As mid-summer nears, that familiar back-to-school feeling comes to mind for many of us. We don’t have to be teachers, students, or parents to recognize that sense of “returning” that comes with the end of summer heat and the onset of cooler nights. It stays with us throughout our lives, and fall often brings on …
As a consultant focused on training and development, I get invited to help with two major types of initiatives – courses and meetings. Most of my clients, and I’d argue most leaders, see these two things as separate and different things. Courses or training initiatives are designed to help your employees advance their skills, or …
This weekend, my husband and kids are going camping. I could go, but I made the hard (Mom guilt) and exciting (women’s empowerment) decision to let them go on their own so that I could get some much-needed self-care time. I’m going to plan my own DIY retreat. I’m not going to a fancy spa, …
Self-guided courses offer promising outcomes for learners and organizations. But desgining an effective self-guided course can be a challenge if you’ve never done it before. What should be included in a self-guided course? What makes self-guided courses more effective for learners? How do you ensure that learners will actually complete the course? How do you …
Whether you are planning a course, designing a training experience, or creating an entirely new educational program, learning goals and objectives should be your starting place. They are also the language you use to talk about your program, your guideposts along the way, and the standards by which you measure your impact. They are the …
If you have ten minutes before you are facilitating a meeting or delivering a presentation, reminding yourself of who you want to be as a facilitator is a great way of preparing to present. These ten minutes are not the time to re-train yourself or fix big challenges in your public speaking style. Nor are …
Improving breakout sessions at meetings is not about doing more or less of them, it is about changing HOW you do them. When most people think about breakout groups in meetings, they think of boring and unproductive conversations that they aren’t very excited to have. Sending people off into smaller groups to talk about something …
Are you looking to create better staff training programs that truly encourage growth? When employees believe that they can improve and grow, they are more likely to take on new challenges. They are also more likely to be receptive to feedback. Training programs will be more effective when this type of “growth mindset” is present …
Do you love your work? Or are you feeling stressed and run down? These days it’s easy to feel the heavy burden of work more than the uplifting potential. But it is possible to find happiness at work, even if you don’t love your job all of the time. These five mindful strategies will help …
As the end of the calendar year approaches, many businesses and organizations are getting ready to take a breath before diving into the new year. These organizational pauses are often a good time for celebrating success at work – what has gone well since the last time you paused? Too often we rush from one …
