This is the second part of a pair of posts about mentoring: the signs that it’s not working as it should and what to do. You can find Part 1 here, where I set out the first 3 signs. 4. Little or no progress When mentoring works well, each meeting ends with the mentee… Read more
When mentoring works well, it can benefit all involved: the mentee reaches their goal, and the mentor develops their management skills whilst supporting someone’s progress. Whether it’s within a workplace or via a professional body, benefits abound. However, there are times when mentoring doesn’t work well – for the mentee, their mentor and the people… Read more
I need to manage your expectations on this one: if you’re a PRINCE2 PM guru you’ll be familiar with what follows. If you work on projects but your specific skills aren’t in that area, this post is for you. One of Zoomly’s many bite-sized workshops is ‘How to manage projects’ and it’s about the essentials… Read more
Reflection is essential to make sense of our everyday lived experiences. Without reflection, we’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over. Reflection helps us process our experiences, thoughts and feelings; we can spot patterns of behaviour that may be helpful or unhelpful. With methodical reflection we can begin to plan new and more… Read more
We’ve all got an inner critic – that toxic little voice in our head that tells us we’re “useless”, “rubbish”, a “failure” or asks, “Who do you think YOU are to be clever / successful / happy?” or whatever. This inner saboteur comes as standard issue with all brains. (To be clear, I’m not… Read more
Something that I cover in ‘How to influence and persuade’ is taking the time and effort to understand how people take in information and then decide. Most of us have a preference for either the big picture or the detail. So, there are some of us who just ‘want the headline’ or the top 3… Read more
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) can take many forms, e.g. courses, coaching (group or 1:1) and mentoring – to name a few. When I’ve assessed submissions for L&D awards, the majority of entries stick to courses; yet there are many more learning opportunities. For example, reading is an often-overlooked option – well, as an author I… Read more
Whether you’re back at the office, still WFH, or combining both, work will always need to be done. We can have our own default ways of working, because ‘that’s how I’ve always done it’ or ‘how we do it round here’. That’s fine if everything is getting done right and on time…but if we… Read more
I’ve been on both sides of this experience. As the employee, I’ve felt the dejection when something I’ve worked hard at gets the ‘red pen treatment’, i.e. nothing but fault-finding and critical feedback, ‘must try harder’. Yet as a manager, I’ve also felt the frustration at having to explain something again – and again. And… Read more
We can all fall prey to ‘the thief of time’: putting things off, finding ways to dodge the work we should be doing (or should have finished). Get clear on what you’ll gain by completing the task, or even part of it. Visualise this in as much detail as you possibly can: how will you… Read more
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