February 2008 Newsletter

With recent trade press focus on skills development here's what we've got for you this month:

How to improve training performance.

Mark Calverley, director at Fugro, gives us a hint.

Fugro is the world's leading supplier of meteorological and oceanographic services for offshore and coastal engineering. Mark Calverley tells us how he has improved his training performance, and how this has benefited him since attending his you:unlimited 'train the trainer' workshop.

What was it that motivated you to attend the training?
Fugro GEOS is developing a Graduate Training Programme that will be accredited by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. This will involve a significant number of our senior staff providing training as Subject Matter Experts. We recognised that effective training would only be possible if we provided our staff with appropriate skills and awareness of:

• how people learn
• motivating trainees
• effective means of assessment

What would you say are your main challenges when designing, delivering and evaluating interactive training sessions?
The main challenge is time, due to operational pressures. The training should help alleviate this as our staff are more adept at planning and producing learning material now.

What aspects of the training do you feel have been successfully applied in the work place?
Our staff are much more aware of the requirement to focus on key learning objectives, and how to impart knowledge in a way that it is retained. These are probably the 2 greatest benefits.

How have they benefited you?
There is greater awareness of how training should be delivered for maximum effectiveness and this has created a more positive approach to our training and its delivery. This was evident in our 2-day annual training session. We took all our technical staff to the National Oceanographic Centre and our senior personnel delivered 4 focussed ½ day training sessions to approximately 30 personnel.

What advice would you give to someone planning to lead a training session?
Ensure that proper consideration is given to the business of education. The effectiveness and hence efficiency of training requires serious consideration of how education works and requires specialist support.

Would you like to add anything else?
The you:unlimited team generated enthusiasm amongst our staff to impart their knowledge in an effective manner. Very positive feedback was received from all attendees.

For more information on our train the trainer workshop please click here or contact john@you-untld.co.uk.

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Get a free taster training session.

Join us and learn how to manage difficult people.

Rather than simply tell you about our training we like to show you.

Our Herding Cats event will give you a 90 min taster of what we do every day. You'll meet some of the you:unlimited team, mingle with other training and HR practitioners and discuss any specific training needs you have.

Apart from giving you a taster of our training style, this workshop will also equip you with tried and tested techniques to help you improve communication with important and challenging individuals.

Our “Herding Cats” taster session will be running in central London from 9am – 11am on Wednesday 27th February 2008.

Spaces are limited, so if you are a Manager or HR & Training professional with responsibility for booking training contact john@you-unltd.co.uk or call on +44(0)20 7407 0044 and we’ll book spaces for you and / or a colleague.

Meow

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Simple secrets to manage your career.

Follow these tips to success.

1. Assess. The first step to your successful career is to think about where you are and where you want to go. What are your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes etc. This will help you to decide what your next step in your role will be.
2. Plan. Once you have ascertained where you want to go, the next step is to plan practical actions that will help you reach your goals. Think of where you would like to be by the end of the year and decide how you will go about getting there. 
3. Dissect. Set yourself weekly targets. It helps if you can find someone else to hold you accountable, so get a friend to check up on your progress.
4. Watch and Learn. Keep a close eye on what others are doing around you at work and learn from their mistakes…it is a lot less painful than making them yourself.
5. Stand up. If you want to be your own boss, act as though you are one. This doesn’t mean ordering people around, just act confidently, give 100% and be happy to make tough decisions when you need to.
6. Search. When things feel like they are not going the way you planned don’t sit back and feel defeated. Instead, take a look at your role and ask yourself where there is more you could be doing. Opportunities are less likely to be missed by those who are actively looking for ways to improve.
7. Re-asses. Take a step back and double check the plan that you initially set out with. It is easy to get so engrossed that we forget to fine tune or even miss out completely on chances to re-juggle priorities to suit the current situation.
8. Change. If there is something you are doing that no longer seems as important to your career development as it once did, then get rid of it. There is no rule to say that you cannot change your direction once you find a better route. Constant corrections are part of any successful path.
9. Recognise your worth. Notice how your actions benefit others. Watching how the changes you are making are impacting those that you respect and admire will keep you motivated.
10. Keep going. There is no such thing as an end to self development. Every day is a learning process. These tips can be used again in your personal or professional life.

For more information on career management please click here or contact john@you-unltd.co.uk.

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