Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Keep Change at Bay

An interesting topic came up during the October 9, ASTD Chapter meeting on Marketing Your Training. It was the topic of change and how we can keep our projects on track. Anytime we, in the learning and development field, are working on a new project we run across changes that sometimes are never ending. Change is something that may not be completely eliminated, but it can be controlled. Part of project management teaches us to “nip it in the bud” before it occurs. One technique I have used is to create a plan of action that is approved by those closely involved with the project (stakeholders.) It helps to create this plan of action with input by the decision-making stakeholders directly involved with the project.

You can learn more about how to manage change while working on a project during the Central Iowa Chapter ASTD quarterly event "Project Management for Training Designers and Human Resource Development" held on November 6, 2009.

See www.astdiowa.org for details on the workshop.

In the mean time, here are some questions we'd like to discuss with your comments posted below:
· What are some of the techniques you use to help keep your projects on track?
· What makes these techniques successful or why are these techniques not successful?

Please feel free to add your comments about this topic.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Be Excited! Project Mgmt Workshop on Nov. 6th!

These are the learning objectives of the half-day workshop from 8am-Noon on November 6th. Be sure to sign up and stay for the afternoon session, 12:30-4:30pm. It includes hands-on application, one-on-one coaching by a project management expert, and breakout sessions to further develop on the skills from the morning session.

(Please note! Location has been changed to Tero International., 1840 NW 118th Street, Clive, IA 50325).

You are invited to leave your comments on this posting and share with us the objective you're most excited to learn and why.

1. Define your training and development project using commonly used project management terms, concepts, and principles

2. Reconcile popular models of project management, instructional systems design, product development, and human performance technology to inform you on your unique training and development project life cycle

3. Plan your training and development project using a robust project planning procedure

4. Select and apply proven project management tools to your training and development projects based on your projects unique needs

5. Assess your training and development projects’ health using the Seven Keys to Success

6. Draft an action plan for your training and development project

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Step It Up! The Extras from September 25th Workshop

Included in this posting:

  1. Favorite Quotes
  2. Other Session Notes
  3. Career Factbook from Bersin

Favorite Quotes

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. (1 vote) Eleanor Roosevelt

You cannot know a person until you crawl into their skin and walk in their shoes. Author Unknown

What is insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. (6 votes) Albert Einstein

Respect one another. Don’t expect from one another. Author Unknown

A problem is an opportunity in work clothes. Henry J Kaiser

Miracles occur in the unforeseen moments that even your imagination misses sometimes. Author Unknown

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (2 votes) Jesus (Matthew 7 vs 12 and Luke 6 vs 31), Wolfgang Mieder, echoed numerous times through history

A leader without followers is only taking a walk. (1 vote) Stever Williams

Help is not help until it is given, so turn your intentions to help into acts of help. We judge ourselves by our intentions, but others judge us by our actions. Lee J. Colan
(6 votes)

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. (2 votes) Hilary Cooper and George Carlin

Enjoy the journey, not the destination. (2 votes) Joel Osteen

A person’s a person, no matter how small. (4 votes) Theodor Seuss Geisel– Horton Hears a Who

There are only two ways of living your life. One as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. (2 votes ) Albert Einstein

The unexamined life is not worth living. (1 vote) Socrates

We don’t change as much as become more of who we already are. (8 votes) Marcus Buckingham

Life is the process of exchanging time for memories. Author Unknown

If you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time. Geary Rummler and Alan Brache

Great quotes from great leaders – 3 minute inspirational movie with music! http://www.greatquotesmovie.com/


Other session notes

Shared Ideas to Work More Strategically Despite the Challenges Present

· Look into a project management system to allocate resources
· Tie what we’re doing to the overall business strategy and view the business plan to align our activities
· Networking with other groups to build relationships and communicate why you’re there
· Have a leader in the performance function who is strategic and will “take the hits” that come with asking questions
· Finding the early wins
· Find out what business results are causing them pain

Team Ideas to Increase Business Acumen

· Subscribe to industry email update
· Network – use the casual environment
· Use the Harvard Review Case studies to sharpen strategic thinking skills
· Inviting guests to your meetings to help interpret the business data
· Leverage an opportunity to work together
· Job shadowing
· Industry certification (outside of Learning, HR) for the industry/field you support


Career Factbook from Bersin

Bersin research continues to contribute to the knowledge base of the field. This recently published Career Factbook is particularly helpful for plotting your course and learning about emerging trends.

See the document: http://www.bersin.com/uploadedFiles/Bersin/Website_(Pages)/Resources/Linda/062909_FB_CareerFactbook_JB_Final.pdf

Most notable to the workshop on Friday:

· Business Acumen is continuing to be development need for us and is essential to assist us in developing credibility

· Groundbreaking projects and the desire to work them shows as a key goal for managers, directors and senior executives, though notably senior execs have as top 3 goal to reduce their hours

· “Business in” projects are a path toward credibility. The “Learning and HR Out” projects even with a good plan tend to marginalize the department.



Please let me know where your internal client relationship triumphs and challenges are and what questions you have – it’s my favorite topic!

Still to come are electronic copies of slides and the tools/forms shared in the workshop.


Nancy Q. Smith