The Mindtools L&D Podcast

This week on The Good Practice Podcast, we're following up on our recent virtual classroom facilitation episode with an in-depth look at design. Jennifer Lindsay-Finan and Karen Vieth, both of InSync Training, share their experience and advice. We discuss: when virtual classrooms are most appropriate the team's process for planning virtual classrooms the biggest mistakes people make in virtual classroom design. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. For more from InSync Training, visit insynctraining.com. We didn't have time to discuss it on the show, but InSync is WBENC and WEConnect certified as a women-owned business. If you'd like to find out more about what this means, visit wbenc.org and weconnectinternational.org.  And don't forget! If you'd like to join the conversation, the team behind The Good Practice Podcast will be on Clubhouse on Thursday, March 25th, at 3pm (UK-time). Search for 'The Mind Tools Club' if you'd like to join. Finally, in 'What I Learned This Week', Ross shared that he's been playing 4-player chess on chess.com. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner - @RossGarnerEW Karen Vieth - karen@insynctraining.com  Jennifer - jfinan@insynctraining.com or @TheLearningBird

A year into lockdown, more and more people have started new roles without ever having met a colleague face-to-face. In this week's episode of The Good Practice Podcast, we find out what that's like for people professionals. To discuss, Ross G is joined by Emerald Works CEO John Yates, Frontline Pedagogy Lead Laura Watkin, and Study Group HRD Ed Griffin. Our guests all have different roles in different organisations, but one thing in common: they're working with strangers. We discuss: their experiences of joining an organisation during lockdown the challenges of these experiences the surprising benefits of of not meeting anyone face-to-face. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. And don't forget! We'll be chatting about this topic further, on Thursday, March 18th, at 3pm, on Clubhouse. In 'What I Learned This Week', Ross shared that American hitman Charles Harrelson was the father of actor Woody Harrelson. See Wikipedia for details: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Harrelson  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner - @RossGarnerEW John Yates - @JYlearner Laura Watkin - @TalentEdMagpie Ed Griffin - @EdJGriffin

Few businesses have felt the impact of Covid-19 more keenly than those in the hospitality industry. Bars, restaurants and cafés have been forced to alter their working practices to keep staff and customers safe. So, how has L&D responded to the challenge? This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D is joined by James McLuckie from Flow and Thomas Stroppel from Dishoom to discuss: what James has been up to since he left Emerald Works the challenges facing L&D and HR in the hospitality industry how L&D has adapted in the wake of the pandemic Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. The book James mentioned in 'What I Learned This Week' was All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks, which is available through all good booksellers.   The book Thomas is reading is Salmon by Mark Kurlansky. You can find it at all good booksellers.   If you'd like to give Ross D a one more follower on Instagram, you can find his photography at @ross.dickie. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Dickie - @RossDickieEW James McLuckie - @JamesMcLuckie Being a good Wyoming boy, Thomas stays well clear of Twitter, but you can connect with him on LinkedIn.

If you're a trainer missing the thrill of face-to-face learning, but embracing online facilitation nevertheless, then this episode is for you! This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Gemma chats to Jo Cook and Gaëlle Watson to explore the possibilities that digital life offers facilitators. We discuss: the shifts that have taken place in what facilitators can do to enhance the online learning experiences they offer what further changes might happen as we move into mixed modalities. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. Gaëlle mentioned Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minkov. It's available at all good booksellers. Jo talked about her experience with online games in 'What I learnt this week'. She mentioned Steam (which is available here: store.steampowered.com/) and Table Top Simulator: store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/ Gemma referred to Ann Morgan's reading list: ayearofreadingtheworld.com/thelist/ and her BBC Four Thought podcast, which is available here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000myyp Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey Gaëlle Watson @Gaelledwatson and @SyncSk Jo Cook @LightbulbJo You can also contact Jo via: LightbulbMoment.online LightbulbMoment.community linkedin.com/in/jocooklightbulb/

Covid-19 has changed the world of work, but how has this affected our approach to learning and development? Until now, reporting has been largely anecdotal. So, this week, we're digging into the data. Ross G and Owen are joined by fan favourite Sukh Pabial of Challenging Frontiers, who shares insights from a study he carried out from November 2020 to January 2021. We discuss: the methodology and limitations of Sukh's study (because we caveat everything on this podcast) how Covid has affected L&D budgets some surprising stats around L&D's adoption of tech and digital. Show notes A summary of the research is available on LinkedIn as an infographic: linkedin.com/posts/sukhvinder-pabial_infographic-showing-the-impact-of-covid-19-activity-6762297024403574784-Vxjq/ For more from Sukh, visit: challengingfrontiers.com/  If you'd like to continue the discussion, why not have your say by joining us on Clubhouse this Thursday (25 February) at 3pm GMT? You can find the details here: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/MdO9Q8lA For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. We referenced a few previous episodes in this podcast. Check out: Podcast 232 — What will be hot in workplace L&D in 2021? Podcast 219 — The GP Book Club: Remote (Office Not Required) Podcast 189 — Grit and Mindset: Emotion at Work Crossover Special In 'What I Learned This Week', Owen discussed the power of simple tools like SWOT analysis. You can find a template from Mind Tools here: mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm Sukh recommended Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, whose website is at: ynharari.com/book/sapiens-2/ And what if, after Ross talked about Alien 3 for what felt like 15 minutes, you still want to listen to the radio drama? Well, you can find it on Audible at: audible.co.uk/pd/Alien-III-Audiobook/B07QY1FVDT  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson Sukh Pabial @SukhPabial

What ideas are L&D most excited about in 2021? And what impact has Covid-19 had on perceptions within our industry? This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Donald Taylor to dig through the results of this year's Global Sentiment Survey. We discuss: the emergence of reskilling/upskilling as a priority for L&D the extent to which Covid-19 has amplified or disrupted trends from the past few years predictions for the year ahead Show notes If you'd like to continue the discussion, why not have your say by joining us on Clubhouse this Thursday (18 February) at 3pm GMT? You can find the details here: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/MdO9Q8lA For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. To find out more about the Global Sentiment Survey, or to register for your free copy of the report, head to: https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/survey/ Owen's 'What I Learned This Week' was about the design of the first ever org chart: https://www.wired.com/2014/03/stunningly-complex-organization-chart-19th-century/ He first heard about this in a tweet from former podcast guest Doug Shaw: https://twitter.com/dougshaw1/status/1356881364679819264?s=21 The book Don mentioned was Circe by Madeline Miller, available at all good booksellers. The podcast and Netflix series Ross mentioned is Song Exploder. You can find out more about the show at: https://songexploder.net/ Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson Donald Taylor @DonaldHTaylor

Does your HR team add value to your organisation? Has HR spend spiralled out of control? Does HR's willingness to become the mouthpiece of bad news let leaders off the hook? In this week's episode of The Good Practice Podcast, Laurie Ruettimann - host of the Punk Rock HR podcast - joins Ross G and Owen to discuss. Show notes We're trying something new! Join us on Clubhouse this Thursday, February 11, at 3pm, if you want to share your thoughts on this topic: joinclubhouse.com/event/P96q3g2e For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. You can find out more about Laurie, her podcast and her book, at: laurieruettimann.com. She also discusses defunding HR on YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=c43dvTLYbYo) and how this idea relates to 'defund the police' in episode 121 of her podcast (laurieruettimann.com/punkrockhr-121/). In What I Learned This Week, Owen spoke about employee engagement. The CIPD's report 'Employee Engagement: Definitions, measures and outcomes' is available at: cipd.co.uk/Images/employee-engagement-discussion-report_tcm18-89598.pdf. And the article from Forbes was 'In Defense of Unmotivated Workers', online at: forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2021/01/19/in-defense-of-unmotivated-workers/?sh=7436e0ea21a3. Ross discussed a worrying trend in reviews of scented candles: washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/01/covid-scented-candle-reviews/   Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson Laurie Reuttimann @lruettimann

What L&D trends, tropes and clichés would you put into Room 101? Back in 2019, we cast the misappropriation of 'agile', learning styles, and cheesy stock imagery into oblivion. Nearly two years on, we've decided it's high time for another clear-out!  This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D is joined by Owen, Gemma and Ross G to make the case that existential crises, gratuitous fun and retrofitted 'evidence' all belong in Room 101. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. The app Owen mentioned is Hush - Noiseless Browsing: https://oblador.github.io/hush/ The book Gemma received for her birthday was Word Perfect by Susie Dent, available from all good booksellers. Ross G referenced the calorie-burning prowess of chess grandmasters: https://www.espn.co.uk/espn/story/_/id/27593253/why-grandmasters-magnus-carlsen-fabiano-caruana-lose-weight-playing-chess ... he also talked about Cloudflare's novel approach to data encryption: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/encryption-lava-lamps ... and made up some stuff about Rasputin, which is corrected here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin Ross D made some less dubious Rasputin-related claims about the origins of 'this is a work of fiction' movie disclaimers: https://slate.com/culture/2016/08/the-bizarre-true-story-behind-the-this-is-a-work-of-fiction-disclaimer.html Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson  

If you're looking to change up your approach to learning and development, or just seeking quick tips to focus on performance, this week's episode of The Good Practice Podcast is for you. Author Michelle Parry-Slater joins Ross G and Owen to share insights from The Learning and Development Handbook, her new book out this February. We discuss: problems with treating face-to-face training as the 'default' advice for being a 'critical friend' to your organisation string theory (as a metaphor for considering organisational relationships). Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. Michelle's book is available from Kogan Page at: koganpage.com/product/the-learning-and-development-handbook-9781789663327  In What I Learned This Week, Ross G spoke about an ongoing eLN study to shape the future of L&D. If you'd like to take part, you can do so here: elearningnetwork.org/shaping-the-future-of-ld-the-eln-launches-exploratory-research-study  And, from our listeners, Jo Cook recommended this article on how trade shaped the modern human: fee.org/articles/trade-is-what-makes-us-human/  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson Michelle Parry-Slater @MiPS1608

Are you an L&D specialist running a small business? Or are you thinking of becoming one? On this week's episode of The Good Practice Podcast, Lightbulb Moment's Jo Cook and Syncskills' Gaëlle Delmas-Watson join Ross G to share their experiences and advice. We discuss: the advantages and disadvantages of running a small business the importance of values tips and advice for people who are thinking of setting up their own L&D business. Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. You can find out more about Lightbulb Moment at: lightbulbmoment.online. You can find out more about SyncSkills at: syncskills.net/About.   In What I Learned This Week, Ross G shared the story of Helen Viola Jackson, the last remaining US Civil War widow. Find out more at: theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/last-civil-war-widow-dies-helen-viola-jackson  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Jo Cook @LightbulbJo Gaëlle Delmas-Watson @GaelleDWatson