World of Learning 2011 - WOLCE

getting learning & Development on the National Agenda

2011-09-29T18:24:00.000+01:00

Its easy for those of us involved in learning and organizational development to say that we need to be more strategic, and that we can be of a lot more value to our employers.

So I took the opportunity to ask Nicholas Owen, TV presenter and reporter what his tips for us would be based on his experience of media and business, and the fact that he is a truly independent observer:

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, A learning & organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2011 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Management and Business Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

Summary of Day 2 World of Learning 2011

2011-09-29T18:17:00.003+01:00

Listen to the conference chairman share his summary of day 2 of world of learning 2011

Free Seminars - Day 2 WOL11

2011-09-28T09:00:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 28 September 2011

10:30 – 11:00

Getting more out of less

During these times of economic challenge, many organisations have had to cut budgets, training and even staff. This leaves them struggling to provide the services and products they need to in order to grow and prepare for the inevitable economic upturn.

Richard Burkard, Senior Consultant, Advance Performance

10:45 – 11:15

Developing and Engaging Talent

Identifying talent and developing people for the challenge of business leadership are essential elements of sustainable business growth and success.

Andy Dickson, Head of Global Solutions, Impact International

11:15 – 11:45

Linking performance with talent management and succession planning

During this seminar you will discover best practices for aligning employee development with strategic objectives; developing a skills analysis of essential competencies for succession planning; evaluating learning successes and identifying skill needs; aligning business growth with key staff development; ensuring business groups are linked to organisational goals; reducing training and operational costs associated with manual reviews; and facilitating personal progress and professional development.

Martin Belton, Business Development Director, e2train

12:00 – 12:30

Workplace coaching: a journey of personal development for organisational change

In this interactive session, Carol will draw on her experience developing manager-as-coach programmes throughout the world and in the UK public sector to present some thought provoking coaching-based models for managers in the workplace, and a ten-point plan for creating a coaching culture.

Carol Wilson, Managing Director, Performance Coach Training

12:15 – 12:45

'e-Development' - A practical e-solution pathway towards integrated performance management

With reference to case studies including Cheltenham Borough Council and the Cayman Islands Civil Service, this seminar will explore how a focus on influencing and managing development 'futures' via an e-development pathway is changing the way acquisitions implement successful e-Learning strategies - enabling organisations worldwide to move at their own pace towards a fully integrated learning and performance management future.

Pete Bennett, Assistant Director, LSN

12:45 – 13:15

Mobile learning: three views of a multi-platform world

Everybody’s talking about it… and a few organisations are actually doing it – but how is mobile learning enhancing and improving learning effectiveness in the workplace?

Steve Ash, Director, LINE Communications

13:30 – 14:00

Supporting the L&D function through outsourcing

Businesses require the Learning and Development function to deliver training solutions that meet the needs of employees whilst balancing the budget. As an L&D professional, delivering quality solutions with reduced budget can be a challenge.

Rachel Kay, Business Development Director, Thales Training & Consultancy

13:45 - 14:15

Migrating from classroom to online training - the opportunities and challenges

Using a case study from Cisco Systems, this seminar will outline how Priority Management is delivering productivity training globally using online instructor-led delivery.

Katie Honey, Director of Training - South East, Priority Management

14:15 – 14:45

Accelerated learning – ‘sticky learning’

According to research, after 31 days you will at best remember only 20% of what you have learnt. Using accelerated learning techniques, Don Schuster, Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University was able to record that “it produces at least 300% improvement in the speed and effectiveness of learning”.

Krystyna Gadd, Lead Consultant, Pearlcatchers

15:00 – 15:30

Harnessing the power of informal learning without stifling it

Informal learning is the primary engine of learning in the workplace, and information is one of the main fuels.

Paul Matthews, Managing Director, People Alchemy

15:15 – 15:45

The essentials of building an online learning community

Find out how to support your learners by creating an online community for them to interact, share and collaborate.
Peter Casebow, Chief Executive, GoodPractice

Mixed messages at World Of Learning

2011-09-28T07:09:00.002+01:00

I have attended the World of Learning for the last few years, and I have to say that yesterday included some of the most inspiring and interesting conference sessions I have ever heard here.

As is common with many conferences there are themes that run through several sessions. This year that theme was social learning.

There is an increasing trend for organisations to look to cut budgets and yet engage learners like never before. One worrying factor that manifested itself was the fact that many people at the conference had very limited access to the internet at work (as shown by a live audience poll). While we may expect employers to restrict many employees, as thinkers and change agents we (the L&D profession) cannot afford to be insular, and the most cost effective way of providing CPD for our profession is access to knowledge and thinking via the internet.

There was a certain level of double standards in that we are expected to do more for less... in many cases a lot more for a lot less, and yet our employers are not giving us the tools to do this effectively.

Bias against technology? as a regular tweeter and blogger I capture much of what I hear in electronic form directly, however it seems that many presenters and indeed audience participants do not mind people taking notes on paper, and yet are distracted by people doing the same on their phone, tablet or laptop. Is this a technology problem, or a mistrust that the person is not taking notes but doing other things - i.e. showing a lack of respect.

Personally, I find it harder to concentrate and take notes and interact about the topic live, so in many ways it requires more attention as to what is going on. If L&D is to grow and change, we need to learn to adapt to individuals own preference for data and note taking.

In the final keynote of the day, Charles Jennings led a session on training governance. A good insight as to what training specialists need to do to engage stakeholders fully. If we cannot influence the business... then in time we will not have a profession left.

Nicholas Owen's Summary of Day one

2011-09-28T06:43:00.002+01:00

Its easy as a L&D professional to make a summary and judgement based on our own experiences and biases, however the chairman of this event is TV presenter and journalist Nicholas Owen is not is our profession and has the unique ability to hear what is said in the context of UK Plc.

As the day closed I took the opportunity to invite Nicholas to give his summary of what he thought was the theme or key learning he personally was going to take away from day one at world of learning:

Interactive stands

2011-09-28T06:34:00.000+01:00

One regular exhibitor at World of Learning is PearlCatchers. As you walk around the exhibition hall you will hear a loud stand from time to time.. as you make your way towards the "noise" the following scene emerges from the crowd:

Exhibitors at World of Learning 2011 (WOLCE wol11)

2011-09-27T08:09:00.002+01:00

Companies exhibiting at World of Learning 2011

Acua Limited
Alexander Stewart Associates
Appraisal360
Assima Ltd
Atlantic Link
BIG PICTURE
Bite Size Limited
Blue Beetle Training
Brathay Trust
CDG
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
Coaching on Call
Conference Centres of Excellence (CCE)
Coventry University
DeltaNet
Distance Learning College & Training/DLC Worldwide
e-Learning Studios
e-origen.com
e2train
East Midlands Conference Centre
Edvantage Group
Ellis Salsby
ERAS
etc.venues
Eynsham Hall
Fourmative Ltd
Go MAD Thinking
GOPAS
Hay Group
Host a Virtual Event
iManage Performance
Impact International
Information Transfer LLP
Inntel Meetings & Travel Management
Inscape Partners International
Interactive Education
Intuition
iTrain
Jigsaw@work
Juice Learning
Kaplan Learning Technologies
Kents Hill Park Training & Conference Centre
Kettering Park Hotel and Management Development Centre
Learning Accelerators
LINE Communications
LMMatters Ltd
Logax
Loughborough College
LSN

Metalog UK
Mind Click
Online TV Group
OutStart Incorporated
Packtypes
Panopto
Pearlcatchers
People Alchemy Ltd
PersonnelZone.com
Priority Management
Professional Development Zone
Promethean
Qwizdom UK
Results Driven Group
Revelation Training Ltd
SalesAssessment.com
Scott Bradbury Ltd
Seminar Learning System
Skills2Learn
SkillSet Ltd
SML Training & Consultancy
Speak First
Talent & Potential
Thales Training & Consultancy
The Berkshire Consultancy
The BILD
The Charity Learning Consortium
The Ken Blanchard Companies
The Learning Architect
The Training Foundation
TrainerBase
Training Journal
Training Pages
Training Tracker
TrainingZone.co.uk
TransPerfect Translations Ltd
Tree of Knowledge
TurningPoint
UK Mediation Ltd
UK Trade & Investment
Unlimited Potential
Upside Learning Solutions
WebExaminer
Wellingtone Ltd
Whittlebury Hall Limited
Whow! Leadership Limited
YMCA National Centre, Lakeside
Zing Media Ltd

FW: Just one day to go to World of Learning 2011

2011-09-26T12:15:00.000+01:00

Are you visiting WOL11 this week at the NEC Birmingham?

There are some excellent speakers and many free seminars to chose from:

Tuesday 27 September 2011

10:15 – 10:45

More effective training for less

How can L&D professionals continue with effective delivery on reduced budgets and timescales?

Graham David, Director, Blue Beetle Training

10:45 – 11:15

Happiness at work

This seminar is about the importance of promoting health and happiness in the workplace. The mental and physical health of your staff is key to successful people engagement.

Liggy Webb, Director, The Learning Architect

11:00 – 11:30

Lessons from the front line of social learning

For two years Rob has been running a distance social learning course based on a delivery model he developed with some of the smartest minds in the industry. The course includes a blend of social learning, assignments, serious games, webinars, videos, peer review, self-reflection and more.

Rob Hubbard, Managing Director, LearningAge Solutions

11:45 – 12:15

Global learning programmes – can one size ever fit all?

Today’s large-scale learning roll-outs may involve audiences that are literally spread across the globe. How do you ensure that your learning programmes engage diverse audiences and deliver results across language, cultural, geographical and time boundaries?

Sue Bird, Director of Operations, SkillSet

12:15 – 12:45

Managing conflict within teams

Conflict often arises within teams because individual team members have different ways of working and different expectations of each other.

Jo Keeler, Business Director, Belbin

12:30 – 13:00

Using partnering to build a change management community

Following legislation and the need to maximise the value to its members, The Law Society faced major change to transform itself into a commercial organisation. Without effective leadership at all levels, change would not be delivered in a culture that was typified by silos, lack of trust and ineffective performance management.
This session explores how success was achieved by true partnering with the Board and managers at all levels, where Learning and Development and Berkshire Consultancy developed an empowered management community that seized opportunities and accelerated the pace of change.

Sarah Hunter, Account Director, Berkshire Consultancy

13:15 – 13:45

Go Engage, Grasp & Collaborate – a practical demonstration

Learn how to make sense of beautifully complex and changing businesses in three practical steps: Go Engage – Grasp – Collaborate.

Martin Johnson, Director, Big Picture

13:45 – 14:15

How learning response systems can significantly improve learning and development

Each employee works at different levels and paces. This seminar will demonstrate how trainers can adapt their teaching style with powerful effect by improving the delivery of training content, and how this can be achieved.

Ranjit Singh, CEO, Interactive Education

14:00 – 14:30

Compliance e-learning – who says it has to be boring?

The words ‘compliance’ and ‘training’ together rarely elicit enthusiasm. But this presentation will reveal how to draw on the power of storytelling to not only make compliance e-learning more engaging, but more memorable too.
Dr Naomi Norman, Director of Learning
Imogen Casebourne, Head of Learning, Epic

14:45 – 15:15

Can line managers become talent managers?

This interactive session demonstrates tools developed with Nationwide that allow line managers to identify different kinds of potential, put together a succession plan, develop strengths, and get team members to own and drive development. Managers’ self ratings after three months show a 57% increase in understanding the potential in their team; a 50% increase in understanding the talent in their team; a 41% increase in responsibility taken by the team for their own development; and a 47% increase in clarity about their succession plan.

Scott Hobbs and Anne Hamill, Directors, Talent & Potential
Martin Hills, Leadership & Professional Development Manager, Nationwide

15:15 – 15:45

Seven trends of mobile learning

With such a wide range of options for delivering learning already available, do we really need another?

Martin Addison, Managing Director, Video Arts

15:30 – 16:00

The role of learning and development in supporting public sector change

The current budget cuts in local authorities are having a major impact on the services they provide and the people that work for them. Many local authorities are undertaking reviews of their back-office services in an effort to improve efficiency and reduce costs. However, organisational reviews and restructures can leave individuals feeling that the outcome is nothing more than a greater workload and a new desk.

Susanne Evans, Managing Director, Feldspar Consulting
Helen Ashton, Partner and Head of Learning and Development, First Class learning and development
Jennifer Penfold, Corporate Learning and Development Manager, Leicestershire County Council

16:15 - 16:45

What learning methods do leaders and managers really prefer?

Think you know what learning methods leaders and managers like best?

James Reed, Managing Director, LMMatters

What is WOL all about?

2011-09-23T08:29:00.000+01:00

World of Learning Conference & Exhibition 2011

Social learning, managing conflict, outsourcing and developing and engaging talent –these are some of the many topics under discussion in a series of free seminars at the World of Learning Conference & Exhibition. The UK’s premier event for business learning, taking place on 27 to 28 September 2011 at the NEC Birmingham, brings together around 100 UK and international exhibitors, and hosts a world-renowned conference featuring industry-leading speakers from across the globe.

The World of Learning Conference & Exhibition features a comprehensive programme of seminars, sponsored by TrainingZone, offering practical advice on the issues affecting learning and development (L&D) professionals via case studies and experts detailing their own experiences. Bearing in mind the current economic climate, these sessions are particularly tailored towards how to run an L&D function when budgets are tight and the pressure to deliver is on.

Among the key themes under discussion are ‘More effective training for less’ with Graham David from Blue Beetle Training; ‘Lessons from the front line of social learning’ with Rob Hubbard from LearningAge Solutions; and ‘Seven trends of mobile learning’ by Martin Addison from Video Arts.

The topical subject of ‘The role of learning and development in supporting public sector change’ will also be explored alongside seminars on ‘Linking performance with talent management and succession planning’ and ‘Harnessing the power of informal learning without stifling it’. Visitors will get the latest news and views on industry developments as well as guidance that they can put into practice on returning to the office.

Alongside the seminars, a host of free features enable visitors to gain help and support to further their career in the L&D sector. At Professional Development Zone, advisers from the British Institute for Learning & Development (BILD) will be on hand to give one-to-one advice on topics from performance improvement to key challenges in the workplace. BILD experts will also lead tailored group sessions in the Skills Workshops taking place throughout the show.

Visitors interested in exploring the use of social media to enhance learning activities and knowledge sharing should head for the Social Learning Zone for presentations and one-to-one sessions.

A well-established feature at the show, the Experiential Learning Zone offers engaging and inspiring workshops that allow visitors to experience first-hand highly creative solutions for skills development.

The International Zone, in association with UK Trade & Investment, is dedicated to encouraging trade and growth on a worldwide level. Visitors can meet key decision-makers and potential partners from overseas who are looking to link with UK training providers or purchase UK products, services and expertise. Those looking to expand overseas can learn how to develop an international business and obtain advice from UKTI's overseas trade advisers on doing business in their country.

New to the World of Learning 2011, the Happiness at Work Zone looks at how to engage people on a personal and professional level in the workplace and how to create the right environment for positivity and productivity.

Visitors can meet trainers across a range of disciplines at the Trainer Base, or relax and meet new contacts at the Business & Networking Lounge.

To register to attend the World of Learning 2011, and for more details about the event, visit http://www.learnevents.com/.

Which sessions to attend at WOL11?

2011-09-22T09:58:00.000+01:00

Which sessions to attend this year? There are some really great speakers lined up, and a number of clashes, and that is just the paid for conference. there are excellent sessions in the free seminars too.

I have had a number of recommendations on Twitter and will be planning which to attend and blog about over the weekend.

In the mean time if there is something you will be missing let me know and I will see if I can cover it.

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://rapidbi.com © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2011 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

WOLCE 2011 - Conference sessions day 2

2011-09-18T18:21:00.001+01:00

The second days of the conference is on the 28 September 2011 at the NEC Birmingham.

FUTURE OF LEARNING FORUM
10:00 – 11:00 Overcoming the barriers to change - Rachel Richardson, Group Head of Human Resources, Sportingbet

Clare Kirk, Group Learning & Development Manager, Sovereign Housing Group
John Baker, Strategic L&D Adviser, Capita Learning & Development, and former Learning, Development and HR Operations Director, Legal & General
Tony Sheehan, Learning Services Director, Ashridge
Debbie Carter, Director of Research, TJ

11:05 – 12:05 M1 - Constructing a compelling business case for L&D activities -

Alison Hewitt, GDO & Large Accounts Manager Learning & Development, Xerox Europe

Nigel Harrison, Chartered Business Psychologist, and Founder, Performance Consulting UK

11:30 – 12:30 M4 - Harnessing the potential of social learning

Nancy Ouma, Assessment & Training Manager, VSO
Jane Hart, Founder, Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

13:45 – 14:45 A3 - Developing your line managers as coaches

Chris Henderson, Principal, Leadership Connections

14:00 – 15:00 A4 - Maximising the transferral of learning into behavioural change

Peter Coley, Head of Learning & Development, St Mungo’s
Louise Charlton, Consultant to St Mungo’s
Andy Dickson, Head of Global Solutions, Impact International

CLOSING ADDRESS
15:05 – 15:45 Adapting to change and influencing success – five new conversations for L&DThis interactive closing session will use the conference inputs, the audience’s experiences and the latest research with over 1,200 L&D organisations to provide delegates with practical ideas take back to business to influence change.

Laura Overton, Managing Director, Towards Maturity

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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World of Learning Conference & Exhibition 2011

2011-09-18T18:18:00.001+01:00

The 2011 World of learning Conference and Exhibition 2011 is now just a few days away. have you booked your tickets yet?

This leading exhibition covering the world of adult and workplace learning providers and solutions is one of the UK's largest events of its kind.

Taking place on 27 & 28 September 2011 - NEC Birmingham, UK

The World of Learning Conference & Exhibition is the essential event for all senior learning decision-makers and buyers. Now there is no better time to ensure you are using the most cost-effective methods and solutions to deliver more successful learning results.

The event provides a world class paid for conference including

Day one... 27 September:

OPENING ADDRESS10:05 – 10:45 What does today's business need from L&D? - Valerie Todd, Director of Talent and Resources, Crossrail, and Commissioner, UK Commission for Employment & Skills

10:50 – 11:50 M1 - The criticality of learning in delivering business change - Peter Hallard, Head of Learning – Retail, Lloyds Banking Group Sue Cohen, L&D Consultant

11:15 – 12:15 M2 - Investing in the leaders of the future - Aidan Thomas, Chief Executive, Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust Tony Kerley, Director, ERAS

13:40 – 14:25 How can L&D deliver with reduced time and budgets? - Philip Evans, Head of e-Learning, London Fire Brigade, Gareth Gilleeney, Learning & Development Manager, Shelter, Karen Velasco, Chairman, British Institute for Learning & Development, Martin Baker, CEO, LMMatters

14:30 – 15:30 A1 - Integrating the formal, informal and social in learning - Niall Gavin, Group IT Training Manager, FirstGroup, Clive Shepherd, Director, Onlignment

14:55 – 15:55 A2 - Effectively using mobile technology in learning - Tim Drewitt, e-Learning Specialist, Eversheds LLP, Piers Lea, CEO, LINE Communications Group

16:00 – 16:45 Transforming L&D through effective learning governance - Charles Jennings, Managing Director, Duntroon Associates

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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Common Themes At WOLCE 2010

2010-09-30T09:51:00.000+01:00

Like every year at any conference or trade show there is an underlying theme or areas which many speakers explore.

This year there were two that I picked up on:

Social Media & Social Learning
Informal Learning

Social Media
Several speakers highlighted that social media was not the same as "social learning" - and to some extent I agree. Many places social media as a tool to provide rapid access to knowledge or information.
What many in the industry seem to miss is that note all social media tools are equal, and some are public and other are private and they each have different roles to play. Indeed the word "social" is in fact no longer required, for it is all "media" or communications technology, and separating "social" form all other communication channels is a dangerous move.

Many speakers also said that "social media" is not the same as learning - they are right, just as in the same way that books, e-books, "e-learning" and courses are not "learning" - they are vehicles to convey knowledge and experience. learning only takes place in the individual and is optional, to the extent that we cannot control what they learn - they will learn something from every situation - but it may not be what we expected it to be! For example they may learn that they do not like courses or e-learning tools.

The sooner that us as L&D professionals realise that our role is limited to offering the most appropriate options and opportunities to learners the better. It is the learners choice if they learn what we ask of them. We cannot make people learn what we want them to - as the saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink - the same is true of learning.

Informal learning
What is the obsession we have with controlling learning? Just because 80% of learning is informal does not mean we have to have anything directly to do with it. Why track & record? Sure we can encourage sharing and recording of "informal or ad hoc learning" but the moment we attempt to put constraints on it, it is no longer "informal" but formal learning. Are we as a profession that scared of change that we feel the need to "manage informal learning"?
Sure we can provide tools and techniques to help individuals learn faster and more effectively - but that is not the same as managing/ recording or controlling the learning activities.
Increasingly employees demand "just in time" learning, and often that will be from peers or from "knowledge" sources such as the internet or intranets. Social media vehicles will help to support this provided they are allowed to grow and develop organically and not be manipulated in any way.

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. Mike has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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An overview of the themes from the 2010 World of Learning (WOLCE)

2010-09-30T09:34:00.000+01:00

Introduction
The World of Learning has been running for some time and is run by Venture Marketing, a business specialising in exhibitions and trade shows.

This year there was a buzz of optimism at the event, with the exhibition area being busier in the mornings than the afternoons (its not unusual for this event). There certainly was a more boyant attitude this year than last.

The many free seminars were well attended with many people taking their seats 15 minutes before the sessions started. There appeared to be a good mix of the usual "business case" type presentation alongside highly interactive and loud sessions from the like of PearlCatchers - they certainly knew how to engage with the audience. I will post a short video of one of their sessions soon.

The exhibiters were diverse ranging from consultants through to trainers, venues, training solutions "toys" for learning, interactive activities as well as many e-learning and technology based learning solutions. A real balance this year, a move from just a few years ago when it felt like 90% of exhibiters were venues or training providers.

A few that stood out were:
Paper Show a solution for mobile e-white board or e-flipchart
QEDconsulting for their Innovation profile

DRAFT - more to be added soon

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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World of Learning Day 2 Summary

2010-09-29T21:59:00.000+01:00

Thank you to all of you that commented on the vox pop style summary of day one,

Here is Nicholas Owens personal reflection of Day 2

Over the next day or so I will post more about the conference

Summary of Day 1 from WOLCE

2010-09-28T21:27:00.000+01:00

The chair of this years WOLCE TV presenter Nicholas Owen provides this summary of day one:

To what extent does social media have a place in learning

2010-09-28T18:46:00.000+01:00

This lunchtime panel event looked at some of the real fast changing challenges facing all learning and development professionals.

Nicholas Owen Chaired the panel featuring: Nick Shackleton-Jones, Clive Shepherd and Robin Hoyle.

The premise of the debate was about the value of social media as a learning vehicle in business.

One issue raised was the term "Social Media" in a business context, in addition there were discussions around the lack of controls of allowing staff to get involved in the use of social media at work.

Certainly there is a case against allowing staff to use social media platforms in an unstructured way, however there are as many flavours of social media as they are ice cream flavours or chrisps flavours, and what works in one culture wont work in another.
What the panel did appear to agree on was the use of blogs as a tool for capturing personal learning, and when available to peers can help ensure learning is both accurate and available to others to learn from. The big questions is should the blog be public or just available to those inside the organisation? Examples were given as to the value of blogs for personal development. This is no different to the learning logs of the 90's or those used by apprentices and trainees for decades - just that it is easy to share the learning and searchable - thus forming a part of the knowledge management of the organisation.

Throughout this debate the term "informal learning" was used. this is an increasingly popular phrase - and speaking to another conference delegate she mention one firm even having an "informal learning manager" - that is soooo wrong on many levels:
1) as soon as "informal" learning has a structure it is no longer informal
2) "learning" is something the learner does - so we can create opportunities - not learning - the individual has the choice to learn or not from an experience

The sooner we in L&D stop trying to control all learning and recognise that learning is for fun and business - it is not a process to be managed the better.

A good debate - but much like King Canute trying to hold back the waves, social media is here and being used. It is not something we can stop - harness or let it wipe us out!

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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Chair's Opening of World of Learning (WOLCE) 2010

2010-09-28T18:05:00.000+01:00

WOLCE 2010 Conference Opening

Nicholas Owen, TV presenter opened the conference and welcomed delegates. After a amusing approach to giving the safety information Nicholas guided us through the plan and scope of the sessions on offer.

This had to be one of the most engaging approaches to opening a conference I have seen for a long time.

Ruth Spellman - CEO Chartered Management Institute
The title of the session was "A new world for business".

And while Spellman did talk about the future, she was basing her information on data from 2000 & 2005. There was also an assumption that managers need to be qualified and that the majority of managers in post do not hold appropriate qualifications.

One cannot argue that managers lack skills - Spellman cited RBS and other recent examples of businesses lacking management competence, however are qualifications really the way forward?

Some of the most compelling parts of Spellmans presentation to me were:

1) boards need to take ownership for L&D
2) management/ leadership development is critical
3) management and understanding of risk is vital
4) innovation can be incremental as well as massive change.

A good start to the conference, and I am sure that Owen will provide some insightful comments in his closing remarks tomorrow.

Leadership development & innovation

It was only after this session that I saw that QEDConsulting were exhibiting and showcasing a product called "the creatrix" - an innovation tool that looks at creativity and risk - in the context of management and leadership development.

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via http://www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006-2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited and direct links maintained Blog - Business & L&D Blog Twitter - @rapidbi

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WOLCE 2010 Conference programme - September 2010 - Day 2 - 29th

2010-09-27T20:23:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 29 September 2010

FUTURE OF LEARNING FORUM
10:00 - 11:00 - L&D - from service deliverer to business partner

•How can you play a key role in driving business performance?
•Positioning L&D on the employee engagement and talent retention agenda
•Working with OD to determine what skills the organisation needs
•Delivering greater value through an L&D strategy aligned with organisational development needs
•Balancing individual drivers with organisational drivers
•Responding to uncertainty - how can L&D address the strategic challenges ahead?
•Effectively promoting L&D within the organisation
•Focusing on outcomes and performance as L&D drivers

David Morris, Head of Learning, HSBC Bank
Rachel Sparrow, Research & Development Consultant, EDF Energy
Paul Fairhurst, Principal Consultant, Institute for Employment Studies
Debbie Carter, Director of Research, TJ
Francis Marshall, Managing Director, Cegos UK

MORNING SEMINARS - choose between M3 and M4

11:05 - 12:05 - M3 Ensuring L&D remains a priority through proving the business case
•Putting together a compelling business case to secure L&D investment
•How can you demonstrate how L&D adds value to the organisation?
•Understanding what your stakeholders need to know
•Ensuring the performance expectations are realistic
•Communicating the relevant objectives that will make an impact on business performance
•What is the role of assessment and ROI in justifying L&D spend?
•Beyond ROI - demonstrating return on expectation
•Ensuring the correct assessments are in place to measure and report real success
•Translating individual performance improvements into company performance improvement

Simon Harper, Training & Development Manager, Forth Ports Group
Sean Mills, Client Director, Centre for High Performance Development

11:30 - 12:30 - M4 Developing your line managers as facilitators of L&D
•The vital role of line managers in employee engagement and embedding learning in your organisation
•How can you engage managers in the L&D strategy and work together?
•Understanding management motivations and aligning your objectives
•Clarifying the roles of management and L&D in staff development
•Developing the coaching skills of your line managers
•Are your line managers receiving the encouragement and support needed to develop their staff?
•How can L&D assist managers in finding the time develop their teams and support learning?
•What role should line managers play in assessment and performance measurement?

Judi Wilkinson, Senior Learning & Development Consultant, Zurich Academy Europe, Zurich Financial Services
Rob McWilliam, Coaching & Consultancy Services Manager, Thales Training & Consultancy

12:30 - 13:45 Lunch and opportunity to visit exhibition

AFTERNOON SEMINARS - choose between A4 and A5

13:45 - 14:45 - A4 Ensuring behavioural change of learners in the workplace
•Going beyond the 'training' - how do you ensure the learning is transferred into the workplace?
•How can you maximise behavioural change from L&D activities?
•Ensuring the right learning and development needs are identified at the outset
•What support is needed before and after the learning activity?
•The crucial role of line managers in achieving behavioural change
•Putting in place suitable follow-up with learners to encourage transferral of learning
•Ensuring appropriate and relevant performance indicators and measurements

Omar Ismail, People Development Director, Radisson Edwardian Hotels
Laura Overton, Managing Director, Towards Maturity

14:00 - 15:00 - A5 Maximising business performance through a collaborative strategy for talent development
•A talent management journey
•Making individual and team performance the foundation of quality talent management
•Developing tools to enable individuals to diagnose and take responsibility for their career development paths
•Co-ordinating priorities across L&D, talent, performance and resourcing to ensure the HR solutions support the business
•Case studies on team performance and creating a level playing field for minorities
•Creating global frameworks with local flexibility

Sophie Turner, Talent Manager, National Grid
Jack Wills, Chairman, British Institute for Learning & Development

CLOSING ADDRESS
15:05 - 15:45 - More learning, less time, money & resource - achieving this through technology

•Assessing the technologies available - where are they relevant and how do they join up?
•Efficient learning - balancing time and money with required outcomes
•Effective use of webinars for timely large-scale learning
•How to create e-learning solutions that are more time-effective
•Benefiting from free and open source tools
•What real value can technology bring?
•Increased learning through alignment and accessibility of 'off-the'shelf' content

Mike Booth, Learning Technologies Manager, Cable&Wireless Worldwide

15:45 - 15:55 Chair's summation & close of conference

WOLCE 2010 Conference Programme - Day 1 28 September

2010-09-27T06:23:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 28 September 2010

09:30 - 10:00 Delegate registration

10:00 - 10:05 Chair's opening of conference
Nicholas Owen, BBC News Presenter

OPENING ADDRESS

10:05 - 10:45 - A new world for business?
•Is a new approach to business emerging?
•What are the implications and challenges for L&D?
•The vital contribution of L&D in driving competitive advantage
•What will be the effect of increasing recruitment on the talent pool?
•What responsibility should L&D take for creating talent strategies?
•How can L&D combat the resulting widening skills gap from decreased L&D investment?
•Ensuring L&D is at the heart of organisational development
Ruth Spellman OBE, Chief Executive, Chartered Management Institute

MORNING SEMINARS - choose between M1 and M2

10:50 - 11:50 - M1 Identifying and building leadership skills in your organisation
•What are the strategic challenges of developing leaders in a new world of business?
•Changing organisations and the impact on leadership skills
•What makes a 'good' business leader in today's global world?
•Expanding a business across the world - the demands placed on the leaders and succession
•Empowering and involving the whole team in leadership development
•What are the stories about leading in your organisation?
•Creating new stories that support and enable people to lead
•The implications for HR and L&D professionals
Steve Robertson, Head of Market Services, Corporation of Lloyd's
Dr David Lines, Head of Board and Top Team Development, Roffey Park Institute

11:15 - 12:15 - M2 Facilitating and dealing with change through learning
•What is the role of L&D in enabling organisational change?
•Do you have a strategy to deal with changes in the organisation?
•How can L&D partner to drive change?
•Communicating and facilitating change through skills development
•Empowering people with the capabilities to embrace change
•Engaging managers to drive change initiatives
Adrian Price, Learning & Development Manager, TUI Travel UK & Ireland
David Vachell, Consultant

12:15 - 13:30 Lunch and opportunity to visit exhibition

LUNCHTIME PANEL DEBATE

13:30 - 14:15 - To what extent does social media have a place in learning?
•Understanding the potential and the limitations of social media networks
•What are the practical uses of social media for learning within your organisation?
•What are the pitfalls of these approaches?
•Can social media go beyond simple knowledge-sharing?
•What are the cultural issues surrounding using social media networks?
•How can these perceptions and barriers be combated?
•Partnering with marketing and stakeholders when using social media
•How can internal and external collaboration benefit from social networks?
•Enhancing your existing collaboration capabilities with social networking concepts
Nick Shackleton-Jones, Manager - Online & Informal Learning, BBC
Clive Shepherd, independent e-learning consultant and Chair, e-Learning Network
Robin Hoyle, Head of Learning, Infinity Learning

AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS - choose between A1, A2 and A3

14:15 - 15:30 - A1 Developing the skills to deliver effective online learning
•Using online learning beyond cutting costs and time
•Reshaping the L&D function around doing more online learning
•What are the practical skills you need to develop?
•Dealing with external suppliers
Janet Cowie, Group Learning & Development Manager, Priory Group
Owen Rose, Managing Partner, Information Transfer

14:30 - 15:45 - A2 Influencing stakeholders and marketing your L&D capability
•How do you promote L&D as a beneficial investment and activity?
•Understanding the key drivers for different stakeholders
•Articulating the value L&D adds to the business
•Communicating the benefits to learners
Paul Trueman, Systems Training Adviser, EAGA
Martin Belton, Director, e2train

14:45 - 16:00 - A3 Buying in training
•Understanding the training product marketplace
•Developing a list of criteria to select products and suppliers
•Streamlining your supply chain and creating an approved supplier list
•Structuring an effective tendering process
•Beyond basic cost - how to identify the best value
Adrian Snook, Chief Executive, Learning Accelerators

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
16:05 - 16:45 - Encouraging workplace learning in your organisation
•How can you develop people outside formal learning activities?
•What roles should L&D play to encourage and foster learning in the workplace?
•Harnessing the potential of informal learning and mentoring
•What support is needed for learners to learn in the workplace?
•The vital role of line managers in enabling learning to take place in the workplace
•Developing an environment for people to learn from those around them
•Ensuring there is sufficient feedback to ensure changes in behaviour are appropriate
•Can you embed workplace learning within formal learning approaches?
•Creating a culture for continuous learning as part of working life
•How can you measure the impact of workplace learning?

Jayne Stokes, Head of Learning, Santander

Free Seminars at WOLCE 2010 at the NEC Birmingham

2010-09-22T16:56:00.000+01:00

www.rapidbi.com/ © This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2010 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained
Here is the timetable of free seminars for people attending this years WOLCE exhibition:

2010 free seminar programme

Tuesday 28 September 2010

10:15 – 10:45

How talent management is evolutionising learning and development

Taylor Vaughan, Head of Talent Development, Thirdforce
----------------------------------
10:45 – 11:15

How to work wonders

Liggy Webb, Managing Director, The Learning Architect
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11:00 – 11:30

Recovery and building a future high performance culture

David Buffin, Managing Director, Buffin Leadership International
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11:45 – 12:15

Employee perceptions of work-based learning

Cathy Dunn, Business Development Manager, HE@Work
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12:15 – 12:45

360° feedback: improving performance with feedback

Alana Inness, Consultant, Getfeedback
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12:30 – 13:00

Ten rules for designing and delivering e-learning that works

Martin Belton, Business Development Director, e2train
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13:15 – 13:45

Lasting learning: behavioural change that delivers

Hans Jakob Walhovd, Managing Director, Inscape Partners International
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13:45 – 14:15

What do your managers find challenging and how can you best support them?

Peter Casebow, CEO, GoodPractice
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14:00 – 14:30

The psychology behind engaging training design

Alison Price, Chartered Occupational Psychologist
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14:45 – 15:15

Digital natives – the challenge of next generation learners

David Wortley, Director, Serious Games Institute
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15:15 – 15:45

Enhancing CPD within your organisation
Amanda Rosewarne, Strategic Development Manager, The CPD Certification Service
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15:30 – 16:00

Results, results, results! Blended learning successes from across Europe

Piers Lea, CEO, LINE Communications, representing the European Learning Industry Group
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16:15 – 16:45

Beyond performance coaching: putting integrative coaching at the heart of a workplace

Nick Bolton, Founder & Director, The Smart School of Coaching
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DAY 2 - Wednesday 29 September 2010

10:30 – 11:00

Learning technology at work – debunking the myths and accelerating the promise

Laura Overton, MD, Towards Maturity
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10:45 – 11:15

Using e-learning to boost training efficiency

Mike Alcock, Vice President – Product Evangelist, Kaplan IT Learning
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11:15 – 11:45

From the happy sheet to the bottom line – solving the ROI challenge

Patrick Taggart, Director, GPSVision
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12:00 – 12:30

Engaging learners in workshops that they will love

Rob Geraghty, Managing Director, The Wow Factor
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12:15 – 12:45

What did you learn at work today?

David Williams, Director Business & Organisational Development, Middlesex University, Institute for Work Based Learning
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12:45 – 13:15

How a coaching leadership style contributes to high engagement

Carole Gaskell, CEO & Founder, Full Potential Group
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13:30 – 14:00

An organisation full of trainers? Utilising internal resources to deliver inhouse training

David Minchin, Director – The Coach & Trainer School, The School of Coaching & Leadership Development
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13:45 – 14:15

Training managed service – where’s the catch?

Rachel Kay, Business Development Manager, and Rob McWilliam, Coaching and Consultancy Manager, Thales Training & Consultancy
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14:15 – 14:45

Motivating your employees to learn online

Jacqui Nelson, e-Learning Consultant, Nelson Croom
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15:00 – 15:30

Sales talent – when only the best will do

Andrew Dugdale, Founder & President, SalesAssessment.com

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15:15 – 15:45

Building relationships through online communities

Dan Martin, Editor, BusinessZone.co.uk

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via

WOLCE 2010 - World of Learning Conference & Exhibition

2010-09-22T16:44:00.000+01:00

It is only a few days away until WOLCE 2010. Will you be there?

I am currently hoping to be at the event for both days and will be attending both free and paid for sessions.

As usual I will be blogging and sharing learning from the event.
Watch this space and come back soon

In L&D - do you blog?

2010-02-09T11:45:00.000Z

Are you blogging yet? Do you know how to and what it can do for your learning and the learning of others?

For some time blogging has been a part of the way I develop the marketing for my business. While doing this I have been amazed at the number of people involved in learning, development, training and OD that just do not get involved and understand just what it can do for them.

Because of this I with a colleague, have started a free blogging community for everyone involved in learning and OD.

have a look at learning professionals where you can not only get a free blog, but we will show you how to write and expand your readership.

www.rapidbi.com/

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI, an organizational effectiveness consultancy. He has been involved in HR, OD and strategic development for over 20 years. He can be contacted via

© This article is copyright RapidBI 2006, 2008 – it may be copied providing the authors are credited, and direct links maintained

WOLCE 2009 NEC Birmingham

2009-09-30T18:56:00.001+01:00

Not long left the 2009 WOLCEexhibition after spending a valuable five hours networking.

This is my main post from the exhibition this year, as I did not have the opportunity to spend both days here so descided to spend my time networking rather than in conference sessions, although that is a regret in some ways as the list of speakers was impressive as usual.

From the exhibition floor
There certainly was a real buzz in the hall when I arrived, much more than last year. From a visitor point of view it seemed to be more popular than last year.

Many of the 'usual suspects' were n attendance exhibiting - which is good news in the current climate.

There were some noticable missing orgs including all book publishers, i'm sure that angloamerician and pocketbooks are former regulars.

Also missing were all psychometric publishers, there were two providers of 360 tools, but again it did not appear to be as many as before.

There were fourmembership based orgs in attendance including CIPD, BILD and TrainerBase, all who seemed to be busy most of the time, with both BILD & TrainerBase offering clinic support to trainers.

Having said that there were some elements missing, there seemed to be more stands than before, while some were smaller than in the past, size as they say isnt everything.

Exhibitors were sharing stories of the general downturn and change purchasing policies in recent months, with orders being verbally placed by existing customers, then the reluctant employee phoning just a few hours later canceling the order, saying the purchase had been declined by their line manager. Is this a trend in cost cutting? More than five providers shared this story with me.

While some are finding things very tough, those that have no business debt and can flex with the market demand will be the ones to survive the difficulties.

Overall
A valuable few hours, great people nd valuable connections made and reenforced.

Will be back next year - WOLCE 2010 see you here?

Free seminar sessions at WOLCE 2009

2009-09-29T13:53:00.000+01:00

Wednesday 30 September 2009

10:15 – 10:45 Learning fast! - Chris Chappell, Managing Director, Autonomy Multimedia

11:00 – 11:30 Emotionally involved: colleague engagement and the bottom line - Dawn McCutcheon, Business Development Manager, Learning, Grass Roots

11:45 – 12:15 An introduction to e-learning 2.0 - Tony Probert, Managing Director, LightMedia Communications

12:30 – 13:00 Coaching – the fast track to leadership and empowerment - Anita Wild, Director, ADG - Mark Lewthwaite, Senior Consultant, ADG - Tracey Wilson, Learning & Development Leader, Unilever UK

13:15 – 13:45 Are we listening to our learners? - Francis Marshall, Managing Director, Cegos UK

14:00 – 14:30 How virtual classrooms can deliver real behavioural change - David Freedman, Business Director, Huthwaite International

14:45 – 15:15 Drama centred learning – entertaining diversion or powerful training tool? - Graham David, Director, Blue Beetle

15:30 – 16:00 Breakthrough to ROI - Kevin Johnson, CEO, OnTrack International

16:15 – 16:45 Transforming people: radical new approaches to inspiring change - Matthew Pegler, Founder, Altyerre

Thursday 1 October 2009

10:30 – 11:00 Personal learning environments – what does the future hold? - Karen Velasco, Deputy Chairman, the British Institute for Learning & Development

11:15 – 11:45 Learning technologies – tips and tactics - Lesley McGuire, Learning Technology Manager, Macmillan Cancer Support Martin Addison, Managing Director, Video Arts

12:00 – 12:30 Coaching for high performance – a Deloitte case study - Caroline Flin & Ro Paddon, Senior Managers – Learning, Deloitte

12:45 – 13:15 Why informal learning and collaboration is driving the need for better performance and talent management - Martin Belton, Business Development Director, e2train

13:30 – 14:00 Are great leaders born or made? - Larry Reynolds, Managing Partner, 21st Century Leader

14:15 – 14:45 Towards maturity with e-learning - Howard Hills, Head of Research, Towards Maturity CIC

515:15 – 15:45 Unleashing the power of experiential learning - Martin Thompson, CEO, MTa International