The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Being able to empathise helps us to better connect, communicate and respond to each other. It's a skill that can be developed through practice. This week on The Good Practice Podcast, Gemma and Ross G speak to Mark Davies from See Learning about using video to build empathy. We discuss: the benefits of building empathy at work why video is an effective tool for building empathy how to encourage people to share their stories on video filming on a smartphone. 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. In his first answer, Ross referred to Robert Putnam's book Bowling Alone, which is summarised on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone In What I Learned This Week, Ross continued his sporadic series on space-based toilet anecdotes with the news that NASA has invented a device that supports 'dual ops': https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/10/space-toilet-nasa-women/616686/ He previously discussed NASA's list of US material on the Moon: https://history.nasa.gov/FINAL%20Catalogue%20of%20Manmade%20Material%20on%20the%20Moon.pdf (in Episode 133) And, more recently, how astronaut pee can be used as a construction material: https://www.wired.com/story/on-the-moon-astronaut-pee-will-be-a-hot-commodity/ (in Episode 199) Gemma mentioned the podcast "Something rhymes with purple". You can find it on most podcast streaming services, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and acast. Mark spoke about his video series "You are Pure Story". You can access it here: https://www.lifebooth.co.uk/free Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Mark Davies is contactable via email: mark@seelearning.co.uk

Love your Mac? Find your vacuum cleaner cumbersome? Despair at the booking system of your local leisure center? User experience design (or lack of) plays a significant part in whether you love or loathe the products and services you interact with.    This week on the Good Practice podcast, Gemma and Ross D talk to Rhys Pendred, Emerald Work's Lead UX designer. We focussed on the what, why and how of user experience, discussing:  What UX is  UX fundamental principles  How we might think about and improve the UX of our products / learning.    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.  Rhys mentioned Jacob Neilson's "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design". This article can be found online at https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/  If you'd like to find out more about UX in learning design, we would recommend listening to our previous podcast "Design thinking for instructional design" with Connie Malamed. You can find it here https://podcast.goodpractice.com/78-design-thinking-for-ld  Rhys talked about Eddie Van Halen's quirky, brown M&Ms stipulation. This is mentioned in The Independent's Eddie Van Halen obituary. You can read the obituary at https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/obituary-eddie-van-halen-39608991.html  Gemma referred to a piece of research on muscle loading. It was mentioned in Tom Goom's video "What muscles should runners strengthen". The video is found online at https://www.running-physio.com/muscles/     Connect with our speakers  If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter / LinkedIn:  Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey  Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW  Rhys Pendred linkedin.com/in/rhys-pendred 

Earlier in the year, a report by academics at Cardiff and Southampton Universities found that a majority of people would like to continue working from home in some capacity, even after social distancing is no longer a requirement. But what would a permanent shift to distributed work look like? And what would it mean for organisational performance?  This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Dr Kerstin Sailer, Reader in Social and Spatial Networks at University College London, to discuss: the relationship between workplace design and communication the implications of a more permanent move away from the physical office considerations when adapting existing spaces to allow for social distancing 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 report referenced above can be found at: https://wiserd.ac.uk/publications/homeworking-uk-and-during-2020-lockdown To learn more about Kerstin's work, head to: https://brainybirdz.net/ The Nature article Owen referenced can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02558-0 Kerstin is currently reading The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz. For an overview of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's research into dogs' ability to detect Covid-19, head to: https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/using-dogs-to-detect-covid-19 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 Kerstin Sailer @kerstinsailer

A lot of ink has been spilt over the issue of workplace learning: what it is, when and why it happens, and the impact it has on organizations. But what does it mean to learners themselves? This week on the Good Practice Podcast,  Ross D is joined by Owen and Emerald Works CEO John Yates to discuss our forthcoming 'Learner Intelligence Report'. We cover: what/who motivates learners to seek out development opportunities the role L&D can play in facilitating self-directed learning how Covid-19 has amplified or reversed the trends of the past few years 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. It's also the best place to keep up with news on the Learner Intelligence Report. The book John mentioned was The Overstory by Richard Powers.  If, like Ross D, you enjoy spending time alone in the wilderness, you should definitely download the What Three Words app: https://what3words.com/ Ross D also mentioned Driving Performance Through Learning by Andy Lancaster, which the Custom Learning team at Emerald Works are studying in their book club.  If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW Owen Ferguson @owenferguson John Yates @JYlearn 

As the saying goes, "a problem shared is a problem halved". To create a safe space for L&D professionals to talk about their challenges and find solutions, Emerald Works runs a regular Learning Innovation Group (LIG).   This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Gemma asks LIG curator and facilitator, Nahdia Khan and LIG participant, Victoria Winter, Learning Strategist from Cerner, about the value of the LIG.  We discussed:   What the LIG involves  The value of a community of practice   The professional, personal and organisational benefits of attending the LIG.  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. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey Nahdia Khan @NahdiaKhan Victoria Winter @_VictoriaWinter

Giving learners access to training does not guarantee any behavioural change whatsoever. Even the most engaging piece of learning doesn't necessarily shift one's thoughts or actions. So how can we plan, create and support training in a way that learning is transferred?  This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Gemma and Owen are joined by Dr Ina Weinbauer-Heidel, founder and chief executive officer of the Institute of Transfer Effectiveness. We discuss:  the challenge of learning transfer   how Dr Ina's "12 levers" can be used to encourage learning transfer  project examples that use the 12 levers  measuring learning transfer  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.  Dr Ina Weinbauer-Heidel book, What makes training really work includes the 12 levers and associated questions. Available online at https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Makes-Training-Really-Work/dp/3746942993  Gemma mentioned Roger Deakin’s book, Waterlog. Available online at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterlog-Roger-Deakin/dp/1784700061/ref=asc_df_1784700061  The glass shape research Owen cites is found in the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest. The title of the research is “The Shape of a glass can influence how much we drink”. Langfield, T., Pechey, R., Gilchrist, P. T., Pilling, M., & Marteau, T. M. (2020). Glass shape influences drinking behaviours in three laboratory experiments. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-11. Found online at https://digest.bps.org.uk/2020/08/13/the-shape-of-a-glass-can-influence-how-much-we-drink/  Connect with our speakers  If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter:  Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey  Owen Ferguson @owenferguson 

Before a job candidate ever submits an application or attends an interview, they will likely have several interactions with their prospective employer that shape how they feel about the organisation. Together, these touchpoints make up the 'candidate experience'. This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by their Emerald Works colleague Esh Jugal, along with guest Matt Alder, host of the Recruiting Future podcast. We discuss: what we mean when we talk about 'candidate experience' the similarities between candidate experience and customer experience examples of good and bad candidate experiences how organisations can shape the candidate experience 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 the Recruiting Future podcast wherever you get your podcasts, or learn more at: https://recruitingfuture.com/ To discover 'The Laws of UX', and maybe even apply them to your candidate experience, head to: https://lawsofux.com/ The New Yorker article Ross D mentioned was 'Lost in Translation: What the First Line of "The Stranger" should be': https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translation-what-the-first-line-of-the-stranger-should-be You can find out more about Roam Research at: https://roamresearch.com/ 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 Esh Jugal @eshworld Matt Alder @mattalder

We're five months on from the start of the UK Government's 2020 furlough scheme, so this week on The Good Practice Podcast we're discussing what it's been like for those who have experienced it. Knowledge Pool's Scott Fellows joins Gemma and Ross G to share his story, while David Hayden from the CIPD shares more general insights into how people have experienced the scheme. We discuss: how organizations have supported employees who are furloughed what we've learned about how people adapt to dramatic change support available to organizations and individuals at this time 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 CIPD's Coronavirus hub is online at: cipd.co.uk/news-views/coronavirus Mind Tools' COVID-19 support page is online at: mindtools.com/pages/article/covid-19_support_pack.htm Scott blogs at: learningperformancearchitect.wordpress.com and has collected free learning experience design tools at learningperformancearchitect.wordpress.com/resources/  In What I Learned This Week, Ross G shared a blog from The People Experience Hub about word clouds: thepeopleexperiencehub.org/post/head-in-the-clouds David shared an online percentage calculator: calculatorsoup.com/calculators/algebra/percent-difference-calculator.php  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW GemmaTowersey @GemmaTowersey Scott Fellows @Fellows_Scott David Hayden @HaydenDavidhrd

The Black Lives Matter movement has helped bring some of the issues surrounding diversity and inclusion to the fore, sparking conversations in and outside of the workplace.  This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Ricky Benjamin from TSB to discuss:  TSB's approach to diversity and inclusion the organisation's response to the killing of George Floyd and the BLM movement the impact of recent events on TSB's broader D&I agenda the benefits and challenges associated with promoting D&I to a distributed workforce 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 all of Ricky's LinkedIn posts at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-benjamin-319303b9/detail/recent-activity/shares/ The growth mindset article Owen mentioned can be found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494419307546 You can find out more about Maria Lax's photography on her website (www.maria-lax.com) or through her Instagram (www.instagram.com/maria_lax_). 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 Ricky Benjamin @rickyAKAmcRB

As it's become increasingly apparent that we'll be living with coronavirus for some time, organisations have started to think about what that means for workplace culture. Is it possible to hold on to what came before, or do we need to think differently about 'how we do things around here'? To answer these questions, Ross G and Owen are joined by Bruce Daisley, former Twitter VP, author of 'The Joy of Work', host of the 'Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat' podcast and workplace culture enthusiast. We discuss: how organisations are adapting to coronavirus the changing role of 'the office' the impact that managers have on workplace culture, both online and offline. 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 Bruce, including access to his podcast, books and newsletter, see: eatsleepworkrepeat.com The growth mindset paper that Owen discussed was: Li, Y., & Bates, T. C. (2020). Testing the association of growth mindset and grades across a challenging transition: Is growth mindset associated with grades?. Intelligence, 81, 101471. Online at: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289620300490 The podcast Ross discussed was This Week in Virology, episode 640, featuring Michael Mina: https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-640/ 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 Bruce Daisley @BruceDaisley