Posted by Melanie in 
Team Building Debunked!
Recently I had a request for a management team get together to motivate and inspire the team.
When I met with the prospective client, it clearly turned out that there was absolutely no reason to run the training event other than as a reward. Now, that can be a valid reason for an event to run, but if that’s the case, what you want is a different solution than training.
Personally the feedback I receive from clients and participants is centred around being inspirational. It’s not that I set out to be that. It’s just how I operate as a trainer. I certainly don’t jump around the front of the room and get people standing on chairs and shouting out. I leave that to far more capable “edu-tainers”.
I have no doubt that the prospective client found someone who would take his budget funds and run a motivational event. It’s just not my gig. I also believe training is about development of skills, knowledge and attitudes – not making people feel good for a short while and have a warm memory to reflect upon.
Which brings me to the point I wanted to make – training is often not the solution!
Heresy from a trainer, perhaps. Yet well argued in this article about the team-building culture around training. http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_TeamBuilding_Art.htm
In my book, I’m happy to train anyone – where I believe there is a training need and I can add value by working the solution.
2012 Impact on Learning
The storms of economic turmoil have not passed us by in Australia and the issues in Europe in particular continue to reverberate strongly.
It is considered in certain quarters that Australia is in recession albeit a soft one although the balance is precarious.
From an L&D perspective, the question remains - how can we continue to develop staff and leadership skills in an environment of continuing financial restriction?
Money, of course, is not always the issue with providing training and development opportunities.
In future sessions we will look at some of the low-cost training methods which can provide impact on business capability through developing staff and leaders.
How To Write Better Goals
The best way to get ahead and have a better year than the last one (or a better month than the last one) is to have a sense of direction. Goals are the way to make that happen. Yet many people are not aware of how to write empowering goals that talk to your brain, thereby ensuring your subconscious is working for you to look for ways to achieve those goals.
In this short session you’ll learn what beleive are the four key elements of hwo to write a goals to increase your chances of success.
How to Prioritise Your Workload
One of the BIG issues I see people dealing with in managing their time and getting more done is the lack of assigning any priority to tasks.
In one case I noted someone who went religiously through their task list getting things done, which was great, but there was no order or system involved. As a result, many of the items she was working on were useful but rarely would she be hitting her big tasks and projects. Her method was to simply brainstorm a list of what she had to do, then start doing it. As something would crop up it would go to the bottom of the list.
If you really want to achieve more of the important things in life, you have to plan for them.
This video takes you through the prioritisation method using the Urgent/Important matrix. With this matrix at hand, in seconds you can make an assessment of whether what is on your list or occurring at any time is what you need to be doing now. Is it urgent? Is it important? Is it both? Is it neither?
Urgent
Do it if it has immediate consequences and high risk from inaction. If it is urgent for someone else but not for you, it might be an option to suggest alternate solutions for them or to train them to handle such things themselves.
Important
This is usually something with a longer deadline or a goal or project that needs to be attended to over time. Chunk it down and start actioning small tasks each week to make progress – before it becomes urgent or a lost cause.
Both
No choice – just get it done and that might mean putting other tasks aside. This would happen regularly for example when I was in the public service and the Minister needed information prepared before Parliament sat or reporters turned up for a sound bite.
Neither
Why are you doing it??? Bored? Stressed and needing to chill out? Spare time on your hands? Things in this category might be browsing the internet, finessing a presentation to make it look prettier, We can usually justify spending time in this quadrant, but if we were really honest with ourselves, it’s not value time spent. Work on something else.
What is Mentoring?
Mentoring has a long and ancient history. It is based on a story in Greek mythology. When Odysseus went to the Trojan War, he appointed his good friend Mentor as a role model, guardian and adviser to his son Telemachus. Later in the Odyssey, the goddess Athena, disguised as Mentor (Mentes), becomes more actively involved in the young man’s life, encouraging him to seek his father, introducing him to the network of heroes and fighting beside him and Odysseus to restore order (Powell in NAWE 2000 has an interesting feminist analysis of this).
From these origins, mentoring is used to refer to a relationship in which an older more experienced person acts as a guide or a model for a less experienced colleague.
Mentoring is part of all our lives. We learn and take advice from parents, teachers, older friends. Mentoring has been significant for many successful people in all walks of life. But in recent years mentoring has emerged in many organisations as a formal mechanism to assist employees achieve their full potential. (McKenzie 1995, NAWE 2000)
Mentoring relationships can be dyadic (or one-to-one) or can relate to a Socratic model (one mentor with a group of mentees) or can take place within a peer group.
A definition of mentoring today is provided by Shea, “Mentoring is a fundamental form of human development where one person invests time, energy and personal know-how in assisting the growth and ability of another person” (1997, p.3).
Essentially all mentoring relationships feature two main roles: the mentor and the mentee. Many other different terms can be used for these two roles, but these have become widely accepted.
A mentor is more experienced, and often in a higher position in an organisation. The mentor is one who is explicitly willing to assist others in developing their career.
A mentee is a term used for someone who is less experienced and seeking guidance in career development. The mentee must keep in touch with the mentor and feel free to speak openly, ask for guidance, discuss the relationship and seek advice on how to approach problems.
The mentor’s role is that of a trusted adviser and supportive guide, encouraging the mentee in effective strategies for accomplishing career objectives. A mentor may also act as a teacher or tutor, helping the mentee learn organisational and professional skills and providing insights about how to ‘decode’ the corporate culture. At times, the mentor may also perform the role of supporter, providing insights from experience to help the mentee manage difficult situations. An effective mentor keeps in touch with the mentee, suggests appropriate resources and encourages the mentee to establish or seek out professional or supportive networks.
Both mentor and mentee must trust and respect each other. The relationship must be based on clear principles and shared values.
While informal mentoring has long been a feature of many work environments, formal mentoring has only recently emerged as a staff development strategy. What are the reasons for this?
Work in general has become more complex, with more rapid turnover of staff in many organisations, so that mentoring is required. Perhaps more importantly, the hitherto unrecognised trajectories of power within workplaces have been identified, and attention drawn to those who through gender, race or other reasons may not have equal access to senior positions.
Formal mentoring occurs when an institution takes a decision to implement a scheme of mentoring which will have formal recognition within the institution even if there are no tangible rewards for being involved as a mentor. Formal mentoring has emerged when there is executive commitment for it and champions ready to argue for such a scheme.
A formal mentoring program extends the mentoring experience to those who may not readily find informal mentors or who would not otherwise consider it.
Formal mentoring can lead to a more supportive work environment. Interestingly formal mentoring may also lead to more effective informal mentoring. If the formal experience has been good for mentee and mentor and they have learned skills, they are more likely to mentor other people. In this way, lessons learnt from one program can extend to the whole organisation.
Many higher education institutions now organise more structured mentoring schemes, to ensure that all members of the institution have equal opportunity to participate.
Formal mentoring schemes have a clear rationale; measurable goals and outcomes; mechanisms for assessment and selection of both mentors and mentees in place and accountability, since results are monitored.
The most significant variable to any mentoring scheme is the quality of the relationship with the mentor.
Source: Women & Mentoring in Higher Education, C Chesterman
Grants and Scholarships And More
Calling all Regional and Rural people. Here is an outstanding opportunity to apply for a comprehensive and proven Leadership Development program. It’s run over 17 months and is not for the faint-hearted but looks like a brilliant program to enable you to build your leadership skills in ways which will benefit the rural and regional communities of Australia. Get all the info here: http://www.rural-leaders.com.au/ – click on the ad or the ‘Programs’ tab. Hurry – applications close 31 July. Hint – see if you can contact past attendees for tips on applying great way to network as well.
If you’re after something a little more environmental… Community Action Grants are open. They aim to help community groups take action to conserve and protect their natural environment. Proposals are sought from environmental, Indigenous, Landcare, Coastcare and sustainable agriculture community groups for grants of between $5000 and $20 000 (GST exclusive) to take action to help protect and conserve Australia’s environment. What can the grant achieve? Local activities such as tree planting, re-vegetation, dune rehabilitation, field days, improving land management practices, and recording and use of traditional ecological knowledge. For full details see: http://www.nrm.gov.au/cag/index.html. Closes 31 August.
Telecross volunteers needed for Dubbo. A potentially life saving Red Cross service, Telecross provides a daily phone-call to check on the well-being and safety of elderly people living alone. Regional Community Services Coordinator, Kerry Palmer says “The daily phone call from Telecross helps provide peace of mind to older people and their families. It breaks down the sense of isolation many elderly people feel and allows them to maintain their independence for as long as possible. The service is supported by volunteers who undertake to make one or two brief calls to clients between 8.00 and 9.00am each morning. Easy! If the client has not responded to the calls after two attempts, volunteers are trained to call staff at the Telecross office who then respond with a standard procedure. Volunteers are the backbone of all the services we deliver and without their commitment and support much of our work would not be possible”
What: Telecross Orientation and Training Session
When: Friday 16th July, 2010
Where: CWA Rooms, Dubbo
Bookings: Phone 6884 6061 or 1300 883 463
Welcome!
