Getting The Most Out Of On-site Training Courses
One of the chief benefits of booking on-site (in-house) training, as opposed to sending your people off to a training centre to attend a pubic course, is that the training can be customised to suit the specific needs of your organisation. When booking on-site training courses, be sure to make this clear to the training company and brief them fully on your requirements.
Produce a list of key topics that need to be covered after discussing the matter with the people who will be attending the course, their manager or someone in your organisation who already has the skills the trainees are looking to acquire.
Send examples of your work to the training company, before the training, so that they have a good idea of the kind of documents your guys will need to create or edit (Make sure that you remove any sensitive or confidential information!).
A good software training session will offer users opportunities to practice the skills they are being taught. Ask the training company to incorporate your documents into the practical exercises given to delegates on the course. For example, if your staff are being shown how to create corporate brochures, have the trainer ask them to create pages from some of your typical brochures during the training to check that they are mastering the relevant techniques.
The training area
You will need to find a suitable area where you can realistically conduct a training session and where the trainees can concentrate on learning without interruption, distraction or discomfort. If your organisation does not have a training room then a meeting room can be adapted for the purpose. Delegates should be able to see the trainer from their seat without having to twist around or crane their necks. Each delegate should also have the use of their own workstation or laptop for the duration of the course and enough space to use it.
The appropriate version of the software should be loaded on each person’s machine and, ideally, everyone should be using the same version of the software. For example, running a course on Microsoft Word where some delegates have Word 2003 and others 2007 would be a nightmare, since the two versions have such major differences.)
A workstation or laptop connected to a screen projector for use by the trainer is not essential but is extremely useful, especially with a large group (say, more than half a dozen people). If your company does not own one, they can be hired for around 50 pounds per day. A whiteboard and pens are also very handy.
The training delegates
For your training to be effective, delegates must be available for the duration of the course and must be off-limits to other members of staff. Ideally, they should be treated as absent from the office until their course ends. Equally, they should be motivated to do the training and agree that it will benefit them and that acquiring the new skills provided by the training will help them to work more effectively.
It’s not a good idea to add a few extra bodies to a training session just to make up the numbers and get your money’s worth. It is far better to include just those delegates for whom the training will be relevant and useful and who will, furthermore, receive more personal attention from the trainer.
Timing
Finally, to be effective, in-house training (like all computer training) should be timely. Computer users should attend a course at a time when they are about to start using the software or using it in some new or more advanced manner. Immediately following their training, they should also have the opportunity to implement what they have learned.
This of course implies that they should have the software available on their own computers and that there will be a requirement for them to use it as part of their daily routine. If they never actually use the software for weeks or months after attending a course, the benefits of the training will be almost entirely lost and they will probably need to repeat the training session!
The author is webmaster of the On-site Training Courses website (http://www.onsitetrainingcourses.com), which offers competitively-priced computer training courses on-site throughout the UK.
Having Fun With Teleseminars
As with any other new product or service, people are skeptical about trying them.
They want to wait until more people they actually know personally have tried a particular device and can give them some information. The same is true of businesses, especially small businesses that do not have the funds to take huge risks.
As a result, it has taken many years of research and development for the concept of the Teleseminar to really catch on. Of course, it also required the cooperation of the telephone company whose equipment had to progress enough to allow this technology to become useful.
The evolution of the telephone to what it is today is helping making the world of business and business meetings a smoother road for the employees who must attend them.
The use of a Teleseminar bridges the gap between the cluttered and impersonal Internet and the time and expense involved traveling to meetings in other cities.
Recent advances in technology have it made it possible for the small businessperson and the entrepreneur to set up and conduct Teleseminars at a reasonable price. It would have cost thousands of dollars for these same services just a few years ago.
As new technology evolves and new systems are developed, it will be even cheaper in 10 or 20 years. As with any new technology, the longer it is available, the cheaper it becomes.
As the services become less expensive, more people will be willing to make that initial investment in a sophisticated teleconferencing system. We have already seen that happen with computers, VCRs, and DVD players, which are now a part of at least 50% of households.
When the BETA VHS system came out in the early 70s, it was over $500 to purchase, but now a combination DVD/VCR generally costs under $300. Again, these changes have shaped our world into what it is today, and people who were skeptical about trying these things became comfortable with them. These same skeptics will be the biggest supporters of the Teleseminar in years to come.
It needs to be stressed that the Teleseminar and the Internet do not stand alone as separate entities. In fact, mixed delivery combination of the two as well as other communications tools is paving the way toward the next revolution of information delivery and interactive products and services.
These combined delivery methods with multiple media allow the presenter to offer digital information and personal contact, which provides a more complete learning and relationship development experience.
With the combination of the audio on the telephone and the video that is available using the Internet, the learning experience becomes more complete and the audience will retain more of the information that is presented to them.
In doing this, you have the potential for returning clients since they know by joining your Teleseminar, they will receive clear and concise information.
Another advantage to using telephone calls instead of physical meetings is that they can be transcribed for back-end information products such as audio or video cassettes or DVDs, audio CDs and transcripts. These products open up an entire market for distribution and profit-making ventures.
With the addition of DVD burners, MP3 recorders, and other similar technology, the market is even wider and is growing more extensive every day. What once was a luxury only afforded by large corporations is now affordable and accessible by the average businessperson.
Even the sole proprietor can use this technology to communicate with customers and sales representatives instead of a one-on-one meeting or having to travel to meet a salesperson for a demonstration of a new product or service.
The new technology products make it easy for you or your Teleseminar service provider to make transcripts of your presentation.
Depending on your preference, you can have your Teleseminar recorded onto a website for people to access or you can choose to have it recorded onto a CD and offer it for sale on either your website or another website where you will direct customers who are interested.
Be certain to include these URLs in your handouts prior to the start of your Teleseminar and remind your participants several times during the presentation as well. By offering transcripts of your Teleseminar, you will continue to make money long after the initial telephone call has ended.
Even if you don’t want to do a voice recording, you can sell reprints of your seminar through the use of a PDF file, setting it up in a secure format so that customers will have to pay in order to access the file.
Richard Reichmann is internationally known as a millionaire maker.
He’s a leading consultant in real estate and internet marketing strategies that are profit proven.
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Telecommuting and Managing a Virtual Staff
Advances in technology and cultural responses to it mean that more people want to work from home and more companies want to outsource.
Here are just a few examples of opportunities for companies in taking advantage of virtual workers: reduced overhead costs, higher quality workers not available locally, often higher productivity per hour.
Opportunities for the telecommuter: comfortable work setting, more flexible schedule, less watercooler distractions, and no travel time or stress.
“If you’re a virtual team leader, a telecommuter, or anyone who works with someone from a distance, you need special tools to be successful. You can either stumble along and hope for the best, or you can take steps to insure success, says Debra Dinnocenzo, virtual workplace expert, author, speaker and educator.
What are the challenges when working from a distance, and how can you be successful?
Dinnocenzo takes the mystery out of the managing a highly productive virtual workplace by providing three important keys for success:
Trust: Establishing trust provides a special set of challenges for people working from a distance. When people are dispersed, we often don’t have the opportunity to get to know each other the way we do in the traditional workplace. We need to make a special effort to schedule time to develop three important qualities: Reliability, Integrity and Familiarity. With these qualities in place, worker and employer can build trust. If possible, schedule face-to-face time to get to know each other at the beginning of a project.
Communication: When communication breaks down, trust erodes and productivity suffers. Despite the plethora of cutting-edge communication tools at our disposal, the lack of visual cues from our co-workers presents special challenges in the virtual workplace. You have to be more assertive about reaching out. Dont rely solely on email. Pick up the phone and send thank you notes. Insure good communication by checking in, asking questions and soliciting input from your team members.
Performance: The bottom-line is: at the end of the day, we need to deliver results. Be proactive about managing productivity by defining expectations and establishing check-in milestones at the very start of the project. The skills for managing performance in the virtual workplace are the same as the ones you would use in a traditional office. They just need to be applied differently.
There are unique challenges for the telecommuter who works from home. While everyone agrees that telecommuting offers more freedom and flexibility, it also presents a special challenge by blurring the line between our work and our personal lives.
Dinnocenzo recommends being vigilant about setting boundaries. Are you going to answer a work-related phone call at eight o’clock at night? It might be appropriate to be on-call in certain situations, but it can seriously erode your private life if you’re not careful. Establish expectations and boundaries at the beginning of a project or work-relationship to avoid conflict.
When aked what they truly want in their lives, most people say they wish they had an extra hour in their day.
While that’s not possible on earth, it is possible to reclaim many hours. Decide what is truly important in your life and eliminate time-wasting, yet addictive things that aren’t important.
Dr. Proactive, Randy Gilbert, enjoys producing the “Inside Business Success” radio talk show, hosted by Jan Schleicher. Enjoy her interview with Debra Dinnocenzo for free by going to:
http://www.insidesuccessradio.com/Guests/Debra-Dinnocenzo
How To Communicate in a Global World
Canadians are increasingly part of a global world. Canada itself is a fascinating mix of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This diversity brings a richness that offers opportunities for both occupational and personal growth. It also brings substantial challenges, particularly as it relates to communication. Everything changes when you work with someone from a different culture: how you say hello, what is appropriate to talk about, how you shake hands, how you give or take an order, what is funny, what it means to be a man or a woman, the role of a boss, how you deal with time and space, and many other issues.
Here are six practical tips to navigate the challenging terrain of dealing with inter-cultural issues.
1. Remember what works in your own culture is exactly what might not work in another culture. What might seem routine could be very inappropriate with someone from another culture. This might involve anything from whether or not to have an agenda for the meeting, the number of people have on your negotiating team, how timely you should be for the meeting, the communication style you use, and whether or not your agreement should be put in writing.
2. Build solid relationships before getting down to business. Not much is likely to get accomplished unless you intercultural counterpart feels good about dealing with you. For one thing, smile. A genuine smile is a universal lubricant that says, “I enjoy doing business with you.” Keep in mind that building a relationship with your intercultural counterpart will usually take a lot more time than what you may used to. Intercultural negotiations may take two or three times what you might experience in Canada.
3. Be yourself, but be an effective foreigner. This has to do with respect. You don’t have to go native, but adapt your behaviour to those with different cultural backgrounds from you. Be culturally literate if you’re traveling outside Canada – know how to read behaviors in the host country culture. Most people will give you an “A” for effort when they see that you are trying to learn about their culture.
4. Use language that is simple and accessible. Avoid slang and jargon. Terms like, “Let’s cut to the chase, ” or “you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip” may or may not make sense if you’re from Canada, but are less likely to be understandable elsewhere. Ask for clarification. Avoid telling jokes – they almost never make sense to someone from another culture.
5. Don’t judge behaviour in old ways, and try to expand your comfort zones. Because a Brazilian gives you a hug upon greeting you, or stands close to you when talking, does not mean the person is pushy. The person is expressing friendship. Because an Indonesian does not sustain eye contact does not mean he’s unassertive.
6. Adopt the Platinum Rule. Do unto others as they would have done unto them. This may not be what you would like to have done unto you. For instance, you might like a firm handshake or feel comfortable getting on a first-name basis early in a business discussion. This could be an affront to your counterpart in many parts of the world.
CMC Training offers professional communications and interpersonal skills seminars that will teach you important skills to help you stay current and move forward in your career.
http://www.cmctraining.org/communication.asp