Training Related Material

reading : principles of servant leadership

2012-01-31T00:47:00.001-08:00

From " INC' magazine. Source : Linked in. Read in leisure.

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/how-to-become-a-servant-leader.html

10 most diffiuclt employees and how to cope with them

2012-01-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

Super good article from ' Inc.com'. Source : Linked in trending topic. 10 most difficult employees and how to deal with them. HR training article for managers and above who has reportees ! Can give good delivery and make it hilarious ! With some group discussions and case studies thrown in. Develop a good PPT.

http://www.inc.com/ss/geoffrey-james/annoying-colleagues-and-how-to-manage?nav=next#0

Members Intro - IGNOU diploma in E-Learning. Batch of 2012.

2012-01-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

Call / Mail / sms all these people and have a personal intro.  

 manesh m mmanuvv@gmail.com

 I am Manesh, from Trivandrum, Kerala. With more than 8 years experience in managing training courses, I would like to move to elearning services (includes academic and corporate training). Hope we will have a high and fruitful collaboration in future. I am currently working as Manager - Software Services with Faith Infotech, a company based out Technopark, Trivandrum. My contact no is 9895465519

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Aparna aparna15.venkat@gmail.com


First of all, I would like to wish all a very Happy and wonderful New Year. I am Aparna Venkatesan from Bangalore. I have been in the elearning industry for the past 8 years. I have had various roles such as instructional designer, trainer, content developer, content editor, and quality controller. I am a Maths graduate with a post graduate diploma in Business administration.My passion for writing drew me to this field. As I had just industry knowledge of Instructional design and elearning, I wanted to get to know the theoretical side of it.

I have had experience in creating courses for various domains like Technology, Pharma, telecom and have done some freelance projects for K12 (its for kids/students from class 1 to 12) segments.

Till last month I was working in CAE Bangalore and Due to some personal health emergency in my home,  I had to quit my job.

I feel that getting to know the theoretical aspect of elearning will be a great help to the industry knowledge.

I also hope that with our future interactions, we might also learn from each other


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 pradnya wakpainjan pswakpainjan@gmail.com

Hi everybody and wishing you a very happy new year.I am a teacher
educator in S.N.D.T.university ,Mumbai. I am interested  in the field
of research in Education.Looking forward to have enjoyable interaction
with all a joy of learning together.
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Harkirat Singh harrypanaich@gmail.com
       
to pgdel2012
Hullo Pradnya, I am serving in the Army and have been teaching tank technology for 15 odd years so far.  I too look forward to benefiting from your instructional expertise and experience.
A belated Happy New Year and Happy Lohri (a North-Indian harvest festival)
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MALLIKARJUNAN KUMARASWAMY kmarjun68@gmail.com
I am K.Mallikarjunan,liviong at Adambakkam Chennai-88.I am a graduate
in Mechanical Engineering from Government College of Technology-
Coimbatore.At present I am working as a Resident Engineer at Chennai
for a Nagpur based Auto ancillary Manufacturing unit at Nagpur called
excel controlinkage pvt ltd.I am looking after OEM Marketing function
for my company at Chennai,Bengaluru and Coimbatore.
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Krishnendu Biswas krishnenduabbott@gmail.com
Wish you all a very happy 2012. I am really happy to be a part of this
group as a learner. I am in pharmaceutical training for last 4 years .
Looking forward for an interactive learning .
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Rama Rao Nakirikanti valuerramarao@gmail.com
I happy to be a member of this PGDEL-2012 GROUP.
My name is N.Rama Rao.I passed out 1988 batch student of NIT Rourkela in Civil Engineering. Since then I am practicing as a Consultant at my own Consultancy
NRR ASSOCIATES(Chartered engineers,Govt. registered valuers & Bank pannel valuers) which is at Hyderabad. My interest is venturing in different fields.
Hope you enjoy and enrich your Knowledge with my company as a member of this group.
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Avinaash avinaash.d@gmail.com
I wish to learn from your rich experience. Especially on teaching
civil (micro irrigation structures) through eLearning platform.
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SANJAY NANNAPARAJU sanjay8899@gmail.com
I am Sanjay, Web Content & SEO writer based at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
I work with the corporate as a full-time writer, and also undertake freelance web content writing. 
Wishing you a Happy & Prosperous New Year 2012
SANJAY NANNAPARAJU / Content & SEO Writing / +91 98484 34615
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Ritu Tandon ritu.vineet@gmail.com
I am Ritu Tandon and have done my M.Sc (Zoology) and B.Ed. Have teaching experience of over 7 years. 
Have worked with Ryan International School Mumbai, Presidency School Bangalore and currently on sabbatical 
and based in Noida. 
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Syeda Sumaiya syeda.sumaiya@gmail.com
I am Syeda Sumaiya from Bangalore. I have done my Engineering in Medical Electronics. 
I also have 5 years experience in working for an online tutoring company. Currently I am working as a lecturer 
in Bangalore and I am into online retailing.
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pallavi goel  wrote:
  Its my pleasure to join pgdel2012. I am Pallavi Goel from ghaziabad,having done masters in mathematics in 2010 and 
pursuing M.Ed.
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Avinaash avinaash.d@gmail.com
I am Avinaash Diraviyam from Tiruchendur, about 2 hours drive away in
the east coast from Kanyakuamri. I am now a freelance Development
Consultant interested in eLearning. I am working on 'Open Skills' - a
Project aiming at TVET for Employability Skill Development through
eLearning.
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aaradhya srivastava aaradhya.bhu@gmail.com
    Wishing you Happy New Year 2012.
I am Aaradhya Srivastava. I belong to Varanasi(UP). I did my
postgraduation in Botany from BHU and M.Ed. from LPU. While persuing
M.Ed., I did my dissertation on the exploration of theoretical
foundation of e-learning. I got interested in e-learning through my
dissertation. I am planning to persue my phd in this field. I realized
I need to gain some insights in the area of e-content development and
designing online courses. So here I am....
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venu madhav dasivenu@gmail.com
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I am Venu Madhav, from Hyderabad, working as Principal at Scient College of Education(B.Ed),Hyderabad and Director,SAGE FOUNDATION (Sage International School(Medipally&Jangaon) & Sage Kids).
Hope our group will have a good learning environment through out the PGDEL Programme.
VENU MADHAV / Mobile: 09701041100
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JIHAD RAHMAN plswait4me@gmail.com
Good morning to all, I am Jihad Rahman from kerala, Executive Director of YES INDIA- an NGO  working for career advancement of students  since 2005.I am looking for advanced educational technologies to improve quality of education for an excellent  India.I am very happy to know that our group is very dynamic and i am sure that our joint effort can make miracle in learning environment.
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roja ramani rojalanka@gmail.com
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Hi this is rojaramani lanka from Andhra pradesh
I want to learn more new things & new courses and so i joined this course
I completed my MCA in JNTU university kakinada in Andhra pradesh.  
I was so glad that we all are gathered here in this e-course and i hope we will share
our every experience here with
all our friendzzzzz.
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thupakulamurali@gmail.com
    
6:01 PM (21 hours ago)
        
to PGDEL
Hi All,

My name is Murali Thupakula.

I am from Tiruapati of Andhraprades.

I am working as a Mathematcs teacher.

I am very happy to be a part of this programme.

With Regards,
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Falguni Pal falgunipal.lis@gmail.com

It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be associated with IGNOU and to be a part of the PGDEL family...
I would like to thank all of you and your constructive discussion on the issues of the Course.
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Training Needs Identification : Super Article methodical

2012-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/how-to-conduct-a-training-needs-analysis/

Training needs analysis process is a series of activities conducted to identify problems or other issues in the workplace, and to determine whether training is an appropriate response.

The needs analysis is usually the first step taken to cause a change. This is mainly because a needs analysis specifically defines the gap between the current and the desired individual and organizational performances.

Who Conducts Needs Analysis & Why?

An in-house trainer or a consultant performs a needs analysis to collect and document information concerning any of the following three issues :

1. Performance problems

2. Anticipated introduction of new system, task or technology

3. A desire by the organization to benefit from a perceived opportunity

In all three situations, the starting point is a desire to effect a change. Given this, you must know how the people who will experience change perceive it. In the absence of a needs analysis, you may find employees resistant to change and reluctant to training. They may be unable to transfer their newly acquired skills to their jobs because of the organizational constraints.

A needs analysis often reveals the need for well-targeted training areas. However, we must keep in mind that training is not always the best way to try to close a particular gap between an organization’s goals and its actual performance. Those conducting the needs analysis must get a clear idea of the problem, look at all possible remedies and report on their findings to management before deciding on the best solution.

When properly done, a needs analysis is a wise investment for the organization. It saves time, money and effort by working on the right problems. Organizations that fail to support needs analysis make costly mistakes; they use training when another method would have been more effective; they use too much or too little training, or they use training but fail to follow up on it. A well-performed analysis provides the information that can lead to solutions that focus on the areas of greatest need.

Process of conducting a training needs analysis is a systematic one based on specific information-gathering techniques. Needs analysis proceeds in stages, with the findings of one stage affecting and helping to shape the next one. There is no easy or short-cut formula for carrying out this process. Each particular situation requires its own mix of observing, probing, analyzing and deducting.

In many ways, the needs analysis is like detective work; you follow up on every lead, check every piece of information and examine every alternative before drawing any solid conclusions. Only then you can e sure of having the evidence on which to base a sound strategy for problem solving.

A needs analysis is not a one-time event. Professional organizations administer needs analysis at regular intervals, usually every year or two.

Methods of Identifying Training Needs

Training needs will differ with the backgrounds of the employees to be trained, and their present status in the organization. Basically, a candidate for training may come from any one of three groups :

1. New hires

2. Veteran employees

3. Trainees currently in the training pipeline ( currently in the training program )

Consideration of the varying needs of these groups provides a frame of reference for discussing and suggesting the methods of identifying training needs :

• New Hires

Addition of new employees creates high and low peaks in placing new persons into the training program. This problem may be solved by a program where progression is made in different sequences. It will eliminate a jam that will occur if all phases of the program must be taken in a definite sequence.

The new employees will normally be of somewhat different backgrounds. Being new, they are not familiar with their new employers. As a result, the earliest phases of the training must concentrate on company orientation. During these phases, the organi- zation, organization policies and administrative details should be covered. It is also a suitable time to acquaint the trainees with what will be expected of him, and how he will be evaluated throughout the phase of training.

• Retaining & Upgrading Veteran Employees

The people in this category offer a real challenge to the training department. There- fore, the number and amount of training required by this category should be carefully considered. Often the retraining and upgrading of former employees can be very rewarding for training instructors. At least two schools of thought exist as to how these employees should be rekindled. There are advantages in keeping this group intact and tailoring the program to their needs. On the other hand, this category of employees can also make significant contribution to training if they are co-mingled with the new hires.

• Pipeline Employee Requirements

A good training program will normally have participants in various phases of comp- letion. An awareness of completion dates and how the potential employee will be employed should be the concern of the training staff and also the employee’s supervisor. A trainee should have a challenge in all phases of his training. All these challenges should not be confined to those phases where the pipeline employee is sitting in a classroom. Therefore, it is recommended that thorough interim test-work be given to pipeline employees in periods between formal classes. This may take the form of solidifying what he learned in the prior phase and serve as preparation for the coming phases.

Techniques for Determining Specific Training Needs

There are a number of practical methods you can use to gather data about employees’ performance. Each works well in given circumstances; therefore, you must determine which be the best for you. None of these methods can stand alone. Always use at least two, if for no other reason to validate your findings. One of those you choose should always be observation.

1. Observation

In this approach, an employee’s performance itself is you source of information. You evaluate a worker’s performance through first-hand observation and analysis. This is best accomplished by watching the worker and playing the role of non-participating observer. This means that you watch and listen and evaluate what you see and hear, but do not get involved in his work process in any way.

To make this activity more productive, use a checklist to remind you of what to look for and take notes.

The objective during observations is to identify both the strengths to build on and the deficiencies to overcome. A key advantage of using direct observation in the needs analysis is that you gain first-hand knowledge and understanding of the job being performed and the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant worker.

2. Interviews

The use of interviews in conducting the needs analysis is strongly urged. The prime value of interview guides is that they ensure the same types of data from all sources. This allows you to determine whether a piece of information is one person’s opinion, or part of a widespread perception. Since the interview guide forces you to ask each worker a number of predetermined questions, you must select those questions that are essential to what you are trying to learn.

Interviews allow you to meet employees face to face to discuss their impressions of performance. Because you are in conversation with workers, you can explore their responses in depth. You can ask or clarification of comments and for examples of what they mean. In this way, you obtain a full understanding of their performance deficiencies.

You also gain these benefits through interviewing :

1. You build credibility with your interviewees by asking intelligent questions and

Listening well to their answers

2. You obtain employees’ personal involvement and commitment to your efforts

3. You establish personal relationships with potential trainees who are important to your success as a needs analyst and trainer

3. Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a sort of interview on paper. You create your own questionnaire by writing down all the questions you want employees to answer for you. Then you mail it to them and await their responses.

The key advantage of a questionnaire is that you can include every person from whom

You want input. Employees can complete the questionnaire when and where they choose. You need not travel and spend time with all respondents. Every employee is asked the identical questions, and consequently data is very easy to compile and analyze.

Questionnaires can be useful in obtaining a ‘ big picture ’ of what a large number of employees think while allowing everyone to feel that they have had an opportunity to participate in the needs analysis process.

4. Job Descriptions

Before establishing a job description, a job analysis must be made. This job analysis involves a thorough study of all responsibilities of the relevant job. It is company wide in scope and should be detailed to such a degree that those conducting the training can use the job analysis as a yardstick for their course content. After the job analysis phase has been completed, the writing of job description and needs analysis is a relatively simple task. When an employee’s job description has been defined, the trainer can easily tailor his training curriculum to a very close proximity of what will be expected of the employees.

5. The Difficulty Analysis

The Job Analysis will focus attention on enumerating the numerous duties that a worker must perform. On the other hand, the Difficulty Analysis establishes which of the duties cause the employee the greatest amount of troubles and how this trouble can be reduced through better training.

A good Difficulty Analysis offers many advantages. For example ….

• It enables a needs analyst to weigh certain aspects of the training in relationship to the expected difficulty that the worker will face in coping with those duties.

• A well thought out Difficulty Analysis will provide the training program with an abundance of role-playing material and situations.

6. Problem Solving Conference

Another time-tested technique for gathering needs analysis material from employees is to conduct periodic problem solving conferences which may take the form of or be part of a plan for a new product, task or technology, or tied in with a training program It is always helpful to utilize an outside consultant to moderate such sessions. This outside sponsorship has a tendency of letting the workers express their feelings about his organization, and the session can then be geared to training needs. The current problems will evolve that represent potential areas for training.

7. Appraisal Reviews

During the periodic counseling performance interview, an employee should be ques- tioned regarding the duties and training of a worker. Comments rendered during the appraisal interviews normally are genuine, and can frequently assist in establishing the needs, variations and penetrations that a training program should include. Feed- back at appraisal interview time is valuable since it is timely information. Training needs differ from worker to worker, and appraisal sessions allow the employee and supervisor / manager to uncover the cause of weaknesses in performance. These deficiencies represent areas for training.

8. Drive Pattern Identity

The extent of an employee’s development depends on his motivations. Identifying the forces that cause an employee to behave in a certain way may be useful in determining his individual training needs and how to stimulate his desire to fulfill that need. An analysis of this kind, for example, may determine that the employee has an urgent need for self-confidence. His individual program should be made to stress the importance of attitude, skills etc., and any other assets that would give him this self- confidence.

9. Analysis of Organizational Policy

Organization policy will affect the amount of training offered. An explanation of various policies should be covered in the training program. Of particular concern are those policies that involve change, alteration and major revamping of training programs. In organizations undergoing merger activity, product diversification and new penetration, a great deal of sensitivity must be placed on policies today and expected changes in the future.

Whatever the method used to identify training needs, at least the following three points must be kept in view :

1. These methods should be used in combination; that is, there should never be reliance on only one method

2. They may be used to identify training needs of each of the various groups

of employees

3. They should be applied to individual employees since training needs will vary with the individual employee.

Training Needs Identification in Healthcare industry / hospital.

2012-01-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

First time after more than a year, I heard a call from a recruiter in mumbai. From 022.4264.4263 . Apollo Hospital wanted a Head - Training & Development. That lady took a few details about my present job profile and said she would be forwarding my resume to Apollo GM-HR. I sincerely hope, they would call me for an interview. I want a break badly ! I don't want to be on roads after peerless. I want to go up and I deserve to. ISTD project is over, within 10 days after the completion of the project ( ISTD acknowledged the receipt of my book on 29.Dec.2011), that is , on 05.Dec.2011, while I was at Vizag, just before the start of my training program, this call came. Good omen. This would perhaps augur well for me in 2012 I need a job change, before a crisis would hit me.

So, I started net search, in the sincere hope that, they would call me for an interview and I don't look like a complete fool in the interview. Net search : " Training Needs Identification for a hospital " and " Training Needs of a Hospital " and " Hospital Training Needs " " Training Needs in health care indsutry " and I found this very useful blog. " Health and karma at blog spot. " . It also speaks about regulatory aspects of hospital / health care industry training. Read this blog thoroughly.

http://healthandkarma.blogspot.com/2010/10/hospital-training-and-development.html

post comments if possible. Then,if you don't get an interview call, at least you would know the training needs of some big , important indsutry outside yours ! That would make you conceptually clear. Future interviews you would be attending all would be GM - Training & Head of Training etc, where, training needs identificaiton is crucial skill.

Post more here : on health care industry.
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(2) Then, one google search, ' training needs in healthcare industry ' lead me to the golden CiteHr.com . One person posted in HR of health care industry asked to take care of training also. Posted his query. Got good, relevant answers.

Here is the Cite HR link and answers.

http://www.citehr.com/157741-training-programmes-hospital.html

bugsbunny3108@gmail.com Full Member - Member Since: Nov 2008

Subject - Training Programmes for Hospital

Dear Friends,

I have recently joined a reputed Hospital. I have been assigned the ownership of various processes and Training Programmes being one, to be conducted in the Hospital as an HR. As i am new to this industry & also new to handling the process. Kindly suggest me how do i go about with my assignmet & also create a difference in the team.
Hoping for varied suggestions.
Thank you in advance for your guidance.
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ANSWERS :Hi Bugs,

greetings! We would recommend programs on Team Building, Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Emotional Intelligence (dealing with co-workers patients & relatives), Stress Management & Motivation (Discovering Purpose & a sense of Service).
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to u is before fixing up a topic to ur training programme like leadership,motivation,time management,you should do the training analysis in ur hospital. because in ur hospital u may have several category of employees like doctors,executive,staff nurses,nursing assistants,receptionist,kitchen workers,house keeping staffs.A single training topic is not opt to all these categories. first do the need analysis then fix the topic,find the faculties and conduct the training programmes
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5 similar qualities between natural world and human systems

2011-11-04T02:38:00.000-07:00

This excerpt is from Brian Remer's http://www.thefirefly.org and from its November 2011 issue. The similarity between the activities of the natural world ( forests etc ) and organizational world. U can make a small power point of 5 slides and present it to manager level people.

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Self-Organizing Systems

Business writers such as Fritjof Capra, Margaret Wheatley, and Peter Senge, have been drawing parallels between phenomena in the natural world and the ways we structure our human systems for years. The work of these thinkers has focused on the similarities between organizational life and natural systems in biology, chemistry, physics, and the environment. These living systems share several characteristics in common.

They are…

Self-Maintaining: Living systems, while depending on the environment, are not determined by it. They have the ability to flex and adapt to changing circumstances.
Self-Renewing: Plants, animals, and ecosystems constantly repair and replace tissue, parts, and individual members. Each cell in your pancreas is replaced on a 24 hour cycle. There is continuous structural change but the stability of the system is maintained.
Self-Transcending: A living system not only maintains itself but also has an inherent tendency to reach out and create new forms. Evolution is not merely reactive adaptation to environmental changes. Instead, evolution happens when organisms act upon the environment in creative ways. Every system has the potential for creativity; for surprising and transcending itself.
Self-Referencing: Living systems have mechanisms to learn about their influence on the environment. These feedback loops serve as alarms. Faced with negative feedback, living systems can reconfigure.

Of these characteristics, "self reference" stands out as especially relevant for organizations. When people know the goal and purpose of an organization, they can use that to prioritize and focus their own activities. It becomes easier to determine what is important or decide whether a new idea is worth perusing. Having strong and consistently communicated values, traditions, aspirations, competencies, and culture all allow the organization to be somewhat independent from the environment. There can be fluctuations at the individual level yet the whole system remains stable.

A recent article about Apple computers in the Christian Science Monitor September 19, 2011, offers an example of the effects of self-referencing in an organization. Apple never cared what the competition was doing. "I'm not sure Apple even thinks about the competition." says Keith Yamashita, a consultant with Apple. "They're uniquely themselves without worrying about anyone else. When I worked for Steve [Jobs] there was little discussion about the competition." (page 31). Apple set the bar for itself and always tried to exceed its own standards and expectations.

Similar to people in Vermont working through the crisis of a flood, employees at Apple achieved consistently high results by staying focused on goals and being true to their values.

Once again, a common purpose makes collaboration contagious.
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Here are the books Mr.Brian Remer has referred.

For More Information:

Leadership and the New Science by Margaret J. Wheatley, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 1994.

Mindwalk directed by Bernt Capra, staring Liv Ullmann, Sam Waterston, and John Herd, 1991. (Based on the book The Turning Point by Fritjof Capra.)

The Quantum Society by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, William Morrow, New York, 1994.

Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, Penguin Books, New York, 1987.

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter Senge, Doubleday, New York, 1994.

make PPT : 8 rules in networking

2011-10-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today, on Linked In, I came across a very intersting article, which is about ' Top 8 rules in networking'. I can make them into 8 to 10 PPT slides and run a 45 minute presentation. With an ice breaking question : Things to do in Networking ?And things we should not do ? Gather answers . 15 minutes. Run the presentation. Ask questions. Here is the link.

http://www.fins.com/Finance/Articles/SBB0001424052970204644504576651181338419022/The-Top-Eight-Rules-of-Networking

The page also has some very interesting articles which can also be made into power point presentations.
Thanks , Linked In !

Suggested Stories
The 10 Worst Mistakes of First-Time Job Hunters
Companies Hiring BAs Over MBAs
Ten Ways to Ruin Your Resume
Forget New York, Go West (Or Central)
Tough Time for MF Global

From Around the Web
How Much are You Worth? A Step-by-Step Guide (CareOne)
7 Habits of Highly Frugal People (MoneyNing)
10 Reasons I Might Not Accept Your Friend Request (MadameNoire)
7 Spelling and Grammar Errors that Make You Look Dumb (Work Goes Strong)

On Instructiona Design, exhaustive material

2011-10-21T06:05:00.001-07:00

An important web site on Instructional Design Techniques. Read this. neeku kooDe peTTa gala web site. Exhaustive material on Instructional Design.

http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/mergel/brenda.htm

Instructional Designer, typical day

2011-08-29T23:28:00.001-07:00

I always wondered, what on earth, this " Instructional Design " is ! I see so many job posts on Naukri and Monster, on I.D. Here is an interesting article, on ' What's the typical day in the life of an instructional designer" or ID ? Very interesting. Posting the link.

http://flirtingwelearning.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/what-does-an-instructional-designer-do/

Upside Learning dot com : a trainers' site...

2011-05-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

Upside Learning dot com ! A web site for L&D professionals I came across, from a twitter post. I read the article. Twitter takes more time than you can imagine, once you open it. You read other people's posts. and then, article links.

Does not matter, as long as it's useful, insightful, relevant to your profession or passion. As long as it's not self indulgence o girly pix.

http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/26/clos-ld-professionals-heres-the-message-from-ceo/

In fursat, visit their home page and spend some time navigating it !

Energizers in Training : A new linkzer

2011-05-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today, I typed this search phrase in Yahoo. " Energizers in training " and " class room energizers" and it threw up this link. Which has at least 20 different ice breakers and energizers. Some of them may be suitable to you in the present context. And some, in future. Here is the link. Some, you may have to modify to suit the context.

http://www.skihi.org/Tips.htm

Got a PMP guide book. " Head first PMP" from Walden

2011-04-02T01:24:00.001-07:00

Today is saturday. The World Cup final day - between India and Pakistan. Peter Roebuck said India clearly has the edge ! Let's hope this will become true !

I took Sunny to Walden. Bought this PMP book.

" The Head First PMP " A brain friendly guide. Rs.550/-. Foreign publisher : SPD O' Reilly. Written by Jennifer Greene PMP and Andrew Stellman , PMP.

Indian Publishers : Shroff publishers and printers pvt ltd.

I decided to take this book to Pachmari and before I come back on 16.April.2011, I want to give it at least 1 reading. In the train. During the evenings and during the return journey where I will be held for 4.5 hours in Delhi Air port.

Before one year, I must pass this PMP exam, with higher proficiency level.

Get all the insights. See all the video conf lessons sent by simplilearn team.

Visit PMP web site often. Do every thing to get proficieny.

I did not get this book suggested by Mr.Ramesh Chepur. ' The PMP guide' by Kim Heldman. I will get that too, from other leading book stored in Hyd.

25 strategies to increase interaction in virtual learning

2011-03-19T03:53:00.000-07:00

25 Strategies for Increasing Interactivity in Virtual Classrooms

An increasing number of our clients ask us to deliver training workshops as webinars instead of face-to-face sessions. They have apparently arrived at this objective decision by applying a single criterion: reducing cost. Our clients are also satisfied with talking head sessions (minus the talking head) that use a barrage of PowerPoint slides to dump data. However, we feel guilty about this approach since it's the adult equivalent of taking candy from a baby. So we have been experimenting with increasing interactivity in our virtual classrooms as an approach to improving instructional effectiveness. We “ported” several interactive classroom strategies, dropped some of them, and adapted the others to leverage the online environment.

Here's our list of 25 interactive strategies for live online learning. Remember, we are instructional designers and not technology gurus. Hence these approaches are platform-agnostic and use the commonest webinar features.

Assessment-Based Learning Activities (ABLAs) require participants to complete an online test, a rating scale, or a questionnaire and score their own performance. In the test-first approach, the facilitator focuses on the items that were missed by the participants.
Brain-Pick Activity. This activity involves four or five “informants” who have significant experience and expertise in the training topic. The participants are divided into as many teams as there are informants and assigned to separate breakout rooms. The informants rotate around the rooms where they are interviewed by the team members. At the end of the interviews, each team prepares and presents a summary of what they learned from the informants.
Case Method begins with an audio or text display of a real or fictional scenario surrounding a problem. By typing text messages, the participants analyze, discuss, make decisions, and apply concepts and principles associated with the case. The facilitator adds additional insights and removes any misconceptions.
Closers are activities conducted near the end of the online learning session. They use interactive discussions for reviewing main points, tying up loose ends, planning application activities, providing feedback, celebrating successful conclusion, and exchanging information for future contacts.
Consensus Decisionmaking Activities involve a list of items (usually 10) to be arranged in order of priority. Participants send text messages to each other and then reach a consensus. The facilitator presents priority rankings from an expert and invites participants to discuss any differences.
Debriefing Activities are used for encouraging reflection and dialogue about an earlier experience from the workplace or a training activity (such as a roleplay or a simulation game). These activities involve processing of the common experience through a typed-chat discussion to extract key learning points from it. They encourage participants to identify and express their feelings, recall events and decisions, share the lessons they learned, relate insights to other real-world events, speculate on how things could have been different, and plan for future action.
Double Exposure Activities present training videos or audio recordings. The participants watch a segment or listen to a segment and then interact with each other through typed-chat discussions to review and apply the new concepts and skills.
Graphics Games involve photographs, paintings, drawings, or cartoons as an essential element. Some graphic games require participants to create these graphics. In other games, the participants review the graphic, analyze its elements, discover relationships, and discuss their findings.
Improv Games increase the participants' fluency with concepts and terms. Most improve games require the participants to type-chat responses to open questions their ability to recall key information and to think creatively and spontaneously.
Instructional Puzzles challenge the participant's ingenuity and incorporate training content that is to be previewed, reviewed, tested, re-taught, or enriched. They can also be used to train people on different types of thinking skills.
Interactive Lectures involve participants in the learning process while providing complete control to the online facilitator. These activities enable a quick and easy conversion of a passive presentation into an interactive experience. Different types of interactive lectures incorporate built-in quizzes, interspersed tasks, teamwork interludes, and participant control of the presentation.
Interactive Storytelling involves fictional narratives in a variety of forms. Participants may listen to a story and make appropriate decisions at critical junctures. They may also create and share stories that illustrate key concepts, steps, or principles related the instructional objective.
Item Processing activities begin with a display of guidelines, principles, facts, questions, or suggestions. By text-chatting with each other, the participants organize these items into appropriate categories.
Jolts lull participants into behaving in a comfortable way and deliver a powerful wake-up call. They force participants to re-examine their assumptions and revise their standard procedures. Online jolts typically last for a few minutes but provide enough insights for a lengthy debriefing.
Magic Tricks incorporate an online conjuring trick as a part of a training session. These tricks provide metaphors or analogies for important elements of the training content. They are also used as processes to be analyzed, reconstructed, learned, performed, or coached for training participants in appropriate procedures.
Matrix Games require participants to type the content in boxes of a grid displayed on the screen. The activity could be designed as a contest between individuals or teams to supply the most appropriate response for each box.
Openers are live online activities conducted near the beginning of a training session. They use interactive strategies to preview main points, orient participants, introduce participants to one another, form teams, establish ground rules, set goals, reduce initial anxieties, or stimulate self-disclosure.
Pair Work involves two people working on the same whiteboard to provide a joint response to a question. This strategy could be used at the beginning of an online session or at the end to provide a review.
Reflective Teamwork involves participants typing suggestions for a checklist on some aspect of online collaboration. Teams then evaluate their own performance by using the product they created.
Roleplays can be easily conducted in a live online session. The participants can be paired up to type-chat with each other or two volunteers can use their microphones to conduct an audio roleplay. Other participants may type their comments and coaching suggestions.
Sampling Activities present a collection of different examples (such as email subject lines, conference session descriptions, lead paragraphs of articles, or names of popular products). Through text-chat messages, participants analyze the samples, arrange them in different groups and sequences, identify key features, and list quality standards. Later, they apply their discoveries to create new products that meet their needs and conform to the standards.
Structured Sharing activities require and reward mutual learning and teaching among participants through text-chats. These activities create a context for a dialogue among participants based on their experiences, knowledge, and opinions.
Textra Activities combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of interactive strategies. Participants read short messages on the screen or longer documents that are downloaded. Later, they participate in an interactive exercise that uses peer pressure and peer support to encourage recall and transfer of what they read.
Troubleshooting Simulations can be used with technical topics and interpersonal concepts. They begin with a scenario presented by the online facilitator, supplemented by displays of instrument readouts. The participants suggest tests and the facilitator provides appropriate data. The process is repeated until the cause of the trouble is identified. The activity is followed by an online debriefing discussion.
Values Clarification uses forced choices, provocative issues, and confrontation of participants' inconsistencies. The strategy helps individual participants to decide among alternatives and determine what has personal meaning. The process does not force one set of right values but rather encourages discussion and exploration of alternatives before choosing a specific value.

Vodafone trainer profile : 11 lacs to 12 lacs

2011-03-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Came across a wonderful Vodafone ( Telecom) Training pro advt in Naukri. Comprehensive job description . here . Salary : 11 lacs to 12 lacs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

xperience:

5 - 10 Years

Location:

Hyderabad / Secunderabad

Compensation:

Rupees 11,00,000 - 12,00,000

Education:

UG - Any Graduate - Any Specialization,Graduation Not RequiredPG - Any PG Course - Any Specialization,Post Graduation Not Required

Industry Type:

Telcom/ISP

Role:

HR Mgr

Functional Area:

HR / Administration, IR

Posted Date:

01 Mar

Desired Candidate Profile

Strategic

• Determining the training & development philosophy for the circle

• Continuously revisiting HR processes for higher efficiency and employee friendliness

15%

Operational

Training & Development

• Conducting a Quarterly Training Needs Analysis

• Designing monthly training calendars

• Creating a “pull” effect for training

• Analyzing the relevance of training to business needs

• Addressing employee training needs on a real time basis

• Training Administration (venue, material, logistics)

• Sending training invites

• Doing feedback analysis

• Tracking action plans

• Making the training budget and tracking costs

• Branding training and creating visibility

• Maintaining Training MIS as per the ISO norms

• Continuously benchmarking best practices globally and evaluating the same for Vodafone

- eClass (first circle to launch)

- Getting employees to take ownership of their learning and development (asking them to nominate themselves)

- Involving internal subject experts to conduct training programmes for employees

- Call sample employees every month to check the real-time business needs

- Library tie-ups (British Council Library & American Library)

- Coffee Table

• Implementing all national T&D/OD interventions for Mumbai 30%

Operational

On boarding & Induction

• Letter of delight is sent to employees before they join

• On the day of joining – joining formalities

• Handholding new joiners – addressing all hygiene factors

• Organizing role based induction and cross –functional induction programmes

• Tracking employee feedback through “My Voice” 10%

Operational

Employee Engagement & Employee Communication

• Building a culture of fun at work

• Encouraging employee talent

• Organizing 1 employee engagement event per month

• Responsible for the annual employee event “Touchdown”

• Conducting Open houses for employees with the Business Head. Work on all the issues/suggestions raised by employees through a transparent process within the committed timelines.

10%

Operational

Reward & Recognition

• Co-ordination for the annual Best Performers identification & reward process

• Running the Vodafone StaRRRs process for Mumbai

• Diagnostic study for various functions to identify reasons for high attrition and implement corrective measures

• Conduct retention & exit interviews 10%

Operational

HR Operations

• Campus recruitment for ET Scheme/GET Scheme

• Organizing Gender Neutrality Committee Meetings

• Addressing disciplinary issues and taking appropriate action

• Addressing employee queries and grievances 20%

Developmental

• Conducting company & HR induction for new joiners

5%

Job Description

• Training & Development

• Onboarding & Induction

• Employee Engagement & Employee Communication

• Reward & Recognition

• HR operations

Keywords: Learning & Development, Training & Development

Company Profile

A Leading Telecommunication Company

Contact Details

Tips on Skills based training / imparting a technique

2011-02-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Encourage different types of comments.

Explain that you will briefly describe one technique at a time—and keep your mouth shut. Invite participants to type their comments related to the technique. Suggest different comments based on responses to these types of questions:

What excites you about this technique?
Have you ever used or experienced this technique?
What additional details do you know about this technique?
How would you use this technique?
What aspects of this technique make you uncomfortable?
Why will it not work for you?
How would you modify this technique to better suit your needs?

tips on SDLT - self directed learning teams !

2011-02-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is from Thiagi newsletter Feb.2011. I'm grateful to Mr.Siva Sailam Thiagarajan for such wonderful insights into training ! This is about SDLT. Self Directed Learning Teams, while impating online training.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Online SDLT

For nearly a year now, we have been fortunate to conduct a monthly online training session sponsored by the Training Magazine Network (and ably coordinated by Gary VanAntwerp). In the process, we learned (and relearned) several useful things:

There's wisdom in groups. The group as a whole knows more than you do.
Webinars can and should incorporate activities.
There is a big difference between online training sessions (webinars) for groups of less than 20 and groups of more than 50.
Most participants have varying amounts of expertise and experience on most training topics.
Most participants are also capable of taking a basic idea and working out details of transfer and application. By explaining too much, trainers deny opportunities for participants to share what they know and how they plan to use it.

Based on these principles, we have created an online structured sharing activity incorporating the concept of Self-Directed Learning Teams (SDLT). Here's the flow of this activity.

PMP Training : Day 2

2011-02-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

Project Cost Management
--------------------------

Planned Value - Earned Value = Net Gain /Loss.

There are ' cumulative value' and ' current value' for any project.

AC = Actual Cost. There are current cost and cumulative cost.

Unless they specify, it's cumulative cost.

Some words and acronyms used in project management.

SV = Schedule Variance = PV - EV. Planned Value - Earned Value.

CV = Cost Variance EV - AC.

SPI = Schedule Performance Index = EV / PV.

CPI = Cost Performance Index = EV / AC .

CSI = SPI/CPI.

CSI = Cost Schedule Index.

EAC = Estimated Completion.

EAC = BPC / CPI.

ETC = Estimate to Complete.

BAC = Cost Baseline. = always in S curve.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
------------------------------------------------------------------

What is quality?

Quality is - meeting the specifications ( according to management).

From customer perspective : Satisfaction, utility value and fit to use.

Quality always comes with a cost. Cost of conformance.

Cost of non-conformance is failure.

There are 3 quality guru s.

1. Phillip Crosby. 14 quality principles.

2. Joseph Disn. 3 quality principles.

3. Deming.

" Baseline is the snap shot of the present scenario".

Net Search : ' Tools and Techniques' for program quality control.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
--------------------------------------------------------

Here are the responses to conflict

1. Problem solving or confrontation.
2.Compromise.
3.Forcing.
4.Collaboration.
5.Smoothing.
6.Withdrawal.

POST LUNCH ( OB related topics)
-------------------------------------

In a communication network, number of communication channels = n*(n-1)/2.

Communiation skills
-----------------------
Communication process.

Encode-> channel -> message -> decode -> medium -> noise -> decode.

The other 2 sessions. Project Risk management & Ethics in project management.

PMP Training - Day 1 : Hotel Aditya

2011-02-02T00:19:00.000-08:00

Presenter's name : Ramesh Chepur. Find him on Linked in.

Find out user group for PMP in Hyderabad.

Visit on the Net : PMBOK 2008.

You need to get 123 answers right, out of 175. Nearly 70%. 25 dummy questions will be there but we don't know which are dummy.

Result : Proficiency : High / Medium / Low. Even low proficiency is pass but may not have market value.
3 attempts in 12 months. Exam fee : $405. Additionally, we need to pay $129 for PMBOK downloads. ( I need to learn to activate my ICICI bank net banking prov + SBI credit card).

Pay $10 and become a local PMI body member.

Claim 60 PDU s in the next 3 years. There are 9 knowledge areas in PMP.

Take the exam before August 2011. Exam pattern is going to change.

visit
http://www.pmp.org

There is no penalty for changing the exam date.

For exam : PMBOK : read at least twice before the exam.

There are 2 books available for PMP exam preparation.

1. PMP exam guide by Kim Heldman. Rs.500/-.

2. There is also a book from Tata McGraw-Hill. Please find out from Walden or book selection centre.

Time for preparation : 50 to 75 hours of ' serious' preparation is required.

A project has 4 charactaristics. Time, Scope, Cost, and progressive elaboration.

There are 3 constraints for the project. ( Net Search : ' Constraints for the project' or 3 constraints for the project). Time , Scope and cost.

In a project, an output becomes an input to another / next activity.

Identifying the stake holders is essential for project's success.

There are 3 types of organizations.
1.Functional org
2.Matrix Org ( which has rows and columns)
3. Projectised org.

Authority of a project manager is weak / balanced/ strong - respectively - in the above mentioned org s.

Almost 99% of all I.T. organizations are projectised organisations.

' Projectised Org' has the least communication gaps.
(Test)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Output defines the process.

A ' Phase' may contain many processes.

PDCA : Plan, Do, check, Act.

'Project Charter' is the approval issued by the sponsor.

PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT
-----------------------------------------

In project integration management, all the 5 process groups are involved. In no other knowledge area, all the 5 process groups are involved.

In Execution, my ' project management plan' forms the basis !

Total number of processes in Project Management Processes' : 42.

Initiation : 2
Planning :20.
Execution : 8.
Monitoring and contorl : 10.
Closing : 2.

A Project Manager does only 10% of all the active work. The rest is communication.

Net Search : ' Scope Management during the project'.

TO DO :
1.More learning on ' Project Scope'. All the I.T/ Software johnnies understood this. I could not !
2.Refer to the page no.350 of PMBOK book. Project Document. Project Management Plan context.

' Any change request / defect repair request should be approved by the Change Control Board (CCB). '
JAD : Joint Application Development. By both the client and the vendor. This is done mostly, but not confined to , military.

Net Search : Organizational Process Assets'.
Net Search : Project Management Jokes

SCOPE means , ' doing all the work and the only work'.
WBS : Work Break down structure.
Scope Baseline : It's the most important. It has 3 documents.
1.WBS. 2.WBS Dictionary. & 3. Scope Statement ( net search, this ! )

Performance Breakdown Structure : (a) Schedule baseline (b) Cost baseline (c) quality baseline.

There are 4 breakdown structures in a project

1. Work Breakdown Structure.
2.REquirement breakdown structure.
3.Organizational Breakdown structure.
4.Risk breakdown Structure.

Cost baseline, performance & schedule baseline - are the most important to the senior management. ( Test)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Net Search : Project Management Tools.
There are 3 kinds of dependencies. (a) mandatory dependency (b) discretionary dependency & (c) discretionary dependency & (d) external dependency.

PROJECT ESTIMATES :
-----------------------
There are 4 kinds of estimates for project estimates.
1.(rough) order of magnitude method.
2.Analogous Estimate.
3. Parametric Estimate
4.Bottoms up estimate. &
5. ' Weighted Average Estimate or PERT or 3 point estimate'.

Accuracy : will increase from method 1 to 4. But so will, time and money.

Difference between Lag and delay. Lag means, a delayed start. Delay means, late in completing the work.

PERT formula : O + ( 4*M)+P
-----------------
6

Where
O is optimistic estimate.
M is most likely outcome
P is pessimistic estimate

The result is always closer to the ' most likely.

Obs : This trainer speaks in a low and steady voice and is not tired at the fag end of the day. Maintains the same energy.

Critical path method : Shortest duration of time for the project is the longest path on the critical path.

Float or slack indicated a non critical activity. Postive difference between the early start and late finish is - float. Where there is zero float or slack, the task is ' non criticial'.

Important :
visit this web site ;

http://www.deltek.com - for ' MOnte Carlo method of analysis. Critical Path method.

More net search on : Earned value management system.

( Day 1 training is over : made quite a lot of notes ! )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

adult edu on About.com

2011-01-22T01:08:00.001-08:00

Site of the day : ( 22.Jan.2010)

http://adulted.about.com

A veritable library and huge store for adult learning principles and adult education. Energizers, principles, ideas for actitivities !

How I found it : I searched for ' post lunch energizers' and got it. Read it thoroughly and make notes and put them into your training blog.

Good luck.

(Linx) Post Lunch Energizers in Training

2010-10-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

Sat in a cyber cafe. I had half an hour ' time pass'. I , for a change, entered profession related key word, ' post lunch energizers in Training'. Number of interesting ( and very useful) results and web sites popped up !

Here is the Google search result. For ' post lunch energizers in Training'.

http://www.google.co.in/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=Post+lunch+energizers+in+Training&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

Here is a very useful web site for ice breaker.

http://www.wordjuxtapoz.com/icebreakers.html

Here is one more, from an experiential learning web site. post lunch energizers

http://www.experiential-learning-games.com/energizers.html

All this , apart from key word searching ' business balls'. Do that too, apart from reading from these web sites and picking up the most relevant ones, in leisure.

parameters to evaluate training

2010-09-26T05:05:00.000-07:00

22.Sept.2010. Goa : Some guest trainers were asked to give presentations. These are the following paramters , on which, Trainers were assessed.

1. Preparation.
2.Content Knowledge.
3.Positive Start.
4.Energetic Presentation
5.Interactivity.
6.Audience Control.
7.Query Handling.
8.Summerizing and ...
9.Impactful Conclusion.

6 months ' Dip Stick Study' at Peerless: feedback from sales

2010-08-05T03:24:00.000-07:00

Half of the financial year is over for Peerless in 20010-2011 and here is the time to review training activities, plan for the next 6-months session ahead and also take feedback from our internal customers, that is our Branch Managers and sales staff. Aditya Ganguly sends a ' Feed back' called 'Dipstick' steady of training activities.

I sincerely hope, all our BM s unanimously vote for ME as the ' Trainer they Like Most' and give 11 different reasons for the same !! That will further improve my stock within the company and would help me... complete my ISTD project.
Here are the 10 questions for Dip Stick study.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ear BM's,

Thank you all for your support and cooperation in making Peerless Gurukul
Training a significant support function over the last 6 months.
As we are nearing our Half Yearly closing and then Training would take a
months break after Aug, I would like to seek answers of below
9  questions as your valued Feedback from each one of you who have
organized Training for your  Branch or in your pockets from April-August
2010.For the records,in last 5 months we have done almost 700 Training
sessions covering nearly 12,000 manheads and 48,000 manhours pan
India with 30 Trainers.

QUESTIONS

Q1. Have you sat through any one complete  Training sesion in your location
? If Yes, when and where.

Q2. In a scale of 10, how much do you rate the Training ? ( Parameters :
Content in vernaculars, Delivery in vernaculars, Handouts, Quizzes & Prize
)

Q3. Which Trainer you like the most ? (Mention name & why in one sentence)

Q4. What is the Best Part in Peerless Gurukul Training which you feel will
help your SG's ?

Q5. Which part of Peerless Gurukul Training  you feel should be improved
further ? Any suggestive content for 3rd and 4th quarter ?

Q6. Give any success stories by name of the SG (if you have,any) who has
benefited from Training.

Q7. What is your expectation from Peerless Gurukul Training from October,
when the Training journey for 2nd Half of 2010-11 again begins ?

Q8. How comfortable you are on TMS now(issues, if any) and whether you will
complete all backlog entries in TMS by 31st Aug deadline ?

Q9. Comments/Remarks, if any.

Kindly sent your answers (via- Email ONLY) by 20th Aug Friday to me with
copies marked to Mr D Sen,VP(CM) & Ms Sharmistha Bhattacharya
Majumder,Training Coordinator(H.O), hopefully without any reminder from my
end.

Look forward for your kind cooperation,

Warm Regards,

interview with Girija Pande, of TCS-China Vs India

2010-07-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

interview with Girija Pande, of TCS. Wharton school.
--------------------------------------------

"I said inside large corporations you can be an entrepreneur. There is an entrepreneurial streak of just doing things and being sometimes a little more radical than others. Asking questions, which [other] people don't ask. " Girija Pande, TCS.
------

I used to go and tell all my people when I used to run treasury in the bank, "If you get it 75% of the time right you have done very well." That is a very powerful statement to your team -- that you will tolerate failures, you will allow them to innovate. Otherwise, they will wait for you for an answer.

-----------------------------

So clearly I act as a coach to my team. If you are going fast they will ask you, "You tell us and we'll do it." The minute that happens you are in a prescriptive mode. You want to say, "What do we think? This is the challenge." And there are ideas bubbling forth. You will moderate it with your experience. You will finally have the stamp on it. They understand that. But that is the open coach that you need to [be] to bring this team its best.

-------------------------------

Second, Confucian thinking, which dominates the Chinese mindset in everything they do, has a lot of respect for authority and a lot of respect for a certain restraint on leadership. It is a very top-down driven issue. There are no arguments. I always have a challenge when I am with our Chinese team. I want them to argue. I encourage them to argue. I say to them, "All knowledge does not reside in me. In fact, the least resides in me. I am here to listen and hear from you." It is difficult. In India, you open a room full of young people and you don't have a chance to talk.'

-------------------------------------

Third, over the years the Chinese have realized the value of delivering on time. In that country it is sacrosanct. You don't miss deadlines whether they are building a bridge or they are building an IT system. Customers expect it.

That is how they build bridges. That's how they build large organizations and cities -- with an amazing amount of military precision. Indian organizations don't yet know the value of that. I think they are learning. But if you ask me the difference -- the execution capability in China is absolutely outstanding.

---------------------------------------

Sometimes there are losses, especially in China, because many of their companies are not driven by the stock market. So large investments are made, which are sometimes wasteful. I think they are struggling with that.
--------------------------

many of them were in this country (the United States). I have seen some very good talent that is coming back to China. Then they have a pool of talent around Hong Kong or Taiwan and some of the Southeast Asian countries which have ethnic Chinese. So they have that big pool to draw from -- that's about 50 million. India has a pool of 20 million people outside India. Many of them in [the United States] are doing well. We have to start using that pool better, especially in global affairs.
----------------------------------

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4500

Microfinance & Mary Ellen Iskenderian

2010-07-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

"When someone trusts low-income women with capital, often for the first time, they can become agents of their own change."
Mary Ellen Iskenderian

-----------------------------

The debate over microfinance and mission drift has intensified as some researchers maintain that there is more to developing an entrepreneur than providing credit. "Credit alone is not a panacea," notes Jonathan Morduch, a professor of public policy and economics at New York University. "The boldest claim for microfinance -- that it can single-handedly eliminate a large share of world poverty -- outpaces, by a long distance, the evidence accumulated to date." At the same time, however, analysts like Morduch emphasize the success of microfinance groups that combine lending with other initiatives, such as education and health care

------------------------------------------------------------

Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker and Nobel Peace Prize winner whom many experts regard as the founder of microfinance, has said that interest rates should be 10% to 15% above the cost of raising money, with anything beyond that range amounting to a "red zone" of loan sharking. Yet by that measure, 75% of microfinance institutions would fall into the red zone, according to a March 2010 analysis of 1,008 micro-lenders by the MIX, a website where more than 1,000 microfinance companies worldwide report their own numbers. Many experts label Yunus's formula as overly simplistic and too low, and fear that a pronounced backlash against high interest rates will prompt lenders to retreat from the poorest customers.

--------------------------------------------------------

As another example, poor women have traditionally managed risk in very risky ways: by relying on their husbands, pulling children out of school to work, or selling productive assets such as livestock or equipment. WWB has published a paper highlighting alternative ways for women to manage such gambles using gender-sensitive micro-insurance. For instance, women can choose another beneficiary if they don't think their husbands will protect the children properly after the woman's death. In Colombia, the life insurance offered by one company pays monthly benefits that can only be used for the purpose of educating the children for two years after the death of a parent, in order to reduce the pressure on the surviving parent to pull children out of school.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's not always size that makes the difference in [microfinance]," Iskenderian said. "People make the difference with their energy and their resolve.... Single individuals and the choices they make have a tremendous impact on the world." - Mary Ellen Iskenderian.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2540

Wharton on Cyber Attacks, Hacking & Data Security

2010-07-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

Challenges for I.T. Engineers : cyber attacks and data security
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From a corporate perspective, experts say the required response to these threats has two sides. The first is protecting IT infrastructure, meaning the systems, hardware, software and networks used by an organization. The second involves protecting the actual information or data that is supported by that infrastructure, whether the information is in motion, in use or in storage. Complicating those efforts, however, is the need to protect the business environment while ensuring that employees have access to the information and services they need to do their jobs.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"We have witnessed companies going under, or being severely hit, due to a single untoward event. As a result, how to better manage and finance extreme events is now a question discussed by many more board of directors than five or 10 years ago."
( reminded me of ' Black Swan' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What has changed is that both companies and hackers have grown sophisticated. So the good news is that most security software will protect us from the most basic threats, which was not the case in the past. But the bad news is that malware and viruses have become more sophisticated, so even advanced users can fall prey to them."

----------------------------------

Experts say that the recent attacks on information security suggest at least three things: First, that hackers increasingly know exactly what they want, while their targets often struggle to understand the threat or where it is coming from. Second, that attackers continue to rapidly develop new ways to access what they want, and as a result, the threats can come from anywhere. (For example, The New York Times disclosed this year that hackers were trying to use online advertising on the newspaper's own website to disseminate malware.) Finally, observers believe that almost everyone and every company ultimately is at risk, a result of today's highly networked global economy and communications infrastructure
---------------------------------------------------------

Here, monitoring and controlling access to information become even more challenging, as systems must be able to work both in-house and virtually, especially in cases of multi-tenant systems, where several companies or accounts may have sensitive information managed by a single server. CIO magazine recently reported that 51% of CIOs cited security as the greatest concern surrounding cloud computing.
------------------------------------------------------------

One approach often used in military scenario-planning exercises, for example, is to split key participants into two teams and run a one-day exercise where one team cooks up potential cyberattacks while the other team designs a response. "You will be surprised by how imaginative your employees can be about what is your true weak link," Michel-Kerjan points out. "Keep in mind here that what can seriously hurt you will not be a 'usual' scenario."
-------------------------------------------------------

From :

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2535

Leadership Lessons from a Musician

2010-07-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Leadership lessons from Mr.Benjamin Zander, Orchestra conductor, BPO, The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.
From :

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2537

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ordinary things in life can be transformed if you challenge your assumptions about them. The strategy works for businesses,
-----------------------

Zander decided to focus on his contribution to the world, not just his achievements. "Unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side," he wrote in The Art of Possibility. "It is not arrived at by comparison. All at once I found that the fearful question, 'Is it enough?' and the even more fearful question, 'Am I loved for who I am, or for what I have accomplished?' could both be replaced by the joyful question, 'How will I be a contribution today?'"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

challenging of assumptions -- and assumptions are often roadblocks to innovation.

"Everybody wants out of the box thinking; the question is, how do you get it?" said Zander. "It's very simple. You ask a question: What assumptions am I making that I don't know I'm making?" The key to success inside an organization, he added, has to do with voicing these assumptions. "Every organization, every human endeavor, has to have someone whose job it is to notice what assumptions are being made ... and [who] has permission to say so. Anybody from the bottom to the top should be able to speak about assumptions without fearing loss of any kind."

-----------------------------------------------------

top 10 reasons for marital stress and problems

2010-05-31T23:43:00.000-07:00

Saw this newsletter from ask men dot com. Top 10 reasons for marital failure. I need to convert into power point. Target Audience : Extremely personal interpersonal skills or for close friends who are married.
I need to collect these and convert into pptS. With wonderful de-briefing and training notes.
Link to askmen is given at the end.

sex
-----------
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No.9 - Division of household responsibilities

Gone are the days when we can consider men’s work and women’s work clearly delineated

categories. Men are just as likely to be captains of the kitchen and lords of the laundry room as

women are. Problematically, this flexibility has left us in a nebulous space in which either partner

could be doing any chore at any given moment, and by extension, neither of you thinks of any chore

as your “job.” That’s what makes division of household responsibilities one of our top 10 marital

problems. Be reasonable: Don’t let one person do all the work. Divvy up the chores. Try bargaining: If

you hate doing laundry, ask her to do it, and in exchange pledge to keep the bathroom looking spic

and span.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.8 - She's let herself go

It happens. Some women let themselves go after they get married. Maybe they lose their incentive to

stay fit once they’ve bagged a guy. Maybe they have trouble bouncing back after having a baby.

There are numerous explanations, but if her physical unfitness is killing your libido, you have to do

something about it. Try working out together; take up an activity like cycling or biking. And before

making any comments about her weight, you might want to take a long hard look at yourself in the

mirror too, Bucko.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.7 - Unwillingness to have kids

Many women (and some men) see children as a necessary consequence of marriage. Whether or

not to have kids is a major decision, perhaps the biggest you’ll ever make, so some hesitation on the

baby-making front is understandable. That said, persistently putting off procreation can introduce a

lot of stress into your marriage and is one of the most common marital problems. If you’re the one

putting the breaks on baby plans because you’re nervous about having kids, you might want to start

doing some math. If you wait three or four years, how old will you be when your hypothetical future

kids graduate from high school or university? Thinking in those terms might help you sympathize a

bit with your spouse, who feels these time pressures on a biological level.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.6 - Difference in parenting philosophies

Once you have kids, of course, they introduce 18 years worth of excitement and turbulence into your

marriage. Kids spill stuff, break stuff and often steal stuff. The life of a parent can often feel like a

constant struggle to get your children to eat their vegetables and, for God’s sake, put their pants

back on! So what’s your parenting strategy going to be? Are you going to be cool, fun dad or the

“just-wait-until-your-mother-gets-home” guy? Difference in parenting philosophies is another one of

our top 10 common marital problems. The most important thing is to recognize that so long as you

love your kids, they’ll probably turn out OK. You’ll quickly learn that presenting a united front on rules

and punishments is more important than just about anything else.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.5 - Inability to have kids

Perhaps one of the most stressful marital problems is the inability to have kids. Infertility can totally

derail the vision you shared for your future. The other difficult thing about it is that it’s nobody’s fault.

Unlike household chores or sex frequency, no modification of behavior will change the fact that you’

re infertile. This is yet another thing that the two of you should contemplate and talk about before

trying to get pregnant. Prepare yourselves for the potentiality that kids might not happen; then, if they

don’t, you’ll be better prepared to deal with it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.4 - The in-laws

Whether it’s your nosy mother, or her mooch of a younger brother, in-laws can introduce some

serious tension into your relationship. Recognize that it’s very easy for you to be critical of her in-

laws, but not as easy to see the stress your family causes her. Yes, it’s entirely possible that your

family is totally normal and hers is completely insane, but the more likely scenario is that your family

is nuts too and you’ve just built up an immunity to their particular brand of craziness. Just try to

remember before you make a fuss about going to her aunt’s for dinner, that your cousin comes over

every Saturday to watch the game. Be respectful of her family time and she’ll be respectful of yours.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.3 - House stress

House stress is the next item on our list of top 10 marital problems. Getting married often means

buying a house, and houses come with all manner of hassles. First and foremost, houses are

expensive. Besides the mortgage you have to think about property taxes and maintenance costs.

Before you even think about buying your dream home, make absolutely sure you can afford it.

Saddle yourselves with an unmanageable debt and you might doom your marriage to failure.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.2 - Financial stresses

Speaking of financial stresses, you don’t need to own property to worry about money. The source of

your money woes could be almost anything, from the fact that you always have to pick up the check

at dinner to the fact that she’s helping pay off your student loans. Money may be the thing married

couples fight about the most. The biggest solution to money problems is to talk about them. Be

forthright and honest about things like your debt and adopt a policy of transparency when it comes to

purchases.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No.1 - Boredom

Spending almost every waking moment with the same person for the rest of your life may alternately

seem comforting and terrifying. Probably the thing you worry most about is getting sick of one

another. It’s to be expected that every so often your marriage will fall victim to boredom. But boredom

isn’t as hard to beat as you might think. You can keep things fresh by taking up new hobbies,

traveling to new places together and -- especially -- by trying new things in the bedroom. Now that

doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

http://www.askmen.com/top_10/dating/top-10-marital-problems_1.html

go game storm dot com !!

2010-05-21T01:29:00.000-07:00

I was reading Thiagi news letter of May 2010. Here, a reference to a training games web site is given. Go through, browse this site with focus and attention, in leisure. Seems to be a great source of training games and ice breakers and interactive activities.

http://www.gogamestorm.com/

6 roles of a parent

2010-04-07T05:29:00.001-07:00

By Roger Ellerton PhD, CMC

"Your children need your presence more than your presents." --Jesse Jackson

Parenting is the process of helping your children to 1) become aware of their potential, 2) expand their wings beyond their family and 3) perform and evolve at the peak of their abilities in a safe, supportive environment. It involves drawing out their strengths and helping them to bypass personal barriers and limits in order to achieve their personal best.

Each child is a unique individual, and each has their own schedule for growing up. At each stage of their growth, their needs and expectations from their parents will change. To meet these needs, parents take on different roles and communicate with each child according to that child's focus, style and age requirements. As a parent, you play six primary roles - sometimes two or three at the same time; at other times, one specific role may dominate. These roles, which require a different mindset, tools and techniques and approaches, range from providing your children with the necessities of life (environment) to making them aware of their potential (purpose in life) in a larger context than their current experience with their family or circle of friends.

Caretaker and guide
In these combined roles, your focus is on your children's environment (where, when and with whom). As a caretaker, you promote your children's development by providing safe and supportive play, learning or work environments free from unnecessary outside distractions. As a guide, you're familiar with the territory (at minimum, more familiar than your children) and provide guidance and direction on possible paths they can take to achieve their desired outcomes.
Coach
Traditional coaching, which is referred to here, is focused on what your children are doing - their behaviors. As a coach, you help your children perform to the best of their abilities by identifying and encouraging specific action steps they can take to reach a successful conclusion.
Teacher
For the most part, teachers provide information and instruction on how to do a task or achieve an outcome. As a teacher, you help your children develop new strategies, skills and capabilities for thinking and taking action, rather than focusing on a particular accomplishment in a specific situation. With your assistance, they discover and refine many of their unconscious competencies, making these a way of life.
Mentor
In the mentor role, you provide guidance and influence to generate and strengthen important beliefs and values for your children, and you function as an appropriate role model.
Sponsor
Being a sponsor, you recognize, acknowledge and promote an attribute or identity that is already within your children, but that is not yet fully apparent or that they are not yet aware of. You do not have to be a role model; you may not have the same skills as the attribute being sponsored.
Awakener
As an awakener, you bring to your children's attention something larger than themselves (family, community, spirituality) and the purpose/vision that is awaiting them.

Each of the above roles includes follow-up on your children's progress by providing respectful and timely feedback. This feedback includes praise and suggestions for improvement to help them learn and grow. For example, as a coach you provide feedback with regard to the actions your children have or have not taken, while a mentor will model and provide direction on specific beliefs or values that are important.

These competencies of caretaking/guiding, coaching, teaching, mentoring, sponsoring and awakening are essential skills for supporting your children. Each of the different levels of support requires a different interaction between you and your children, as well as a different tool set and abilities. Many situations will require a combination of these competencies.

These six roles have a hierarchy. The skills and abilities related to a particular role must include and also transcend the skills of all of the previous levels. That is, a teacher must have and exhibit the skills and abilities of a coach, a caretaker/guide and more. On the other hand, a guide may not possess or need to exhibit the skills and abilities of a coach.

Link 2 network marketing Training

2010-03-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

Yahoo search yielded the following results :

http://in.yhs.search.yahoo.com/search?p=network+marketing+training&ei=UTF-8&fr=ond_onnetwork_ti_netpcdial&partnerid=yhs-tata&YST_b=11

"Re usable learning objects " PDF

2009-12-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

Sanjay Talukdar has used the word , ' Re usable Learning Objects' in Training.

I google searched the same phrase. It threw up a lot of links. One is a 21 page PDF on ' Re usable learning objects.'A comprehensive study.

Link is here :

http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/56/07879649/0787964956.pdf

Go to the home page of this web site and see what is there available.

Training take aways : Day 1 : 30.Nov.09. Kolkota

2009-11-30T09:09:00.001-08:00

SAMIRAN LAHIRI
-----------------------

Explain the advantages of Direct Short Term Gain versus indirect long term gain - of MLM selling.

Speak the common man languge of their father, mother and surroundings. Ensure that your smart guide is going to talk a little different from the rest of his people.

Asking some one Rs.50,000/- cheque, you are not respecting his other committments. He's not living, just to pay your insurance premiums. He has other things too .
If he is not ready at the point, ask for leads.

Do net search on ' Reverse Innovation'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SANJAY TALUKDAR
--------------------------------------------------

" Every trainer has his own /her own challenge area - which , only he/she knows. What is yours ? This differs from trainer to trainer. "

" What is that one thing, if I can deliver, that the trainee is going to remember for the next 5 years ? And feel, it's been the most useful take away ? Strive to deliver that one thing, in every training, to every participant! "

DE BRIEF AFTER GROUP PRESENTATIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------------

In a group presentation, never focus your attention on one person, and switch off others.

No one goes and appreciates rural people. You be the one who goes and appreciates them, a genuine one, at every given chance.

MY OWN GROUP DE-BRIEF
---------------------------------------

No one understands , how many zeros are there in Rs.16,000 crores. Avoid hard numbers. Instead, focus on their benefits.

" When ever you address a segement, always give living examples of that segement and their success stories. If the person is present, there is nothing like it. "

Understand the ' pain area' of each prospective segment. Pain area for house wife : Identity Crisis.

Do not present your company, in the way , your CEO presents it to share holders or venture capitalists.

People have I-POD LC - 6 types of fears.

I = illness.
P = Poverty.
O = Old Age.
D = Death.
L = Loss of Loved One.
C = Criticism.

Pain area of the urban teacher is - catching up with the Joneses.

Book recommendation : " Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid " by C.K.Prahlad.

* Net Search : Bloom's Taxanomy.

After every 40 minutes, public goes dull. Be aware of these blind spots.

* Net Search : " Re usable learning objects " .

What are the assests for a trainer ? Number of ice breakers, Energizers, training content modules that one has developed.

As a trainer, how many assets have you built for yourself, in the last 6 months ? None !

Do write faculty guide for your energizers, role plays and slides. This will become your assets in your future training sessions.

Session Plan : Copy all PPT s into JPG s. paste them into MS WORD. Then, write faculty guide.

3 types of Role plays : Show case role play (2 people), Triad Role Play ( 3 people) and group role play.

Your ' scoping for the program ' dircetly depends on the faculty notes you prepare.

Your style is unique as a trainer. Your faculty guide evolves with you, over a period of time.

Problem Solving Exrx : Reaction Envelops

2009-07-02T00:39:00.000-07:00

Reaction Envelopes

Stephanie Ruder, one of our readers who is a coach and a trainer living in Switzerland, recently sent me an email about the importance of people taking personal responsibility. Here's an adaptation of the Envelopes framegame that Stephanie may find useful in helping her participants explore this important concept.

Purpose

To explore alternative reactions to everyday hassles.

Time

30-90 minutes

Supplies

Hassle Envelopes. Write a common hassle on the front side of an envelope. (Example: Stuck in a traffic jam.) Prepare as many different envelopes as there are teams.
Response cards. Four index cards for each team.
Pens or pencils
Timer
Whistle

Flow

Organize participants. Divide participants into 4 to 6 teams of 3 to 7 members. Teams should be approximately the same size.

Brief participants. Explain the concept of taking personal responsibility. Although we cannot control what is happening in the real world, we can change our reactions to the event. For example, when we are stuck in a traffic jam with cars crawling at a very slow speed because of a highway accident, we can use the slowed-down pace to make telephone calls to our friends. The secret is to stop feeling like a victim and change our beliefs and assumptions and find some meaningful opportunity in the situation that confronts us.

Create some examples. Ask participants to brainstorm alternative reactions to getting stuck in traffic. Follow up by asking participants to give other examples of everyday hassles. Take one of them and challenge participants to generate positive reactions to these negative events.

Distribute the supplies. Give one hassle envelope and four index cards to each team.

Conduct the first round. Ask team members to discuss the hassle on the envelope they received and to identify how they could respond to it in several different positive ways. Tell team members to write short sentences describing these reactions on an index card. Announce a time limit of 3 minutes and encourage the teams to work rapidly. Explain that the teams' reaction cards will eventually be evaluated in terms of both the number and the quality of the positive alternatives.

Conclude the first round. After 3 minutes, blow the whistle and announce the end of the first round. Ask each team to place its reaction card (the index card with its positive alternatives) inside the envelope and pass the envelope, unsealed, to the next team. Warn the teams not to open the envelope they receive.

Conduct the second round. Ask teams to read the hassle on the envelope they received, but not to look at the alternatives listed on the reaction card inside. Tell the teams to list positive alternatives related to the hassle on a new reaction card. After 3 minutes, blow the whistle and ask teams to place the response card inside the envelope and pass it to the next team.

Conduct more rounds. Conduct two more rounds of the game using the same procedure.

Conduct the evaluation round. Start the fifth round just as you did the previous rounds. However, tell teams that they do not have to write any more positive alternatives to the hassle specified on the front of the card. Instead, teams must evaluate and synthesize the four reaction cards inside the envelope. They do this by reviewing the different cards, selecting the top five positive alternatives, and writing them on a flip chart paper.

Debrief the participants. Assemble participants back in their seats. Invite them to briefly comment on the patterns among the positive alternatives. Also ask them to discuss the similarities that can be found among positive alternatives related to different hassles. Ask the participants to identify the hassle for which it was the most difficult to come up with suitable alternatives.

Carry out follow-up activities. Collect all the envelopes and cards for use as examples during future sessions.

Adjustments

Not enough time? Announce tight time limits. For example, allow only two minutes for each round. Play only two rounds of the game before conducting the evaluation round. Eliminate the evaluation round. After evaluation, proceed directly to debriefing.

Too few players? Conduct the game among individual players. All you need is a group of three participants. If necessary, play the game twice, using two different sets of hassle envelopes.

Too many players? Divide the large group of participants into three or more subgroups. Have each subgroup divide itself into teams and play the game in a parallel fashion.

Questioning Technique ( TF)

2009-06-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

Although providing employees with answers to their problems often may be the most efficient way to get things done, the short-term gain is overshadowed by long-term costs. By taking the expedient route, you impede direct reports' development, cheat yourself of access to some potentially fresh and powerful ideas, and place an undue burden on your own shoulders. When faced with an employee's problem, you can respond in a much more value-adding way: by asking the right questions, help her find the best solution herself. We aren't talking about asking just any questions but, rather, employing questions that inspire people to think in new ways, expand their range of vision, and enable them to contribute more to the organization.

Questions packing this kind of punch are usually open-ended â€” they're not looking for a specific answer. Often beginning with "Why," "How," or "What do you think about...," they are questions that set the stage for subordinates to discover their own solutions, increasing their competence, their confidence, and their ownership of results.

Here is a framework for asking the right questions at the right time to create clarity and agreement around issues and to empower your direct reports.

Ask the right kind of questions

The word "empower" gets bandied about so much that one could be forgiven for overlooking what it actually means: to imbue someone with power, to instill in the individual a sense of his own strength and efficacy. "When the boss asks for a subordinate' s ideas, he sends the message that they are good â€” perhaps better than his. The individual gains confidence and becomes more competent," says Michael J. Marquardt, a professor of human resources and international affairs at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) and author of Leading with Questions: How Leaders Find the Right Solutions by Knowing What to Ask (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).

But an empowering question does more than convey respect for the person to whom it's posed. It actually encourages that person's development as a thinker and problem solver, thereby delivering both short-term and long-term value: the short-term value of generating a solution to the issue at hand and the long-term value of giving subordinates the tools to handle similar issues in the future independently.

A disempowering question, on the other hand, undercuts the confidence of the person to whom it's asked and sabotages her performance. Often, these types of questions focus on failure or betray that the questioner has an agenda.

The most effective and empowering questions create value in one or more of the following ways:

1. They create clarity: "Can you explain more about this situation?"
2. They construct better working relations: Instead of "Did you make your sales goal?" ask, "How have sales been going?"
3. They help people think analytically and critically: "What are the consequences of going this route?"
4. They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways: "Why did this work?"
5. They encourage breakthrough thinking: "Can that be done in any other way?"
6. They challenge assumptions: "What do you think you will lose if you start sharing responsibility for the implementation process?"
7. They create ownership of solutions: "Based on your experience, what do you suggest we do here?"

Create a culture that embraces questions

To foster a culture in which questions are widely used to create value, begin by letting direct reports know that you value their queries. "For example, tell them to bring their best questions into their performance appraisal," Marquardt says. These might be questions they posed in the past year that led to new ideas and solutions for the company or questions they would like to ask you during the review to boost their own effectiveness and that of the unit or team.

Just as important, it is up to you as the leader to model the question-asking approach so that your team, in turn, will employ it with their own reports. For example, you can track how well the team is working together by asking questions like:

* We've been working together for three hours today; what did we do best as a team?

* What enabled us to be successful in coming up with an innovative strategy?

* How can we ask better questions?

* How can we apply what we are learning to other parts of our work?

* What leadership skills helped us succeed today?

What you get by asking
While going into your team or one-on-one meetings with a list of questions rather than points to be made takes some thoughtful planning, the payoff can be huge. Marquardt experienced this himself when he was executive director of the former Arlington, Va.â€“based World Center for Development and Training.

He asked each of his direct reports, "What one idea and/or strategy that we are not currently implementing do you believe would best contribute to the success of our company?" The responses this question generated were amazing, he says. "We came up with a marketing strategy that I had never considered before and added a couple of new services for our customers," including a short-term certificate program and courses that blended classroom and online learning. As a result of his query, the group also examined new markets in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia and developed local partners in those regions. And because these were their ideas, Marquardt's direct reports were committed to putting them into action. "They accepted responsibility in designing, marketing, and implementing the new programs," he says.

By leading your team meetings with questions, you will also help eliminate ambiguity and create alignment around issues. "Most groups are not aligned when they come together," Marquardt says. "When a leader goes into a group and states a problem, everyone assumes that they understand the problem in the same way. In reality, that is false." If, for example, a product isn't selling, you may assume that it's because of a flawed marketing program. But what if others think it's a flawed product? You won't learn that without asking, "What do you think the issue is?" Without consensus on the problem, you can't define a strategy to address it. Asking such questions enables team members to understand one another's perspectives and agree on what they are dealing with.

What not to ask

Marquardt points out that, contrary to the business truism "There are no bad questions," several types of questions can have a negative effect on subordinates.

Questions focused on why a person did not or cannot succeed force subordinates to take a defensive or reactive stance and strip them of their power. Such questions shut down opportunities for success and do not allow people to clarify misunderstandings or achieve goals. These questions include:

* Why are you behind schedule?

* What's the problem with this project?

* Who isn't keeping up?

* Don't you know any better than that?

Leading questions seek a specific answer, one that puts the person being asked the question in a negative light, pushes through the questioner's agenda, or exerts social pressure to force agreement. Among their many downsides, leading questions such as the following inhibit direct reports from answering candidly and stifle honest discussion:

* You wanted to do it by yourself, didn't you?

* Don't you agree that John is the problem here?

* Everyone else on the team thinks John is the problem. What about you?

While closed questions, which require specific answers, can be a good way to open and close a conversation, a whole string of them in a row, such as the following, will make subordinates feel they are being interrogated:

* Is this a good time to talk?

* What time is the meeting?

* How many people are coming?

* Who else will be there?

* When will the report be ready?

Their success is your success

As you strive to lead by asking rather than telling, remember that leaders are only as successful as the people who report to them. By asking your direct reports the right questions, you can help them develop their ability to solve problems, their creativity, and their resourcefulness. Not only will their greater strength in these areas reflect well on you, but it also will enable them to better help you and the whole unit when fresh challenges arise.

"You don't have to have the answer to ask a great question," says Marquardt. "A great question will ultimately get an answer."

Telling Ain't Training- int with Harold Stolovitch

2009-05-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

An Interview with Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps

by George Hall

Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps share a common passion - developing people.

Their latest book, Telling Ain't Training, tackles the three universal
and persistent questions of the profession - how do learners learn, why
do learners learn, and how do you make sure learning sticks? The
authors describe the practices they have found most effective and offer
a universal model that can provide instructors with instantly
successful learning sessions. The book, published in 2002 with the
International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), is ASTD's
best-selling publication to date.
George Hall (GH): What role should trainers play in the learning process?

Harold
Stolovitch (HS): Unfortunately, many trainers see themselves as "high
priests of content," and that their mission is to be sure that their
content is presented in a pure manner. This role is very different from
the role we advocate - the trainer as the learner's coach, the catalyst
for change within the learner. The key to training, developing, and
growing someone is not just an information transmission of accurate
content - that is insufficient. It is much more and much greater. The
key idea in our book is that you are transforming a person, and as a
result of the intervention you make, they no longer are who they were
before you started.

GH: How did the "high priest of content" role become so common?

HS:
It is based on the Master/Apprentice model. In other words, the belief
that people who know something are able to form those who do not know
something. In business and industry, trainers are often selected
because they are masters of a craft or content; they are experts. The
assumption is that if they know how to do it, they can train others to
become proficient. So, their respect and authority come from the
content, from what they know and know how to do. They focus on
transmitting this to novices.

This
sort of "transmitting" is simply insufficient. When you just provide
information, you lose the feedback loop. Transmitting is like a radio
play. Our hearing is very selective. We hear partially and learn
partially and often inaccurately. Our hearing is biased by our prior
knowledge. So, transmission ends up as a confused, one-way street. When
we assume the "high priest" of our content or work role, there is no
way we can know what, if anything, has been acquired and to what extent
it has been assimilated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Learner Centered and Performance- Based
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
GH: What are the most important practices that empower the instructional process?

HS:
The most important practices can be summed up in two terms:
learner-centered and performance- based. What we do has to be focused on
and wrapped around the learner; otherwise it doesn't make any sense.
The fact that you gave the learner something has little value if they
can't do what is required with what you gave them. Performance- based
implies that they have to be able to do it and demonstrate that they
can do it. That's why our mantra for training is learner-centered and
performance- based.

Erica
Keeps (EK): In our research and practice, we have found much of the
training you see in organizations today is instructor-centered and
content-based. This type of training employs the "high priest" analogy
that Harold referred to earlier. We advocate a model that is really a
flip from the instructor being the center of the universe to the
learner being the center. We focus on "performance- based" as compared
to "what is the content."

GH: What beliefs or practices harm
the instructional process?

HS:
One counter-productive belief is "I told you, therefore you know." The
fact that I told you doesn't mean that you know; yet we often use this
with our children. The emphasis here is more on the stimulus rather
than the response. With many of the so-called "Professional Training
Courses," the emphasis is placed on the technique the instructor uses.
Techniques are supposed to "trigger" learning. A heavily
instructor-centered approach, however, places too much focus on what I,
as a trainer, should do rather than what the learner should do.

Telling
alone has never been satisfactory, unless you scream FIRE and point to
the door. In other words, learners will learn from anything if the
"heat" is great enough. There will always be a few avid learners - the
ones who sit at the front and take notes and are very excited. Avid
learners can learn despite the instructor. But under normal
circumstances, and particularly in a workplace setting where people who
do jobs have to train, it never makes sense just to pour content into
their heads.

EK:
Another counter-productive belief focuses attention on the somewhat
natural separation between the learner and the instructor instead of
focusing on the inter-relationships between the two. Oddly enough, many
people have been taught to present while standing in a 9-foot square
box, the instructor's area. Learners are taught to remain in their
area. There is almost a magic line that should not be crossed. We
believe that the "magic line" approach is counter-productive to the way
we want to engage our learners and have a continuing dialogue with
them.

HS: When I went to secondary school, for
example, I had Masters who wore black gowns and were on a stage. There
was a very great separation between the learner and the instructor.
When the Master stepped away from that "separate" role, interesting
things began to happen. For example, to excite us about Latin poetry,
our teacher said that if we translated all the poetry, he would let us
read "naughty" Latin poems. All of a sudden - we all wanted to read.
So, after this barrier was broken down, there was an initiation of real
dialogue - "Ooo, what does this mean?" "What does that mean?" We all
wanted to learn then. We drove the teacher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Compensating for Learner Deficiencies
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
GH:
In your book, you mentioned, that "Three major factors influence how
much and how well we learn: ability, prior knowledge, and motivation.
How can trainers compensate for learner deficiencies in these areas?

EK:
Let's start with ability. We compensate for the lack of ability by
simplifying and then providing the opportunity to practice in a
supportive manner. We provide lots of feedback, give them
reinforcement, and where necessary, corrective feedback that gets them
back on track.

If
motivation is lacking, we add value to the learning task. In other
words, we build a positive environment that affects the mood; we
modulate confidence, making sure they understand the impact of what
they are learning, and the perceived value. We try to keep it at just
the right level - mood and confidence level. If people are
over-confident, negative things can happen: they can screen out or
tune out or think, "I've done that." In contrast, if learners are
under-confident, they may be too fearful or even freeze up.

Finally,
to compensate for the lack of prior knowledge, we can provide
prerequisite training, use meaningful analogies, and build in concrete
examples to which learners can easily relate. These ideas represent
just some of the many possibilities.

GH: How can trainers apply the learner-centered model you
recommend?

EK:
To adopt a learner-centered model, you need a continuous dialogue and
conversation with your learners. You begin by asking questions of the
learners and raising questions in them. Either draw on their needs or
create needs that they didn't even realize that they had. This
is part of establishing that "rationale" and the "readiness" to learn.
Next, you focus on meeting those needs. You provide a constant stream
of challenging activities, continually verify performance, and provide
feedback. Your measure of success is your learner's success. Success,
in this context, is not about you or a "magic" number of hours learners
spend in training.

HS:
I'm writing a chapter for a book, right now, in which we talk about
this very issue. In practice, companies establish training groups to
get people to be able to learn and perform. Once you have a training
group that has been around for a long time, however, its prime mission
becomes one of "survival." So, what they do is produce more training.
They "train" their management to accept this as their measure of
success: How many people did we train? How many hours?

GH: Are these types of trainers trapped by their own metrics? Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy?

HS:
Trapped, yes, and to a certain extent, they may like it that way. In
automotive dealerships, for example, you are often dealing with
anywhere from 75 to 400 percent annual turnover in salespeople. Such
high rates of turnover, however, create a wonderful "market" or demand
for training. Consequently, your job as trainer is now secure. What is
the incentive for "trainers" to solve the turn-over problem? You might
put yourself out of business.

EK:
This is the same industry that often measures what we do for them in
terms of the number of units we produce, because that's the only way
they know how to measure success. For example, you can build a job aid
that may only take up one page, but it replaces a technical manual that
might be 37 pages. However, when management looks at the two, it
appears as if you had accomplished more work with the longer one.
Management may reject the tool that will enable people to perform
effectively and efficiently and prefer a technical manual, which nobody
will ever read. It should be the other way around. It should be that
truly helpful things are brilliantly simple rather than weighty and
complex.

The "Universals" of Learning

GH: Can you describe the universal model in your book, which can be used to structure any learning session?

HS:
The five-step model comes out of research on learning. There is a lot
of research on learning but in our model, we have extracted what I call
the "universals. " They are simple. If learners know why they are
learning something, and that "why" rationale is credible and meaningful
and valued by them, then the probability of learning increases. If they
know "what" is required of them, the same is true. If learners have
opportunities to respond, to engage (particularly mentally) with the
learning content and to receive feedback (directly confirming or
correcting their responses and are rewarded for it), the probability of
learning will often be increased.

What is nice about this model is that it is
versatile - you can apply it to new situations or even "retrofit" it to
an existing course by breaking the existing course into viable chunks
or modules. For example, if an existing course or one of its modules is
missing a rationale, you provide it; an objective, you give it; if it
is missing the practice components or response opportunities, you add
it, etc. It is a universal model because you can use it with any type
or age of learner population, with any number of learners, with any
content, any context, and with any medium. It is absolutely applicable
to e-learning.

GH: The "guiding principles" of your
book include - (1) Start with the learner and never lose focus; (2)
Provide training sessions that are structured on learning research by
developing conversational dialogues, fun exercises, and challenges.
What inspired you to adopt these as your guiding principles?

HS:
We adopted these principles simply because they work. We are dedicated
to the principles derived from learning research rather than hype and
enthusiasm. You know all the hype and enthusiasm that there has been
over delivery methods, particularly with e-learning. Before e-learning,
video based training was all the rage. In reality, both of these
approaches do not necessarily lead trainers to focus squarely on the
learner. "Learner-centered and performance- based" is our guiding
mantra, regardless of delivery means. Many organizations are caught up
in the hype and enthusiasm, and it is our job to remain dedicated to
our guiding principles, to keep people focused on what the requirements
are, and to get the right results.

EK:
Exactly. Learning is an intelligent and enjoyable conversation using
the application of what we have presented in Telling Ain't Training. We
view training as being like an accordion - expand or contract the
application of various elements, depending on how much time you have,
the relative importance, the impact of what you are training people to
do, the size of your group, and a number of other variables.

For
example, a learner analysis may just consist of a phone call with a
couple of learners from your target population, or it could be a
comprehensive, across-the-board learner analysis. What is important is
that there are certain steps that we never skip. In other words, we are
bound and determined to uphold our process, our values, and our guiding
principles.

Harold D. Stolovitch is Professor
Emeritus of Instructional and Performance Technology at the Université
de Montréal and Clinical Professor of Human Performance at Work at the
University of Southern California. He has written almost 200 articles,
research reports, book chapters and books. Stolovitch is past president
of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Harold
D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps are principals of HSA Learning and
Performance Solutions LLC. Keeps was a corporate training director for
two large American organizations and was a faculty member ofUniversity
of Michgan's Executive Education Center. Keeps and Stolovitch are
co-editors of the award-winning Handbook of Human Performance
Technology.

Interviewer

George Hall is an MBA graduate of the Marshall School of Business at
the University of Southern California. He teaches in the College of
Business Administration at the University of Central Florida and the
University of Phoenix. He can he reached at geohall@eudoramail. com.

6 phases of de-briefing

2008-07-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

Six Phases of Debriefing

People don't learn from experience; they learn from reflecting on their experience.

I firmly believe this principle and keep preaching it to everyone. To me, all experiential learning activities (simulations games, roleplays, outdoor adventures, and other such things) merely provide an excuse for debriefing sessions.

You must conduct a debriefing discussion to help your participants reflect on their experiences, relate them to the real world, discover useful insights, and share them with each other. Debriefing also helps you to wind down the learning activity, reduce negative reactions among the participants, and increase insights.

A major dilemma in debriefing is maintaining a balance between structure and free flow. I suggest that you prepare several questions before the debriefing session. During actual debriefing, encourage and exploit spontaneous comments from the participants. If the conversation degenerates into a stream-of-consciousness meandering, fall back on your prepared list of questions.

I use a six-phase model to structure debriefing questions. Here are some guidelines for each phase of this model.

Phase 1: How Do You Feel?

This phase gives the participants an opportunity to get strong feelings and emotion off their chest. It makes it easier for them to be more objective during the later phases.

Begin this phase with a broad question that invites the participants to get in touch with their feelings about the activity and its outcomes. Encourage them to share these feelings, listening actively to one another in a nonjudgmental fashion.

Phase 2: What Happened?

In this phase, collect data about what happened during the activity. Encourage the participants to compare and contrast their recollections and to draw general conclusions during the next phase.

Begin this phase with a broad question that asks the participants to recall important events from the training activity. Create and post a chronological list of events. Ask questions about specific events.

Phase 3: What Did You Learn?

In this phase, encourage the participants to generate and test different hypotheses. Ask the participants to come up with principles based on the activity and discuss them.

Begin this phase by presenting a principle and asking the participants for data that supports or rejects it. Then invite the participants to offer other principles based on their experiences.

Phase 4: How Does This Relate To The Real World?

In this phase, discuss the relevance of the activity to the participants' real-world experiences.

Begin with a broad question about the relationship between the experiential learning activity and events in the workplace. Suggest that the activity is a metaphor and ask participants to offer real-world analogies.

Phase 5: What If?

In this phase, encourage the participants to apply their insights to new contexts. Use alternative scenarios to speculate on how people's behaviors would change.

Begin this phase with a change scenario and ask the participants to speculate on how it would have affected the process and the outcomes of the activity. Then invite the participants to offer their own scenarios and discuss them.

Phase 6: What Next?

In this phase, ask the participants to undertake action planning. Ask them to apply their insights from the experiential activity to the real world.

Begin this phase by asking the participants to suggest strategies for use in future rounds of the activity. Then ask the participants how they will change their real-world behavior as a result of the insights gained from the activity.

from :

http://thiagi.com