Practical tips. Prompts to get you thinking. The odd rant.

  Full disclosure: I have a vested interest in Learning and Development (L&D) budgets staying secure. Designing and delivering programmes is how I earn a living. It’s not just me who groans at the thieving though: L&D budget holders find burglary frustrating and annoying. Having to cancel programmes and break the news to employees isn’t… Read more

  Oh dear…it’s not been the best of days at work. Did that presentation you’d worked so hard on land …er…like a lead balloon? Or maybe that conversation with a colleague didn’t go at all well?  Did you make a major mistake? Was it one of those days? It happens. We’ve all been there, done… Read more

Ever been on a training course of some kind, loved it, learned lots – yet can’t remember it later? You’re not alone. If the emphasis is mostly on the event itself, along with a focus on your immediate reaction to it, identifying the impact afterwards will be a challenge. Ideally, the difference that your sponsors… Read more

At different times and in different situations I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the wisdom of mentors – and been privileged to have mentored others. I also help clients get their mentoring programmes working well. For a mentoring relationship to deliver the results required, it’s essential that conversations between mentor and mentee encourage reflection leading… Read more

Productivity has been a hot topic in recent virtual workshops and coaching: everyone seems to be working on multiple tasks, juggling competing commitments and getting things done in wafer-thin slices of time. So it seems like a good time to revisit and reshare tips and resources to help. 1. Decide on priorities Some tasks are… Read more

At different times and in different situations I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the wisdom of mentors – and been privileged to have mentored others. I also help clients get their mentoring programmes working well. For a mentoring relationship to flourish and deliver the desired results it needs to be more than ‘just a chat’… Read more

Speaking as a Brit, I’m acutely aware that the very word ‘feedback’ can make the toes curl. Those from other countries and cultures may indeed smile. Here we can talk a good game but, when it comes to the crunch, I suspect many people would rather do public speaking than give or get feedback on… Read more

  Note: if you’re new to mentoring, let alone how and where some tools may be helpful, I suggest you first take a look at my tips and tools for getting the mentoring process off to a strong start. In this post, I want to focus on tools for getting down to work in the… Read more

When your manager gives you a task to do and you don’t know where to start, what can you do?

  It’s not unusual for teams to experience conflict: in team sports it can get physical, in rock bands it can end in smashed guitars and in the workplace, conflict can lead to poor performance. Ultimately, conflict within teams can see some members shown the exit. Not all conflict is A Bad Thing – it… Read more