10May 2010 by Melanie Wass No Comments

State Government Conference

Learning
IPAA NSW (Institute of Public Administration) is hosting a one-day conference on THURSDAY July 22. The conference is expected to provide an exciting and topical program including keynote addresses from notable politicians, as well as national and international speakers. If you are interested in the cost of delivering services improving community views and service delivery outcomes improving transparency and accountability exploring the what happens if we have a change in government state and federal relationships then there is likely to be some useful and actionable information for you , not to mention the networking with colleagues in other departments and agencies. Share ideas, listen in … the early bird pricing closes soon. Find out more at www.nsw.ipaa.org.au I may even see you there!
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02Apr 2010 by Melanie Wass No Comments

Retention or Transfer of Learning – What’s up?

Learning
  Do people retain what they learn?   It’s a continual struggle to prove the value of learning let alone validate whether someone not only learned from training but are actually applying it. In my personal and professional experience of courses, workshops, seminars and other learning odes, most people learn but few actually do anything with the learning.   So retention of learning is one thing. What’s more important is transfer of learning to create change in behaviour, values, attitudes, skills, competency.   Matt Moore, cites the figures at around 10% transfer of knowledge and refers to a seminal work (Ford, J.K. & Weissbein, D.A. (1997). Transfer of training: an updated review and analysis. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 10(2), 22?41. doi:10.1111/j.1937-8327.1997.tb00047.x). Matt also suggests the following references to expand knowledge in…
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13Nov 2009 by Melanie Wass No Comments

Using Powerpoint Better

Learning
Death by PowerPoint View more documents from Alexei Kapterev. Have to say I, like many trainers, am guilty of using ppt as a prompt as much as a learning tool. Alexai and others serve to remind us that less can be more. It’s quick to knock up a ppt presentation. It’s more time consuming to put together a learner-focussed package using PowerPoint. Expediency isn’t everything. I’ll make a commitment to making my slide presentations more learner focussed next year.
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03Feb 2009 by Melanie Wass No Comments

Live and learn

Learning
Live life as if you will die tomorrow, learn, as if you will live forever                                                                                    Mahatma Gandhi In these times of negativity, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.  Under threat, our natural tendency is to withdraw, go quiet, protect. It's like hiding from the dragon until it has passed. That's no way to live if the dragon takes up residence nearby for a while!   In times of threat a better response may be to continue to live life fully, continue business fully, keep working fully ... just in a different way. One that is less expensive, more productive and just as beneficial if not moreso.   Just as importantly is to use the time to learn so you are better positioned when the  threat…
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28Jan 2009 by Melanie Wass No Comments

Action Learning

Learning
Wow! Dr Michael Marquardt is an undisputed king of Action Learning.  Recently he took a group of us through the process and theory behind conducting Action Learning and it was brilliant. I learned even more about the technique and found my skills grew over the time we spent together. Action Learning is a deceptively simple technique that is way more than just asking questions. It comprises a methodology which underpins the learning content and application of the learning.  When do you use Action Learning? Ideally when there is a problem to solve which has some immediacy or import. What's so special about it? It's real-time learning and skill enhancement. The use of a Coach through the process is critical to ensure the session doesn't turn into a general discussion or…
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