Not so much a post, more an announcement

I've just got the new One-Development website up and running, so please go take a look and give me your feedback. You can find it on www.one-development.com.

I'm also interested to get peoples views on coaching as opposed to training. As a discipline it seems to get far less coverage yet it is an important tool for the people who are responsible for the running of our companies.

Is training the answer to the recession?

It is often the trite response that training is a solution to problems brought on by a recession. We can retrain staff to re-engineer our organisation to meet changing dynamics in the world. Individuals can train to up their skills in a changing and shrinking jobs market, or to learn new skills to increase their job options.

But I would argue that the often neglected area for training is right up at the top. If big changes are needed we need new, creative and innovative thinking by those with their hands on the levers to really make things happen. New thinking is needed - the drivers that power entrepreneurial flair are need in business and in public sector organisations. Owners, directors and senior managers should consider spending a small amount of the training budget on themselves - a little coaching, some innovation thinking perhaps -a little goes a long way at the top.

Beware politicians bearing training

Once again, belatedly, national Government has seen that training can provide a few answers to some of the issues facing us in the current economic climate... and as a trainer I welcome these, but with some reservations and more than a touch of deja vu. As so often it is too late and unplanned: a knee jerk reaction with with a distinct whiff of panic.

Ill thought out initiatives encourage trainers to rush into preparing courses to answer these 'needs'. And there is the key point... who identifies these needs and by what mechanisms? I still deal with clients in the private sectors who identify real skill shortages and I ask them if they have ever been approached by representatives of Government with respect to these needs? I assume (charitably) that consultation is constantly taking place with the main industry bodies. Of course it makes sense to look at where the big numbers are. But I still can't avoid an eerie feeling that behind locked doors someone is deciding what is right for business... for employees... for trainers... for us!

On past evidence, the resulting initiatives are often driven by political expediency, opportunism and self-interest.

Can creativity be taught?

What do we mean by creativity? Often it is confused with the obviously 'creative' professions, such as media, arts and music etc. But this is only the application of creative thinking to a particular set of disciplines. I worked for a long time in advertising and we had the so-called 'creatives' including the writers and art directors (yes, I was one for a while) but it was the way people moved from discipline to discipline that flagged up the fact that it was a way of thinking not a label that matters.

I have met many scientists and engineers who are amazing creative thinkers. Look at some of our leading businessmen and women: it requires a high level of creative thought to come up with an original business idea or model and build a whole structure to carry that forward.

Accepting that it is a way of thinking, an approach to problem solving, means that it can be taught. Of course people's aptitude varies, but creative thinking is a skill all can learn... and yes, it can be taught.

Don't forget to write

Back in February I wrote on digital media training and in particular writing for the web. This has become quite an issue recently with clients increasingly opting for websites with content management systems (CMS). Web copy not only dictates how well you communicate your offer, but how well your site performs in organic listings on search engines. So extracted from my writing for the web training package, here are 10 key points to bear in mind.

1. Remember how you read websites - look and learn from sites you think do it well. Don't expect your visitor to read what you won't read yourself.
2. Customers only listen to one radio station WIIFM - 'what's in it for me'. Talk about benefits to them... don't talk about yourself.
3. Vary descriptions: people use different terms to describe most things, so consider the terms they may search your site on. For example, I was working for a vehicle hire company, but visitors might search on truck rental, truck hire, contract hire, vehicle leasing etc. Be sure to work all those terms in.
4. Be concise, reading on screen is not easy - keep the paragraphs short and the word count down.
5. Use lists - bulleted or numbered lists (like this) are quick and efficient.
6. Visualise in our mind a typical person you want to address on your site (maybe a friend, relative, customer, ex boss). Then write as though you were talking directly to that person.
7. Use English as you would speak it - for some reasons people who would normally say; 'I need to find the facts.' when they write suddenly start saying 'I must access the data'.
8. Read your text out loud. If it sounds stupid saying it - it will probably read stupid on the page.
9. Learn to edit. Writing is a two stage process. The creative stage - just let is flow get down what you want to say; don't worry about spelling or English. Then the editing stage, write and re-write. Refine, check spelling, word usage, insert headings, break paragraphs, move things about.
10. Read - you learn about writing by reading.

Real training in virtual worlds?

Part of the reason I got into training in the first place is because I love the interaction with people. And I think there is no better way of developing quality training and coaching than face to face. However, with transport costs, fuel costs and the environmental costs, alternatives have to be found.

I have been working on and developing online training modules for parts of courses - these work very well to add another dimension to face to face sessions. And they are useful for academic, quantifiable lessons, especially where assessment is needed. But there seemed little substitute for the interactive, participatory dimension: however over past months I have bee exploring the options provided by social networking sites, particularly Second Life.

It was about a year ago that I got interested in the psychological aspects of virtual worlds as research suggests that in general people behave the same in virtual worlds as the would in the real world. This does not mean that they will play a Troll or Space Cadet, but generally if say someone is, say, introverted or well-socialised in real life they will be in virtual life also.

This means we can set up training spaces in virtual worlds, bring in product, movies and demonstrations, and virtual worlds are ideal for role playing situations where the environment can be manipulated to a far greater degree than it ever can in a training room.

I would urge all trainers to explore the possibilities and let your imagination free - and please let me know what ideas you have, and what results.

What people want and what people think they want

I was talking to a colleague the other day who develops in-house training. She had a new, specialist function to train a small group to operate. Out of interest, in her pre-training questionnaire she asked what type of training would they like and in what format. Universally they came back with 'classroom style, chalk and talk', rather than any form of participatory workshop or interactive training.

Fundamentally what the participants were saying was they didn't want to put in any work or effort but be magically trained sitting in a room doing nothing.

But, what we know from feedback, evaluations, de-briefing and ultimately performance, is that delegates in general prefer participatory training. Evaluations usually show higher levels of boredom and dissatisfaction from classroom style training. So people don't always know what's best for them in advance... but know what was best for them, after the event.