The Power Hour Blog

A recent survey by the CIPD found that 78% of public sector managers said they had less money to spend on training budgets in 2011 than the previous year – and the same percentage believed this budget would fall further in 2012. (Click HERE for the source article).

This is no doubt posing real challenges. As I have written in previous blogs, you can't just stop training people, but you can't carry on as before. Instead you have to think more creatively about HOW you spend you training budget. (My analogy with wrapping presents may be of interest here.) There was maybe a glimmer of hope in the speech David Cameron gave yesterday on 'popular capitalism' and the launch of the Cooperatives Bill, when he acknowledged that it should be easier for the public sector to use local (often cheaper) suppliers.

For example, our local school was quoted for line painting on the playground by an 'approved' supplier, yet an aquantaince of mine could have done the same thing for half the price. He has been in business for a long time....he just didn't have all the required licences, so couldn't be considered.

Power Hour provides quality training materials at just £30, but we have no public sector clients...possibly because we don't have an environmental policy or monitor the faiths of our employees. But what a great way to keep on training for a FRACTION of the budget. In my opinion, a more flexible approach can't come soon enough. Not only for the 'small' suppliers like me, but also for the end-users, who might be missing out unecessarily on training.

Yesterday I had a birthday present to wrap. A large cube shape. I had the wrapping paper...or so I thought. When I placed the present in the centre of the wrapping paper, it was clear that is wasn't big enough. There was a 2" gap, and no matter how much I pulled the paper, it was too big a gap to close.

As I prepare for the annual Christmas break, I find myself flipping between 'finishing off' this years tasks, and excitedly planning for 2012 - SOOO many ideas, I hardly know where to start!

So, in that strange period between Christmas and New year that no-one really knows what to do with, I've decided to set aside time for reflection and actual goal setting. All the business gurus tell us to have clear goals, and indeed you probably set one when you started your current job or business. But what happens when your business is up and running or you are established in your role? Are you too busy dealing with day-to-day decisions and and actually DOING the work? When was the last time you reviewed your goals? Are you still on course? Do they still meet the needs of your customers/organisation? Are they still relevant? Do you need new ones?

Almost everyone is familiar with SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound), and they can be very useful indeed. But what is your goals are not so easily defined? What if they are more personal? Well, you can still set goals...in a fashion. Defining a well-formed outcome can really help you to focus on what you want, why you want it, what will happen if you do/don't get it, and how you will know you have achieved it. They go beyond cold, hard stats and instead tap into the more emotional side of goal setting. Because of this, they tend to be something that you commit to more easily. Both types of goals are defined in detail here.

As Steven Covey states in his book 'The 7 habits of highly effectively people' - we all need to take time out occasionally to 'sharpen our saw'. So as we begin 2012, take an hour out to focus on what it is that you want to achieve. Review any old goals that you set yourself, and/or set yourself some new ones. Use the SMART criteria where you can, but why not also try defining a well-formed outcome. It may be the most worthwhile hour you have all year!

Good Luck

What makes a great meal?

• Is it the meat? 
• the seasonal vegetables? 
• the sauces? 
• the wine that accompanies it? 

What makes a great party?

• Is it the venue?
• the music?
• the food?
• the drink? 
• the company?

Or in both these cases, is it in fact the right combination?

What makes great training? And when I say 'great' I mean training that delivers real business results. Not 'just' a great trainer. Not 'just' a great workshop. Not 'just' great on-line resources. Not 'just' action planning. Not 'just' coaching.

Great (impactful, useful) training is a combination of many things. I was recently speaking to an independent trainer who uses Power Hour materials as PART of his service to one of his clients.

• He introduces a topic using a live Power Hour bite-size training session.
• He directs the group towards on-line and self-study resources that are available to them.
• He then meets the group again to reflect, and draw up some meaningful action plans.
• Then, he provides personal coaching to individuals to help them to apply their learning and make a difference.

This is having noticeable personal and measurable business results. Of course, everyone is delighted with the impact, including me who is providing just ONE of the elements that is bringing success.

So, what's you're combination for successful training?

Inspired by attending the CIPD conference this week, I've posted a blog on BusinessZone about the importance of building resilience as a person and as a business in order to succeed. You can read it here: Resilience in Business

Prior to stting up Power Hour, most of my experience as a trainer was in manufacturing, supply chain, construction and retail. Good, honest industries that have tight profit margins and rely on things happening in a predicatable manner. through this work I've been exposed to LEAN, TQM and JIT...tried and tested methods that deliver results in demanding environments where the difference between success and failure can be very small.

As I've moved into other arenas such as financial services, other service providers, telecommunications etc, I've noticed that for training at least, some of these principles still add value. 

Take Just-In-Time - the basic principle is that you don't hold stock, which reduces waste and the amount of storage space needed, thus reducing costs. It is about having “the right material, at the right time, at the right place, and in the exact amount” (Ryan Grabosky).

If we train people in the same way i.e. by providing them with the skills they need, at the time that they need them (not 3 months in advance), in a location that is realistic (such as their own working environment), and by the right amount (just enough for what they need to implement), then training has a very real and practical impact. It's all about transfer of learning - Give people what they need, when they need it and make sure that they can apply that learning quickly and hey presto - you see a difference.

Training for performance management is a great example of this - 3 months before the formal appraisals are due, train  people how to prepare for them. Two weeks before, train them how to run appraisals. It's fresh in the mind, the training is seen as relevant (so fewer people are likley to opt out) and it is immediately applicable to the business. 

OK, for some areas, this philosophy won't work.... with senior managers who need to develop 'ethical' leadership or learn political influencing for example, as it is almost impossible to identify when the next opportunity to apply the learning will occur. But for many people lower down the organisation, training can be planned in a 'just-in-time' way, and short training sessions, like Power Hour sessions, can really help to make the training manageable.

Why not check out our 22 topics to see which ones would add value 'just-in-time'?

By now, you are probably aware that Power Hour training has been designed first and foremost to give people basic skills in personal effectiveness, management and sales/service. So many people take on, or are promoted into a job without real training. This is a sad reflection on a businesses induction training - and if you need help with that then our friends at Keystone Development are highly recommended.

But the purpose of this blog is to highlight some of the mistakes that new managers make in the hope that forewarned is forearmed. So what are the typical problems?

And if you want further inspiration, we like these two blogs: The first is by Wesley Woods who addresses the problem of the unmotivated leader. The second is by Geoffrey Webb who offers some suggestions about why leaders aren't followed. 

So much to do, so little time! I often feel that there aren't enough hours in the day (like so many others). But do I really have so much to do? Someone recently pointed out that I, you and everyone else, have exactly the same amount of time, its one of life's great levellers, but some people manage to do so much more with it.

There are so many distractions today, and I know that I'm guitly of losing focus, or not knowing which of my many tasks to prioritise, so I flit from one thing to another. I'm a self-confessed 'Queen of Faff' sometimes! But, taking my own advice and Planning My Time does actually work....but then I begin to drift. It's not ALL about systems and tools - its also about attitude. There are Time Bandits out there, and this page by Debbie Stone of Fennel Solutions is well worth a read if you find that despite all of your best efforts, you're still not quite as productive as you might be.

...and if you find yourself being busy but not achieving very much, this excellent summary of a study into Focus and Energy by Bruch and Ghoshal, by Sheridan Webb at Keystone Development, is well worth a read. 

A few weeks ago I got my son's school report. I was very pleased with it and with all the effort he had put in throughout the year. However, I must especially commend his teacher who managed to come up with at least 30 different ways of telling us that our son talks a lot.

From 16 months old, he's been talking in sentences and he only stops when he's asleep. But although this can be wearing, it is how he learns. He genuinely is spongelike and takes in everything that he hears. He learns by asking questions, by providing a commentary on what he's doing, and by listening to other children. Of course an auditory learning style is not that uncommon, and I'm delighted that he hasn't been told to shut up in the classroom. To do so would be limiting his learning.

This is one of the key reasons Power Hour is a live training format. So far we have resisted the temptation to put our learning online. That's not to say that e-learning isn’t useful: Of course it can be incredibly useful for certain people and with certain topics.

However when people talk about flexible learning, all thoughts tend to be about online methods. But with most online learning you have a solitary experience. For those with a visual learning style it may work very well, but for those who are more auditory and like to talk, or those who are kinaesthetic and like to touch, feel and do, the impact is going to be limited.

So when planning development for an organisation, make sure that live training remains part of the mix. It may feel a bit old hat, it may not be trendy, but there's a reason that it has been around for as long as it has – and that is because unlike any other medium, live training allows you to engage with all of the learning styles not just one.

Recently I had coffee with someone I met through networking. We soon discovered a small group of mutual acquaintances and naturally we discussed our opinions of them. In most cases we had similar views but in one we had very different perceptions.

I had always found this particular person likeable, easy-going, and friendly. My friend however found them aloof, rude, and slightly offensive. I couldn't believe that we were talking about the same person! I began to re-evaluate all the contact I've had with them, whilst at the same time defending this person to my friend.

The fact is no one sees us exactly the same way as someone else does. We all have different personalities, likes, dislikes, values, beliefs, expectations, and feelings. we react to things in different ways, and we express ourselves differently. The thing is, we make judgements about other people based on our own values or 'moral compass', and this is why we often see people (and in particular their behaviour) quite differently.

it also explains why friendship groups develop – we naturally gravitate towards people who are 'like us'. People 'like us' are easy to understand, communicate with, and work alongside. It takes more effort to get the same results when working with someone who is quite different to us. In fact we often interpret different as difficult, simply because we don't instinctively understand them. It takes more effort to work with that person.

In our latest Power Hour - Handle Difficult People, we aim to help people understand those differences, and provide practical advice for getting around them, and having more productive relationships. The key as always, is understanding. If you understand what is driving someone's behaviour, you are more likely to be able to react to it appropriately, and get the best out of that person and that relationship.

if you want to find out more, why not download our free key points sheet for a little taster? And next time you find someone difficult, try to pinpoint exactly what it is about them that is particularly different from you, and make an effort to acknowledge and respond to those differences.