The Mindtools L&D Podcast

Here at Emerald Works, we recently spent some time setting objectives for the remainder of the year. One of the areas Ross D wanted to work on was his productivity, so he turned to his colleagues on the Custom Learning team for advice.  This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross G, Tracey and Gemma share some of the techniques they use to keep on top of projects and 'get things done'. We discuss:  The hallmarks of a good to-do list  The benefits of chunking tasks down, Italian style Useful online and offline productivity tools The difference between productivity and time management 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. If you're interested in joining Tracey, Gemma and the two Rosses on the Custom Learning team, you can find the full job listing at: https://emeraldgroup.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/1976853 You can learn more about David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' methodology at: https://gettingthingsdone.com/ You can listen to 'The Susurrations of Trees' podcast through BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000b6sm Ross G's Twitter conversation about the future of the A4 page can be found at: https://twitter.com/RossGarnerEW/status/1291111207588552708?s=20 The Kate Prince episode of Imagine can be found at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lbqd. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter and LinkedIn Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Tracey McDonald @TraceyMcDonald Gemma Towersey @gemmatowersey

Working within a global L&D network has both opportunities and challenges. But how do they differ within the social sector? How do global organizations deliver learning in rural areas with poor internet connections? And what impact has COVID-19 had on their approach? This week on The Good Practice Podcast, Nicola Boyle and Ross Garner are joined by Claire Wilson, Head of Global Learning Lab at the Social Enterprise Academy. She shares her experiences of working in global L&D in the social sector. We discuss: how the Social Enterprise Academy deliver L&D globally the challenges of delivering learning in developing countries the impact of COVID-19 on global L&D in the social sector. 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. To find out more about Social Enterprise Academy, check out their website: socialenterprise.academy/scot/ In What I Learned This Week, Nicola recommended the BBC Radio 4 programme Soul Music. The episode on 'I will Survive' can be found here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l7zc The book that Ross recommended was The Hardest Job in the World by John Dickerson, available at: amazon.co.uk/Hardest-Job-World-American-Presidency/dp/1984854518 John Dickerson co-hosts the Slate: Political Gabfest. Listen at: slate.com/podcasts/political-gabfest For a somewhat twee reminder of how we used to consider the Presidency, see The American President, directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin: imdb.com/title/tt0112346/ Claire recommended The Happy Newspaper, online at: thehappynewspaper.com/ Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter and LinkedIn Nicola Boyle @Nicola_BoyleEW Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Claire Wilson on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clairelwilson/

This week on The Good Practice Podcast we're joined by instructional designer Cara North, who shares her experiences of working in both corporate and Higher Education environments. What are the similarities? What are the differences? And what can these two domains learn from each other? We discuss: the impact of working with subject matter experts who are educators designing for students vs designing for colleagues the learner as consumer. Show notes You can find out more about Cara at: caranorth.com Cara referenced Cammy Bean's book The Accidental Instructional Designer, available from Amazon: amazon.co.uk/Accidental-Instructional-Designer-Learning-Digital/dp/1562869140 James referenced a number of researcher/practitioners who write publicly about instructional design and online learning. These were: Jane Bozarth, Jane Hart, Harold Jarche, and Clark Quinn. Ross would add Will Thalheimer and Patti Shank to that list. 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 What I Learned This Week, James bemoaned the number of 'no shows' to UK restaurants: bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-53496326/coronavirus-restaurants-struggle-with-overwhelming-no-shows Cara recommended Kath Ellis and Kim Tuohy's learning design competition 'The Show', with episodes available on YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCQrSBktwEPqsfM4iYZkv1Tw  From this, Cara learned about the apps Appy Pie (appypie.com) and WebFlow (webflow.com). Ross shared his 70(plus)-year-old "hot take" on Disney's back catalogue, giving capsule reviews of Snow White (1937, 83 minutes), Pinocchio (1940, 88 minutes), Bambi (1942, 70 minutes) and Cinderella (1950, 74 minutes). All available on Disney+. Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW James McLuckie @JamesMcLuckie Cara North @CaraNorth11

Coaching has historically only been available to senior leaders, but new digital platforms are creating opportunities to provide access for everyone. This week on The Good Practice Podcast, CoachHub's Svenja Haus joins Ross D and Owen to share her experiences. We discuss: how coaching can be delivered at scale the role of the manager when coaching is 'outsourced' the opportunities and drawbacks of 'digital' coaching. Show notes You can find out more about CoachHub at coachhub.io Tim Harford's new book, How to Make the World Add Up, is available this September: amazon.co.uk/How-Make-World-Add-Up/dp/1408712237 Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers (which was released over 10 years ago but is new to some podcast hosts), has been available for years: amazon.co.uk/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0141036257 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 Svenja Haus is on LinkedIn or @CoachHub_IO

Consulting duo Albina Shashyna and Chris Watt use the story of Alice in Wonderland to create disruptive learning experiences that break from the norm. But like many practitioners, they had to quickly pivot to online when lockdown was introduced in March 2020. This week on The Good Practice Podcast, Albina and Chris join Ross D and Owen to share their experiences. We discuss: How the story of Alice can be used to frame development conversations The challenges presented by the move online How constant reflection creates an opportunity to improve. Show notes You can find out more about Albina, Chris and Alice at: freeyourinneralice.com The email client that Owen recommended was hey.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 Albina Shashyna @Albina_Shashyna Chris is on LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/in/chris-watt-7971b929/

In this special episode of The Good Practice Podcast, we say farewell to retiring CEO Peter Casebow. Joined by Nicola, Owen, James and Ross G, Peter reflects on what's changed in workplace learning, and what hasn't. We discuss: the early days of digital learning how GoodPractice introduced 'performance support' before there was a term for it our memories of Peter as CEO. Show notes Ross shared news of the death of Professor K. Anders Ericsson. You can read about his career here: news.fsu.edu/news/2020/06/24/fsu-psychology-professor-anders-ericsson-the-worlds-top-expert-on-expertises-dies/  Nicola shared a story about the evolution of foxes: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-52892194  And for Peter's last 'What I Learned This Week', he discussed the book On The Trail of Wolves by Philippa Forrester, available from Amazon: amazon.co.uk/Trail-Wolves-British-Adventure-Wild/dp/147297204X  Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Nicola Boyle @Nicola_BoyleEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson James McLuckie @JamesMcLuckie Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW and Peter Casebow @PeterCasebow Apologies for Ross' poor audio throughout.

In the past few months, many organisations have completely changed their approach to L&D because of the COVID-19 situation. But to what extent were these changes already in the pipeline? What has worked and what hasn't? And how long-lasting will these changes be? This week, Alan Brown, Learning and Development Consultant at Standard Life Aberdeen, joins Nicola Boyle and Owen Ferguson to share his team's experiences. We discuss: How Standard Life Aberdeen moved their global L&D offering to virtual How to combat the challenges and measure the success of switching to virtual How permanent this transition to virtual will be Show notes The podcast Nicola mentioned is How to Fail by Elizabeth Day - the Mo Gowdat episode on managing anxiety through the COVID-19 situation can be found here -https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-gmyyz-d6e065 The Twitter thread on 'meetings light fortnight' from Gem Dale (@HR_Gem) that Owen referred to can be found here https://twitter.com/HR_Gem/status/1275364636146257920 Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Nicola Boyle @Nicola_BoyleEW Owen Ferguson @OwenFerguson Alan Brown - alan.brown@aberdeenasset.com

Covid-19 has had a huge impact on organisations. We're constantly told that things won't go back to the way they were, rather that there will be a 'new normal'. So, what will that ‘new normal’ look like for L&D? This week on the 200th episode of the Good Practice Podcast, the team are joined by Andy Lancaster, Hannah Gore, Kenny Temowo and a live Zoom audience to discuss the future of: working life learning and development workplace culture Show notes Andy's book Driving Performance through Learning can be found here - https://www.koganpage.com/product/driving-performance-through-learning-9780749497439 To find out more about Hannah, visit her website https://drhannahgore.com/ To find out more about Edgar Schein's Humble Inquiry - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Humble-Inquiry-Instead-Telling-Leadership/dp/1609949811 Nicola recommended Educated by Tara Westover https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35133922-educated To find out more about the Learning Health Check visit - https://bit.ly/GPPod-LHC  To find out more about Emerald Works, visit our website - https://emeraldworks.com/ Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Nicola Boyle @Nicola_BoyleEW Ross Dickie @RossDickieEW Ross Garner @RossGarnerEW Owen Ferguson @owenferguson Hannah Gore @HRGore Andy Lancaster @AndyLancasterUK Kenny Temowo @K_temowo

In the past few months, we've all become fast friends with the concept of 'change'. But do you resist change when it occurs, or do you ask probing questions to shape your understanding - then act as a change superhero? In this episode of The Good Practice Podcast, author Lucinda Carney joins Ross G and Owen to discuss her new book: How to be a Change Superhero. We discuss:  superpowers that can help us become change agents our reactions to change the use of models for managing change. Show notes How to be a Change Superhero is available now from Amazon: amazon.co.uk/How-Change-Superhero-business-toolkit-ebook/dp/B0869LV2NP Lucinda also hosts The HR Uprising Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. You can find out more about Lucinda's company, Actus, at: actus.co.uk In 'What I Learned This Week', Owen shared the video of 'The Miracle Sudoku': youtu.be/yKf9aUIxdb4  Ross discussed the many uses of astronaut urine: wired.com/story/on-the-moon-astronaut-pee-will-be-a-hot-commodity/  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 Lucinda Carney @LucindaCarney  

We've talked on this podcast about how L&D professionals can use storytelling techniques to create more engaging, memorable learning experiences. But what about the stories we tell ourselves every day? How do these stories shape our identity at work? This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D and Owen are joined by Simon Arrowsmith, founder of Grow the People, to discuss: the relationship between storytelling and wellbeing the role that stories can play in helping us adapt to life under lockdown the ways L&D can incorporate storytelling into their working practices Show notes If you'd like to join us for our live show, you can find all the details here: https://emeraldworks.com/resources/events-webinars/webinars/podcast-200-episode To find out more about Simon's work, head over to the Grow the People website: https://growthepeople.co/ For a summary of the history behind 'Juneteenth', go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth The podcast Ross mentioned was Articles of Interest: https://99percentinvisible.org/aoi/ Tired of Fortnite and Call of Duty? Then why not check out the game everyone's talking about (mainly just Owen) and 'Guess the Correlation'? - http://guessthecorrelation.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 Simon Arrowsmith @thesoundstories