone browser? A better mobile experience! You can access it from everywhere, even offline if needed, and it is fast and, most importantly, secure. You are able to learn and educate yourself in an easier, and more intuitive way, without all the limitations of mobile browsers. And this goes for both the iOS and Android TalentLMS apps. How did you approach porting an established LMS for mobile using native mobile frameworks? From the beginning, we were committed to designing and building a secure, high performance and scalability design that leverages the best available tools and techniques. Were there any corners you had to cut? Or, inversely, things that writing native code enabled you to add more easily? The easiest part of the app was to embed Vimeo, YouTube and MP3. On the other side, the hardest part of the app was to implement the functionality which would allow for the user to complete the Tests with the best possible user experience. Regardless of web VS native, do you think that mobile TalentLMS requires a different UX philosophy, to emphasize microlearning or offline use, for instance? Our UX philosophy requires: Consistency, Constraints, Shared Vision, and Objective evaluation — and all of those must be respected. For example, we’d never approve of an application that has great design, but bad usability. As for the app’s focus, or feature set, we always focus on the users, trying to listen to their needs and suggestions, and iteratively improving ourselves and our offerings. Any plans for future TalentLMS for mobile versions you can share with us? Future versions of the app will have the ability to store and display uploaded videos and documents such as MS Office and PDF, even when offline. Furthermore, we plan to add functionality to help Administrators and Instructors do more with the mobile app, and generally make their job easier. Last, but not least, how do you like working at Epignosis? And where do you see yourself, and the platform, in 5 years? It’s great to work with people that are passionate about their work and about doing a good job. As for the work itself, it is challenging, interesting, and fulfilling. It’s hard to find such an environment today, because so many people just don’t care about honesty, hard work and integrity. I consider myself lucky to be here. For the next 5 years, we plan a whole roadmap of innovative technologies, and we’re also planning on becoming the leading player in the eLearning space. As for me, I see this job as an opportunity to further master my profession, by learning new skills, interacting with different people and integrating novel programming methodologies. The post The talent behind TalentLMS: A chat with our Lead Mobile Developer appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

As the NFL season kicks off, there's always fascinating drama about which players will make it, sit or disappear entirely.  I'm not a big fan of football, but I am always interested in the interaction of people and leaders.  Clearly, top players have amazing natural talent but they will all tell you that it was hard work and focus that got them in the game. In the non-football world of work, similar dances occur all year.  Many of my customers are in the midst of change. Concurrently, large companies are flattening, increasing the span of control, 'making offers' and demoting.  Hiring is also occurring with new leadership replacing the old.  'It's going to be REALLY different' is the rallying cry.  Even here are Russell Martin & Associates, we are looking at new approaches and questioning everything we spend time and money on. A place in the GAME is never guaranteed.   I'm 'wicked old', so I've seen and lived this cycle many times before. Here are my thoughts about getting benched or staying in the game as a leader.Grow Your TalentMitigate Busy-nessKnow Your PurposeLead as a Whole Person

Like Simon and Garfunkel and Ben and Jerry, the real value of assessment and development lies in their combination.

Welcome to students from Lycée D’ARTAGNAN - Nogaro in The Gers, SW France. Next week they will interview Sally Vanson in English about the similarities and differences of living and also running businesses in UK and France and the cultural differences between France and English speaking countries. They will then write up their answers and publish them on their school website. This is a huge opportunity for the class to practice their English and also for The Performance Solution to gain an insight into the French education system and we thank Mme Malzac for inviting us to participate. The post Welcome to students from Lycée D’ARTAGNAN appeared first on The Performance Solution.

Coach Supervision is becoming vital in the professional practice of coaching. Tender documents now ask for supervised coaches and often request a reference from the coach supervisor.  The CIPD report on coach supervision suggests  that coaches and organisers have different views about the benefits of coaching supervision. Coaches are interested in making themselves more effective, while those who organise coaching services put more emphasis on quality assurance.  Coaches see the main benefits of supervision as developing coaching capability (88%) and assuring the quality of their coaching (86%). Only 25% indicate they have supervision because their professional body requires it or because the client organisation requires it (9%). Those who organise coaching, on the other hand, use supervision to monitor coaching quality. this includes protecting the client and minimising the organisational risk of unethical or unprofessional practice. Supervision helps to ensure that coaching is focused on work objectives and within the boundaries of the coach’s capability. they also see coaching supervision as raising coaching standards by continually improving quality and effectiveness.  Those organising supervision for external coaches said that broadening a coach’s understanding of the client and their organisational issues forms an important reason for implementing coach supervision. In the case of internal coaches, benefits include bringing geographically dispersed coaches together to share good practice, improving collaborative working and identifying organisation themes and issues. This move towards the professionalisation  of Coach Supervision has caused TPS to upgrade our Diploma course to offer the ILM Level 7 qualification. This can be achieved individually with a mentor or by attending the 2 module course, your own supervision, practicing and reflecting on supervising others and completing some reflective assignments. We are already receiving fabulous feedback  and the work being produced by our participants is awe-inspiring.  One client who attended the first module with Julia last week e mailed….. I just wanted to say a HUGE thank-you for the Coach Supervision training you provided Thurs-Sat last week. You were a fantastic trainer, supervisor and coach throughout - I know, personally, how tiring being a facilitator can be. I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn intensively in this way and feel really privileged to have had you as my tutor.  I came home on a high (even after 3.5 hours on the road!) and the quality of the learning experience has been second to none for me. I’ve got lots of things to do and practise - and, what’s more, the learning’s stuck in a way I don’t think I’ve ever had before immediately after a training programme; whether it was because of the fact that I already knew about some aspects of it to build on, the quality of training, I don’t know - but whatever it was, it worked! It’s also reignited an excitement for me in academic learning - in my commerical, hectic and generally over-busy world, it’s hard to carve out time for such quality learning/reflection but it’s something I’m now inspired to make happen more often. The venue was also really good, with extremely attentive staff. I’m already looking forward to my Part 2 in March! Thank you Our next ILM Level 7 in Coach and Mentoring Supervision course runs 16-18 February and 30 March to 1 April in Cambridge and we have opened for bookings this week. We take a maximum of 10 participants to ensure individual attention. Alternatively, if you have done some supervision or are an experienced coach or NLP Practitioner,  you can arrange a call with Sally to discuss an individual learning journey through Skype Mentoring and assisgnments.   The post Getting Qualified as a Coach Supervisor with ILM Level 7 appeared first on The Performance Solution.

...

Most trainers complain that the eLearning course participants communicate with the trainer, but not with their peers! Some even complain of total lack of participation. Learner buy-in is a common problem, and trainers need to learn how to secure participation early on and keep it going as the course progresses. In this article, we’ll share a few suggestions on how to promote eLearning course participation as a trainer. Participation: a crucial challenge in eLearning course creation So, you have launched this awesome eLearning course recently. You’re certain that it’ll be a raving success, because it is based directly on the needs of your organization and what the employees demand. Very soon, you realize that participants are performing well - that is, they complete their readings and assignments on time and perform in quizzes. One caveat: they barely speak to each other. Now, as eLearning professionals, we understand the significance of online collaboration. eLearning is not about remote learning. Rather, it should ideally be all about collaborative learning. You just built a great eLearning course, so why haven’t they come yet? You’re 9 steps away from eLearning course paricipation rocketing Learner buy-in implies the willingness of learners to participate in an online course. How can the trainer or the course facilitator ensure that they have the right approach towards securing learner buy-in? Here’s what the experts say: 1. At the onset of the course, establish clear participation guidelines. Have all participants agree to these guidelines. This creates a sense of duty to collaborate from the beginning. A great way to establish rules that will be adhered to is to involve participants is creating those rules! Beware, your learners may not want to create the rules from scratch (they may not know what rules they really need for an effective eLearning experience). As an instructor, you can provide a list of rules, each accompanied by a voting option. You can calculate the most and the least favorite rules, discuss the results, and finally decide based on consensus. 2. State clearly how participation will be graded, the weight it carries towards the total grading scheme and the extra points for quality of comments. The above strategy for rule creation should motivate learners more than just points do! 3. Share a course syllabus that is simple and easy to follow, but is open for changes requested by anyone. 4. Estimate and state clearly the total time needed for participating satisfactorily in the eLearning course. The minimum time required is usually not that much, motivating learners to meet participation deadlines. A good practice is to share the previous course’s post-course survey, anonymously. Share the data that relates to the question: What is the total number of contact hours you spent participating and collaborating with members? Tally the number of hours spent in collaboration with grades and performance. Leave the math to your learners, they can figure out how much they need to take part in the course, actively. 5. Create an eLearning environment that is welcoming, easy to navigate and promotes message posting. Take a still shot of the dashboard and label it with labeling software. This should help first-timers to navigate easily. 6. Be a positive role model when it comes to participation. Make sure you have a strong social presence as a trainer. Be visible online on a daily basis or when learners expect you to be available. This will help boost trust within your learning community. 7. Call learners who are lagging behind in their postings or discussions to help them catch-up. You wouldn’t believe the power of a personal word from the instructor! 8. Assess the experience level of all learners when they send you their introductions. Relay to the class as an announcement how talented and experienced their peers are. Give out recognition to notable people. Ask them questions in a common area. This helps others post their questions too. 9. If possible, instead of introductions being posted to you, have each participant create a single page on the learning management system, that has their photograph, videos, and other relevant information about them. This creates a very strong social presence and a better sense of community. A great trainer with the appropriate attitude is needed to realize that there are real people behind the messages posted in their courses. These people have lives, needs, and expectations. Trainers should be prepared to indulge in a little humor and making the eLearning environment fun and approachable. Learner participation boosters: engaged! The lack of online collaboration has become one of the leading reasons for eLearning dissatisfaction. Trainers need to explain the importance that peer and mentor interchanges have in creating a deeper learning experience. A great way to motivate learners is to talk about experiences and highlight projects of the participants. Peers may want to hear the opinion of a person who impresses them. They are also more willing to share their two cents in return. Trainers should follow these practices to promote a healthier online collaborative environment. Don’t forget to share with us your online community formation struggles. Participate first! The post 9 Tips To Boost eLearning Course Participation appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

I remember, I must’ve been about 9 years old and I visited Disneyland with my parents. I wanted a Mickey cap; I tried it on and it was like I was wearing a stock pot. As you might have guessed, I discovered early in life that "one size" rarely "fits all". That’s not just the case for clothes either — it applies to many aspects in life, from the fine arts to software. Fortunately, TalentLMS comes in many sizes, so to speak, not just because of its various subscription tiers, but also thanks to its flexible Branches feature, which allows a single installation to serve many independently customizable learnings portals, each catering to a different use case and/or group of people. We’ve talked about Branches in the past — especially about their core functionality and configuration. In this post, we’re gonna take a look at using TalentLMS for multi-purpose training within a single company or organization. Branches: to each their own Branches can be used in many different scenarios, the most common ones being: A company using TalentLMS to train various different departments within their corporation, where each department has a different manager in the portal A company using TalentLMS to train their customers/partners on their product but also use it for internal employee training A company using TalentLMS to sell their courses, as well as train other people for free A B2B agency using TalentLMS to provide training to different clients Branches have been developed to cater all the above needs and we will analyze best practices. If you have decided to start using branches, a common practice would be to stop using the main URL for training purposes, since it would act a repository of all the information in the platform (i.e. users, categories, groups, courses etc.). The main reasons why it’s a good idea to stop using the main URL is because reports viewed from the main URL (apart from branch reports) would include all users in the portal (regardless if those users belong to a branch), and the main URL’s external catalog would also include all the courses in the portal (regardless if those courses are part of a branch). With branches, however, you would be able to restrict the information displayed to a specific audience. Reports and the course catalog would also be specific to that branch. If you’ve already started using your main domain for training, and then decided to start using branches that’s ok. You can still move your users and courses to a branch without losing any data, such as courses assigned to users or course completions. You can either do this using the import function (usertobranches;branch & coursetobranches;branch) or using custom reports & mass actions, if your plan allows it. The only change when you move your users to a branch would be that they’d need to login through the branch URL (that would be a subdomain of your main URL), if you’ve enabled disallowing members of this branch to login from the main URL. Anyone who tries to login through the main URL would be directed towards the branch they have been assigned to. We strongly recommend enabling this setting if you want to create completely separate instances of your training. Using a branch admin (an admin who can only access branch data) If you need to restrict an admin’s access towards certain people and courses, you can do this by using branches and assigning that person as an admin to that branch. A branch admin would only be able to view information related to the users that belong to that branch. If you enable the aforementioned setting, they won’t be able to login through the main domain or see all of the rest of the users. Using the default Admin user type, a branch admin would be able to: - Create/edit users, courses and/or groups in their branch - View reports related to the users in their branch (reset tests for users) - Communicate with the branch’s users through messages & discussions - Create and lead ILT units & conferences - Grade assignments Any of the above permissions can be altered through the user-types. A branch admin wouldn’t have access to: - Categories - Branch Settings - User types - Import - Export - The Events Engine: wouldn’t be able to create/edit notifications & actions - Account and Settings Some settings need to be set-up centrally by a superadmin or an admin who has access to the main domain, and will apply to all branches. These are discussed below: Notifications Certain generic notifications, i.e. the "user signup" or "on certificate acquisition", if activated, will go out to all users no matter which branch they belong to. Other notifications, such as "course completions", can be specific to each course. Consequently if courses are unique to each branch, then these type of notifications can be unique to each branch respectively. Another thing to keep in mind is that the URL included in a notification message is always related to where it was triggered from. For example if a user is added by the admin or signs up through the branch URL, then the notification message would include the branch URL. User-Types If you’ve got certain settings such as discussions, gamification, course catalog, and others enabled for your internal employees users, but don’t want these available for your customers, you can always create a custom user type and disable these options. Then, you can assign the user type to your customers. Note that you can change the user types of multiple users at the same time by using the import function: Login; User-type. Import-Export Multiple users and courses can be assigned to a branch instantly using the Import function (Usertobranches;branch or Coursetobranches;branch). If you would like to import new users directly into a branch, we would suggest that you login through the branch as a SuperAdmin and by selecting this option you will be able to select the import function to upload those users. Note that a SuperAdmin has the ability to go into each branch as well as the main domain, even if the following setting is enabled. Account and Settings To edit Account & Settings, you need to be an Admin with access to the main domain. Most of the settings found in this section are set up through the main domain, and apply to all the branches. These include: Security settings, Password settings, Terms of service, Social options, Default user type, Visible user format and certain eCommerce options. As far as your domain settings, if you’re using a mapped domain, keep in mind that your branches need to be mapped separately as described here, and would still be a subdomain of your main domain. Custom user fields can be specified to each branch in this manner.   Gamification has to be set up centrally. The settings for when points, badges, levels are awarded would apply to all branches, but each branch would have its own user leaderboard. In general, when Gamification is switched on, it’s on for all branches, unless you create a custom learner type for a specific branch where the gamification option is switched off, as described above. You can also choose to reset points/badges/levels for users of a specific branch. Other settings that can be specified per branch are found under the ‘Branches’ section in the admin’s homepage. These include: - Theme (Logo, color scheme, login page) (if you’re using a custom theme then this needs to be created through the Account & settings>Themes section and then selected from within the Branch settings) - Language / Τime zone - Announcements - Default group / signup method - SSO can be different for each of your branches or can be disabled altogether for one but enabled in another branch. - eCommerce payments (processor and subscription payments) - You can have a different PayPal account per branch, but you can only use one Stripe account, which needs to be configured through Account & Settings > E-commerce > E-commerce processor. Course settings and availability rules If courses are shared between branches, then any availability rules (prerequisites) or specific settings (such as time limits, certifications, price, etc.) would apply to all branches where those courses are available. Also note that any changes made to a course would apply to everyone who has that course, across branches. To avoid this you can always clone courses and have a copy of your course available to each branch. You can also remove the permission of being able to update/delete courses for the user-type of branch admins or branch instructors. Conclusion When your company needs to fulfill different training needs involving different groups (either internal, like multiple departments, or external, such as a partner network or customers), TalentLMS’ "Branches" feature can help organize your courses and create a virtual wall to separate the different training regimes and audiences — and all from a single TalentLMS account. The post Using TalentLMS’ Branches for multi-purpose training appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Managers typically react to the performance of their direct reports with one of three responses: positive, negative, or no response at all. It isn’t hard to guess which one works best for increasing good performance—the positive response. A person who does something correctly and receives a positive response will most likely continue to perform using that desired behavior in the future. By the same token, a person who receives a negative response for doing something wrong will most likely not repeat the behavior. So, in effect, even performance that gets a negative response can improve if the manager coaches the person and encourages them to improve. The most dangerous response a leader can offer is no response at all. Think about it. If someone performs tasks and completes projects correctly and receives no response from their manager, how do you think they will perform in the future? The good performance might continue for awhile, but eventually it will decline. Why? Because no one seems to care. What about the person who makes mistakes but is never corrected? It seems logical that if a person is left to fail again and again with no support or direction, their performance will get even worse. It is the leader’s responsibility to help everyone succeed. Ignoring bad behavior hurts not only the individual, but also their manager and the organization as a whole. It’s just bad business. Even though leaders are busier than ever these days, most still notice when their people are doing great or when they need coaching. The big mistake happens when the manager doesn’t say it out loud. I often say "Good thoughts in your head, not delivered, mean squat!" If you want your people to achieve and maintain high performance, let them know that you notice and care about the things they do right—and that you want to help them when they are off track. Share your thoughts. No one can read your mind. Be consistent with your communication and you will build a consistently high performing team.

Onboarding will improve your retention rates. See how leaders can help.

Micro-Learning is serving "slices" to learners instead of the "whole pie." It supports "get-it-now," "do-it-now" learners who require timely solutions and information in the rapid changing work arena.I have always visualized micro-lessons as kernels of knowledge that enable trainers to trickle down valuable, high-impact yet very short lessons over a period of time. For organizations, the value of such micro-learning efforts not only allow them to adapt to rapid business changes and accelerate learning in micro-ways. An equally important value is it significantly reduces cost, and increases speed of development.Let me share with you some pointers on how to create a 5-Slide Micro-Lesson.1. Focus on what matters Choose a micro-idea, focused on one central point. It allows learners to "chew" on bits and pieces of information immediately applicable to the work environment. Pluck out that most important learning point from the entire knowledge source that is deemed most useful to the learner.2. Use a hyper-story Hyper-stories are very short but are actual day-to-day events that allow learners to quickly connect the lesson to its application in real life. It takes learners from Crisis to Resolution very quickly. Learners stay glued, involved and totally focused. Choose a very short event your learners can relate to.3. Ask questionsWell-prepared provocative questions lead learners to think through the lesson.  It triggers the process  of reflection and encourages learners to dig deep into their minds  for experiences, memories, emotions and judgment that allows them to interact with a given situation.4. Provide detailed links A proliferation of knowledge-enabling tools to improve productivity such as Evernote, YouTube, DropBox, Basecamp, PDFs, Blogs, etc. - enable open-ended transfer of knowledge and assist in quick learning.  Provide links to tools, references , etc. that help learners acquire access to immediately useful information or which they can study and review when needed.5. No need for multimedia If you apply the above ideas, in most cases you don't need a video, an audio or elaborate multimedia or animation. Learners are quickly engaged with the provocative story and the shortness of the lesson. Be a minimalist.These are examples of proof-of-concept projects that show you it can be done.#1 Gas and FireThis is a micro-lesson which is a part of a larger series of driver training for petroleum companies. It is often said that most drivers are aware of the safety policies, but once in awhile, some stupid mistakes can cause catastrophic damages to life and property. See how short and succinct the demo is. This is intended for mobile delivery.Click here to preview the demo.#2 Kitchen SafetyIn the kitchen, employees need to be reminded about some basic yet oftentimes forgotten practices like how to handle sharp tools and not hurt others. See how short and succinct the micro-lesson is.Click here to preview the demo.Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Micro-Learning is serving "slices" to learners instead of the "whole pie." It supports "get-it-now," "do-it-now" learners who require timely solutions and information in the rapid changing work arena.I have always visualized micro-lessons as kernels of knowledge that enable trainers to trickle down valuable, high-impact yet very short lessons over a period of time. For organizations, the value of such micro-learning efforts not only allow them to adapt to rapid business changes and accelerate learning in micro-ways. An equally important value is it significantly reduces cost, and increases speed of development.Let me share with you some pointers on how to create a 5-Slide Micro-Lesson.1. Focus on what matters Choose a micro-idea, focused on one central point. It allows learners to "chew" on bits and pieces of information immediately applicable to the work environment. Pluck out that most important learning point from the entire knowledge source that is deemed most useful to the learner.2. Use a hyper-story Hyper-stories are very short but are actual day-to-day events that allow learners to quickly connect the lesson to its application in real life. It takes learners from Crisis to Resolution very quickly. Learners stay glued, involved and totally focused. Choose a very short event your learners can relate to.3. Ask questionsWell-prepared provocative questions lead learners to think through the lesson.  It triggers the process  of reflection and encourages learners to dig deep into their minds  for experiences, memories, emotions and judgment that allows them to interact with a given situation.4. Provide detailed links A proliferation of knowledge-enabling tools to improve productivity such as Evernote, YouTube, DropBox, Basecamp, PDFs, Blogs, etc. - enable open-ended transfer of knowledge and assist in quick learning.  Provide links to tools, references , etc. that help learners acquire access to immediately useful information or which they can study and review when needed.5. No need for multimedia If you apply the above ideas, in most cases you don't need a video, an audio or elaborate multimedia or animation. Learners are quickly engaged with the provocative story and the shortness of the lesson. Be a minimalist.These are examples of proof-of-concept projects that show you it can be done.#1 Gas and FireThis is a micro-lesson which is a part of a larger series of driver training for petroleum companies. It is often said that most drivers are aware of the safety policies, but once in awhile, some stupid mistakes can cause catastrophic damages to life and property. See how short and succinct the demo is. This is intended for mobile delivery.Click here to preview the demo.#2 Kitchen SafetyIn the kitchen, employees need to be reminded about some basic yet oftentimes forgotten practices like how to handle sharp tools and not hurt others. See how short and succinct the micro-lesson is.Click here to preview the demo.Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

...

In the book "Five Temptations of a CEO" by Patrick Lencioni of the Table Group, you read about the mental games we play that destroy our ability to grow others.  Growing others is a priority if you are a leader, whether the people work for you or with you.  Working with people is sacred; it's messing with people's lives so we must always lead carefully. ​ Here are the Five Temptations:Results vs. StatusAccountability vs. PopularityClarity vs. Certainty Conflict vs. HarmonyTrust vs. InvulnerabilityYou've likely read this pivotal book on leadership.  I found that when I read it the second time, I noticed some deeper thoughts.  It's a great book to pick back up and review. This time, do you see the dependencies in this list?  If I can move from invulnerability to trust,  I can lead more harmony and less conflict.If I can move beyond conflict, I can have the difficult conversations that lead to clarity rather than the certainty of one right answer.If I'm open to difficult and authentic conversations that don't always generate a right answer, I can take the risk to be accountable to find the best way, and worry less about being liked and popular.Finally, if I'm doing all the things above I'll generate results, not just delusional status reports.  It's the difference between DONE and CHURNING.Now you try it.  Start from #1, and work up the same way I worked down.  I'll start for you:If I value measurable results rather than status, I have to become more accountable and sometimes, less popular.  Your turn… share your list on Twitter and tag us @nolecture so we can share each other's work.The build is the magic.  Clearly, you will work on the tension of each level always.  This is a process not a project. Where do you need to do the work? What will be the benefit?  What will be a barrier for you to growing your leadership?  What will be your reward?

The latest TalentLMS update that just landed on a Cloud near you brings several major new features, a couple of oft-requested customization options, and the usual assortment of enhancements, workflow improvements and bug-fixes you’ve come to expect from a TalentLMS update. So, let’s open the package and see what’s inside this new release. Custom reports Reports got some special love in this update cycle, with several new customization options added, including a whole new type of custom report. Specifically, TalentLMS’ updated reporting engine gives you the ability to add, remove and reorder columns, and to add your own "user fields" to custom reports. Furthermore, this release introduces the "Learning progress" custom report type, which gives you an overview of the course progress for a select subset of users. The new report can easily answer questions like: I want an overview of the courses that my people have completed within the last month (and schedule that for delivery in my email) I want an overview of what courses my people are assigned to and what their status is. Revamped messaging TalentLMS’ messaging system is another feature that has seen big improvements in this release. Among those is the ability to forward emails, to include individuals to replies and, last but not least, a WYSIWYG editor for composing your messages. User Infographic Everyone seems to love infographic visualizations, so in this release, we’re introducing a new one built-in to TalentLMS. The "User Infographic" gives you the most important information about a user’s account in an easy-to-read visual form. Full Grid Exports Got grids? Now you can export them too, and not just page-by-page, as in previous versions. The Grid Export functionality has been extended to cover the full grid and not just the current page — allowing users to export up to 50.000 rows at once. More awesomeness The above were the headlining features of this release. There are a lot more included, perhaps less prominent, but sure to improve a lot of use cases, and make the lives of TalentLMS administrators, instructors and content creators even easier. These include: • Support for unlimited custom user fields • Support for the date-time custom field type • Reset gamification stats for Groups or Branches • Easy way to switch between course edit and report mode • Option to exclude specific users from emails • A new action that calls a user-specified URL on course completion Plus, a number of usability improvements and workflow enhancements on Branches, Unit Creation, and more. Recap A new TalentLMS update has just landed on the Cloud, with major updates to Custom Reporting and Messaging, a new User Infographic visualization, and enhanced Grid exporting. On top of these, there are several smaller features, and UI improvements, that are all about more flexible workflows. Log in to your TalentLMS account to check out and enjoy the new features, which have been already rolled out for all TalentLMS users, and don’t forget to give us your valuable feedback on what you like about the new features, what could be improved, and what you would like to see next. P.S. This update introduces an important structural change in how we handle custom user fields. Although the change was designed to be transparent for everybody, a technical issue may have negatively affected a small portion of users. If you use custom fields in your TalentLMS portal, please make sure that everything works properly. If not, please contact our support for assistance. The post New TalentLMS update landed! appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

The world of work has changed immeasurably since the rise of the Internet: Now, your employees may literally be a global team, working from locations all around the world, all through the day, 24/7. Chances are that they’ll rarely, if ever, meet. While this new way of working is exciting and liberating, it also raises its own challenges. One of these is how to train your teams to the same excellent standard. The obvious answer, of course, is to deliver your training online. The advantages are obvious: the materials you need to deliver are available anytime, anywhere, and deliverable at the learner’s own pace. But there’s more to it than that. The truth is that there are an awful lot of, well, awful or just plain dull online training courses out there: click-to-download pdfs of course manuals, death-by-Powerpoint presentations, a few hastily collated videos. It’s no wonder that some online courses are barely used or have poor outcomes. You need to ensure that your online training is just as engaging and just as exciting as face-to-face sessions, and delivers the best possible outcomes for you and your people. It comes down to two things: thinking about what you’re trying to achieve, and considering what the user needs to learn to help you achieve it. So, if you want to create an amazing online training course, read on! Creating awesome online training courses 101 It’s vital that your learning targets and objectives are absolutely clear - and that starts with you. Do you understand what you are trying to achieve? Here’s a tip: imagine you’re talking with someone who speaks your language fairly well, but not fluently. Imagine you’re explaining your desired training objective to them, saying what it is, why you’re doing it and how it’ll be delivered, and you can only use 100 words. Not easy, is it? If you can’t explain your objectives clearly and simply to yourself, then course users just aren’t going to get them either, and that’s a guaranteed way to turn people off your course. So, here are four questions to ask yourself when you’re creating your online training course: 1.What is the objective? It may seem ridiculous to ask this to yourself, but trust me on this, it’s important! You’ll sometimes find that what you think is a fairly straightforward learning target is anything but. In fact, it may turn out that a single objective is actually the culmination of several targets. For example, let’s imagine that we decide that the user is going to learn how to fly a plane. Okay, that’s pretty ambitious, to put it mildly - and also an unwieldy topic for eLearning. How many hours do you want your course to be? How many hours do you think that it takes to learn to be a pilot? What separate skills need to be learned in order to be an air ace? You can see immediately that in fact this apparently single objective can be broken down into many constituent parts - and each of those is a learning objective. The flying the plane bit, in fact, is the outcome of these targets. So, ensure that your objective has clarity and narrow focus, because if it does, the user is more likely to achieve it successfully. 2.Why is this course necessary? Again, this may seem a redundant question on the face of it, yet it is well worth asking. Can you answer it clearly and concisely? If you can’t, it could be a sign that you haven’t considered your learning objectives well enough. It’s also important for the learner to recognize the necessity of the course. If they do, they’re more likely to want to engage with it intellectually and emotionally and are more likely to succeed. 3.How is the objective to be achieved? This is actually a two-part question: first, you have to consider the steps required to achieve the objective. Secondly, you have to think about the methods and content you’ll need in each of these steps. Break the course into clear, easy-to-follow steps that give the learner a sense of achievement when completing each of them. By breaking it up like this, it also helps you consider your methods and materials for each step. Think variety when it comes to how you present content: use video and audio, animations and podcasts, talking heads and illustrations - and don’t be afraid of using good old, plain reading texts sometimes! You’ll also need to develop quizzes and tests that provide the learner with a sense of achievement, and you with data about how each user is doing. 4.What should the users learn? If you’ve considered the three questions above, you’ll find yourself naturally arriving at this one. Yet it’s amazing how many people, start from this, when creating course content! It’s vague and nebulous learning objectives that are the real anathema to great online training course content. All learning is guided to a greater or lesser degree, no more so when the user is involved in self- study. Ask the questions above, and you create a clear path for them to follow. Get the adoption rate as high as possible. Self-study and online learning are not necessarily easy options for the learner. It takes discipline to complete a course by yourself, so as the eLearning designer, you need to ensure there are as few obstacles in the way as possible. To create truly engaging online training courses, make sure your course content is: Highly accessible - available on any device, any time Visually and intellectually engaging - if it looks good and the user feels it’s doing them good, they’ll be happier to participate Clear in its objectives - understanding the outcome drives learner motivation Clear about its time frame - users want to know how long they can expect to complete a course in. If it’s too long, it drags down the learner’s interest. Follow this advice, and you’ll soon find that you’re creating amazing online training courses! The post Want to create amazing online training courses? First, you have to ask the right questions! appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

In this classic business book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey shared this framework for attention,  that most of us can recite by heart.  You may never have seen this, so I repeat here:1. Be Proactive2. Begin with the End in Mind3. Put First Things First4. Think Win-Win5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood6. Synergize7. Sharpen the Saw​Covey reminds us that there are two factors that influence our effectiveness: Urgency and Importance.  He numbers the quadrants like this for the four combinations:  #4 Why would you do this? Be mindful of how you evaluate the tasks you map to these quadrants.  For example, vacation is not in Quadrant 4.  Vacation is in #2 since it is very important to stress and mental health, etc.#3 These are favors we do for others, helping them with disasters that have nothing to do with us.  In an HBR article "Who's got the Monkeys", William Oncken, Jr. and Donald Wass write that leaders must, when people come into the room with monkeys on their back, know how to send them out with their original monkeys and some of the leaders. I'm a pleaser at heart, so I often take too many monkeys from others.#2 These are important things to us but they are strategic and aren't on fire, so we ignore them to our peril (that will eventually turn them into #1)​#1 These are our own 'fires' likely based on poor execution: multi-tasking, neglecting self, family, etc.Make a quick list of your Top 10 to-do items and map them to this table.  Be brutal.  As Gallagher the comedian once said "You can't have everything, where would you put it?"

Learn about the 5 early warning signs for leaders who make flawed decisions.

Micro-Learning has gained traction these recent years, thanks in part to millennials entering the workforce who are clamoring for results with the least amount of effort. The learning strategy is popular and in fashion today. But how do you know that it works? How do you capture the data to demonstrate its value? How do you use MICRO as a technique in tracking Micro-Learning?A Study on Micro-Learning Even Before It Became PopularIn 2007, I developed a small study on how to measure the impacts of Micro-Learning. Through it, I wanted to find out what methods participants use to apply learning and if these methods work and produce measurable results for businesses and organizations.To achieve my goal, I developed two sets of tools as shown in the table below. The Seven-Step Process works with a questionnaire about participants’ activities. Meanwhile, the Web-Based Tool allowed participants to track real-time data as well as network and collaborate with their leaders and peers.One of the study’s participants is Elle Callahan, who was cMarket’s Training Manager. She joined the training to improve her goal-setting skills. Elle learned to create shorter and smaller goals. This helped her boil down her objectives and break down her action steps so that she was able to meet daily expectations. All throughout the training, she received feedback from her VP. Elle was also able to share her simple plan with her team.In summary, these are salient points from the study. Participants learned that: Micro-learning enables trainers to be more intentional with what topic they choose and how they’re going to deliver it. Being clear on the topic and delivery method makes it possible for trainers to improve systematically how they work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).Micro-learning allows learners to focus on taking immediate action on their learning, rather than having it sit on the shelf gathering dust.Measuring return on investment (ROI) doesn’t require complex details.Measuring training results is quick, easy and verifiable.This immediate demonstration of value allows for rapid and instant feedback.Micro-Learning is a big win-win for the employee and the organization.In what way do you envision using metaphors in your next training session? Share your thoughts below.Related tips and blog postsTip #61 - Case Study- Reducing eLearning Cost to 50% by Using Must-Learn Lessons and Micro-LearningTip #67 - How to Add Depth to Micro-IdeasTip #90 - Be A Scientist - Set Up Your Own Learning Behavior Lab on Micro- Experiences and StoriesTip #105 - Breaking 10 Training Rules Using Micro-LearningTip #106 - How to Combine Gamification with Stories and Micro-Learning (Live Prototype)Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

Micro-Learning has gained traction these recent years, thanks in part to millennials entering the workforce who are clamoring for results with the least amount of effort. The learning strategy is popular and in fashion today. But how do you know that it works? How do you capture the data to demonstrate its value? How do you use MICRO as a technique in tracking Micro-Learning?A Study on Micro-Learning Even Before It Became PopularIn 2007, I developed a small study on how to measure the impacts of Micro-Learning. Through it, I wanted to find out what methods participants use to apply learning and if these methods work and produce measurable results for businesses and organizations.To achieve my goal, I developed two sets of tools as shown in the table below. The Seven-Step Process works with a questionnaire about participants’ activities. Meanwhile, the Web-Based Tool allowed participants to track real-time data as well as network and collaborate with their leaders and peers.One of the study’s participants is Elle Callahan, who was cMarket’s Training Manager. She joined the training to improve her goal-setting skills. Elle learned to create shorter and smaller goals. This helped her boil down her objectives and break down her action steps so that she was able to meet daily expectations. All throughout the training, she received feedback from her VP. Elle was also able to share her simple plan with her team.In summary, these are salient points from the study. Participants learned that: Micro-learning enables trainers to be more intentional with what topic they choose and how they’re going to deliver it. Being clear on the topic and delivery method makes it possible for trainers to improve systematically how they work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).Micro-learning allows learners to focus on taking immediate action on their learning, rather than having it sit on the shelf gathering dust.Measuring return on investment (ROI) doesn’t require complex details.Measuring training results is quick, easy and verifiable.This immediate demonstration of value allows for rapid and instant feedback.Micro-Learning is a big win-win for the employee and the organization.In what way do you envision using metaphors in your next training session? Share your thoughts below.Related tips and blog postsTip #61 - Case Study- Reducing eLearning Cost to 50% by Using Must-Learn Lessons and Micro-LearningTip #67 - How to Add Depth to Micro-IdeasTip #90 - Be A Scientist - Set Up Your Own Learning Behavior Lab on Micro- Experiences and StoriesTip #105 - Breaking 10 Training Rules Using Micro-LearningTip #106 - How to Combine Gamification with Stories and Micro-Learning (Live Prototype)Ray Jimenez, PhDVignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"Ray Jimenez, PhD Vignettes Learning Learn more about story and experience-based eLearning

...

Pretend your life is a movie. You just woke up and looked around and miraculously, you have the perfect life.  What does that look like? How does it feel? How are you spending your time each day in that perfect life? Jot down some of the immediate ideas or words that come to mind. Now, create an action plan for getting this perfect life, and tape it to your bathroom mirror.  I'm happy to send you reminders for your due dates if you'd like info@russellmartin.com.