March 29, 2010
Changing our thinking about VET trainer competency development
We've recently been working with a client to define a trainer progression framework for around 3000 trainers spread across the organisation. Our thinking was influenced by research coming out of the E.U. around competencies for VET professionals. It's produced by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Education, and the 'Handbook for Practitioners' can be found here . It's well worth a read. Some of the key themes that made good sense to us include:
- The explosion of new learning technologies and pace of change of information now demands far greater flexibility and responsiveness of trainers than has been the case in the past
-In order to respond to this challenge, trainers need to see themselves in broad partnerships and networks. "Professionalism and expertise are no longer understood as personal properties..." p13.
-This change is sufficiently important to justify a quadrant of the framework being dedicated to networking.
The Handbook goes on to break down competencies across administration, training, quality assurance, and networking. These categories are mapped to teachers, in-company trainers, and leaders.
While written at a high level, the competencies provide a really pragmatic, useful set of indicators that can be adapted for individual organisational contexts.
It's always hard to know where to focus your limited time when exploring new models for trainer development. This should definitely be on your reading list.
Posted by PhilGaring at
11:18 AM
June 21, 2007
Breaking all the rules
Despite its youth, the blogging industry has already spawned a set of rules of thumb, two of which are widely considered inviolable:
1) Keep it short—this is a web audience.
2) Combine ("mash up") information from other people. With so much info on the web, you're better off filtering and aggregating than creating.
Fortunately, a new entrant to the blog scene has decided to completely ignore this conventional wisdom (if something so young can be called "conventional"). Marc Andreessen has a bit to brag about: he was the co-founder of Netscape (sold to America Online in 1998 for $4.2 billion; the co-founder of Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), a public software company with an approximately $1 billion market cap; and the co-founder of Ning, a new, private consumer Internet company.
His blog, though, has nothing to do with bragging. His posts are miles long, and they consist almost entirely of original content: topics like a Guide to Startups (parts 1 and 2), the Truth About Venture Capitalists (parts 1, 2 and 3), and How to Hire the Best People You've Ever Worked With. His secret is simple:
He writes about stuff that people want to read.
Not only that, but he writes about it well, and informatively, and from a position of great experience.
Further, he shows in his writing that he is entirely as human as the 99.99% of us who haven't founded multiple billion dollar companies.
Really, though, what does all this have to do with Synapsys? I mean, we're not a web startup, we're not venture capitalists, and we're not based in Silicon Valley.
Still, I think the lessons from Andreessen's blog are highly applicable, not only the ones we can learn from actually reading his posts, but also the ones we can learn from studying how he does it.
So here's what I've learned from him:
1) It's far more fun to read educational material that is well written. If you want people to stay tuned in, write as if you're trying to produce a best-seller. Yes, if you're on the cutting edge of astrophysics and communicating only with other cutting-edge astrophysicists, the text might be a bit more technical—but it should still be fascinating to your target audience.
2) If you have something of value to say, don't worry about how long it takes you to say it—but do try to unfold it so that the reader is making continual progress. In every one of Andreessen's posts, you start learning right at the beginning; it's like getting a doggy treat for doing something right. Sooner than later, it becomes addictive, and the next thing you know you haven't slept for days and your hair has grown past your waist.
3) Don't be afraid to give away knowledge. The stuff in Andreessen's blog is like an MBA on the fly. He's sharing his years of experience as one of the heaviest hitters in the tech world, and my guess is that his fan base has grown exponentially as people like me feel we've gotten to know him.
And the single most important thing I've taken away from him:
4) Substance trumps rules, every time.
I'm sure I'll see lots of other stuff as I continue to read his posts; it's already been well worth the effort.
April 18, 2005
Building companies that last
From Built to Last by James Collins and Jerry Porras, a book about Visionary companies and how they come to be visionary, the authors say:
To stimulate growth Visionary Companies do the following:
1. Establish “BHAGS” i.e.: Big Hairy Audacious Goals
2. Try a lot of new Stuff
3. Live by “Good enough never is” ( or relentless self improvement).
In order to grow, companies need to think outside the box, say Collins and Porras. But can you define the “box” you want to think outside?
From Built to Last by James Collins and Jerry Porras, a book about Visionary companies and how they come to be visionary, the authors say:
To stimulate growth Visionary Companies do the following:
1. Establish “BHAGS” i.e.: Big Hairy Audacious Goals
2. Try a lot of new Stuff
3. Live by “Good enough never is” ( or relentless self improvement).
In order to grow, companies need to think outside the box, say Collins and Porras. But can you define the “box” you want to think outside?
Only companies that know intimately what they are already doing should set about “Trying a lot of new Stuff”. “Relentless self-improvement” requires ways of defining how we do NOW, against how we do tomorrow, and we can only find out the difference by taking transparent measurements or our current performance. So we need measurement processes that are easy to follow and give clear outcomes.
Sounds great? So where do you start? Start by measuring what you do now – realistically – no matter how badly. What are the activities that you do that make your business do business? What results in product or service sales do they gain? Where is the information held that can give you these measurements? Where do you collect the data? Do you collect the data?
Often even trying to focus on that simple option – measuring what you do – throws up a gaping hole in your systems. So you have to take a step back and ask: How can we collect the data? Use the help of professionals.
Don’t plunge in, acting on beliefs about how you do business and how that affects your business outcomes. You could end up changing things that don’t need changing and ignoring the obvious. Outside eyes see what you don’t. They can define the holes, but they can also spot the strengths and help you leverage these into business advantages.
Often the best solution is to bring in an outside company that is able to look at your business objectively and help you define the systems – where they intersect or overlap, where the opportunities are for obtaining good data and setting up a performance measurement system.
One of our clients needed to overhaul their sales system and integrate it into their manufacturing systems. There was a continual series of costly printing mistakes, with jobs having to be reprinted. As we worked through gathering details of their current sales procedures we realised there were several methods of processing orders and several points where changes were communicated to several different people. By highlighting these potential hazards for communication we were able to help them settle on a single sales “route”, thereby reducing the potential for mistakes.
Defining what we do leads to clear procedures; following procedures leads to changes where they are obviously not working. It is only then that you move into the next step - creating systems for relentless self-improvement.
To read a review of Built to Last go to ReadingGroupGuides.com. For more information about Collins and Porras go to the Derbyshire Business School’s list of Top 50 Business Thinkers page. This book is available new and used and as an audio cassette from Amazon Books.
April 04, 2005
Print Production Process
Generally, when we work with a client interested in a print-based product, this is a general summary of the process Synapsys uses to make sure that we, and our client, understand our various roles and that the finished product satisfies the client’s needs.
1. Identify the Use and User of the product
2. Specify the content and ancillairy goals of the organisation
3. Create detailed timeline and budget
4. Determine the technical specifications for the product
5. Identify the visual elements and structure for the content
6. Development of the templates and content
7. Roll out and edit the content
8. Client proofs the product
9. Print files to printers
10. Final comments/feedback from client
Helpful links for more information on the print production process:
Document
Webpage
Webpage
February 18, 2005
International Journal of Knowledge and Learning
The International Journal of Knowledge and Learning has released its first volume, focussing largely on knowledge management.
There are a number of interesting articles and case studies by a range of experts and practitioners.
Of particular note:
- The Knowledge Society: a manifesto for knowledge and learning - Miltiadis D. Lytras, Miguel Angel Sicilia
- Learning management systems: a new beginning in the management of learning and knowledge - Audrey Grace, Tom Butler
- Knowledge management and the Australian Public Service: some lessons learned - Bill Martin
- Knowledge sharing in practice: applied storytelling and knowledge communities at NASA - Denise Lee, Jessica Simmons, Jennifer Drueen
Link here...
January 18, 2005
October 19, 2004
Managing the Gamer Generation
Here is an interview with the authors of a new book, Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever. The book expands on Marc Prensky's digital natives/digital immigrants message with a profound wake-up call about the ways in which games have changed a whole generation of employees. It also seeks to dispel myths and clarify many assumptions about gamers, including the myth that gamers are loners:
"This is one of the huge points creating the generation gap. Gaming is actually much more social than boomers understand. A lot of it is very social, done with friends, and now increasingly, over the Internet. Maybe as a result, gamers really value other people—more than people who didn't play games growing up. They also firmly believe in a team environment."
More here...
September 30, 2004
