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Sunday 28 July 2013

Understanding the media – Top Tips for getting the coverage you want

It can be hard getting media visibility, yet free coverage for you and your company is invaluable for promoting you, your brand or a specific product or service you offer. Media coverage can either generate new business or drive it away. The challenge is not only how to get exposure but to ensure you get your key message across in the way you want.

We've put together ten tips to help you understand how to head off potential problems with journalists and get the results you want.

What the media is looking for not what you want A journalist is looking for new stories and fresh angles on old ones. Try to put yourselves in their shoes and think about what you can offer. Think of what is newsworthy - what is new, interesting, quirky etc and what unique insight you have Develop a strategy What is my aim? Why do I want to have a profile in the media and how will I gain from it? Then work out how that’s best achieved through the media in your areas Get to know the media in your area Which magazines/programmes/ papers cover what you do? Which is the most influential and therefore the most important to contact Get to know a journalist Understand who on a publication/programmes is responsible for writing about what you do and make efforts to become a useful source. As a result, they may well come back to you in the future Always have ideas Approach a journalist with possible stories, don’t go empty handed. The journalist wants to know what you have to offer in the way of ideas, contacts etc. This will help to ensure you become a fixture in his/her contacts book Presentation is all important Know about the different ways in which to present ideas (press releases, verbal pitch, written proposal) and which is the most appropriate for your contact Develop key messages and thoughts Don’t provide too much information – it will overwhelm. Work out the essence of what you want to say and provide approximately three key messages which can be used Don't give up At least not straight away. If you haven't had a response from your email, try calling the journalist. They'll receive so many pitches, you need to bring yours to their attention Know when to say no Understand what the pitfalls are of talking to the media. If you think it does not serve your interests or may cast you in a negative light then consider remaining quiet Always get feedback After doing an interview or giving some information follow it up. Check to see how it was used and if not why not. Constantly evaluate your performance and contacts with the media

Following these steps can help you gain a foothold with the media and win beneficial and free coverage!

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Improve your consultative sell with NLP

Every salesperson wants to succeed. They get a kick out of closing a deal that gives the customer what they want. They solve problems for people by providing a solution that suits them. When there’s a match between what the buyer wants and what the seller offers they achieve their goal. Those taking a consultative approach to selling can benefit hugely from techniques and models taken from NLP.
To some extent success in selling is about how many calls you make. Make enough and eventually you get a sale. The task is to overcome objections and make sure the customer recognises the value your product or service adds. This may sound good in theory but there’s more to it than that. The relationship aspect of selling is sometimes ignored even though it’s tremendously powerful and effective. Consultative selling – as it’s often called – requires finely-tuned, sophisticated listening and questioning skills, which using NLP models can help you to develop.
One of the secrets of success lies in identifying the person’s ‘criteria’ – what’s important to them – and emphasising them in your sales pitch. This is easily done by asking questions such as, ‘What do you look for when buying an X?’ or ‘What’s important to you when choosing a Y?’. If you can establish what their ‘hot buttons’ are, and then press them, you’re more likely to be able to make the sale.Reflecting the language of the customer or prospect can be valuable when doing this. If you focus your sensory acuity (using all of your senses to be aware of what is going on around you and with other people) and listen very carefully, you’ll notice they say time and again – ‘reliability’ perhaps, or ‘quality’. Using the ‘backtrack frame’ to repeat what they actually said, rather than your translation of it, will allow you to communicate more powerfully with them. And if you can identify their preferred representational system, and use visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic words and phrases as appropriate, you’ll be speaking the natural ‘language’ and appeal to them better as a result.Appeal to their internal filtersBeing able to identify a prospects’ Meta Programs (ways in which we filter how we think) can be extremely helpful too. For example, if they have a ‘towards’ motivation, you should place emphasis on how wonderful life will be for them when they’ve bought your product or service. If their pattern is ‘away from’ you should highlight the problems they’ll avoid. Do the right things to convince themUsing NLP can also enable you to recognise your prospect’s convincer pattern – the internal process they go through before they feel comfortable to buy. If they need to see something or use it before they’re convinced, show them a sample, if appropriate, so they can try it for themselves. If hearing or reading about something are convincers, put them in touch with a satisfied customer or client, so they can hear and/or read from a reliable source that the product or service is right for them.
If you’re in sales you know that your prospects and customers buy you before they buy the product or service you’re selling. However good you are at describing features (what the customer buys), advantages (what the features do) and benefits (what the buyer gains) you have to be able to build rapport and win their trust first. Many successful salespeople have developed the ability to connect with others quickly and easily, using techniques such as matching and mirroring things like words, vocal tone and body language. They also focus on common areas of interest or shared beliefs and values.
The salesperson who embraces NLP is without doubt better equipped to win more business and create lasting relationships.
To find out more about NLP and how you can use it in business, you can read ‘Teach Yourself NLP’, by Amanda Vickers and Steve Bavister.
Alternatively, give us a call to discuss options for courses to develop consultative selling and NLP skills. We’ll design something that meets the exact needs of you and your team.

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Saturday 27 July 2013

In the news...Learning Magazine personal impact course review

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Tuesday 23 July 2013

Clearing away the fog on employee performance

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Tuesday, June 04, 2013 - by ASTD Staff

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(From the Globe and Mail )-- While on my way to the Halifax airport one morning I was faced with the task of driving through fog. For many people, going to work each day can be a similar challenge, because their roles and responsibilities are unclear.

A gap between a manager’s role and employees’ roles and expectations can create a fog that undercuts productivity, engagement and efficiency. Employees who are not clear about their roles and what is expected of them can become frustrated and confused. To correct this, it’s necessary to define all the behaviours that are expected and their performance standards, such as reaching monthly sales quotas.

What process do you use to define behavioural expectations with your employees? Are your employees performing to the standards you are expecting?

One sign that employees may be in a fog is the level of frustration, stress and complaining they present to their leader or co-workers. This can lead to increased risk for employee-manager conflict, employee disengagement and performance issues.

To clear away this fog, frame behavioural expectations in a clear and precise manner, using a structured process. Expectations that are understood and agreed to can provide a guiding light to success for both employees and manager. Here are three easy steps a manager can take:

Define expectations: Before providing any direction, be clear about exactly what the behavioural expectations are for each employee’s role, how they will be communicated and taught, and how success will be monitored and measured. You need to ensure these expectations have been defined and are aligned with the business objectives and corporate values. Deliver expectations: Provide employees with all the information you have prepared about the expectations, and allow them to ask questions. Provide behavioural expectations in writing whenever possible, to serve as a training aid. Engage employees to be sure they fully understand the defined standard and expectations. Provide support and training where needed. Be clear about how success will be evaluated and measured (such as performance and operations management measures). Manage expectations: If an employee is not performing at the desired standard, it’s important not to assume he or she are not willing or not capable. Be sure the first two steps have been completed, factor in the learning curve, and provide coaching and feedback throughout.Read more Clearing away the fog on employee performance ASTD Staff 2013-06-04

Communities of Practice: Human Capital , Workforce Development , Career Development

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Leveraging Social Presence in Asynchronous Training

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Friday, January 11, 2013 - by Ruth Colvin Clark

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Want a quick and inexpensive evidence-based technique to improve both learner satisfaction and learning? Consider social presence! An analysis of more than 1,400 lesson student ratings found that social presence was the most important factor related to high satisfaction (Sitzman et al, 2008). What is social presence and how is it best generated in instructor-led events as well as in asynchronous e-learning? Although high social presence leads to higher ratings, does it also lead to better learning? These are a few of the issues we will review in this and several articles to follow.

What Is Social Presence?

Social presence is the extent to which learners perceive a personal connection with the instructor and also with fellow learners. Social presence is independent of delivery media.

Face-to-face environments have the greatest potential for social presence;after all, the instructors and learners are all in physical proximity. However, that potential is not always realized. How many times have you attended a class or conference and left the event not having communicated with the facilitator or with your colleagues? At the other end of the spectrum, asynchronous self-study e-learning, at least on the surface, has the least potential for social presence. However, a few evidence-based techniques can turn a solitary experience (in an instructor-led classroom or online self-study environment) into a more social event that leads to better learning and student satisfaction.

Technique One: Use First and Second Person Language

Consider a biology lesson on how lungs work, tested by Mayer et al, in 2004. Which of the following sentences do you think led to better learning?

Version 1: “During exhaling, the diaphragm moves up, creating less room for the lungs, air travels through the bronchial tubes and throat to the nose and mouth where it leaves the body”

Version 2: During exhaling, your diaphragm moves up, creating less room for your lungs: air travels through your bronchial tubes and throat to your nose and mouth where it leaves your body”

Just the small change of converting "the" to "your" in 11 places resulted in better learning with a median effect size of .79. In 10 of 10 experiments that replace impersonal referents such as "the" or "one" with words such as "I," "we," and "you," learning improved with a very high median effect size of 1.30. First- and second-person informal language is one technique you can use to implement the “personalization effect” (Mayer, 2005; Clark & Mayer, 2011). Note that the technique is simple and inexpensive to implement and can apply to any delivery medium including print, classrooms, and asynchronous e-learning.

In future articles, I’ll review research on other evidence-based methods to increase social presence in your training, including the use of online agents, polite phrases, online collaboration techniques, and instructor self-revelation techniques known as “visible author.”

Your Lessons Learned

The personalization effect has been demonstrated with children and young adults in a university setting. Do you think a more informal conversational style will resonate with your learners? Are you constrained regarding the tone of your training language by internal legal requirements or corporate policy? Have you compared a formal and informal approach to the language used in your training classes? Please comment and add your lessons learned.

References

Clark, R.C. & Mayer, R.E. (2011). E-Learning and the Science of Instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. See Chapter 9.

Mayer, R.E., Fennell, S., Farmer, L, & Campbell, J. (2004). A personalization effect in multimedia learning: Students learn better when words are in conversational style rather than formal style. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 389-395.

Mayer, R.E. (2005). Principles of multimedia learning based on social cues: Personalization, voice, and image principles. In R.E. Mayer (Ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sitzmann, T., Brown, K.G., Casper, W.J., Ely, K. & Zimmerman, R.D. (2008). A review and meta-analysis of the nomological network of trainee reactions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 280-295.

Leveraging Social Presence in Asynchronous Training Ruth Colvin Clark 2013-01-11

Ruth Clark is a specialist in instructional design and technical training, determined to bridge the gap between academic research and practitioner application in instructional methods. She holds a doctorate in the field and is president of her own company, Clark Training & Consulting. Her books and articles focus on various aspects of training and e-learning.

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Ruth Colvin Clark Ruth Clark is a specialist in instructional design and technical training, determined to bridge the gap between academic research and practitioner application in instructional methods. She holds a doctorate in the field and is president of her own company, Clark Training & Consulting. Her books and articles focus on various aspects of training and e-learning.

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Monday 22 July 2013

Learners of Time Management Need to Be Taught Metacognitive Skills

Running Man As trainers, when we conduct training in time management, we need to provide our audience with more than laundry lists of optimal behaviors. Instead, we need to show learners how to use the simplest principles of metacognitive learning—the science of teaching ourselves how to learn. In fact, this would help to correct an error in the way we conduct behavior-change training, since we often mistake learner satisfaction at the end of a workshop with ultimate success.

Some evidence: most people who take time management training have no problem with the ideas presented, as they appear to be eminently reasonable. However, as professional trainers, we know that they are being fooled; perhaps by us or by themselves. The desired end-result (a permanent change in habits, practices, and rituals) is a long way off, and their score on the smiley-sheet at the end of the workshop means little (providing the program isn't defective). In time management training, we can direct learners away from pervasive failure.

But first, we must appreciate a remarkable fact: As working professionals we carve out our own, personal time management and productivity systems in our late teens to early twenties with almost no help. The end product includes numerous habits that are repeated each day, automatically and unconsciously. Unfortunately, after our initial success, we tend to make the following errors:

Metacognitive Failure #1: Amnesia

Most of us are unaware that we create our own systems. Our self-creative act goes unnoticed, even as we fail to realize the role that time management skills play in our career success. We aren't alone—our parents remained unaware of these facts for their entire careers. However, we can't afford that luxury in the Internet-age workplace: its ever-increasing demands force us to make several mid-career upgrades.

These upgrades may be prompted by the birth of a new child, a promotion, a new home business, or a sick parent. The results are the same in each case: The systems that we have relied on for years stop working, overwhelmed by new demands. We experience a number of symptoms, including time stress, an overflowing inbox, worsening memory, and a loss of reputation. It's all unfortunate, especially as we generally don't remember we once carved out our own system from the ground up. Presumably, we have the raw capacity to do it again, but when we have forgotten that we once pulled off this remarkable act, we make the mistake of believing we're terminally stuck.

Metacognitive Failure #2: Faith in Shortcuts

Learners who find themselves needing an upgrade often start by scouring the Internet for easy-to-find tips, tricks, and shortcuts, recalling a time when one of these seemed to help. Unfortunately, applying more of them rarely makes a long-term difference. That's because time management systems are composed of habits, practices, and rituals that don't change easily and aren't affected much by the latest hot tip or trendy gadget. However, the vast majority keep up the chase for the one, little, magical bit of advice that will change everything with a mere five minutes of effortless application.

A few learners eventually realize that they are barking up the wrong tree, deciding that chasing down tips isn't a sustainable learning strategy because it's never the primary source of world-class performance. This realization is a metacognitive act, and it leads them to try an alternate strategy.

Metacognitive Failure #3: Following a Rigid Prescription

Those who do look for alternatives often find a book or program that lays out a set of detailed practices to be followed. These prescriptions tend to be inflexible, and the learner is told that total adherence to pre-scripted behaviors is an absolute requirement for success.

In response, learners give a good-faith effort but often fail ... even when the ideas make perfect sense. The reason is simple: It's just too hard to transition from habits, practices, and rituals used for many years to a new set of behaviors in the all-at-once manner described in books and programs. Most learners are unskilled at changing even simple habits, no matter how hard they try. More often than not, they eventually give up, concluding (incorrectly) that they are just too lazy.

Metacognitive Success

We can teach learners how to escape these traps. As trainers we can remind them of their early self-creation and guide them down a flexible path that builds on what they already do successfully. It takes a certain level of in-depth preparation on our part, but in time management, we can show them how to devise their own improvement program and engage in the purposeful upgrade of their methods. As they steadily improve the way they learn, they can only get better, faster.

Note: Francis Wade will present session M200, “How to Stop Failing at Behavior Change Training: The Case of Time Management,” at the ASTD 2013 International Conference & Exposition in Dallas, Texas.

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Sunday 21 July 2013

Great leadership books for your summer reading list

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Thursday, May 30, 2013 - by ASTD Staff

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(from the Washington Post)-As summer approaches, there are a number of good books you may want to consider that will not necessarily make the top 10 lists but that will provide food for thought. These books are not mysteries, psychological thrillers, romance novels or historical fiction. These are books that offer keen insights into leadership and management challenges, which on a day-to-day basis can bring their own dramas, twisting plot lines and, in this city, political intrigue.

The authors lay out leadership traps that include overconfidence, the tendency to seek out information that supports your own point of view and to downplay information that doesn’t, and the common habit of getting distracted by short-term emotions. The Heath brothers propose a four-step process designed to counteract these biases and, in doing so, provide real-life stories that include a rock star’s inventive decision-making trick and a CEO’s terrible acquisition.A good place to start is the latest book from Chip and Dan Heath, Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. In their classic conversational style, the Heath brothers present a well researched, easy reading book about improving decision-making on everything from personnel to personal actions.

The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinkingby Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppler. This short book outlines several decision-making tools you can use, whether you’re looking to manage your time better, deliver a message that sticks, settle a dispute with a colleague, motivate your team, or help your team learn from mistakes. I rely on these models whenever I confront a tough decision.

You also may want to check out The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinkingby Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppler. This short book outlines several decision-making tools you can use, whether you’re looking to manage your time better, deliver a message that sticks, settle a dispute with a colleague, motivate your team, or help your team learn from mistakes. I rely on these models whenever I confront a tough decision.

Another title may seem less relevant to a federal audience, but Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin offers great advice for leaders in any sector. Lafley is a former CEO of Procter & Gamble and, in close partnership with strategic adviser Martin, doubled P&G’s sales and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in 10 years.

In light of negative public perceptions and resource constraints, federal leaders would be wise to challenge themselves and their teams to answer Lafley’s and Martin’s central strategy questions: What is our winning aspiration? Where will we play? How will we win? What capabilities must we have in place to win? What management systems are required to support our choices?

Great leadership books for your summer reading list ASTD Staff 2013-05-30

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What's Your Annoying Communication Habit?

Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC Apr 8 | Comments (2)

After a day in Cambodia, my American travel companions and I found ourselves modifying our language when speaking to those with limited English skills. We'd traveled abroad enough to know to speak slowly, enunciate every syllable, avoid contractions, use simple words and basic sentence structure. But in our quest for clear communication, we soon matched the syntax of the local shopkeepers we encountered.

This meant we eliminated most articles of speech (the, a, an) and even some verbs. So when talking to a local with limited English, instead of "We will go with Tov to the restaurant" we'd say, "We go with Tov to restaurant." And nearly all communication was accompanied by simple charade-like gestures illustrating, as best we could, the concept we were wanting to communicate. When requesting a foot massage at a downtown establishment, we'd say, "One-hour (holding up one finger) foot massage (pointing to one's feet). How much?" The practitioner would respond nodding, often writing the amount on paper or a calculator.

We got so used to this that without thinking we began talking to others of our group members this way. One day I said to a travel companion, "Jana want lunch?" She looked at me bewildered, "You know I speak English, right?" We both laughed hard. I'd become so engrained in the rhythm of "speaking local," I forgot to turn it off!

It made me wonder what other communication habits we get into without noticing. Sometimes a friend or colleague will help us see we annoyingly end every contribution with "Sooooooo" when really there was nothing more coming. Or we repeat ourselves -- within the same sentence: "She said, 'I know' she said, 'I really have to try harder." Or we interrupt while someone's finishing a thought. The list can go on and on. We all have communication habits that could be pruned. But most of us aren't aware of them.

If you have a friend brave enough to speak up, as Jana did when I was being unconscious, thank him/her for pointing out your habit. Better yet, invite him/her to help you clean up your communication and be the best communicator you can be. Then make sure not to get mad when s/he does!

Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC, is a bestselling author of 25 books, speaker and consultant on workplace effectiveness. For more information on her services go to RebeccaMorgan.com. Send your suggested issues to cover or questions to Rebecca@RebeccaMorgan.com. If you want to discuss working with Rebecca, give her a call at 408/998-7977 (Pacific).

Her most recent books are:

Remarkable Customer Service ... and Disservice: Case Studies and Discussions to Increase Your Customers' Delight

Grow Your Key Talent: Thought-Provoking Essays for Business Owners, Executives and Managers on Developing Star Staff

I lesson I take from your example is that we sometimes get so lost in context that we need someone to hold a mirror to our performance - and it doesn't have to be a painful experience! Thanks for a great reminder that inviting honest feedback is a powerful tool if we are sincerely seeking to improve our performance. Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC 2 minutes ago Thanks Dan! Want to read more from Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC? Check out the blog archive. Keyword Tags: COMMunication management development people development Disclaimer: Blog contents express the viewpoints of their independent authors and are not reviewed for correctness or accuracy by Toolbox for HR. Any opinions, comments, solutions or other commentary expressed by blog authors are not endorsed or recommended by Toolbox for HR or any vendor. If you feel a blog entry is inappropriate, click here to notify Toolbox for HR.

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Saturday 20 July 2013

How Can You Find Opportunities for Staff to Grow?

Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC Aug 27, 2012 | Comments (0) Here’s another good question asked in my recent webinar, “Effectively Growing Your Key Talent: Are You Sunlight and Water — or Just Manure?”

Q: How to find opportunities for employees to grow?

A: I would guess that there are opportunities all around you to help develop your staff.Find out what each team member wants to develop and see how you can help them. There are many opportunities that don’t necessarily involve formal training or conferences. If he wants to develop his technical skills, suggest books, online courses, or cross-training with more senior staff members. You may be able to arrange mentoring even if it’s with someone outside your organization. If she wants to develop her management skills, ask her to help with some of your tasks. Maybe she could draft the first stab of a monthly report or other managerial duties. You know all those “I’ll get to those later tasks — see if she could start — and maybe finish — some of those.If he wants to develop better leadership skills, like presentations, ask him to give brief talks at your staff meetings. Then give feedback afterwards. Suggest he go to a Toastmasters club, then find ways he can present internally. Have him put together a panel — with him on it or moderating — at a local association meeting for your profession. If she realizes she could improve her people skills, ask her to attend some intra-departmental meetings representing your group. Engage the meeting leader to help your staff develop in this area and request that s/he provides feedback to your staff based on her meeting behavior.Of course, don’t overlook in-person on online courses, association meetings and conferences. But there’s a lot you can do to help your staff grow.Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC, is a bestselling author of 25 books, speaker and consultant on workplace effectiveness. For more information on her services go to RebeccaMorgan.com. Send your suggested issues to cover or questions to Rebecca@RebeccaMorgan.com. If you want to discuss working with Rebecca, give her a call at 408/998-7977 (Pacific).

Her most recent books are:

Remarkable Customer Service ... and Disservice: Case Studies and Discussions to Increase Your Customers' Delight

Grow Your Key Talent: Thought-Provoking Essays for Business Owners, Executives and Managers on Developing Star Staff

Want to read more from Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC? Check out the blog archive. Keyword Tags: developing people management training management development Disclaimer: Blog contents express the viewpoints of their independent authors and are not reviewed for correctness or accuracy by Toolbox for HR. Any opinions, comments, solutions or other commentary expressed by blog authors are not endorsed or recommended by Toolbox for HR or any vendor. If you feel a blog entry is inappropriate, click here to notify Toolbox for HR.

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