Warning – This Blog contains some literary references to justify my three years at University studying Literature

In the past few years I have tended to specialise in Interim/Fixed Term Contract roles which means I get to be a new starter more than most. In this blog I am going to share some thoughts on what I have found helpful when starting a new role – as always I am open to suggestions and if you could get those to me before Monday that would be incredibly useful!

The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there (L.P. Hartley) – You may have been a whizz at Share Point or created amazingly stunning Power Point in your previous role – however it may not be what is required in the new role. Remember you have been hired for your transferable skills but context is everything – get to know the business inside and out – what do they do, how do they do it, does it work? Think about what will work in the new context and make suggestions where appropriate and don’t be too disappointed if they are not all taken on board

O brave new world, that has such people in ‘t! (William Shakespeare) – Get to know your new colleagues both personally and professionally – share some of your own stories and experiences which will help build rapport. I always like to ask people ‘Tell me how you got here?’ when I start in a business – it demonstrates interest and gives you some background on experience and projects that people are working on

Ask lots of questions but avoid repeated Why questions – As the old saying goes ‘There is no such thing as a stupid question’ and asking questions will help you understand much quicker than trying to figure it out on your own which in turn means you can start to contribute. However, I do have a caveat here – it is so easy to fall into the ‘Why do you do this’ trap which if asked repeatedly can feel like a criticism and can lead to your new colleagues feeling like they are justifying actions. Using phrases like ‘Tell me about’, ‘Describe’ is more helpful and will usually give you more information than you asked for

Listen, Listen again and then Listen some more – Inevitably when you are new there is lots and lots of information coming your way. Julie Starr talks about four levels of listening – one of which is deep listening which is concerned with what is both said and unsaid. Use deep listening in your conversations and think of information as individual parts of a jigsaw puzzle which you will be able to put together as you go along in the organisation

Embrace the weirdness – in the nicest possible way! – It is strange being new and there will be times when it will all feel a bit weird – things like how do I get coffee, where are the toilets to new desks, new IT equipment will take time to stick. One of my favourite facts is that you have to do something 21 times for it to become a habit – remember all that stuff was strange in the past – learning to drive, understanding how to use Teams – that has all become second nature – the stuff in your new job will become this way as well.

Deeds not words was to be our permanent motto (Emmeline Pankhurst) – So you have told your new boss you can do the job at interview – once in the role here is your chance to demonstrate it. From all the listening you have been doing offer to get involved in opportunities which will give you chance to showcase your skills and get stuck in to the activity of the team.

You will make mistakes and that’s fine… A couple of years ago I went to a CPD event and one my key takeaways was that if we were brilliant all the time then this would be our normal. There will be moments when you will misstep or not do the right thing – it is part of being human. It’s how you respond which is important – I am a massive fan of fessing up and talking about your plan to resolve it. Take accountability and move on – and if you want some ideas on how to do this have a look at the S.U.M.O – more information on this can be found here I saw this brilliant post (below) on Linked In this week which if nothing else will make you smile…

Build in things to look forward to outside of work – Being new absorbs a lot of emotional energy so make space outside of work for whatever works for you as fun activities – for me that is Man Utd, F1, going for walks and eating crisps. This will give you the space to reflect and also take some time out – leaving you refreshed to go back to work. These things will also help when you feel overwhelmed – more of which below…

Reflect at the end of everyday – I have already talked about the masses of information you will get so to help you organise this start a word document and at the end of everyday jot down a few notes around – what you have learned, any additional questions you might have, what knowledge and skills that you have which could support that activity.

Lastly – some days will be tough – There will be days when nothing makes sense and it will all feel a bit overwhelming – when this happens take a deep breath and remember that you are new and no one expects you to know everything straightaway. Focus on some fun activities outside of work which will help you to go again. One of my favourite videos is below – playing this always works for me – as above whatever works for you

So – these are my thoughts and if you have any to add please let me know. Happy First Days everyone!

As Spandau Ballet once sang “Communication let me down” and often in organisations this key aspect of engagement is often the case.

In the past few weeks I have focused on working in the communication/engagement rather than learning space which has been at times I freely admit a steep learning curve – remember the time I nearly deleted the website or lost half the folders on the site anyone? Fortunately, I have a very patient colleague who specialises in comms who has been on hand to guide me through the communication maze.

It is fair to say that we have been on a journey (cue X Factor/Bake Off – reality TV show of your choice theme music) and whilst there have been some bumps in the road we are inordinately proud of what we have been able to achieve through the use of

• Regular communication – even my husband knows that Tuesday and Fridays are comms days!
• Building a Share Point site which is the basis for most of our Coronavirus Communications
• Weekly conference calls of which the recordings are shared, and people can ask questions on

And in the spirit of sharing here’s some of my key learnings

• Keep it simple – no links within links – As a previous colleague said to me ‘Just because we could doesn’t mean we should’ It’s very easy to get carried away in the spirit of the moment and use all the bells and whistles and in the spirit of Vanilla Ice – ‘Stop, Collaborate and Listen’.
• What does it feel like to the end user?
• How practical is it to maintain? One of our challenges has been links within document which are great when they are published but what do you do when they have moved and what process do you have for re checking these?
• Use clear Signposting – Here the key questions are
• How will people know where to find things?
• Are folders clearly labelled – will they make sense to anyone else? In a past life I frequently delivered training down South and as a confirmed Northerner exiled in Stoke, I often found myself looking at some bemused faces wondering what one earth I was talking about!

One of the things that we have found helpful is to use images consistently both in the email in which the comms are distributed and on the Share Point site which links the two things together.

• Keep it fresh and innovative – It is very easy to be brilliant and rest on your laurels – once you have the basics in place think about what else can you do. Some things are simpler than others and here are some suggestions to get you started
• If you are sending our regular communications change the layout to attract people to read
• Think about using a range of images
• Consider using dynamic content – for example animation, frequently changed content. In a couple of weeks, it will be Mental Health Awareness week and we are considering a daily topic with frequent content changes.

• Think about the words you use – ‘Looking After You and Yours – Ultimately communication is about engagement and one of the biggest turn offs can be use of language. Use words that people are comfortable with, that make sense and have a resonance outside the business. ‘Looking After you and Yours’ was suggested by another colleague and perfectly encapsulates what we wanted that page of the site to be about.

• Focus on design – logic, the way things are laid out – I talked about making it easy for people earlier and this includes the design aspect. Focusing on the simple things like

1. Grouping similar topics together
2. Use subheadings to signpost a topic particularly if you have a lot of text heavy information going on
3. Keep it clear – We have on a Tuesday morning a review of the front page of the site where we discuss what could be removed. This ensures that the page is both dynamic and accessible to people.

• Keep it personal – Remember that at the end of all this communication there is a person who is not just a someone who does a task. Think about engaging the whole person by
• Recognising individuals in your communications who have gone above and beyond
• Highlighting individuals not just for their role but also for what they are doing outside of work – for example fundraising for NHS
• What do people need to help them outside of work? We have pages on our site which feature gardening and cooking tips and links to the Citizens Advice Bureau and a virtual tour of the Louvre

• Seek outside feedback – So you have your comms in place – it looks brilliant, people are interacting with it – again this is not a time to rest on your laurels. Seeking feedback from outside the business can give you a fresh perspective and cause you to ask questions that you may not have considered before. Remember that sometimes this process can be painful but particularly in times like these we need to let our ego go and listen to what is being said. Be more Vanilla Ice!

• Seek feedback from users – In as many different ways and ask as many times as you can without it feeling repetitive. Ways to try this include

1. Set up a separate email address which enables you collate the feedback quickly and easily – and if you do this always respond to emails
2. Encourage interaction through competitions with prizes or encouraging people to share their stories
3. Build in feedback loops to existing process – for example we use a Microsoft form to gather questions for our weekly conference call and at the bottom of the form we ask 3 specific questions to gather feedback

• Analyse the data and learn from it! Anyone how knows me will know I am a bit of a data nerd – it can tell us so much and inform our decision in an evidenced based way rather than a ‘I think that’s what people need’. I also have a pet hate about people calling L&D pink and fluffy and providing reports which utilise data to make clear recommendations shows a logical objective approach – in another world this would be a business case.

Parallels with learning

My final reflections on my journey into the world of communications is that it has a lot in common with learning

• In learning we facilitate to make things easy and accessible communications has the same aim – keep it simple and engaging.
• Rituals such as communicating at the same time, using consistent symbols and images help reinforce the message
• As with learning engaging people with the message helps it to stick – encourage interactive content rather than reading as a passive experience
• Ask for feedback and use the data both to demonstrate how you are adding value and for continuous improvement purposes

Thanks for reading and hope you found it useful – onwards and upwards in these crazy times as my Mum always says and as a parting shot, she loves Vanilla Ice!

As have many this week I have been working home for the majority of the week and in this strange and slightly terrifying world we now find ourselves in this looks like it will be the norm for the foreseeable future. I have always thought of myself as the Queen of working from home (self – appointed title!) and you can read about some of my thoughts about it on an old blog –  Avoiding the Pitfalls of Working From Home  and for me the past week has led to some reflection of what has worked well and what I might do differently in the coming weeks

• Use the tools you have – One of the frustrations of working remotely is the lack of face to face contact which is even more challenging in our current circumstances. We have used Skype messaging and a WhatsApp group to chat – not only about work stuff but also how we are feeling about what is going on and share some funny stuff as well. The best thing about it is that there is no pressure to join in and it is a safe space to have conversations that we would normally have face to face. Even if it is about my using a packet to make spaghetti carbonara!

• Make sure the tools work for your organisation –  One way or another this week I have been on the receiving end of lots of technology – some that worked really well, some that has worked less well and I intend to blog more about that in the coming weeks. A definition of the word facilitate is to make easy – no-one wants to spend the first 15 mins of an online conference emailing the other participants asking how they got in. It sets you up in the wrong frame of mind before you even start. Check before setting anything up – is it compatible, what are the potential issues and send out clear instructions to all. Best of all find some willing colleagues who have the time and space to practice with you.

• Don’t forget to schedule to social stuff too – On a Friday we have coffee club and as part of our new routine we have no scheduled a Skype call where we share what we would normally share  – how has the week been, what are our challenges and what we are we doing for the weekend. @AndyLancasterUK shared something similar he is doing with his team

              Although we may not have progress to the dizzy heights on Countdown just making this 

              space for a social chat in our busy days gives us a chance to have that human interaction. To

              get us started I am going to be sharing some useful questions that were shared on Linked In    

              earlier this week Low Threat Questions for Remote Team Workers

• Be aware of how your colleagues are really feeling – Earlier this week I read a particularly poignant Twitter post from @nataliemself about crying on a Zoom conference call this week. I suspect the coming week will be even more challenging for many people after a separated Mother’s Day and the fresh challenge of home schooling and working at the same time. Give people the space to be their whole selves and remember it is okay not to be okay. Send virtual hugs, offer a listening ear – whatever works best and be present for your colleagues,

• Find a routine that works for you – Whatever it is – I like to get up, have a coffee, breakfast, do the ironing and feed the birds and then I log on. Quite often I work in the kitchen as this enables me to look at into the garden – although it can get quite lively out there

• Remember it is okay to step away– Quite often when we are working from home, we think we need to be answering every email and responding to every Skype message straightaway. In the workplace we wouldn’t necessarily be doing that we would go and make a round of brews; we might be chatting about last night’s TV – the same rules apply at home. Don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure – life is already challenging enough at present let’s not add anything else into the mix

• Find space for some learning – One of the things that has been so fab about the last week is the generosity of L&D colleagues to share their time and expertise for free. This week I have attended webinars on Digital Learning (as I know have many others) from @stellacollins @YourLPI @WorldofWork_IO and @DonaldHTaylor this week and I will be blogging about what I have learned soon. In the meantime, thank you to everyone involved – it was a great space to take a breath from the day job, pause and reflect – THANK YOU all.

• Take some exercise – Again this is one of those whatever works for you things. I personally like a walk (remembering social distancing) and I live in an area which has the opportunity to do so given the current restrictions. In addition, I also have an exercise bike and one of my commitments for next week is to make time for this in my week. As the government have been saying this week exercise really supports mental well-being – and who doesn’t feel better after 30 mins of Spice Girls music! If you need some extra motivation why not support my former colleagues at Compton Care and support their Compton Care Virtual Challenge – I know this will help support an extraordinary organisation in what are extraordinary times. 

Whilst I am here I also wanted to give a massive shout out to those who are working in retail and healthcare at the moment – having worked in both I know how demanding recent events have made your work and you all have my utmost thanks and admiration for everything you are doing at the moment. 

Lastly – let’s all take care of each other and ourselves

Until next time – Helen

A couple of events recently have got me thinking on Excellence – what is it and how do we recognise it

As a starting point John W Gardners states that “Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well”

This was really brought home to me during a recent Excellent Awards event I attended held at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry Arriving just as the museum shut I watched in awe as the staff set up tables and created the perfect space to celebrate individual achievements in excellence in a small matter of 30 mins. 

And the striving for Excellence hadn’t finished there – during the meal I had to wait for my starter(not a huge amount of time) and when it did arrive I was offered a genuine and friendly apology from a member of staff. In fact the genuine friendliness of the staff was one of the elements which made the evening a huge success even at 1:00 a.m. in the morning one staff member said to me “It has been a pleasure for us hosting this event” – a big WOW moment for me.

The event itself celebrated both individual and team excellence (including an award for one of my lovely new colleagues)  and it was fabulous to see everyone recognised for their achievements with clear summaries shown on the screen outlining the reasons why. If as Aristotle outlines “Excellence is a habit” then these summaries help highlight what excellence looks like in the business and how it is demonstrated. One of my favourite concepts to discuss in ‘Whale Done’ which focuses on positive feedback and in particular the idea that managers should do cheerleading walks – giving positive feedback. The Excellence Awards were an amazing example of this – clear constructive and positive feedback  which celebrated amazing work.

Equally important was the opportunity for both winners and runners up to be on stage and be celebrated  and recognised by their peers.Now I am acutely aware that this recognition in front of others isn’t for everyone – at this years Learning Awards a Management Development Programme I designed and delivered was nominated for People Development Programme of the Year. As part of this activity I was invited to attend the award ceremony which I declined – although as you can see from the image below I did attend virtually

For me – the recognition was enough – my lack of social skills (limited by conversational topics of Man Utd, F1 and Strictly) and my lack of dressy clothes would have made attending the event uncomfortable and dare I say it I would have gone bright red which makes for a really attractive photo! What was important to me and will live long in the memory is the outpouring of texts and messages I received after the programme won the award. Hillary Clinton’s book ‘It Takes a Village’ talks about

“When I am talking about ‘It Takes a Village’ I’m obviously not talking about just about or even about geographical villages any longer, but about the network of relationships and values that connect us and binds us together”

Those networks of relationships are hugely important and I found the support in that moment of overwhelming joy incredible and it had such an emotional impact – I am not ashamed to say I cried a lot of tears on Thursday evening and Friday. The genuineness of the comments and interactions moved me more than any award ever could – thanks to everyone who got in touch. 

It also strikes me that excellence can be subjective i.e. one person’s excellence is another person’s ordinary. Currently on Sunday nights between 18:00 – 20:00 there is a series of texts between me and my mum about the latest Dancing on Ice performances. Usually there is at least one performance where what I think is excellent and what my mum  thinks is excellent will differ – and of course there is the Ice Panel who are suitably more qualified than either of us! Maybe our own version of excellence stems from our own personalities – I am never going to be sold on a romantic skate – as my husband will tell you it’s just not my way. However – give me a routine to a Spice Girls song and I will be away…

As a final thought – in our constant quest for excellence is there a price to pay. In one of my other blogs on Mental Health I have talked about Brian C Hall’s idea that if we were at our best everyday then it becomes ordinary. Maybe there are moments when as someone once suggested to me sometimes good is good enough.

There is also the idea that if we constantly strive for excellence what does that cost us from a personal point of view – it might be the things we miss out on – for me this is reading a good book with a latte, having breakfast at Middleport Pottery on the weekend with my husband or even writing a blog…

So here’s some questions to provoke some thought

• What does excellence mean to you? How does it look and feel?
• How can you recognise excellence in others?
• When is good, good enough?

Here’s to us all being excellent in our own ways….

Ken Blanchard et al Whale Done: The Power of Positive Relationships https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whale-Done-Power-Positive-Relationships/dp/1857883268/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=whale+done&qid=1582273787&s=books&sr=1-1

Hillary Rodham Clinton It Takes a Village https://www.amazon.co.uk/Takes-Village-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/dp/1847390560

https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/ordinary-extraordinary.html

Recently I have found myself discussing topics with groups around issues related to Resilience, Building Relationships and Building Teams – all of which have set me thinking about the large part Mental Health or as Brian Hall from BHSF puts it Mental Ill Health plays in the workplace.

On World Mental Health Day I found myself at two events which helped clarify my thinking around the topic.

The first was a session I facilitated with a group of care home workers on Resilience where we talked about the emotional toil of the work they do and strategies to help resolve it.

The second was a session I attending in the evening on Organisational Stress at RAF Cosford hosted by @CIPDBlackCountry @IODWestMidlands @CIMAWestMidlands with sessions from @JoCameron and Brian Hall.

Unsurprisingly there were a lot of synergies between the sessions – however, there was definitely some new pieces of learning which made me think

Key Learnings

Jo Cameron	Brian Hall
Reasons for stress in accountancy which included 41% related to feeling overworked 33% related to office politics 29% related to feeling undervalued I certainly recognised times when this has led me to feel stressed and I wonder how reflective this is across a number of industries. Teams are not put together on the basis of a e-harmony profile – quite often it is around the roles that they do and if they get on then all is well and good, if not then this can be destructive in the workplace.	CIPD survey – 1 in 4 people report that worry has affected their ability to do their job – This does not have to be about the job itself it could be related to debt or changes in personal circumstances for example.
Jo also described burnout as being grey and that our normal response to stress is to go into action mode – almost like we can fix it by doing more but this can lead us into an even more vicious circle as we try and do more and more to fix what is causing the stress in the first place.	40% of people are struggling at work – this to me feel likes a huge number and from a management perspective how much additional productivity could be unleashed if these individuals were supported effectively
	If we were at our best everyday, we would just be average – recently we have been talking on our management development programmes on Bringing Your Best Self to Work and we have been discussing whether you need to and what the impact is.
	In terms of your culture at work how safe is it – if people feel it is unsafe at work they will be stressed. Recently I came across this amazing poem by Phil Wilcox ‘If I should have a workplace’ which to me really reflect the idea of being safe https://www.emotionatwork.co.uk/video/if-i-should-have-a-workplace/

Hints and Tips

Jo Cameron	Brian Hall
Introduce a policy to keep people off social media for half a day – Jo quoted from Matt Haig’s Notes from a Nervous Planet which says we are “Over- stimulated – connected to everyone else’s nervous system” This can lead to us searching for the most number of likes, comparing our lives to everyone else’s and wanting to know the latest news all the time which let’s face it with Brexit on the horizon isn’t exactly cheering.	Allow people room to recuperate and relax – Brian cited the example of pilots in WW2 who went up, came down, had a cup of tea and went straight out again. Even in a moment of national crisis they were allowed room to relax when they were sent off to the bed. My husband reliably informs me that this existed right up until the 90’s when it was known as a beer call!
‘We have to take responsibility for our own time’– often we don’t as we try and squeeze an extra job or task in. Let’s start by building me time in – remember it’s okay to do nothing!	Talk to people positively about Mental Health – ask people what’s making you feel great. This enables us to reflect on that and focus on doing more of this.
Lie on the floor – it neutralises the nervous system – Jo did a fabulous demonstration during the session which illustrated how something so simple can make such a difference	Teach people to be like palm trees – learn to bend with the storm – I guess the lesson behind this is to know that it is okay to sometimes feel under pressure but to know that it will pass and we can regain our upright demeanour
Slow down your thinking by walking slower and talking slower – Jo and Brian also suggested holding walking meetings to get out more into the environment	As a boss ask people how they are and then really listen – sometimes the fact they we don’t ask the question is translated that we don’t care.
Stop using the word manic – if you say you will be
Try new things 4 times – Jo clearly explained the theory behind this – if you do it once it might not work so doing something four times gives you the opportunity to give the activity a good go. She also added that “All change feels weird – doesn’t mean it is wrong.” which is going to stay with me for a long time especially when talking about change management
Deal with our micro- stressors – Jo talked about having two hoovers and two phone chargers. Essentially this is concerned with taking away the little things in our lives which cause us stress – for example for me it is not being able to find my L S Lowry cup at work so now I keep it locked in my desk
Write down your emotions – the very act of writing them down is powerful and enables them to have an outlet

Some further reflection included

• Someone from the audience reflected that is you ask someone how they are feeling – usually they will give you facts and figures. It is useful to stop them and get them to focus on their feelings rather than facts
• For myself I have been reflecting about flexible working recently and the recognition that one size doesn’t fit all – for example for myself given the shift patterns of my other half it often suits me to work weekends and evenings rather than a traditional pattern of Mon – Friday. The key here is that this is what works for me and I am lucky to have a manager who appreciates this.
• Recently we opened two new training rooms at work which are situated in our glorious gardens – it will be interesting to see the impact that has on our participants as we mentally take them away from their workplace into a more open space. As part of this we have also added garden furniture so when we have activities they can physically go out into the garden as well.

In conclusion – definitely some food for thought to both put into practise and share with my management development groups at work.

Thanks, CIMA, CIPD and IOD for a great event and not forgetting my lovely group at the Care Home who shared their experiences and tool away strategies for building their resilience – an enlightening week!

• 

Last week I attended my ICF North West Coaching event which included a session by Zoe Cohen (Twitter @ZoeatShine) who has undertaken some interesting research into the culture of shame.

This was an area that is completely new to me and it is fair to say it has dominated my thoughts for most of the week as I have consciously and unconsciously thought about how it applies to me and my work in the area of management development and learning.

Below I have included some of my thoughts based on Zoe’s research (which is in Italics) with my observations following.

The Role of the Manager

• People using the words should and ought often indicate feelings of shame – As managers we should look out for these words and use open questions to explore why feel people feel the way they do rather than letting it go
• Chon et all (2017) Shame and self-sufficiency – Shamed participants prefer to work and play alone. Perhaps this could be red flag for managers – are there people in the team who prefer this – is there something behind this. It is important to stress that this desire to work and play alone could be triggered by a number of things and we shouldn’t assume that this is driven by shame.
• It is okay to be vulnerable in a leadership role by saying we don’t know something – As managers and leaders we sometimes feel like we need to know it all when in fact showing vulnerability will build relationships with the team
• Love is an underutilised word in leadership when in fact in can motivate an extraordinary amount of energy

Personal Feelings of Shame

• Bene Brown describes shame as a ‘Fear of Disconnection’ – Humans are social animals – we want to belong, and we want to be part of the group. However – it could be that in revealing something about ourselves we become disconnected as part of the group. For example, I rarely watch TV when it is shown – preferring to Sky Plus everything this means that often I can’t join in conversations about what was on TV last night. A minor but telling piece of disconnection in the workplace
• We develop our own shame script – A lot of my thinking this week has been around what is in my shame script and why it is in there. For example, the number of times I am embarrassed to admit I am a Manchester United fan (not always the most popular team!) who doesn’t live in Manchester. I usually follow this with a very long and complicated explanation as to why this is which I won’t bore you with here. At work I hate to admit that I can’t manage everything that is on my plate as I feel I should be able to – on a bad day this leads to me working a huge number of hours to get everything done. This is an example of When I become aware, I can’t deal with it – that’s when the shame awareness starts
• We need to discuss shameful experiences otherwise we only have our own lens to see it through – My first blog was all about how we need a friend at work https://ramblingsofaldprofessional.home.blog/2019/03/18/why-we-all-need-a-friend-at-work/ Maybe the added value of this person is that we need someone we can all be open with who will help us see things from another perspective – an individual who won’t judge us and who will be open and honest with us in return.

Shame and Learning

• Shame is integral to learning – we have to admit we don’t know everything – As an L&D professional I have heard people say, ‘There’s no point in me attending that – I know everything on that topic’. Yet some of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a facilitator have come from people who have been open to learning and able to admit they need support in an area.
• Cozolino (2013) Stress created by shame inhibits the neuroplasticity that underlies new learning – I often talk about the brain and how we learn with our connections starting off as wool with new learning and then hardening to string as the learning is embedded. It seems remarkable to me that shame can stop this happening and as facilitators we need to be aware of this to say it’s okay not to know something.
• Coaches not being able to admit to supervisors when something hasn’t worked out because they are “not wanting the supervisor to see that  part of me’ – I think the same could be true of workshops and coaching itself – if people can’t bring what Zoe terms the ‘dark sticky stuff’ to these activities are we then inhibiting the learning? As Zoe went on to talk about Clients who harbour a considerable amount of shame experience negative therapeutic reactions i.e., they resist recovery and maybe even new learning itself.
• Beneficial to accept change as a normal thing – seeing it as data for a rich reservoir for learning – Change is often feared and flipping it over to a positive will help embrace change – discussing how we feel and how we process the change could lead to people becoming early adopters.

Zoe also suggested a number of things which have been shown to help based on her research which I have included below

• Develop self-awareness of our shame well – what are the things that make us feel shame and where does that come from?
• Be tentative and sensitive when talking about shame – people may be reluctant to talk about it – you may have to tease it out
• Hahn talks about ‘the therapeutic value of acceptance’- let people know it is okay to talk about it
• From a coaching perspective choosing an independent supervisor and paying for it means we are able to bring shame out into the open
• Normalise the fact that not everyone gets it right first time by saying things like ‘We’re only human – we’ve all been through it’ or saying ‘I struggle with this too’
• Welcome and encourage everyone’s contribution – no matter what it is
• The more we can get a sense of congruence as an adult and become out true selves and share this with the world – the shame melts away

Lastly – thanks to everyone at ICF North West Coaching for hosting a great event and being so welcoming and friendly especially Jo (Twitter @jo_wright_) and Amy who shared with me some interesting insights on healthcare. And of course, massive thanks to Zoe for her insights, openness and thoughtful responses to the questions asked by the group.

For further information

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-of-shame-with-special-guest-zoe-cohen/id1442935513?i=1000433893808&l=fr

FACING UP TO SHAME

Last Monday I travelled to my spiritual home of Manchester to attend a Cake Camp run by CIPD Manchester to learn more about Using Tech well in L&D which is a key part of the strategy for L&D in the business I work in.

So, what’s a Cake Camp?

Well there is cake (and coffee too!) …but it is not the main part of the event. It is a series of facilitated discussions in which a series of facilitators switch tables and discuss a particular aspect of the topic. We were very lucky have the event expertly hosted by @BurnhamLandD and fab table facilitators in @DanielT_LnD @evaadam90 @SallyRhodes97 @fionaleteney

There were lots of great conversations and I have included some of the key learning points from each session below

Daniel Taylor – University of Manchester @DanielT_LnD

For me on the most interesting aspects of what Daniel had to share was around the Managers Essentials website used at the University for HR Policy which was utilised by

• Empowering Managers to search out policies by making them accessible on a website using informal headings i.e. Time Off, Family
• Embedding this into the Induction for Managers by using a quiz to check existing knowledge and then demonstrating the website. In addition, this is embedded into training sessions for managers by referring people to it whenever HR Policy is mentioned.
• The policies are supported by 60 second videos known as lightning talks on different aspects of the policies – made using Smartphone technology

Other key learning points from the session included

• Using Yammer to share materials
• Ensuring that whatever you design that it is visually engaging
• Think about creating Choose Your Own Adventure videos which ask users to make choices and then shows the consequence of those choices
• Check your analytics to tell you what is working and not working i.e. What are people actually using?

Eva Adam – Cast UK @evaadam90

Eva shared with us lots of useful hints and tips including

• Technology is the tool not the solution – don’t start with the technology think about how appropriate it is to use for what you need
• Look at your stakeholder’s return on expectation – what would they like to see?
• Focus on making L&D metrics the metrics of the business and making sure that the metrics discussion becomes part of the culture
• Utilising Microsoft forms to gather information on performance – Google forms are very similar in nature as well
• Introducing a FAQ Chatbot to answer questions on frequently asked HR issues
• Using a flipped learning approach – where sessions in the classroom are supported by pre-learning to cover the theory and sessions then focused on learning transfer demonstrated within the classroom

Eva had also created a series of useful resources for new starters which included all the questions you want to ask before you start including

• Where can I eat lunch?
• What do I wear?
• Where do I park?

Fiona Leteny Forsway Group @fionaleteney

Fiona shared with us 5 top mistakes businesses make when buying a digital learning system which included

1. Don’t go it alone– Ask similar organisations what they are using, have a working party to discuss requirements
2. Don’t have an over inflated requirements list – Inevitably when we implement a new system, we tend to ask people what they would like to see which leads to a long list of needs. Instead Fiona suggests focusing on what you really need to have to make an impact – what are your must have’s
3. Data – Ensure whatever your system is that your data is right before it goes in to assist with implementation. Decide on what your single source of truth is and utilise this for maximum impact
4. Integrate your Systems – Make sure your systems can talk to each other – often in organisations there are a series of system who are unable to talk to each other which leads to a duplication of work
5. Misunderstanding the total cost of ownership of the system – We often assume that the total cost is limited to the fees charge but it can also include

• Upfront support to embed system
• Integration costs
• Training for the system administrator

Sally Rhodes Cap Gemini @SallyRhodes97

Sally shared with us some useful learning points particularly about Management Development (which is my special area of expertise!) around using Microsoft Teams with different cohorts by

• Creating a separate closed group chat for each cohort
• Posting links to resources and starting discussion on these to ensure continuous learning
• Embedding this into the Management Development activity by setting up in the Induction and making this part of the programme rather than a separate task

Other key points from Sally included

• Learning is not a discrete activity – it is not something we do separately away from the workplace it is something we can do in the workplace
• Utilise Streams in Office 365 to post resources

Final Thoughts

As you can see there were lots to think about and take away and for me what I am going to put into practice straightaway

• Meet with our Head of IT to discuss the potential of Streams
• Share the key learnings with the rest of the L&D team (already done!)
• Share with our HR team

Thanks to CIPD Manchester and Rachel Burnham for a great event and just for the record the cake was fabulous too!!!

In a subtle change of commuting direction (north rather than south on the M6) – I headed off to the CIPD Manchester Agile Organisation on Friday to learn more about what does being agile really mean?

The tone was set by Dr David Beech at the start of the day who stressed the need to think about ‘How can we turn knowledge into practical action?’ which for me goes to heart of what L&D and OD should be about – knowledge is all very well but it is the action which is critical to adding value and making a difference in the organisation.

As a way of consolidating my learning and continuing with my adventures in blogging I have included some of my key learning points below (I have split these into the sessions)

Jackie Le Favre – Values in Supporting Agility in Organisations

• All organisations are value based – the question is are the ones on the wall driving behaviour?
• Firms without performance enhancing values improved by 182% whereas firms with improved by 682%
• There is a need to inspire people with talking about what it will look and feel like in practice i.e. what does it mean for them
• Values should be emotionally rich and energy laden – they are a guide on how to be and how to get there
• Agile organisations have a collaborative project world view and are linked to Global transformation – values which minimise variation are not agile in nature

Dr David Beech -The Role of Leaders in Enabling Change in Organisations

• To embed a learning culture in the organisation, include conversations around what’s going well and what could we do better for 10 mins once a week.
• Agile is an evolving experiment with leadership as a group level phenomenon rather than the traditional view of heroes and heroines saving the world
• Leadership being complex and inherent with contradictions in the agile environment i.e. as demonstrated in the work of Linda Hill we need to support and confront our teams

Rod Chapman – Embedding Agile in the Organisations Culture

• Being agile is concerned with resilience, experimentation, being openminded, empowerment, trust, flexibility
• The idea of ‘Fast Failure’ – if something goes wrong, we don’t dwell on it for 2 years navel gazing we move on
• Agile working is more about adult to adult relationships
• From an attendee ‘Work is what you achieve, not where you do it’
• Organisations can be agile by asking staff to come up with their own rotas to cover areas which then need to be signed off by the organisation

Neal Chamberlain – Performance Management in the Agile Organisation

• There is a change in emphasis from ratings to a focus on quality and regular discussions as advocated by Samuel Culbert
• Deloitte has adopted an approach as a leader as a coach
• Rise in the use of apps for including informal conversations into performance management i.e. Amazon anytime feedback app
• Facebook have completed research with their staff and 87% of staff wanted to keep the ratings
• Useful question to ensure the embedding of learning – ‘What did I learn and who will you share it with?’

How can I turn this knowledge into practical action?

For our Management Development programmes, I will

• Include a values discussion– what do they mean and what are the implications for being a manager in the organisation? Practically what does it mean for individuals
• Introduce coaching to our managers and how this is less of an activity and more of a way of having a conversation
• Talk about the idea of ‘Fast Failure’ on our Continuous Improvement module
• Stress the idea of the inherent contradictions in Leadership and ask participants how they will manage these

Other Activities

• Add the ‘What did I learn and who will you share it with?’ onto our evaluation forms

So, off I go back to work with plenty to do and some new knowledge to share – I’ll let you know how I get on….

Special thanks to CIPD Manchester for putting on such a great event, all the speakers who brought the topics to life and all the attendees who were willing to share their own experiences with a few laughs along the way!

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Having recently had a much-needed week away from work visiting places of historical interest I have been reflecting on how our learning about these places is not necessarily suited to individual learning preferences.

For me personally nothing gladdens my heart more when people say please walk around and explore – at Hughenden this is the case. Guides are available in the room both in person and handouts to provide extra information as and when required. This way I get an opportunity to look at the things that really interest me and generally that it what I remember the most – for example I also visited Chartwell and one of the objects that interested me there was a vase on Churchill’s desk which I have then gone off to research further.

On the opposite end of the scale for me are handsets which are frequently given out – the impact is that everyone gets the same information and it also creates learning blockages where everyone is trying to look at the same thing at the same time and if can’t see it properly then I lose interest when actually it may be something right up my street. It also means that I can’t discuss whatever takes my interest with the person I am with for fear of missing a nugget of information from the handset.

One exhibition that did this particularly well was the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V and A which when people approached an exhibit would automatically link to the song and commentary which was linked to it. This encourages learners to focus on what interests them and is discovery learning which is as Jerome Bruner notes where “Learners are encouraged to discover facts and relationships for themselves”

My other observation from my travels is related to wider learning – I do love a good walk (I also enjoy a family bag of crisps which does tend to negate the walk!) Often people congregate the main buildings of a stately home and as soon as you go out to the wider environment you tend not to see as many people – I appreciate there are many reasons for this i.e. accessibility, fitness but isn’t this like learning at work we go on a course and bob’s your uncle that topic is done. Alternatively, as L&D professionals we can encourage people to go and find out more by

• Building a learning community where individuals can share resources that they come across which are useful to the topic. DPG have a particularly good example of this.
• Display useful resources in our workshops – a try before you buy approach if you will so people can flick through books
• Having a further reading list in the back of any workbooks or handbooks
• Creating a resource library where people can access these resources

My specialist area is working on management development programmes and some of the things I like to include in the design are (to name just a few)

• Continuous Professional Records to be completed and learning shared at the beginning of every session
• Participants to actively share one-piece learning with their colleagues via Yammer linked to the last session
• Use of digital learning including podcasts
• Participants to research topics and to present this back during the session to create peer to peer learning

Learning and development when done well is impactful, insightful and creates a curiosity to find out more. When it is done badly it is a tick box exercise involving watching the clock and participants not gaining anything from it.

I know which one type of L&D professional I would rather be – what about you??

There are a couple of things that have happened in the last few weeks that have got me thinking about the importance of having friends at work.  

This heady combination of the launching of a staff survey, one of my closest work friends leaving and being asked to facilitate a session about building relationships has left me thinking about the way we interact at work.  

Back in the day I use to facilitate sessions around employee engagement I remember the heated debate surrounding the Gallup staff survey set of questions – in particular ‘I have a best friend at work’ stimulating comments such as 

‘Do people need to have a best friend at work?’ 

‘I have a best friend outside of work – why do I need one inside as well’ 

‘Is it the organisation’s business that I have a best friend at work?’ 

More information on the Gallup survey can be found here 

Well more and more I am coming to the conclusion that we do need friends at work – now to be clear this is not about people offering unconditional support, but it is about having someone who 

• You can confide in – your worst hopes and hears 

• Who can sense check you – is what you think the reality of the situation 
• Is strong enough to give you the feedback that you might be sticking to something despite it not being rationale 
• You can have a laugh with when work throws some almighty challenges our way 

My own experience tells me that we also need different types of friends at work – for example I have a football friend who I can discuss the amazing adventures of Man Utd under Ole with (I realise that this revelation may have caused some people to stop reading!) Other types of friends I have are 

• Printing friends – When I am hogging the printer with printing off my fab handbooks for courses I hang out in their office and we chat about what’s going in our lives 

• Strictly friends – Or more specifically in my case someone to share the latest escapades featuring my mum and Anton du Beke who she is a massive fan of!

• Project friends – People I have worked closely with on a project who have supported and help drive it through to completion 

• Networking friends – These are people I have met through attending CIPD events both at the Manchester Branch and the North Staffs. This group are particularly important as in my organisation I have a standalone role in the L&D team, so I find the conversations at branch events really stimulating and refreshing – they send me back to my organisation full of ideas 
• Teams of friends – I have a couple of teams I have worked really closely with who when I am hotdesking are happy for me to hang out and feel part of the team 
• Digital friends – People who like my posts on Linked In and Twitter – some of whom I have worked with in the past and it is a great way to reconnect 

These different types of friend all bring something to the party which is my working life and as my lovely friend Sonja would say they all help lubricate my work and the influence I am able to have in the organisation. For example, when I have a meeting, we already have a connection and a relationship which helps the conversation flow – we have a sense of where each other is coming from.  

My final thought is that friends come and go but their influence remains with us – quite recently I have been facilitating a session around ‘Understanding the Choices We Make’. One of the discussions we have is around what influences our drivers i.e. the stuff which is important to us and our friends both inside and outside of work do this for us. As part of the session one of the books I always recommend is by Mitch Alborn ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’ which is about the impact we have on people without realising.  Working in L&D I like to think I have an impact across the organisation and there are probably many people I have made a difference to without even realising – perhaps I have become their L&D friend – a source of support when required. And maybe in my role that’s the best type of friend to be….